Division of Neurobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
J Biol Chem. 2012 Jul 13;287(29):24460-72. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M112.382226. Epub 2012 May 30.
Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by an abnormal polyglutamine expansion in the protein Huntingtin (Htt). Currently, no cure is available for HD. The mechanisms by which mutant Htt causes neuronal dysfunction and degeneration remain to be fully elucidated. Nevertheless, mitochondrial dysfunction has been suggested as a key event mediating mutant Htt-induced neurotoxicity because neurons are energy-demanding and particularly susceptible to energy deficits and oxidative stress. SIRT3, a member of sirtuin family, is localized to mitochondria and has been implicated in energy metabolism. Notably, we found that cells expressing mutant Htt displayed reduced SIRT3 levels. trans-(-)-ε-Viniferin (viniferin), a natural product among our 22 collected naturally occurring and semisynthetic stilbenic compounds, significantly attenuated mutant Htt-induced depletion of SIRT3 and protected cells from mutant Htt. We demonstrate that viniferin decreases levels of reactive oxygen species and prevents loss of mitochondrial membrane potential in cells expressing mutant Htt. Expression of mutant Htt results in decreased deacetylase activity of SIRT3 and further leads to reduction in cellular NAD(+) levels and mitochondrial biogenesis in cells. Viniferin activates AMP-activated kinase and enhances mitochondrial biogenesis. Knockdown of SIRT3 significantly inhibited viniferin-mediated AMP-activated kinase activation and diminished the neuroprotective effects of viniferin, suggesting that SIRT3 mediates the neuroprotection of viniferin. In conclusion, we establish a novel role for mitochondrial SIRT3 in HD pathogenesis and discovered a natural product that has potent neuroprotection in HD models. Our results suggest that increasing mitochondrial SIRT3 might be considered as a new therapeutic approach to counteract HD, as well as other neurodegenerative diseases with similar mechanisms.
亨廷顿病(HD)是一种遗传性神经退行性疾病,由蛋白质亨廷顿(Htt)中的异常多聚谷氨酰胺扩展引起。目前,HD 没有治愈方法。突变型 Htt 导致神经元功能障碍和退化的机制仍有待充分阐明。然而,线粒体功能障碍已被认为是介导突变型 Htt 诱导的神经毒性的关键事件,因为神经元是能量需求高的细胞,特别容易受到能量不足和氧化应激的影响。SIRT3 是 Sirtuin 家族的一员,位于线粒体中,与能量代谢有关。值得注意的是,我们发现表达突变型 Htt 的细胞显示 SIRT3 水平降低。trans-(-)-ε-Viniferin(viniferin)是我们从 22 种天然存在和半合成的芪类化合物中收集到的一种天然产物,显著减弱了突变型 Htt 诱导的 SIRT3 耗竭,并保护细胞免受突变型 Htt 的影响。我们证明 viniferin 降低了活性氧的水平,并防止了表达突变型 Htt 的细胞中线粒体膜电位的丧失。突变型 Htt 的表达导致 SIRT3 的去乙酰化酶活性降低,进一步导致细胞中 NAD+水平和线粒体生物发生减少。Viniferin 激活 AMP 激活的蛋白激酶并增强线粒体生物发生。SIRT3 的敲低显著抑制了 viniferin 介导的 AMP 激活的蛋白激酶的激活,并减弱了 viniferin 的神经保护作用,表明 SIRT3 介导了 viniferin 的神经保护作用。总之,我们在 HD 发病机制中确立了线粒体 SIRT3 的新作用,并发现了一种在 HD 模型中具有强大神经保护作用的天然产物。我们的结果表明,增加线粒体 SIRT3 可能被认为是对抗 HD 以及其他具有相似机制的神经退行性疾病的一种新的治疗方法。