Demeler, Borries

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Browsing Demeler, Borries by Author "Abbott, Jamie A."

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    Neuropathy-associated histidyl-tRNA synthetase variants attenuate protein synthesis in vitro and disrupt axon outgrowth in developing zebrafish
    (Wiley, 2021) Mullen, Patrick; Abbott, Jamie A.; Wellman, Theresa; Aktar, Mahafuza; Fjeld, Christian; Demeler, Borries; Ebert, Alicia M.; Francklyn, Christopher S.
    Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) encompasses a set of genetically and clinically heterogeneous neuropathies characterized by length dependent dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system. Mutations in over 80 diverse genes are associated with CMT, and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARS) constitute a large gene family implicated in the disease. Despite considerable efforts to elucidate the mechanistic link between ARS mutations and the CMT phenotype, the molecular basis of the pathology is unknown. In this work, we investigated the impact of three CMT-associated substitutions (V155G, Y330C, R137Q) in the cytoplasmic histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HARS1) on neurite outgrowth and peripheral nervous system development. The model systems for this work included a nerve growth factor stimulated neurite outgrowth model in rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC12), and a zebrafish line with GFP/RFP reporters of sensory and motor neuron development. Expression of CMT-HARS1 mutations led to attenuation of protein synthesis and increased phosphorylation of eIF2α in PC12 cells and was accompanied by impaired neurite and axon outgrowth in both models. Notably, these effects were phenocopied by histidinol, a histidyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitor, and cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor. The mutant proteins also formed heterodimers with wild-type HARS1, raising the possibility that CMT-HARS1 mutations cause disease through a dominant negative mechanism. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that CMT-HARS1 alleles exert their toxic effect in a neuronal context, and lead to dysregulated protein synthesis. These studies demonstrate the value of zebrafish as a model for studying mutant alleles associated with CMT, and for characterizing the processes that lead to peripheral nervous system dysfunction.
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    Substrate interaction defects in histidyl-tRNA synthetase linked to dominant axonal peripheral neuropathy
    (Wiley, 2018) Abbott, Jamie A.; Meyer-Schuman, Rebecca; Lupo, Vicenzo; Feeley, Shawna; Mademan, Ines; Oprescu, Stephanie N.; Griffin, Laurie B.; Alberti, M. Antonia; Casasnovas, Carlos; Aharoni, Sharon; Basel-Vanagaite, Lina; Zuchner, Stephan; De Jonghe, Peter; Baets, Jonathan; Shy, Michael E.; Espinos, Carmen; Demeler, Borries; Antonellis, Anthony; Francklyn, Christopher
    Histidyl-tRNA synthetase (HARS) ligates histidine to cognate tRNA molecules, which is required for protein translation. Mutations in HARS cause the dominant axonal peripheral neuropathy Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2W (CMT2W); however, the precise molecular mechanism remains undefined. Here, we investigated three HARS missense mutations associated with CMT2W (p.Tyr330Cys, p.Ser356Asn, and p.Val155Gly). The three mutations localize to the HARS catalytic domain and failed to complement deletion of the yeast ortholog (HTS1). Enzyme kinetics, differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF), and analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) were employed to assess the effect of these substitutions on primary aminoacylation function and overall dimeric structure. Notably, the p.Tyr330Cys, p.Ser356Asn, and p.Val155Gly HARS substitutions all led to reduced aminoacylation, providing a direct connection between CMT2W-linked HARS mutations and loss of canonical ARS function. While DSF assays revealed that only one of the variants (p.Val155Gly) was less thermally stable relative to wild-type, all three HARS mutants formed stable dimers, as measured by AUC. Our work represents the first biochemical analysis of CMT-associated HARS mutations and underscores how loss of the primary aminoacylation function can contribute to disease pathology.