著者

鈴掛 雅美 長谷川 成人

出版者

公益社団法人 日本薬学会

雑誌

YAKUGAKU ZASSHI (ISSN:00316903)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.139, no.7, pp.1007-1013, 2019-07-01 (Released:2019-07-01)

参考文献数

18

被引用文献数

2

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α-Synuclein (αS) is the major component of the filamentous inclusions that constitute the defining characteristic of neurodegenerative synucleinopathies, including Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. αS is deposited in a hyperphosphorylated and ubiquitinated form with a β-sheet-rich fibrillar structure in diseased brains. In 2008, some researchers reported that embryonic neurons transplanted into Parkinson's disease brains had Lewy body-like pathologies, suggesting that pathological αS propagates from diseased neurons to young neurons. Subsequently, a growing body of evidence supported the cell-to-cell spread of αS pathologies. Recent studies have revealed that intracerebral injection of insoluble αS into wild-type mice can induce prion-like propagation of phosphorylated αS pathology even 1 month after injection, while injection into αS-knockout mice failed to induce any pathology. We also showed that intracerebral injection of insoluble αS into adult common marmoset brains results in the spreading of abundant αS pathology. These in vivo experiments clearly indicate that insoluble αS has prion-like properties and that it propagates through neural networks. The underlying mechanisms of αS propagation are still poorly understood, but αS propagation model animals could be helpful in elucidating the pathogenetic mechanisms and developing drugs for synucleinopathies.

著者

細川 雅人 長谷川 成人

出版者

公益社団法人 日本薬学会

雑誌

YAKUGAKU ZASSHI (ISSN:00316903)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.139, no.7, pp.1021-1025, 2019-07-01 (Released:2019-07-01)

参考文献数

18

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Abnormal proteins such as tau or α-synuclein that accumulate in brains with dementia have been shown to propagate like prion proteins. However, the expression patterns of tau in the mouse brain are different from those in humans, and the pathogenesis in the animal model of abnormal tau propagation remains incompletely understood. To overcome this problem, a novel mouse showing tau expression patterns similar to those of humans was developed using genome editing techniques. We inoculated the brain of this mouse with a sarkosyl-insoluble fraction containing abnormal tau derived from tauopathy patients and examined the accumulation of tau pathologies. We also performed a detailed analysis of the relationship between the inoculation site and the sites where tau accumulates abnormally by histochemical and neuronal circuitry and elucidated the propagation mechanism of the abnormally accumulated protein. This research is expected to lead to the development of novel drugs for the treatment of dementia using the innovative approach of “inhibition of abnormal protein propagation”.

著者

葛原 茂樹 小久保 康昌 佐々木 良元 桑野 良三 伊藤 伸朗 冨山 弘幸 服部 信孝 辻 省次 原 賢寿 村山 繁雄 齊藤 裕子 長谷川 成人 岩坪 威 森本 悟 赤塚 尚美

出版者

国立精神・神経センター

雑誌

基盤研究(B)

巻号頁・発行日

2007

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紀伊半島の一部集落に多発する神経風土病の筋萎縮性側索硬化症・パーキンソン認知症複合(ALS/PDC)類似疾患で知られているほぼ全ての原因遺伝子を調べ、異常変異は認められなかった。病態と発症に関して、脳のアルツハイマー神経原線維変化の分布様式はALSとPDCでほぼ同じであった。脳と脊髄にはTDP-43の蓄積が認められ、生化学的にはタウ/TDP-43異常蓄積症と考えられた。尿中の酸化ストレスマーカーが有意に上昇しており、神経変性に参加ストレスの関与が推定された。タウとTDP-43の蓄積を起こして神経変性が進行する仕組みと、遺伝子の関与の解明が今後の課題である。