Telomere shortening leads to an acceleration of synucleinopathy and impaired microglia response in a genetic mouse model

• Published in: Acta neuropathologica communications Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 87
• Main Authors: Scheffold, Annika, Holtman, Inge R, Dieni, Sandra, Brouwer, Nieske, Katz, Sarah-Fee, Jebaraj, Billy Michael Chelliah, Kahle, Philipp J, Hengerer, Bastian, Lechel, André, Stilgenbauer, Stephan, Boddeke, Erik W G M, Eggen, Bart J L, Rudolph, Karl-Lenhard, Biber, Knut
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 22.08.2016; BioMed Central
• Subjects: alpha-Synuclein - metabolism; Animals; Brain Stem - metabolism; Brain Stem - pathology; Chromosomes; Disease Progression; Genetic engineering; Humans; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Transgenic; Microglia - metabolism; Microglia - pathology; Motor Activity - physiology; Nervous system diseases; Parkinsonian Disorders - metabolism; Parkinsonian Disorders - pathology; Phenotype; Postural Balance - physiology; Protein Aggregation, Pathological - metabolism; Protein Aggregation, Pathological - pathology; Risk factors; RNA; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Telomere Shortening - physiology; Time Factors; Telomeres; Parkinson’s disease; α-synuclein; Microglia
• ISSN: 2051-5960; 2051-5960
• DOI: 10.1186/s40478-016-0364-x

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders of the elderly and ageing hence described to be a major risk factor. Telomere shortening as a result of the inability to fully replicate the ends of linear chromosomes is one of the hallmarks of ageing. The role of telomere dysfunction in neurological diseases and the ageing brain is not clarified and there is an ongoing discussion whether telomere shortening is linked to Parkinson's disease. Here we studied a mouse model of Parkinson's disease (Thy-1 [A30P] α-synuclein transgenic mouse model) in the background of telomere shortening (Terc knockout mouse model). α-synuclein transgenic mice with short telomeres (αSYN(tg/tg) G3Terc(-/-)) developed an accelerated disease with significantly decreased survival. This accelerated phenotype of mice with short telomeres was characterized by a declined motor performance and an increased formation of α-synuclein aggregates. Immunohistochemical analysis and mRNA expression studies revealed that the disease end-stage brain stem microglia showed an impaired response in αSYN(tg/tg) G3Terc(-/-) microglia animals. These results provide the first experimental data that telomere shortening accelerates α-synuclein pathology that is linked to limited microglia function in the brainstem.