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Addition of α-synuclein aggregates to the intestinal environment recapitulates Parkinsonian symptoms in model systems

Acta Pharmacologica Sinica (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

The gut-brain axis plays a vital role in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The mechanisms of gut-brain transmission mainly focus on α-synuclein deposition, intestinal inflammation and microbiota function. A few studies have shown the trigger of PD pathology in the gut. α-Synuclein is highly conserved in food products, which was able to form β-folded aggregates and to infect the intestinal mucosa. In this study we investigated whether α-synuclein-preformed fibril (PFF) exposure could modulate the intestinal environment and induce rodent models replicating PD pathology. We first showed that PFF could be internalized into co-cultured Caco-2/HT29/Raji b cells in vitro. Furthermore, we demonstrated that PFF perfusion caused the intestinal inflammation and activation of enteric glial cells in an ex vivo intestinal organ culture and in an in vivo intestinal mouse coloclysis model. Moreover, we found that PFF exposure through regular coloclysis induced PD pathology in wild-type (WT) and A53T α-synuclein transgenic mice with various phenotypes. Particularly in A53T mice, PFF induced significant behavioral disorders, intestinal inflammation, α-synuclein deposition, microbiota dysbiosis, glial activation as well as degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. In WT mice, however, the PFF induced only mild behavioral abnormalities, intestinal inflammation, α-synuclein deposition, and glial activation, without significant changes in microbiota and dopaminergic neurons. Our results reveal the possibility of α-synuclein aggregates binding to the intestinal mucosa and modeling PD in mice. This study may shed light on the investigation and early intervention of the gut-origin hypothesis in neurodegenerative diseases.

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Fig. 1: Uptake and inflammation of α-synuclein aggregates in intestinal mucosa-associated cell models.
Fig. 2: α-Synuclein aggregates produced inflammation and glial cell activation in an ex vivo intestinal organ culture system.
Fig. 3: Effects of α-synuclein aggregates on the colon in the acute coloclysis model.
Fig. 4: α-Synuclein aggregates induced behavioral disorders in the regular coloclysis model.
Fig. 5: α-Synuclein aggregates induced PD pathology in the intestine of the regular coloclysis model.
Fig. 6: Modification of cytokines and activation of macrophages in the intestine of WT and A53T mice.
Fig. 7: PFF induced the aggregation of endogenous α-synuclein in the brain of the regular coloclysis model.
Fig. 8: PFF induced microglial activation in the brain and the loss of TH neurons in the SNpc in the regular coloclysis model.
Fig. 9: α-Synuclein aggregates induced microbial imbalance in the regular coloclysis model.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the National Science & Technology Major Project “Key New Drug Creation and Manufacturing Program”, China (2018ZX09711002–003–013), and the Scientific Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA12040304 and XDA12040216). This project was supported by the Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology, China (18DZ2290200), and the grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82104140, 32171220).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Ze-xian Yang, Yu Zhang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Center for Neurological and Psychiatric Research and Drug Discovery (CNPRDD), Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 555 Zu Chong Zhi Road, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Ze-xian Yang, Yu Zhang, Qing Wang, Lei Zhang, Yi-fei Liu, Ye Zhang, Yu Ren & Lin-yin Feng

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China

    Ze-xian Yang, Qing Wang, Ye Zhang, Nai-xia Zhang & Lin-yin Feng

  3. Shandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai, Shandong, 264117, China

    Yu Zhang & Hui-wen Gao

  4. Analytical Research Center for Organic and Biological Molecules, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China

    Chen Zhou & Nai-xia Zhang

  5. Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Hui-wen Gao

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Contributions

LYF, ZXY, and YZ designed the experiments. ZXY and YZ performed the experiments. QW, LZ, YFL, and CZ performed some of the experiments. YZ, YR, and HWG assisted with the experiments. ZXY and YZ wrote the manuscript. LYF, NXZ and YZ supervised the study.

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Correspondence to Yu Zhang, Nai-xia Zhang or Lin-yin Feng.

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Yang, Zx., Zhang, Y., Wang, Q. et al. Addition of α-synuclein aggregates to the intestinal environment recapitulates Parkinsonian symptoms in model systems. Acta Pharmacol Sin (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-023-01150-2

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