AIP-1 ameliorates beta-amyloid peptide toxicity in a Caenorhabditis elegans Alzheimer's disease model.
Multiple neurodegenerative diseases are causally linked to aggregation-prone proteins. Cellular mechanisms involving protein turnover may be key defense mechanisms against aggregating protein disorders. We have used a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans Alzheimer's disease model to identify cellular responses to proteotoxicity resulting from expression of the human beta amyloid peptide (Abeta). We show up-regulation of aip-1 in Abeta-expressing animals. Mammalian homologues of AIP-1 have been shown to associate with, and regulate the function of, the 26S proteasome, leading us to hypothesize that induction of AIP-1 may be a protective cellular response directed toward modulating proteasomal function in response to toxic protein aggregation. Using our transgenic model, we show that overexpression of AIP-1 protected against, while RNAi knockdown of AIP-1 exacerbated, Abeta toxicity. AIP-1 overexpression also reduced accumulation of Abeta in this model, which is consistent with AIP-1 enhancing protein degradation. Transgenic expression of one of the two human aip-1 homologues (AIRAPL), but not the other (AIRAP), suppressed Abeta toxicity in C. elegans, which advocates the biological relevance of the data to human biology. Interestingly, AIRAPL and AIP-1 contain a predicted farnesylation site, which is absent from AIRAP. This farnesylation site was shown by others to be essential for an AIP-1 prolongevity function. Consistent with this, we show that an AIP-1 mutant lacking the predicted farnesylation site failed to protect against Abeta toxicity. Our results implicate AIP-1 in the regulation of protein turnover and protection against Abeta toxicity and point at AIRAPL as the functional mammalian homologue of AIP-1.
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80303, USA. whassan@unmc.edu
Wail M
WM
Hassan
David A
DA
Merin
Virginia
V
Fonte
Christopher D
CD
Link
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity*; D054876:Prenylation; D015854:Up-Regulation
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C544166:ZFAND2B protein, human; C544165:aip-1 protein, C elegans; C075222:amyloid beta-protein (1-42)