Cited by 167Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsGlycosylation and Glycoproteins ResearchLysosomal Storage Disorders Research

Inhibition of O-GlcNAcase leads to elevation of O-GlcNAc tau and reduction of tauopathy and cerebrospinal fluid tau in rTg4510 mice

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Hastings, Nicholas B., Wang, Xiaohai, Song, Lixin, Butts, Brent D., Grotz, Diane, Hargreaves, Richard, Fred Hess, J., Hong, Kwok-Lam Karen +19 more·2017·Molecular Neurodegeneration

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hyperphosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein tau is a distinct feature of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) that are the hallmark of neurodegenerative tauopathies. O-GlcNAcylation is a lesser known post-translational modification of tau that involves the addition of N-acetylglucosamine onto serine and threonine residues. Inhibition of O-GlcNAcase (OGA), the enzyme responsible for the removal of O-GlcNAc modification, has been shown to reduce tau pathology in several transgenic models. Clarifying the underlying mechanism by which OGA inhibition leads to the reduction of pathological tau and identifying translatable measures to guide human dosing and efficacy determination would significantly facilitate the clinical development of OGA inhibitors for the treatment of tauopathies. METHODS: Genetic and pharmacological approaches are used to evaluate the pharmacodynamic response of OGA inhibition. A panel of quantitative biochemical assays is established to assess the effect of OGA inhibition on pathological tau reduction. A "click" chemistry labeling method is developed for the detection of O-GlcNAcylated tau. RESULTS: Substantial (>80%) OGA inhibition is required to observe a measurable increase in O-GlcNAcylated proteins in the brain. Sustained and substantial OGA inhibition via chronic treatment with Thiamet G leads to a significant reduction of aggregated tau and several phosphorylated tau species in the insoluble fraction of rTg4510 mouse brain and total tau in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). O-GlcNAcylated tau is elevated by Thiamet G treatment and is found primarily in the soluble 55 kD tau species, but not in the insoluble 64 kD tau species thought as the pathological entity. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that chronic inhibition of OGA reduces pathological tau in the brain and total tau in the CSF of rTg4510 mice, most likely by directly increasing O-GlcNAcylation of tau and thereby maintaining tau in the soluble, non-toxic form by reducing tau aggregation and the accompanying panoply of deleterious post-translational modifications. These results clarify some conflicting observations regarding the effects and mechanism of OGA inhibition on tau pathology, provide pharmacodynamic tools to guide human dosing and identify CSF total tau as a potential translational biomarker. Therefore, this study provides additional support to develop OGA inhibitors as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative tauopathies.

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  • Inhibitors of O-GlcNAcase enzyme (OGA) like thiamet G increase tau glycosylation, reduce NFTs and neuronal cell death, improve motor behavior, and prolong survival of tau transgenic mice.

    “Inhibitors of the O-GlcNAcase enzyme (OGA)-like thiamet G increase tau glycosylation, reduce NFTs and neuronal cell death, improve motor behavior, and prolong survival of tau transgenic mice [174, 220, 221].”

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Authors
Hastings, N. B., Wang, X., Song, L., Butts, B. D., Grotz, D., Hargreaves, R., Fred Hess, J., Hong, K.-L. K., Huang, C. R.-R., Hyde, L., Laverty, M., Lee, J., Levitan, D., Lu, S. X., Maguire, M., Mahadomrongkul, V., McEachern, E. J., Ouyang, X., Rosahl, T. W., Selnick, H., Stanton, M., Terracina, G., Vocadlo, D. J., Wang, G., Duffy, J. L., Parker, E. M., & Zhang, L.
Affiliations
  • United States Military Academy (US)
  • Alectos (Canada) (CA)
  • Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (United States) (US)
Corresponding author
  • Duffy, Joseph L.
  • Parker, Eric M.
  • Zhang, Lili
Venue
Molecular Neurodegeneration
Published
2017-05-18
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
39-39
ISSN
1750-1326 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2616169167
Cited by
164
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 2
FWCI
10.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Molecular Neurodegeneration (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Merck Research Laboratories
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Glycosylation and Glycoproteins Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Lysosomal Storage Disorders Research
Keywords
O-GlcNAcase inhibition, tauopathy, tau hyperphosphorylation, neurofibrillary tangles, rTg4510 mice, Thiamet G, cerebrospinal fluid tau, tau aggregation, pharmacodynamic biomarkers, Alzheimer's disease, O-GlcNAc transferase
MeSH terms
Animals, beta-N-Acetylhexosaminidases, Mice, Transgenic, Protein Processing, Post-Translational, Pyrans, Thiazoles, tau Proteins, Tauopathies, Mice

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