Proneurotrophin-3 may induce Sortilin-dependent death in inner ear neurons.

The precursor of the neurotrophin (NT) nerve growth factor (NGF) (proNGF) serves physiological functions distinct from its mature counterpart as it induces neuronal apoptosis through activation of a p75 NT receptor (p75(NTR) ) and Sortilin death-signalling complex. The NTs brain-derived nerve growth factor (BDNF) and NT3 provide essential trophic support to auditory neurons. Injury to the NT-secreting cells in the inner ear is followed by irreversible degeneration of spiral ganglion neurons with consequences such as impaired hearing or deafness. Lack of mature NTs may explain the degeneration of spiral ganglion neurons, but another mechanism is possible as unprocessed proNTs released from the injured cells may contribute to the degeneration by induction of apoptosis. Recent studies demonstrate that proBDNF, like proNGF, is a potent inducer of Sortilin:p75(NTR) -mediated apoptosis. In addition, a coincident upregulation of proBDNF and p75(NTR) has been observed in degenerating spiral ganglion neurons, but the Sortilin expression in the inner ear is unresolved. Here we demonstrate that Sortilin and p75(NTR) are coexpressed in neurons of the neonatal inner ear. Furthermore, we establish that proNT3 exhibits high-affinity binding to Sortilin and has the capacity to enhance cell surface Sortilin:p75(NTR) complex formation as well as to mediate apoptosis in neurons coexpressing p75(NTR) and Sortilin. Based on the examination of wildtype and Sortilin-deficient mouse embryos, Sortilin does not significantly influence the developmental selection of spiral ganglion neurons. However, our results suggest that proNT3 and proBDNF may play important roles in the response to noise-induced injuries or ototoxic damage via the Sortilin:p75(NTR) death-signalling complex.

Sortilin associates with Trk receptors to enhance anterograde transport and neurotrophin signaling.

Binding of target-derived neurotrophins to Trk receptors at nerve terminals is required to stimulate neuronal survival, differentiation, innervation and synaptic plasticity. The distance between the soma and nerve terminal is great, making efficient anterograde Trk transport critical for Trk synaptic translocation and signaling. The mechanism responsible for this trafficking remains poorly understood. Here we show that the sorting receptor sortilin interacts with TrkA, TrkB and TrkC and enables their anterograde axonal transport, thereby enhancing neurotrophin signaling. Cultured DRG neurons lacking sortilin showed blunted MAP kinase signaling and reduced neurite outgrowth upon stimulation with NGF. Moreover, deficiency for sortilin markedly aggravated TrkA, TrkB and TrkC phenotypes present in p75(NTR) knockouts, and resulted in increased embryonic lethality and sympathetic neuropathy in mice heterozygous for TrkA. Our findings demonstrate a role for sortilin as an anterograde trafficking receptor for Trk and a positive modulator of neurotrophin-induced neuronal survival.

Sort1, encoded by the cardiovascular risk locus 1p13.3, is a regulator of hepatic lipoprotein export.

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed strong association of hypercholesterolemia and myocardial infarction with SNPs on human chromosome 1p13.3. This locus covers three genes: SORT1, CELSR2, and PSRC1. We demonstrate that sortilin, encoded by SORT1, is an intracellular sorting receptor for apolipoprotein (apo) B100. It interacts with apoB100 in the Golgi and facilitates the formation and hepatic export of apoB100-containing lipoproteins, thereby regulating plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Absence of sortilin in gene-targeted mice reduces secretion of lipoproteins from the liver and ameliorates hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerotic lesion formation in LDL receptor-deficient animals. In contrast, sortilin overexpression stimulates hepatic release of lipoproteins and increases plasma LDL levels. Our data have uncovered a regulatory pathway in hepatic lipoprotein export and suggest a molecular explanation for the cardiovascular risk being associated with 1p13.3.

Roles for the pro-neurotrophin receptor sortilin in neuronal development, aging and brain injury.

Neurotrophins are essential for development and maintenance of the vertebrate nervous system. Paradoxically, although mature neurotrophins promote neuronal survival by binding to tropomyosin receptor kinases and p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75(NTR)), pro-neurotrophins induce apoptosis in cultured neurons by engaging sortilin and p75(NTR) in a death-signaling receptor complex. Substantial amounts of neurotrophins are secreted in pro-form in vivo, yet their physiological significance remains unclear. We generated a sortilin-deficient mouse to examine the contribution of the p75(NTR)/sortilin receptor complex to neuronal viability. In the developing retina, Sortilin 1 (Sort1)(-/-) mice showed reduced neuronal apoptosis that was indistinguishable from that observed in p75(NTR)-deficient (Ngfr(-/-)) mice. To our surprise, although sortilin deficiency did not affect developmentally regulated apoptosis of sympathetic neurons, it did prevent their age-dependent degeneration. Furthermore, in an injury protocol, lesioned corticospinal neurons in Sort1(-/-) mice were protected from death. Thus, the sortilin pathway has distinct roles in pro-neurotrophin-induced apoptotic signaling in pathological conditions, but also in specific stages of neuronal development and aging.

Neuronal sorting protein-related receptor sorLA/LR11 regulates processing of the amyloid precursor protein.

sorLA (Sorting protein-related receptor) is a type-1 membrane protein of unknown function that is expressed in neurons. Its homology to sorting receptors that shuttle between the plasma membrane, endosomes, and the Golgi suggests a related function in neuronal trafficking processes. Because expression of sorLA is reduced in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), we tested involvement of this receptor in intracellular transport and processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) to the amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta), the principal component of senile plaques. We demonstrate that sorLA interacts with APP in vitro and in living cells and that both proteins colocalize in endosomal and Golgi compartments. Overexpression of sorLA in neurons causes redistribution of APP to the Golgi and decreased processing to Abeta, whereas ablation of sorLA expression in knockout mice results in increased levels of Abeta in the brain similar to the situation in AD patients. Thus, sorLA acts as a sorting receptor that protects APP from processing into Abeta and thereby reduces the burden of amyloidogenic peptide formation. Consequently, reduced receptor expression in the human brain may increase Abeta production and plaque formation and promote spontaneous AD.

Sortilin is essential for proNGF-induced neuronal cell death.

Sortilin (approximately 95 kDa) is a member of the recently discovered family of Vps10p-domain receptors, and is expressed in a variety of tissues, notably brain, spinal cord and muscle. It acts as a receptor for neurotensin, but predominates in regions of the nervous system that neither synthesize nor respond to this neuropeptide, suggesting that sortilin has additional roles. Sortilin is expressed during embryogenesis in areas where nerve growth factor (NGF) and its precursor, proNGF, have well-characterized effects. These neurotrophins can be released by neuronal tissues, and they regulate neuronal development through cell survival and cell death signalling. NGF regulates cell survival and cell death via binding to two different receptors, TrkA and p75NTR (ref. 10). In contrast, proNGF selectively induces apoptosis through p75NTR but not TrkA. However, not all p75NTR-expressing cells respond to proNGF, suggesting that additional membrane proteins are required for the induction of cell death. Here we report that proNGF creates a signalling complex by simultaneously binding to p75NTR and sortilin. Thus sortilin acts as a co-receptor and molecular switch governing the p75NTR-mediated pro-apoptotic signal induced by proNGF.

Tetrahydrobiopterin precursor sepiapterin provides protection against neurotoxicity of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium in nigral slice cultures.

Complex-I inhibition and oxidative processes have been implicated in the loss of nigral dopamine neurones in Parkinson's disease and the toxicity of MPTP and its metabolite MPP+. Tetrahydrobiopterin, an essential cofactor for tyrosine hydroxylase, may act as an antioxidant in dopaminergic neurones and protects against the toxic consequences of glutathione depletion. Here we studied the effects of manipulating tetrahydrobiopterin levels on MPP+ toxicity in organotypic, rat ventral mesencephalic slice cultures. In cultures exposed to 30 micro m MPP+ for 2 days, followed by 8 days 'recovery' in control medium, we measured dopamine and its metabolites in the tissue and culture medium by HPLC, lactate dehydrogenase release to the culture medium, cellular uptake of propidium iodide and counted the tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurones. Inhibition of tetrahydrobiopterin synthesis by 2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine had no significant synergistic effect on MPP+ toxicity. In contrast, the tetrahydrobiopterin precursor l-sepiapterin attenuated the MPP+-induced dopamine depletion and loss of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive cells in a dose-dependent manner with 40 micro m l-sepiapterin providing maximal protection. Accordingly, increasing intracellular tetrahydrobiopterin levels may protect against oxidative stress by complex-I inhibition.

Hypocalcemia and osteopathy in mice with kidney-specific megalin gene defect.

Megalin is an endocytic receptor highly expressed in the proximal tubules of the kidney. Recently, we demonstrated that this receptor is essential for the renal uptake and conversion of 25-OH vitamin D3 to 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3, a central step in vitamin D and bone metabolism. Unfortunately, the perinatal lethality of the conventional megalin knockout mouse model precluded the detailed analysis of the significance of megalin for calcium homeostasis and bone turnover in vivo. Here, we have generated a new mouse model with conditional inactivation of the megalin gene in the kidney by using Cre recombinase. Animals with a renal-specific receptor gene defect were viable and fertile. However, lack of receptor expression in the kidney results in plasma vitamin D deficiency, in hypocalcemia and in severe bone disease, characterized by a decrease in bone mineral content, an increase in osteoid surfaces, and a lack of mineralizing activity. These features are consistent with osteomalacia (softening of the bones) as a consequence of hypovitaminosis D and demonstrate the crucial importance of the megalin pathway for systemic calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism.