Inhibition of nSMase2 Reduces the Transfer of Oligomeric alpha-Synuclein Irrespective of HypoxiaShow others and affiliations
2019 (English)In: Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, ISSN 1662-5099, Vol. 12, article id 200Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs), such as exosomes, have been proposed to play an influential role in the cell-to-cell spread of neurodegenerative diseases, including the intercellular transmission of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn). However, the regulation of EV biogenesis and its relation to Parkinson's disease (PD) is only partially understood. The generation of EVs through the ESCRT-independent pathway depends on the hydrolysis of sphingomyelin by neutral sphingomyelinase 2 (nSMase2) to produce ceramide, which causes the membrane of endosomal multivesicular bodies to bud inward. nSMase2 is sensitive to oxidative stress, a common process in PD brains; however, little is known about the role of sphingomyelin metabolism in the pathogenesis of PD. This is the first study to show that inhibiting nSMase2 decreases the transfer of oligomeric aggregates of alpha-syn between neuron-like cells. Furthermore, it reduced the accumulation and aggregation of high-molecular-weight alpha-syn. Hypoxia, as a model of oxidative stress, reduced the levels of nSMase2, but not its enzymatic activity, and significantly altered the lipid composition of cells without affecting EV abundance or the transfer of alpha-syn. These data show that altering sphingolipids can mitigate the spread of alpha-syn, even under hypoxic conditions, potentially suppressing PD progression.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA , 2019. Vol. 12, article id 200
Keywords [en]
Parkinson's disease, extracellular vesicles, neutral sphingomyelinase 2, alpha-syn, hypoxia, cell-to-cell transmission, sphingomyelin, ceramide
National Category
Neurosciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-394069DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2019.00200ISI: 000482932300001OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-394069DiVA, id: diva2:1356744
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 523-2013-27352019-10-022019-10-022019-10-02Bibliographically approved