Chromatin-Bound Oxidized α-Synuclein Causes Strand Breaks in Neuronal Genomes in in vitro Models of Parkinson's Disease

Velmarini Vasquez, Joy Mitra, Pavana M. Hegde, Arvind Pandey, Shiladitya Sengupta, Sankar Mitra, Sudha K. Rao, Muralidhar L Hegde

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

62 Scopus citations

Abstract

Alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) overexpression and misfolding/aggregation in degenerating dopaminergic neurons have long been implicated in Parkinson's disease (PD). The neurotoxicity of α-Syn is enhanced by iron (Fe) and other pro-oxidant metals, leading to generation of reactive oxygen species in PD brain. Although α-Syn is predominantly localized in presynaptic nerve terminals, a small fraction exists in neuronal nuclei. However, the functional and/or pathological role of nuclear α-Syn is unclear. Following up on our earlier report that α-Syn directly binds DNA in vitro, here we confirm the nuclear localization and chromatin association of α-Syn in neurons using proximity ligation and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. Moderate (∼2-fold) increase in α-Syn expression in neural lineage progenitor cells (NPC) derived from induced pluripotent human stem cells (iPSCs) or differentiated SHSY-5Y cells caused DNA strand breaks in the nuclear genome, which was further enhanced synergistically by Fe salts. Furthermore, α-Syn required nuclear localization for inducing genome damage as revealed by the effect of nucleus versus cytosol-specific mutants. Enhanced DNA damage by oxidized and misfolded/oligomeric α-Syn suggests that DNA nicking activity is mediated by the chemical nuclease activity of an oxidized peptide segment in the misfolded α-Syn. Consistent with this finding, a marked increase in Fe-dependent DNA breaks was observed in NPCs from a PD patient-derived iPSC line harboring triplication of the SNCA gene. Finally, α-Syn combined with Fe significantly promoted neuronal cell death. Together, these findings provide a novel molecular insight into the direct role of α-Syn in inducing neuronal genome damage, which could possibly contribute to neurodegeneration in PD.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)S133-S150
JournalJournal of Alzheimer's Disease
Volume60
Issue numbers1
Early online dateJul 17 2017
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Alpha-synuclein
  • iPSC-derived neural progenitor cells
  • iron
  • neurodegeneration
  • Parkinson's disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Chromatin-Bound Oxidized α-Synuclein Causes Strand Breaks in Neuronal Genomes in in vitro Models of Parkinson's Disease'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this