Expression of Mutant Ubiquitin and Proteostasis Impairment in Kii Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Parkinsonism-Dementia Complex Brains

Bert M. Verheijen*, Satoru Morimoto, Ryogen Sasaki, Kiyomitsu Oyanagi, Yasumasa Kokubo, Shigeki Kuzuhara, Fred W. van Leeuwen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Kii amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism-dementia complex (ALS/PDC) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is endemic to the Kii peninsula of Japan. The disorder is clinically characterized by a variable combination of parkinsonism, dementia, and motor neuron symptoms. Despite extensive investigations, the etiology and pathogenesis of ALS/PDC remain unclear. At the neuropathological level, Kii ALS/PDC is characterized by neuronal loss and tau-dominant polyproteinopathy. Here, we report the accumulation of several proteins involved in protein homeostasis pathways, that is, the ubiquitin-proteasome system and the autophagylysosome pathway, in postmortem brain tissue from a number of Ku ALS/PDC cases (n = 4). Of particular interest is the presence of a mutant ubiquitin protein (UBB+1), which is indicative of disrupted ubiquitin homeostasis. The findings suggest that abnormal protein aggregation is linked to impaired protein homeostasis pathways in Kii ALS/PDC.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)902-907
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology
Volume79
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2020

Keywords

  • Autophagy
  • Kii ALS/PDC
  • Protein aggregation
  • Protein quality control
  • Tauopathy
  • UBB+1
  • Ubiquitin-proteasome system
  • Unfolded protein response
  • NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS
  • ENDEMIC DISEASE
  • PARKINSONISM
  • SCLEROSIS
  • TAU
  • ACCUMULATION
  • PENINSULA
  • PROTEIN
  • JAPAN
  • ALZHEIMERS

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