title: Inhibitors of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 signaling pathway clear prion-infected cells from PrPSc.
abstract: Prions represent a unique class of infectious agents in which the normal cellular prion protein (PrPC) is converted to an abnormal isoform (PrPSc), which accumulates in the brain and constitutes the major, if not the only, component of the infectious particle. Factors that still remain to be identified may facilitate the conversion of PrPC to PrPSc. In the present study, we first demonstrated that a growth factor of the neurotrophin family, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), stimulates the formation of PrPSc in a gonadotropin-releasing hormone-secreting neuronal cell line (GT1-1 cells) infected with the Rocky Mountain Laboratory (RML) strain of scrapie as determined by Western blot analysis. We then observed that the prion-infected cells can be cleared from PrPSc by treatment with three inhibitors of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2) [1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis(o-aminophenylmercapto)butadiene and 2-(2-amino-3-methyoxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one, as well as alpha-[amino[(4-aminophenyl)thio]methylene]-2-(trifluoromethyl) benzeneacetonitrile, which passes the blood-brain barrier], a component of one of the intracellular signaling pathways activated by BDNF. The MEK1/2 inhibitors were also efficient in clearing PrPSc from prion-infected GT1-1 cells stimulated to accumulate high levels of PrPSc by enhanced serum concentrations in the medium or by the use of a serum-free neuron-specific neurobasal medium. PrPSc did not reappear in the cultures within 5 weeks after completion of treatment. We conclude that inhibitors of the MEK1/2 pathway can efficiently and probably irreversibly clear PrP(Sc) from prion-infected cells. The MEK pathway may therefore be a suitable target for therapeutic intervention in prion diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Elin K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Nordström
authors.forename: Katarina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Luhr
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ibáñez
authors.forename: Krister
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kristensson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003470:Culture Media; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D048370:MAP Kinase Kinase 2 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D003470:Culture Media; D018620:PrPSc Proteins; D007987:Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone; C482128:MAP2K2 protein, human; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1; D048370:MAP Kinase Kinase 2