Age- and brain region-dependent α-synuclein oligomerization is attributed to alterations in intrinsic enzymes regulating α-synuclein phosphorylation in aging monkey brains

作者：Chen, Min; Yang, Weiwei; Li, Xin; Li, Xuran; Wang, Peng; Yue, Feng; Yang, Hui; Chan, Piu; Yu, Shun^*

来源：Oncotarget, 2016, 7(8): 8466-8480.

DOI：10.18632/oncotarget.6445

• alpha-synuclein
• polo-like kinase 2
• protein phosphatase 2A
• aging
• brain
• Gerotarget

We previously reported that the levels of alpha-syn oligomers, which play pivotal pathogenic roles in age-related Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies, increase heterogeneously in the aging brain. Here, we show that exogenous alpha-syn incubated with brain extracts from older cynomolgus monkeys and in Lewy body pathology (LBP)-susceptible brain regions (striatum and hippocampus) forms higher amounts of phosphorylated and oligomeric alpha-syn than that in extracts from younger monkeys and LBP-insusceptible brain regions (cerebellum and occipital cortex). The increased alpha-syn phosphorylation and oligomerization in the brain extracts from older monkeys and in LBP-susceptible brain regions were associated with higher levels of polo-like kinase 2 (PLK2), an enzyme promoting alpha-syn phosphorylation, and lower activity of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), an enzyme inhibiting alpha-syn phosphorylation, in these brain extracts. Further, the extent of the age- and brain-dependent increase in alpha-syn phosphorylation and oligomerization was reduced by inhibition of PLK2 and activation of PP2A. Inversely, phosphorylated alpha-syn oligomers reduced the activity of PP2A and showed potent cytotoxicity. In addition, the activity of GCase and the levels of ceramide, a product of GCase shown to activate PP2A, were lower in brain extracts from older monkeys and in LBP-susceptible brain regions. Our results suggest a role for altered intrinsic metabolic enzymes in age- and brain region-dependent alpha-syn oligomerization in aging brains.

• 出版日期2016-2-23
• 单位首都医科大学