Abnormal Protein Phosphorylation in Human Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ABNORMAL PROTEIN PHOSPHORYLATION IN HUMAN AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS Jie Hong Hu B.Sc., Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) University, 1993 M.Sc., Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) University, 1996 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the School of KINESIOLOGY O Jie Hong Hu, 2003 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY September, 2003 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME: Jie Hong Hu DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy TITLE OF THESIS: Abnormal protein phosphorylation in human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) EXAMINING COMMITTEE: Chair: Dr. Parveen Bawa Professor Dr. Charles krieger Senior Supervisor Professor, School of Kinesiology BimeUraser University Dr. Wade Parkhouse Supervisor Professor, School of Kinesiology Simon Fraser University - Dr. Nick Harden Internal Examiner Assistant Professor, Department Molecular Biology and Biochemstry Simon Fraser University ~r.6rDurham External Examiner Professor, Department Neurology/Neurosurgery McGill University Date Approved: 16"' September 2003 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay ABNORMAL PROTEIN PHOSPHORYLATION IN HUMAN AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS (ALS) Author: (signature) Jie Hong Hu (name) (date) ABSTRACT Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of neurons in cortex, brain stem and spinal cord. Currently, ALS is believed to be triggered by a number of distinct factors including glutamate excitotoxicity and mutations in the sod1 gene (mSOD). To explore the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)- mediated cytotoxicity, cell death assays were performed in NR 1AINR2A-transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells. NMDA-mediated cell death was potentiated by the activation of ca2+-and lipid-dependent isoforms of PKC, specifically PKCP 1. A discrete segment of the C-terminus of NR2A subunit contributed to this potentiation by PKC. These data demonstrate that the elevation of PKC activity increases cell death induced by NMDA receptor activation. To examine the involvement of abnormal protein phosphorylation in ALS, the expression of over 130 proteins were evaluated in postmortem spinal cord tissues from patients having sporadic ALS and controls. There was increased expression of protein kinases and phosphoproteins in ALS tissue such as PKCaIP, protein kinase B a (PKBa) and phospho-PKCalP. This suggests that both pro- and anti-apoptotic signaling pathways are up-regulated in ALS. It is possible that the final outcome for each individual cell is determined by which pathway dominates over the other. Transgenic mice over-expressing mSOD have been used extensively as a model of familial ALS. Comparative studies have revealed a striking similarity in pathology between mSOD mouse and human ALS. The morphological analogy between these two .. 111 was investigated and we found that in G93A mSOD mice, the spinal nucleus of bulbocavernosus (SNB) is spared from degeneration, paralleling the survival of its functional and anatomical homologue, Onuf s nucleus. This provides evidence that mSOD mice may suitably models ALS. However, a distinct profile of changes in protein expression were observed in the CNS tissues of G93A mSOD mice compared with their control littermates, which was dissimilar to that between ALS patients and controls. This observation indicates that the activation of protein kinases is different with neuron loss in mSOD mouse compared with that seen in patients with sporadic ALS. These findings suggest an important role for abnormal protein phosphorylation in ALS. DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my beloved parents, Yue Ping Hu and Yue Zhu Shi, and to my dear husband, Biao Kuang, with thanks for all their love, support, encouragement and understanding. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deepest thanks belong to my supervisor, Dr. Charles Krieger. I could not have imagined having a better advisor for my Ph.D. Without his creativeness, patient way of guidance and sharing knowledge, this work would have been impossible. I am greatly indebted to my external supervisor Dr. Steve Pelech, for always being there to give sound advice and careful instructions. I am also very grateful for his help on providing laboratory equipments and chemical reagents. My gratitude also goes to the remaining members of my committee, Professors Lynn Raymond, Wade Parkhouse, Nick Harden and Heather Durham. All of them have been very helpful, both in developing aspects of my research and with completing the Ph.D. degree requirements. I owe my warm thanks to Venska Wagey, Dwayne Hamson and Dr. Neil Watson. The experiences of doing collaboration with them are of great value in my life. Additional special thanks are due to the staff of Animal Care Facility for their assistance on my transgenic mouse project. Also, I offer heartfelt gratitude to Kinexus Corporation and Narinder Dhatt for giving generous technical support. Finally, I would like to express loving thanks to my parents, my husband and all my dear friends, without whom I would never have gone this far. TABLE OF CONTENTS .. APPROVAL ........................................................................................................................ 11 ... ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... 111 DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi .. TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ xi ... LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................xi11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... xiv LIST OF AMINO ACID CODES .................................................................................... xxi CHAPTER 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 1 1.1 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) ......................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Pathogenesis of ALS ........................................................................................... 2 1.2 N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor neurotoxicity ............................................ 4 1.2.1 NMDA receptor ................................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 NMDA receptor interacting proteins ................................................................... 7 1.2.2.1 Postsynaptic density (PSD) protein PSD-95 ............................................... 9 1.2.2.2 Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) .................................................... 10 1.2.3 Protein phosphorylation of NMDA receptor ..................................................... 1 1 1.2.3.1 Protein kinase C (PKC) ............................................................................. 1 1 1.2.3.2 cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) ......................................................... 14 1.2.3.3 ~a~+/calmodulin-dependentkinase I1 (CaMKII) ....................................... 15 1.2.4 A signaling model of NMDA receptor neurotoxicity ........................................ 16 1.3 Neurotrophin-mediated cell survival signaling pathways in nervous system .......... 19 1.3.1 Trk receptor signaling ........................................................................................ 2 1 1.3.2 The mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEKIERK) survival pathway .................................................................... 2 1 1.3.3 The phosphatidylinositol3-kinaselprotein kinase B (PI3-KJPKB) survival pathway ....................................................................................................................23 vii 1.4 Mutant superoxide dismutase (mSOD) transgenic mouse model of familial ALS (FALS) .................................................................................................................. 25 1.4.1 SOD mutation and gain of toxic function ......................................................... 25 1.4.2 mSOD mouse model of ALS ............................................................................. 28 1.4.3 Alteration of protein phosphorylation in nervous tissues of ALS and mSOD mouse .........................................................................................................................