Browsing by Subject "PROTEIN-LEVELS"

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  • Rostami, Jinar; Jäntti, Maria; Cui, Hengjing; Rinne, Maiju K.; Kukkonen, Jyrki P.; Falk, Anna; Erlandsson, Anna; Myöhänen, Timo (2020)
    Growing evidence emphasizes insufficient clearance of pathological alpha-synuclein (alpha SYN) aggregates in the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Consequently, cellular degradation pathways represent a potential therapeutic target. Prolyl oligopeptidase (PREP) is highly expressed in the brain and has been suggested to increase alpha SYN aggregation and negatively regulate the autophagy pathway. Inhibition of PREP with a small molecule inhibitor, KYP-2407, stimulates autophagy and reduces the oligomeric species of alpha SYN aggregates in PD mouse models. However, whether PREP inhibition has any effects on intracellular alpha SYN fibrils has not been studied before. In this study, the effect of KYP2407 on alpha SYN preformed fibrils (PFFs) was tested in SH-SY5Y cells and human astmcytes. Immunostaining analysis revealed that both cell types accumulated alpha SYN PFFs intracellularly but KYP-2047 decreased intracellular alpha SYN deposits only in SH-SY5Y cells, as astrocytes did not show any PREP activity. Western blot analysis confirmed the reduction of high molecular weight alpha SYN species in SH-SY5Y cell lysates, and secretion of aSYN from SH-SY5Y cells also decreased in the presence of KYP-2407. Accumulation of alpha SYN inside the SH-SY5Y cells resulted in an increase of the auto-lysosomal proteins p62 and LC3BII, as well as calpain 1 and 2, which have been shown to be associated with PD pathology. Notably, treatment with KYP-2407 significantly reduced p62 and LC3BII levels, indicating an increased autophagic flux, and calpain 1 and 2 levels returned to normal in the presence of KYP-2407. Our findings indicate that PREP inhibition can potentially be used as therapy to reduce the insoluble intracellular alpha SYN aggregates.
  • Julku, Ulrika H.; Panhelainen, Anne E.; Tiilikainen, Saija E.; Svarcbahs, Reinis; Tammimäki, Anne E.; Piepponen, T. Petteri; Savolainen, Mari H.; Myöhänen, Timo T. (2018)
    Alpha-synuclein is the main component of Lewy bodies, a histopathological finding of Parkinson's disease. Prolyl oligopeptidase (PREP) is a serine protease that binds to alpha-synuclein and accelerates its aggregation in vitro. PREP enzyme inhibitors have been shown to block the alpha-synuclein aggregation process in vitro and in cellular models, and also to enhance the clearance of alpha-synuclein aggregates in transgenic mouse models. Moreover, PREP inhibitors have induced alterations in dopamine and metabolite levels, and dopamine transporter immunoreactivity in the nigrostriatal tissue. In this study, we characterized the role of PREP in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic and GABAergic systems of wild-type C57Bl/6 and PREP knockout mice, and the effects of PREP overexpression on these systems. Extracellular concentrations of dopamine and protein levels of phosphorylated dopamine transporter were increased and dopamine reuptake was decreased in the striatum of PREP knockout mice, suggesting increased internalization of dopamine transporter from the presynaptic membrane. Furthermore, PREP overexpression increased the level of dopamine transporters in the nigrostriatal tissue but decreased phosphorylated dopamine transporters in the striatum in wild-type mice. Our results suggest that PREP regulates the function of dopamine transporter, possibly by controlling the phosphorylation and transport of dopamine transporter into the striatum or synaptic membrane.