Browsing by Author "de la Fuente, Catalina"

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    c-Abl Activation Linked to Autophagy-Lysosomal Dysfunction Contributes to Neurological Impairment in Niemann-Pick Type A Disease
    (2022) Marin, Tamara; Dulcey, Andres E.; Campos, Fabian; de la Fuente, Catalina; Acuna, Mariana; Castro, Juan; Pinto, Claudio; Yanez, Maria Jose; Cortez, Cristian; McGrath, David W.; Saez, Pablo J.; Gorshkov, Kirill; Zheng, Wei; Southall, Noel; Carmo-Fonseca, Maria; Marugan, Juan; Alvarez, Alejandra R.; Zanlungo, Silvana
    Niemann-Pick type A (NPA) disease is a fatal lysosomal neurodegenerative disorder caused by the deficiency in acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) activity. NPA patients present severe and progressive neurodegeneration starting at an early age. Currently, there is no effective treatment for this disease and NPA patients die between 2 and 3 years of age. NPA is characterized by an accumulation of sphingomyelin in lysosomes and dysfunction in the autophagy-lysosomal pathway. Recent studies show that c-Abl tyrosine kinase activity downregulates autophagy and the lysosomal pathway. Interestingly, this kinase is also activated in other lysosomal neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we describe that c-Abl activation contributes to the mechanisms of neuronal damage and death in NPA disease. Our data demonstrate that: 1) c-Abl is activated in-vitro as well as in-vivo NPA models; 2) imatinib, a clinical c-Abl inhibitor, reduces autophagy-lysosomal pathway alterations, restores autophagy flux, and lowers sphingomyelin accumulation in NPA patient fibroblasts and NPA neuronal models and 3) chronic treatment with nilotinib and neurotinib, two c-Abl inhibitors with differences in blood-brain barrier penetrance and target binding mode, show further benefits. While nilotinib treatment reduces neuronal death in the cerebellum and improves locomotor functions, neurotinib decreases glial activation, neuronal disorganization, and loss in hippocampus and cortex, as well as the cognitive decline of NPA mice. Our results support the participation of c-Abl signaling in NPA neurodegeneration and autophagy-lysosomal alterations, supporting the potential use of c-Abl inhibitors for the clinical treatment of NPA patients.
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    c-Abl Deficiency Provides Synaptic Resiliency Against Aβ-Oligomers
    (2019) Gutierrez, Daniela A.; Vargas, Lina M.; Chandia-Cristi, America; de la Fuente, Catalina; Leal, Nancy; Alvarez, Alejandra R.
    Spine pathology has been implicated in the early onset of Alzheimer & x2019;s disease (AD), where A & x3b2;-Oligomers (A & x3b2;Os) cause synaptic dysfunction and loss. Previously, we described that pharmacological inhibition of c-Abl prevents A & x3b2;Os-induced synaptic alterations. Hence, this kinase seems to be a key element in AD progression. Here, we studied the role of c-Abl on dendritic spine morphological changes induced by A & x3b2;Os using c-Abl null neurons (c-Abl-KO). First, we characterized the effect of c-Abl deficiency on dendritic spine density and found that its absence increases dendritic spine density. While A & x3b2;Os-treatment reduces the spine number in both wild-type (WT) and c-Abl-KO neurons, A & x3b2;Os-driven spine density loss was not affected by c-Abl. We then characterized A & x3b2;Os-induced morphological changes in dendritic spines of c-Abl-KO neurons. A & x3b2;Os induced a decrease in the number of mushroom spines in c-Abl-KO neurons while preserving the populations of immature stubby, thin, and filopodia spines. Furthermore, synaptic contacts evaluated by PSD95/Piccolo clustering and cell viability were preserved in A & x3b2;Os-exposed c-Abl-KO neurons. In conclusion, our results indicate that in the presence of A & x3b2;Os c-Abl participates in synaptic contact removal, increasing susceptibility to A & x3b2;Os damage. Its deficiency increases the immature spine population reducing A & x3b2;Os-induced synapse elimination. Therefore, c-Abl signaling could be a relevant actor in the early stages of AD.
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    c-Abl tyrosine kinase down-regulation as target for memory improvement in Alzheimer's disease
    (2023) Leon, Rilda; Gutierrez, Daniela A.; Pinto, Claudio; Morales Acevedo, Cristián Gonzalo; de la Fuente, Catalina; Riquelme, Cristobal; Cortés Castro, Bastián Ignacio; Gonzalez-Martin, Adrian; Chamorro, David; Espinosa, Nelson; Fuentealba Durand, Pablo José; Cancino Lobos, Gonzalo; Zanlungo Matsuhiro, Silvana; Dulcey, Andres E.; Marugan, Juan J.; Rojas, Alejandra Alvarez
    BackgroundGrowing evidence suggests that the non-receptor tyrosine kinase, c-Abl, plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we analyzed the effect of c-Abl on the cognitive performance decline of APPSwe/PSEN1 & UDelta;E9 (APP/PS1) mouse model for AD. MethodsWe used the conditional genetic ablation of c-Abl in the brain (c-Abl-KO) and pharmacological treatment with neurotinib, a novel allosteric c-Abl inhibitor with high brain penetrance, imbued in rodent's chow. ResultsWe found that APP/PS1/c-Abl-KO mice and APP/PS1 neurotinib-fed mice had improved performance in hippocampus-dependent tasks. In the object location and Barnes-maze tests, they recognized the displaced object and learned the location of the escape hole faster than APP/PS1 mice. Also, APP/PS1 neurotinib-fed mice required fewer trials to reach the learning criterion in the memory flexibility test. Accordingly, c-Abl absence and inhibition caused fewer amyloid plaques, reduced astrogliosis, and preserved neurons in the hippocampus. DiscussionOur results further validate c-Abl as a target for AD, and the neurotinib, a novel c-Abl inhibitor, as a suitable preclinical candidate for AD therapies.