Corpora Amylacea Act As Containers That Remove Waste Products from the Brain
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Corpora amylacea act as containers that remove waste products from the brain Marta Ribaa,b,c,1, Elisabet Augéa,b,c,1, Joan Campo-Sabariza,d, David Moral-Antera,d, Laura Molina-Porcele, Teresa Ximelise, Ruth Ferrera,d, Raquel Martín-Venegasa,d, Carme Pelegría,b,c,2, and Jordi Vilaplanaa,b,c,2 aSecció de Fisiologia, Departament de Bioquímica i Fisiologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; bInstitut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; cCentros de Biomedicina en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), 28031 Madrid, Spain; dInstitut de Recerca en Nutrició i Seguretat Alimentàries (INSA-UB), Universitat de Barcelona, 08291 Barcelona, Spain; and eNeurological Tissue Bank of the Biobanc- Hospital Clinic-Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain Edited by Lawrence Steinman, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, and approved November 5, 2019 (received for review August 8, 2019) Corpora amylacea (CA) in the human brain are granular bodies 6). Nonetheless, we observed that CA contain glycogen synthase formed by polyglucosan aggregates that amass waste products of (GS), an indispensable enzyme for polyglucosan formation, and different origins. They are generated by astrocytes, mainly during also ubiquitin and protein p62, both associated with processes of aging and neurodegenerative conditions, and are located predom- elimination of waste substances (5). The relationship between CA inantly in periventricular and subpial regions. This study shows that and waste substances is recurrent in the literature. Already in 1999, CA are released from these regions to the cerebrospinal fluid and after a detailed and complete review, Cavanagh indicated that “CA are present in the cervical lymph nodes, into which cerebrospinal functions seem to be directed towards trapping and sequestration fluid drains through the meningeal lymphatic system. We also show of potentially hazardous products of cellular metabolism, princi- that CA can be phagocytosed by macrophages. We conclude that CA pally derived from the aging process, but probably also from any can act as containers that remove waste products from the brain disease state resulting in excessive amounts of potentially harmful and may be involved in a mechanism that cleans the brain. Moreover, metabolic products” (3). Although some of these hazardous we postulate that CA may contribute in some autoimmune brain products were described after carrying out unreliable immunohis- diseases, exporting brain substances that interact with the immune tochemical procedures, the results obtained using other techniques system, and hypothesize that CA may contain brain markers that may have supported their presence. In this regard, ultrastructural aid in the diagnosis of certain brain diseases. studies by Sbarbati et al. (7) indicated that CA originate in astro- PHYSIOLOGY cytes and accumulate abnormal material, and the study by Augé corpora amylacea | meningeal lymphatic system | aging | phagocytosis | et al. (8) showed that CA are formed inside astrocytes by the ac- natural immune system cumulation of residual products, including degenerating mito- chondria and membranous fragments originating from degenerative n 1837 the anatomist and physiologist J. E. Purkinje described processes. Moreover, combining the results of human neuropath- Ithe presence of some particular granular bodies in the brain of ological surveys, cell culture techniques, and animal models, some elderly patients (1). Virchow, in 1854, described them in more authors have proposed that CA are homologous to “Gomori- detail and observed that these bodies (corpora in Latin) share positive” granules which accumulate in subcortical/periventricular some similarities with starch (amylum in Latin) (2). These bod- regions of the rodent brain and which are derived from damaged ies, named corpora amylacea (CA), were initially considered to have no pathological significance and for a long time were thought Significance to be irrelevant. In recent decades, however, this perception has changed. With the advances in technology, CA have been studied Aging and neurodegenerative processes induce the formation from different perspectives and a large number of theories re- of waste substances in the brain. Some of these substances garding their nature have been put forward. Unfortunately, none accumulate in corpora amylacea (CA). We reveal that CA are of these theories have been demonstrated conclusively and CA released from the brain into the cerebrospinal fluid and are remain intriguing and mysterious bodies. In the present study, present in the cervical lymph nodes, into which cerebrospinal several features of CA are described and a vision of their function fluid drains through the meningeal lymphatic system. We also is proposed which may have implications for clinical practice. show that CA can be phagocytosed by macrophages. We con- There is a consensus that the main components of CA are clude that CA can act as waste containers and hypothesize that polymerized hexoses (primarily glucose) (3) and it has been esti- CA are involved in a mechanism that cleans the brain. We also mated that hexoses constitute about 88% of their weight (4). postulate that CA may contain clinical markers of brain disor- Along with polymerized hexoses, other components originating in ders and may also play significant roles in some brain auto- neurons, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes, from blood or of fungal immune diseases. These last points merit further study due to or viral origin, have also been described, although some of them their possible clinical implications. have generated controversy (5). In 2017 we reported that CA contain neoepitopes that are recognized by natural antibodies of Author contributions: M.R., E.A., R.M.-V., C.P., and J.V. designed research; M.R., E.A., J.C.-S., D.M.-A., L.M.-P., T.X., R.F., R.M.-V., C.P., and J.V. performed research; M.R., E.A., the immunoglobulin M (IgM) isotype (6). We also observed that C.P., and J.V. analyzed data; and M.R., E.A., C.P., and J.V. wrote the paper. these IgMs were present as contaminants in numerous commercial The authors declare no competing interest. antibodies used for immunohistochemistry procedures and, since This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. these contaminant IgMs are recognized by the majority of the This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- secondary antibodies, they frequently cause false positive immu- NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND). nostaining in CA. These IgMs therefore account for some of the 1M.R. and E.A. contributed equally to this work. inconsistencies concerning CA composition and are the main 2To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: [email protected] or vilaplana@ reason for the uncertainty surrounding their origin and functions. ub.edu. In subsequent work, we reviewed the presence of the components This article contains supporting information online at https://www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/ previously described in CA and were able to rule out some of them, doi:10.1073/pnas.1913741116/-/DCSupplemental. at least at levels that can be detected by immunohistochemistry (5, www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1913741116 PNAS Latest Articles | 1of11 Downloaded by guest on September 28, 2021 mitochondria engaged in a complex macroautophagy process (9, occasionally, inside the CSF of the ventricular region. This evi- 10). For their part, using a combination of 2D electrophoresis dence (summarized in Fig. 1) seems to indicate a possible route of with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight escape for the CA into the CSF. mass spectrometry, Selmaj et al. (11) identified several proteins The CSF drains not only via arachnoid granulations, as clas- of suspected neuronal origin and others involved in the regulation sically believed, but also via the recently rediscovered meningeal of apoptosis and senescence, supporting the notion that the bio- lymphatic system (15). The presence of lymphatic vessels col- genesis of CA involves the degeneration and aggregation of sub- lecting CSF at the base of the skull was described for the first stances, some of them of neuronal origin. Moreover, Cissé et al. time by Földi et al. (16). Johnston et al. (17) reported connec- (12) already described the presence of ubiquitin in CA in high- tions between the CSF and nasal lymphatic vessels in humans performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) studies. Taken to- and other mammals. Later, lymphatic vessels collecting CSF gether, this evidence indicates a relationship between CA and waste were also described lining the dural sinuses by Louveau et al. (18, elements and reinforces the idea that CA are waste containers 19), and new techniques based on magnetic resonance imaging formed by a polyglucosan structure that amasses waste products (6). permit their in vivo visualization (20). From meningeal lymphatic It is well known that CA are located mainly in perivascular, vessels and subsequent lymphatic vessels, lymph crosses different periventricular, and subpial regions of the brain (4). Since the cervical lymph nodes (18, 21) before accessing the lymphatic glymphatic system drains the interstitial fluid (ISF) from the duct or right thoracic duct, which ultimately drain into the bra- perivascular regions to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (13), and since both periventricular and subpial regions are close to the chiocephalic veins. The