Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health - Research Publications
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ItemTau-mediated iron export prevents ferroptotic damage after ischemic stroke(NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2017-11)Functional failure of tau contributes to age-dependent, iron-mediated neurotoxicity, and as iron accumulates in ischemic stroke tissue, we hypothesized that tau failure may exaggerate ischemia-reperfusion-related toxicity. Indeed, unilateral, transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) suppressed hemispheric tau and increased iron levels in young (3-month-old) mice and rats. Wild-type mice were protected by iron-targeted interventions: ceruloplasmin and amyloid precursor protein ectodomain, as well as ferroptosis inhibitors. At this age, tau-knockout mice did not express elevated brain iron and were protected against hemispheric reperfusion injury following MCAO, indicating that tau suppression may prevent ferroptosis. However, the accelerated age-dependent brain iron accumulation that occurs in tau-knockout mice at 12 months of age negated the protective benefit of tau suppression against MCAO-induced focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. The protective benefit of tau knockout was revived in older mice by iron-targeting interventions. These findings introduce tau-iron interaction as a pleiotropic modulator of ferroptosis and ischemic stroke outcome.
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ItemTransferrin protects against Parkinsonian neurotoxicity and is deficient in Parkinson's substantia nigra(NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2016)Iron deposition in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a potential disease-modifying target. We previously showed that supplementation of the iron-exporter, ceruloplasmin, selectively corrected nigral iron elevation in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model. Ceruloplasmin delivers iron to transferrin (Tf), the extracellular iron-transporting protein. We show that Tf protein levels are decreased in the nigra of post-mortem PD brains compared with controls (-35%; n=10 each). Because Tf traffics iron away from iron-replete tissues, we hypothesized that Tf supplementation could selectively facilitate iron export from the nigra in PD. In cultured neurons, Tf treatment corrected iron accumulation, and subcutaneous Tf to mice ameliorated iron accumulation and motor deficits in the MPTP model of PD. Although these data support a role for Tf in the disease mechanism for PD, and its potential use for correcting disorders of iron overload, Tf therapy also caused systemic iron depletion, which could limit its application for PD.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableA comparison of ceruloplasmin to biological polyanions in promoting the oxidation of Fe2+ under physiologically relevant conditions(ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV, 2014-12)BACKGROUND: Iron oxidation is thought to be predominantly handled enzymatically in the body, to minimize spontaneous combustion with oxygen and to facilitate cellular iron export by loading transferrin. This process may be impaired in disease, and requires more accurate analytical assays to interrogate enzymatic- and auto-oxidation within a physiologically relevant environment. METHOD: A new triplex ferroxidase activity assay has been developed that overcomes the previous assay limitations of measuring iron oxidation at a physiologically relevant pH and salinity. RESULTS: Revised enzymatic kinetics for ceruloplasmin (Vmax≈35μMFe(3+)/min/μM; Km≈15μM) are provided under physiological conditions, and inhibition by sodium azide (Ki for Ferric Gain 78.3μM, Ki for transferrin loading 8.1×10(4)μM) is quantified. We also used this assay to characterize the non-enzymatic oxidation of iron that proceeded linearly under physiological conditions. CONCLUSIONS AND GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: These findings indicate that the requirement of an enzyme to oxidize iron may only be necessary under conditions of adverse pH or anionic strength, for example from hypoxia. In a normal physiological environment, Fe(3+) incorporation into transferrin would be sufficiently enabled by the biological polyanions that are prevalent within extracellular fluids.
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ItemLithium suppression of tau induces brain iron accumulation and neurodegeneration(NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2017-03)Lithium is a first-line therapy for bipolar affective disorder. However, various adverse effects, including a Parkinson-like hand tremor, often limit its use. The understanding of the neurobiological basis of these side effects is still very limited. Nigral iron elevation is also a feature of Parkinsonian degeneration that may be related to soluble tau reduction. We found that magnetic resonance imaging T2 relaxation time changes in subjects commenced on lithium therapy were consistent with iron elevation. In mice, lithium treatment lowers brain tau levels and increases nigral and cortical iron elevation that is closely associated with neurodegeneration, cognitive loss and parkinsonian features. In neuronal cultures lithium attenuates iron efflux by lowering tau protein that traffics amyloid precursor protein to facilitate iron efflux. Thus, tau- and amyloid protein precursor-knockout mice were protected against lithium-induced iron elevation and neurotoxicity. These findings challenge the appropriateness of lithium as a potential treatment for disorders where brain iron is elevated (for example, Alzheimer's disease), and may explain lithium-associated motor symptoms in susceptible patients.
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ItemEnduring Elevations of Hippocampal Amyloid Precursor Protein and Iron Are Features of β-Amyloid Toxicity and Are Mediated by Tau(SPRINGER, 2015-10)The amyloid cascade hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) positions tau protein as a downstream mediator of β-amyloid (Aβ) toxicity This is largely based on genetic cross breeding, which showed that tau ablation in young (3-7-month-old) transgenic mice overexpressing mutant amyloid precursor protein (APP) abolished the phenotype of the APP AD model. This evidence is complicated by the uncertain impact of overexpressing mutant APP, rather than Aβ alone, and for potential interactions between tau and overexpressed APP. Cortical iron elevation is also implicated in AD, and tau promotes iron export by trafficking APP to the neuronal surface. Here, we utilized an alternative model of Aβ toxicity by directly injecting Aβ oligomers into the hippocampus of young and old wild-type and tau knockout mice. We found that ablation of tau protected against Aβ-induced cognitive impairment, hippocampal neuron loss, and iron accumulation. Despite injected human Aβ being eliminated after 5 weeks, enduring changes, including increased APP levels, tau reduction, tau phosphorylation, and iron accumulation, were observed. While the results from our study support the amyloid cascade hypothesis, they also suggest that downstream effectors of Aβ, which propagate toxicity after Aβ has been cleared, may be tractable therapeutic targets.
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ItemClioquinol rescues Parkinsonism and dementia phenotypes of the tau knockout mouse(ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE, 2015-09)Iron accumulation and tau protein deposition are pathological features of Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's diseases (PD). Soluble tau protein is lower in affected regions of these diseases, and we previously reported that tau knockout mice display motor and cognitive behavioral abnormities, brain atrophy, neuronal death in substantia nigra, and iron accumulation in the brain that all emerged between 6 and 12 months of age. This argues for a loss of tau function in AD and PD. We also showed that treatment with the moderate iron chelator, clioquinol (CQ) restored iron levels and prevented neuronal atrophy and attendant behavioral decline in 12-month old tau KO mice when commenced prior to the onset of deterioration (6 months). However, therapies for AD and PD will need to treat the disease once it is already manifest. So, in the current study, we tested whether CQ could also rescue the phenotype of mice with a developed phenotype. We found that 5-month treatment of symptomatic (13 months old) tau KO mice with CQ increased nigral tyrosine hydroxylase phosphorylation (which induces activity) and reversed the motor deficits. Treatment also reversed cognitive deficits and raised BDNF levels in the hippocampus, which was accompanied by attenuated brain atrophy, and reduced iron content in the brain. These data raise the possibility that lowering brain iron levels in symptomatic patients could reverse neuronal atrophy and improve brain function, possibly by elevating neurotrophins.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableBiometals and Their Therapeutic Implications in Alzheimer's Disease(SPRINGER, 2015-01)No disease modifying therapy exists for Alzheimer's disease (AD). The growing burden of this disease to our society necessitates continued investment in drug development. Over the last decade, multiple phase 3 clinical trials testing drugs that were designed to target established disease mechanisms of AD have all failed to benefit patients. There is, therefore, a need for new treatment strategies. Changes to the transition metals, zinc, copper, and iron, in AD impact on the molecular mechanisms of disease, and targeting these metals might be an alternative approach to treat the disease. Here we review how metals feature in molecular mechanisms of AD, and we describe preclinical and clinical data that demonstrate the potential for metal-based drug therapy.
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ItemParkinson's Disease Iron Deposition Caused by Nitric Oxide-Induced Loss of β-Amyloid Precursor Protein(SOC NEUROSCIENCE, 2015-02-25)Elevation of both neuronal iron and nitric oxide (NO) in the substantia nigra are associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis. We reported previously that the Alzheimer-associated β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) facilitates neuronal iron export. Here we report markedly decreased APP expression in dopaminergic neurons of human PD nigra and that APP(-/-) mice develop iron-dependent nigral cell loss. Conversely, APP-overexpressing mice are protected in the MPTP PD model. NO suppresses APP translation in mouse MPTP models, explaining how elevated NO causes iron-dependent neurodegeneration in PD.
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ItemA delicate balance: Iron metabolism and diseases of the brain(FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, 2013-07-18)Iron is the most abundant transition metal within the brain, and is vital for a number of cellular processes including neurotransmitter synthesis, myelination of neurons, and mitochondrial function. Redox cycling between ferrous and ferric iron is utilized in biology for various electron transfer reactions essential to life, yet this same chemistry mediates deleterious reactions with oxygen that induce oxidative stress. Consequently, there is a precise and tightly controlled mechanism to regulate iron in the brain. When iron is dysregulated, both conditions of iron overload and iron deficiencies are harmful to the brain. This review focuses on how iron metabolism is maintained in the brain, and how an alteration to iron and iron metabolism adversely affects neurological function.
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ItemIron accumulation confers neurotoxicity to a vulnerable population of nigral neurons: implications for Parkinson's disease(BMC, 2014-07-10)BACKGROUND: The substantia nigra (SN) midbrain nucleus is constitutively iron rich. Iron levels elevate further with age, and pathologically in Parkinson's disease (PD). Iron accumulation in PD SN involves dysfunction of ceruloplasmin (CP), which normally promotes iron export. We previously showed that ceruloplasmin knockout (CP KO) mice exhibit Parkinsonian neurodegeneration (~30% nigral loss) by 6 months, which is prevented by iron chelation. Here, we explored whether known iron-stressors of the SN (1) aging and (2) MPTP, would exaggerate the lesion severity of CP KO mice. FINDINGS: We show that while 5 month old CP KO mice exhibited nigral iron elevation and loss of SN neurons, surprisingly, aging CP KO mice to 14 months did not exacerbate iron elevation or SN neuronal loss. Unlike young mice, iron chelation therapy in CP KO mice between 9-14 months did not rescue neuronal loss. MPTP exaggerated iron elevation in young CP KO mice but did not increase cell death when compared to WTs. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that there may exist a proportion of substantia nigra neurons that depend on CP for protection against iron neurotoxicity and could be protected by iron-based therapeutics. Death of the remaining neurons in Parkinson's disease is likely caused by parallel disease mechanisms, which may call for additional therapeutic options.