α-Synuclein misfolding and aggregation is a hallmark in Parkinson’s disease and in several other neurodegenerative diseases known as synucleinopathies. The toxic properties of α-synuclein are conserved from yeast to man, but the precise underpinnings of the cellular pathologies associated are still elusive, complicating the development of effective therapeutic strategies. Combining molecular genetics with target-based approaches, we established that glycation, an unavoidable age-associated post-translational modification, enhanced α-synuclein toxicity in vitro and in vivo, in Drosophila and in mice. Glycation affected primarily the N-terminal region of α-synuclein, reducing membrane binding, impaired the clearance of α-synuclein, and promoted the accumulation of toxic oligomers that impaired neuronal synaptic transmission. Strikingly, using glycation inhibitors, we demonstrated that normal clearance of α-synuclein was re-established, aggregation was reduced, and motor phenotypes in Drosophila were alleviated. Altogether, our study demonstrates glycation constitutes a novel drug target that can be explored in synucleinopathies as well as in other neurodegenerative conditions.

Estimates of the level of transcripts from the cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene required to develop a CF phenotype range from 4–20% of normal. Due to the importance of obtaining reliable data on this issue for therapeutic strategies, we developed a novel polymerase chain reaction–based method to quantify CFTR transcripts and applied it to the analysis of nasal epithelium RNA of five patients with CF and the 3272-26A>G/F508del genotype. We calculated that 8.2 ± 0.84% of the total CFTR RNA present in these five patients is normal full-length CFTR mRNA. We then demonstrated (in nasal samples from F508del carriers, n = 30) that the abundance of full-length F508del CFTR transcripts is reduced compared with wild-type transcripts, and estimated that the average ratio of F508del/wild-type transcripts is 0.87 ± 0.06. To determine the amount of full-length transcripts relative to levels found in normal individuals, we corrected for the lower abundance of the F508del transcripts and calculated that the five patients with CF have, on average, 4.7 ± 0.45% of the normal level of wild-type CFTR mRNA. Because these patients have mild CF compared with F508del homozygotes, this CFTR mRNA level appears to be sufficient to avoid the severe complications of the disease.

Sirtuin genes have been associated with aging and are known to affect multiple cellular pathways. Sirtuin 2 was previously shown to modulate proteotoxicity associated with age-associated neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer and Parkinson disease (PD). However, the precise molecular mechanisms involved remain unclear. Here, we provide mechanistic insight into the interplay between sirtuin 2 and α-synuclein, the major component of the pathognomonic protein inclusions in PD and other synucleinopathies. We found that α-synuclein is acetylated on lysines 6 and 10 and that these residues are deacetylated by sirtuin 2. Genetic manipulation of sirtuin 2 levels in vitro and in vivo modulates the levels of α-synuclein acetylation, its aggregation, and autophagy. Strikingly, mutants blocking acetylation exacerbate α-synuclein toxicity in vivo, in the substantia nigra of rats. Our study identifies α-synuclein acetylation as a key regulatory mechanism governing α-synuclein aggregation and toxicity, demonstrating the potential therapeutic value of sirtuin 2 inhibition in synucleinopathies. Parkinson disease is an age-associated neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopamine-producing neurons from a region in the brain known as the substantia nigra and by the accumulation of the protein alpha-synuclein in intracellular clumps called inclusions. Whether these inclusions are the cause or a consequence of the pathological processes is still unclear. Sirtuin proteins are considered master regulators of the ageing process and have previously been associated with neurodegeneration. In this study, we investigated the interplay between sirtuin 2 and alpha-synuclein in order to dissect the molecular mechanisms associated with protection against alpha-synuclein toxicity. We found that sirtuin 2 interacted with and removed acetyl groups from alpha-synuclein. By decreasing the levels of sirtuin 2, or by expressing mutant versions of alpha-synuclein that modulate its acetylation status, we found that acetylation reduces the aggregation of alpha-synuclein and its cytotoxicity in vitro. Next, we evaluated whether genetic inhibition of sirtuin 2 could prevent the deleterious effects of alpha-synuclein in vivo and found that, in two different models of Parkinson disease, deletion of sirtuin 2 was neuroprotective. Our data therefore suggest that strategies aimed at decreasing sirtuin 2 activity might prove valuable therapeutic avenues for intervention in Parkinson disease and other synucleinopathies.

The CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) gene, defective in cystic fibrosis, codes for a polytopic apical membrane protein functioning as a chloride channel. Wild-type (wt) CFTR matures inefficiently and CFTR with a deletion of Phe-508 (F508del), the most frequent mutation, is substantially retained as a core-glycosylated intermediate in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), probably due to misfolding that is recognized by the cellular quality control machinery involving molecular chaperones. Here, we overexpressed the heat-shock protein (Hsp) 70 chaperone in vivo and observed no changes in degradation rate of the core-glycosylated form, nor in the efficiency of its conversion into the fully glycosylated form, for either wt- or F508del-CFTR, contrary to previous in vitro studies on the affect of heat-shock cognate (Hsc) 70 on part of the first nucleotide-binding domain of CFTR. Co-transfection of Hsp70 with its co-chaperone human DnaJ homologue (Hdj)-1/Hsp40, however, stabilizes the immature form of wt-CFTR, but not of F508del-CFTR, suggesting that these chaperones act on a wt-specific conformation. As the efficiency of conversion into the fully glycosylated form is not increased under Hsp70/Hdj-1 overexpression, the lack of these two chaperones does not seem to be critical for CFTR maturation and ER retention. The effects of 4-phenylbutyrate and deoxyspergualin, described previously to interfere with Hsp70 binding, were also tested upon CFTR degradation and processing. The sole effect observed was destabilization of F508del-CFTR.

Introduction: The importance of biomarkers for pharmaceutical drug development and clinical diagnostics is more significant than ever in the current shift toward personalized medicine. Biomarkers have taken a central position either as companion markers to support drug development and patient selection, or as indicators aiming to detect the earliest perturbations indicative of disease, minimizing therapeutic intervention or even enabling disease reversal. Protein biomarkers are of particular interest given their central role in biochemical pathways. Hence, capabilities to analyze multiple protein biomarkers in one assay are highly interesting for biomedical research. Areas covered: We here review multiple methods that are suitable for robust, high throughput, standardized, and affordable analysis of protein biomarkers in a multiplex format. We describe innovative developments in immunoassays, the vanguard of methods in clinical laboratories, and mass spectrometry, increasingly implemented for protein biomarker analysis. Moreover, emerging techniques are discussed with potentially improved protein capture, separation, and detection that will further boost multiplex analyses. Expert commentary: The development of clinically applied multiplex protein biomarker assays is essential as multi-protein signatures provide more comprehensive information about biological systems than single biomarkers, leading to improved insights in mechanisms of disease, diagnostics, and the effect of personalized medicine.