Neuraminidase 1 secondary deficiency contributes to CNS pathology in neurological mucopolysaccharidoses via brain proteins hypersialylation.

Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are lysosomal storage diseases caused by defects in catabolism of glycosaminoglycans. MPS I, II, III and VII, associated with lysosomal accumulation of heparan sulphate (HS), manifest with neurological deterioration and currently lack effective treatments. We report that neuraminidase 1 (NEU1) activity is drastically reduced in brain tissues of neurological MPS patients and mouse models but not in neurological lysosomal disorders without HS storage. Accumulated HS disrupts the lysosomal multienzyme complex of NEU1 with cathepsin A (CTSA), β-galactosidase (GLB1) and glucosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase (GALNS) leading to NEU1 deficiency and partial GLB1 and GALNS deficiencies in cortical tissues and iPSC-derived cortical neurons of neurological MPS patients. Increased sialylation of N-linked glycans in brains of MPS patients and mice implicated insufficient processing of sialylated glycans, except for polysialic acid. Correction of NEU1 activity in MPS IIIC mice by lentiviral gene transfer ameliorated previously identified hallmarks of the disease, including memory impairment, behavioural traits, and reduced levels of excitatory synapse markers VGLUT1 and PSD95. Overexpression of NEU1 also restored levels of VGLUT1/PSD95-positive puncta in cortical iPSC-derived MPS IIIA neurons. Our results demonstrate that HS-induced secondary NEU1 deficiency and aberrant sialylation of brain glycoproteins constitute what we believe to be a novel pathological pathway in neurological MPS spectrum crucially contributing to CNS pathology.