Pharmacological inhibition and knockdown of O‐GlcNAcase reduces cellular internalization of α‐synuclein preformed fibrils

• Published in: The FEBS journal Vol. 288; no. 2; pp. 452 - 470
• Main Authors: Tavassoly, Omid, Yue, Jefferey, Vocadlo, David J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-01-2021
• Subjects: Brain; Cell lines; endocytosis; Exploitation; Fibrils; Glycosidases; Glycoside hydrolase; Hydrolase; Inhibitors; Internalization; Lewy bodies; Movement disorders; N-Acetylglucosamine; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurons; O-GlcNAcylation; O‐GlcNAcase inhibition; Parkinson's disease; Pharmacology; preformed fibril; Proteins; Synuclein; α‐synuclein; endocytosis; glycoside hydrolase; O-GlcNAcase inhibition; α-synuclein; preformed fibril
• ISSN: 1742-464X; 1742-4658
• DOI: 10.1111/febs.15349

The pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD) is Lewy bodies that form within the brain from aggregated forms of α‐synuclein (α‐syn). These toxic α‐syn aggregates are transferred from cell to cell by release of fibrils from dying neurons into the extracellular environment, followed by their subsequent uptake by neighboring cells. This process leads to spreading of the pathology throughout the brain in a prion‐like manner. Identifying new pathways that hinder the internalization of such α‐syn fibrils is of high interest for their downstream potential exploitation as a way to create disease‐modifying therapeutics for PD. Here, we show that Thiamet‐G, a highly selective pharmacological agent that inhibits the glycoside hydrolase O‐GlcNAcase (OGA), blunts the cellular uptake of α‐syn fibrils. This effect correlates with increased nucleocytoplasmic levels of O‐linked N‐acetylglucosamine (O‐GlcNAc)‐modified proteins, and genetic knockdown of OGA expression closely phenocopies both these effects. These reductions in the uptake of α‐syn fibrils caused by inhibition of OGA are both concentration‐ and time‐dependent and are observed in multiple cell lines including mouse primary cortical neurons. Moreover, treatment of cells with the OGT inhibitor, 5SGlcNHex, increases the level of uptake of α‐syn PFFs, further supporting O‐GlcNAcylation of proteins driving these effects. Notably, this effect is mediated through an unknown mechanism that does not involve well‐characterized endocytotic pathways. These data suggest one mechanism by which OGA inhibitors might exert their protective effects in prion‐like neuropathologies and support exploration of OGA inhibitors as a potential disease‐modifying approach to treat PD.
Increases in cellular levels of O‐linked N‐acetylglucosamine (O‐GlcNAc)‐modified proteins, induced by inhibition of the glycoside hydrolase O‐GlcNAcase (OGA) using a highly selective inhibitor, blunt the uptake of α‐synuclein fibrils. This effect is phenocopied by siRNA‐mediated knockdown of OGA, and inhibition of OGT increases the uptake of α‐synuclein fibrils. The effects are mediated through a pathway that is independent of general endocytosis.