Ge Rui-Xin, Chen Miao, Li Qing-Chao, Liu Min, Zhou Jun, Xie Song-Bo
Center for Cell Structure and Function, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cell Biology in Universities of Shandong, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, China.
School of Life Sciences and Medicine, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, 255500, China.
Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2025 Apr 7. doi: 10.1038/s41401-025-01538-2.
Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are characterized by progressive neuronal dysfunction and anatomical changes caused by neuron loss and gliosis, ultimately leading to severe declines in brain function. While these disorders arise from a variety of pathological mechanisms, a common molecular feature is the accumulation of misfolded proteins, which occurs both inside and outside neurons. For example, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is defined by extracellular β-amyloid plaques and intracellular tau neurofibrillary tangles. These pathological protein aggregates are often resistant to traditional small molecule drugs. Recent advances in proximity-inducing chimeras such as proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs), lysosome-targeting chimeras (LYTACs), autophagy-targeted chimeras (AUTOTACs), dephosphorylation-targeting chimeras (DEPTACs) and ribonuclease-targeting chimeras (RIBOTACs) offer promising strategies to eliminate pathological proteins or mRNAs through intracellular degradation pathways. These innovative approaches open avenues for developing new therapies for NDDs. In this review we summarize the regulatory mechanisms of protein aggregation, highlight the advancements in proximity-inducing modalities for NDDs, and discuss the current challenges and future directions in therapeutic development.
神经退行性疾病(NDDs)的特征是神经元功能进行性障碍以及由神经元丢失和胶质增生引起的解剖学变化,最终导致脑功能严重衰退。虽然这些疾病由多种病理机制引起,但一个共同的分子特征是错误折叠蛋白的积累,这种积累发生在神经元内外。例如,阿尔茨海默病(AD)由细胞外β淀粉样斑块和细胞内tau神经原纤维缠结所定义。这些病理性蛋白质聚集体通常对传统小分子药物具有抗性。近年来,诸如蛋白酶靶向嵌合体(PROTACs)、溶酶体靶向嵌合体(LYTACs)、自噬靶向嵌合体(AUTOTACs)、去磷酸化靶向嵌合体(DEPTACs)和核糖核酸酶靶向嵌合体(RIBOTACs)等邻近诱导嵌合体的进展,为通过细胞内降解途径消除病理性蛋白质或mRNA提供了有前景的策略。这些创新方法为开发针对NDDs的新疗法开辟了道路。在本综述中,我们总结了蛋白质聚集的调控机制,强调了针对NDDs的邻近诱导模式的进展,并讨论了治疗开发中的当前挑战和未来方向。