Analysis of the role of heat shock protein (Hsp) molecular chaperones in polyglutamine disease.

Polyglutamine (polygln) diseases are a group of inherited neurodegenerative disorders characterized by protein misfolding and aggregation. Here, we investigate the role in polygln disease of heat shock proteins (Hsps), the major class of molecular chaperones responsible for modulating protein folding in the cell. In transfected COS7 and PC12 neural cells, we show that Hsp40 and Hsp70 chaperones localize to intranuclear aggregates formed by either mutant ataxin-3, the disease protein in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3/Machado-Joseph disease (SCA3/MJD), or an unrelated green fluorescent protein fusion protein containing expanded polygln. We further demonstrate that expression of expanded polygln protein elicits a stress response in cells as manifested by marked induction of Hsp70. Studies of SCA3/MJD disease brain confirm these findings, showing localization of Hsp40 and, less commonly, Hsp70 chaperones to intranuclear ataxin-3 aggregates. In transfected cells, overexpression of either of two Hsp40 chaperones, the DNAJ protein homologs HDJ-1 and HDJ-2, suppresses aggregation of truncated or full-length mutant ataxin-3. Finally, we extend these studies to a PC12 neural model of polygln toxicity in which we demonstrate that overexpression of HDJ-1 suppresses polygln aggregation with a parallel decrease in toxicity. These results suggest that expanded polygln protein induces a stress response and that specific molecular chaperones may aid the handling of misfolded or aggregated polygln protein in neurons. This study has therapeutic implications because it suggests that efforts to increase chaperone activity may prove beneficial in this class of diseases.

Evidence for proteasome involvement in polyglutamine disease: localization to nuclear inclusions in SCA3/MJD and suppression of polyglutamine aggregation in vitro.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, also known as Machado-Joseph disease (SCA3/MJD), is one of at least eight inherited neurodegenerative diseases caused by expansion of a polyglutamine tract in the disease protein. Here we present two lines of evidence implicating the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in SCA3/MJD pathogenesis. First, studies of both human disease tissue and in vitro models showed redistribution of the 26S proteasome complex into polyglutamine aggregates. In neurons from SCA3/MJD brain, the proteasome localized to intranuclear inclusions containing the mutant protein, ataxin-3. In transfected cells, the proteasome redistributed into inclusions formed by three expanded polyglutamine proteins: a pathologic ataxin-3 fragment, full-length mutant ataxin-3 and an unrelated GFP-polyglutamine fusion protein. Inclusion formation by the full-length mutant ataxin-3 required nuclear localization of the protein and occurred within specific subnuclear structures recently implicated in the regulation of cell death, promyelocytic leukemia antigen oncogenic domains. In a second set of experiments, inhibitors of the proteasome caused a repeat length-dependent increase in aggregate formation, implying that the proteasome plays a direct role in suppressing polyglutamine aggregation in disease. These results support a central role for protein misfolding in the pathogenesis of SCA3/MJD and suggest that modulating proteasome activity is a potential approach to altering the progression of this and other polyglutamine diseases.

Ontogeny of malate-aspartate shuttle capacity and gene expression in cardiac mitochondria.

Developmental downregulation of the malate-aspartate shuttle has been observed in cardiac mitochondria. The goals of this study were to determine the time course of the postnatal decline and to identify potential regulatory sites by measuring steady-state myocardial mRNA and protein levels of the mitochondrial proteins involved in the shuttle. By use of isolated porcine cardiac mitochondria incubated with saturating concentrations of the cytosolic components of the malate-aspartate shuttle, shuttle capacity was found to decline by approximately 50% during the first 5 wk of life (from 921 +/- 48 to 531 +/- 53 nmol.min-1.mg protein-1). Mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase mRNA levels were greater in adult than in newborn myocardium. mRNA levels of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase in adult cardiac tissue were 224% of levels in newborn tissue, whereas protein levels were 54% greater in adult myocardium. Aspartate/glutamate carrier protein levels were also greater in adult than in newborn tissue. mRNA and protein levels of the oxoglutarate/malate carrier were increased in newborn myocardium. It was concluded that 1) myocardial malate-aspartate shuttle capacity declines rapidly after birth, 2) divergence of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase mRNA and protein levels during development suggests posttranscriptional regulation of this protein, and 3) the developmental decline in malate-aspartate shuttle capacity is regulated by decreased oxoglutarate/malate carrier gene expression.

Developmental regulation of the alpha-glycerophosphate shuttle in porcine myocardium.

The alpha-glycerophosphate (alpha-GP) shuttle has been shown to play a role in reducing equivalent transfer in neonatal cardiac mitochondria. In adult heart mitochondria, alpha-GP shuttle activity is not detectable. The goals of the current study were to define the time course of the age-dependent decline in alpha-GP shuttle capacity and to identify the enzymatic step(s) of the alpha-GP shuttle which are regulated during development. Intact mitochondria were isolated from porcine hearts of various ages and assayed for alpha-GP shuttle capacity. By 5 weeks of age, alpha-GP shuttle capacity had decreased by nearly 39%. The cytosolic step of the shuttle, catalysed by cytosolic alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (c alpha-GPDH), demonstrated a significant increase between 0-2-day-old animals and adults. Partial cDNA clones of porcine c alpha-GPDH and mitochondrial alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (m alpha-GPDH) were prepared and used to quantitate expression of these genes. Using mRNA isolated from neonatal and adult porcine myocardium, expression of the c alpha-GPDH was unchanged, while expression of the m alpha-GPDH gene was present in neonatal but absent in adult myocardium. These results demonstrate a rapid postnatal decline in myocardial alpha-GP shuttle capacity which appears to be regulated by a decline in m alpha-GPDH gene expression.

Reducing equivalent shuttles in developing porcine myocardium: enhanced capacity in the newborn heart.

The metabolic demands of the newborn heart are met primarily by glucose and lactate. Mitochondria are impermeable to the NADH produced by these cytosolic reactions. The malate/aspartate and alpha-glycerophosphate (alpha-GP) shuttles provide two pathways to transport reducing equivalents into mitochondria. The goals of this study were to compare the capacity of these shuttles in newborn and adult cardiac mitochondria and to measure the maximal activity of the mitochondrial enzymes involved in these shuttles. Shuttle and enzyme capacities were measured in isolated mitochondria from the left and right ventricular free wall of 0-3-d-old and adult pig hearts. Malate/aspartate shuttle capacity was nearly three times greater in the newborn left ventricle compared with adult (newborn, 616 +/- 24; adult, 232 +/- 28 nmol/min/mg; mean +/- SEM; n = 8; p < 0.00001). The capacity of the malate/aspartate shuttle of the right ventricular free wall was greater than the left in the adult heart. Despite a decrease in malate/aspartate shuttle capacity, maximal activity of mitochondrial matrix enzymes involved in this pathway were increased in adult mitochondria. alpha-GP shuttle activity was absent in adult myocardium. Newborn left ventricular myocardium had significant alpha-GP shuttle activity (44 +/- 4 nmol/min/mg) due to enhanced flavin-linked mitochondrial alpha-GP dehydrogenase activity compared with adult. Interventricular differences in the alpha-GP shuttle capacity were not found in newborn or adult hearts. These findings suggest a mechanism for the substrate preference of neonatal myocardium.

Measurement of kinetic perfusion parameters of gadoteridol in intact myocardium: effects of ischemia/reperfusion and coronary vasodilation.

Quantitation of myocardial perfusion is feasible using contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. A method to quantitate myocardial blood flow is provided by the Kety model modified to account for a diffusable tracer such as gadoteridol. In the present study, perfusion parameters of the modified Kety model (partition coefficient and extraction efficiency) were determined for gadoteridol in intact myocardium using a constant flow, isolated, perfused heart model. Perfusion conditions included hearts with normal perfusion, hearts made globally ischemic for 20 min then perfused normally, and hearts whose coronary flow was more than doubled with 9 microM adenosine. T1 relaxation times were rapidly measured at 0.5 T following step increases in perfusate gadoteridol concentration and at steady state. Both the partition coefficient and extraction efficiency were found to be significantly increased in ischemic/reperfused hearts compared to normal. While flow rates in adenosine hearts were too high for accurate extraction efficiency determination using this technique, the partition coefficient was no different between adenosine and normally perfused hearts. The method described in this article allowed the kinetic parameters of the modified Kety model to be determined in intact heart using NMR relaxation time measurements as the basis of the calculation.

Elevated immunoreactive endothelin-1 levels in newborn infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension.

To study the potential role of endothelin-1, a potent endothelium-derived vasoconstrictor peptide, in the pathophysiology of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN), we measured arterial concentrations of immunoreactive endothelin-1 (irET-1) in 24 neonates with PPHN. Secondary diagnoses included meconium aspiration syndrome (13 patients), sepsis (2), congenital diaphragmatic hernia (1), asphyxia (1), pulmonary hemorrhage (1), aspiration of blood (1), and respiratory distress syndrome (1). Compared with irET-1 levels in umbilical cord blood in normal infants (15.1 +/- 4.1 pg/ml; mean +/- SEM) and in newborn infants with hyaline membrane disease who were supported by mechanical ventilation (11.8 +/- 1.2 pg/ml), infants with PPHN had markedly elevated circulating irET-1 levels (27.6 +/- 3.6 pg/ml; p < 0.01 vs cord blood, hyaline membrane disease). Infants with severe PPHN requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy had higher irET-1 levels than infants with milder disease (31.0 +/- 4.7 for ECMO-treated infants vs 21.2 +/- 2.0 for non-ECMO-treated infants; p < 0.05). In patients treated without ECMO, irET-1 progressively decreased during the following 3 to 5 days, paralleling clinical improvement. In contrast, irET-1 concentrations remained elevated in infants with severe PPHN during ECMO therapy. We conclude that circulating irET-1 levels are elevated in newborn infants with PPHN, are positively correlated with disease severity, and decline with resolution of disease in patients who do not require ECMO therapy. Whether endothelin-1 contributes directly to the pathophysiology of PPHN or is simply a marker of disease activity remains speculative.