Crystallographic structure of human beta-hexosaminidase A: interpretation of Tay-Sachs mutations and loss of GM2 ganglioside hydrolysis

Lysosomal beta-hexosaminidase A (Hex A) is essential for the degradation of GM2 gangliosides in the central and peripheral nervous system. Accumulation of GM2 leads to severely debilitating neurodegeneration associated with Tay-Sachs disease (TSD), Sandoff disease (SD) and AB variant. Here, we present the X-ray crystallographic structure of Hex A to 2.8 A resolution and the structure of Hex A in complex with NAG-thiazoline, (NGT) to 3.25 A resolution. NGT, a mechanism-based inhibitor, has been shown to act as a chemical chaperone that, to some extent, prevents misfolding of a Hex A mutant associated with adult onset Tay Sachs disease and, as a result, increases the residual activity of Hex A to a level above the critical threshold for disease. The crystal structure of Hex A reveals an alphabeta heterodimer, with each subunit having a functional active site. Only the alpha-subunit active site can hydrolyze GM2 gangliosides due to a flexible loop structure that is removed post-translationally from beta, and to the presence of alphaAsn423 and alphaArg424. The loop structure is involved in binding the GM2 activator protein, while alphaArg424 is critical for binding the carboxylate group of the N-acetyl-neuraminic acid residue of GM2. The beta-subunit lacks these key residues and has betaAsp452 and betaLeu453 in their place; the beta-subunit therefore cleaves only neutral substrates efficiently. Mutations in the alpha-subunit, associated with TSD, and those in the beta-subunit, associated with SD are discussed. The effect of NGT binding in the active site of a mutant Hex A and its effect on protein function is discussed.     

Validity of lymphoid cell line for enzymatic studies of GM2-gangliosidosis variant 0 (Sandhoff disease)

A lymphoid cell line established by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformation of peripheral blood B-lymphocytes from a patient with Sandhoff disease showed a severe deficiency of beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase activity (residual activity around 10% of that in lymphoid cell lines from normals or other lipidotic patients). This residual beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase was completely heat-labile in contrast to that of normals. The molecular forms of residual beta-N-acetylhexosaminidase from Sandhoff lymphoid cell line were separated by Con A-sepharose and electrofocusing. Their properties and electrofocusing profiles were compared to those from Sandhoff fibroblasts and from fetal brain: this comparison permitted to identify the residual molecular forms with Hex S and Hex C. The microheterogeneity of Hex S and Hex C, demonstrated by electrofocusing, was discussed. 2-Acetamido-2-deoxy-D-galactonolactone (GalNAcLone) showed a strong inhibitory effect on lysosomal Hex A, B and S, but only a very slight effect on Hex C. Studies of the inhibition type (competitive on Hex A, B and S and mixed on Hex C) gave some informations about the enzymatic site. Elsewhere, differences in affinity of GalNAcLone for the various isoenzymes could be utilized to define optimal assay conditions for specifically determining Hex C (standard assay containing 400 mumol/l of GalNAcLone). These results demonstrated that EBV-transformed lymphoid cell lines represent an accurate model system for enzymatic studies of Sandhoff disease.     

Thermolabile hexosaminidase (Hex) B: diverse frequencies among Jewish communities and implication for screening of sera for Hex A deficiencies

Twenty unrelated people with thermolabile beta-hexosaminidase (Hex) B were identified in random samples of 41,561 adult Israeli Jews whose sera were screened for Hex A levels. Eighteen of them originated from contiguous Middle Eastern countries (n = 1,337) and only 2 were Ashkenazi Jews (n = 38,388). None was found among the screened Moroccan Jews (n = 1,524). The commonly used screening test for detection of Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) carriers is the serum Hex heat inactivation method (HIM), which is based on the assumption that Hex A is the only thermolabile component of Hex; However, in the presence of thermolabile Hex B, HIM could lead to false-negative results. Since TSD is very rare among Mideastern Jews while thermolabile Hex B is very rare among Ashkenazi and Moroccan Jews, it is concluded that at present there is almost no risk of such false-negative results. In order to further reduce this risk it is recommended that screening of people of Mideastern or mixed ancestry be done with HIM in leukocytes rather than in serum or with the specific substrate for Hex A in serum.     

Tay-Sachs disease with hexosaminidase A: characterization of the defective enzyme in two patients

Cases of infantile Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) with high residual hexosaminidase A (Hex A) activity have recently been described. The clinical presentation of the disease in these patients is identical to that found among Ashkenazi-Jewish patients. Fibroblasts from two such TSD patients had Hex A activity comprising 16% of total Hex when measured by thermal fractionation and quantitation with 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-N-acetylglucosamine (4MUG). Hydrolysis of 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-N-acetylglucosamine-6-SO4 (4MUGS) by patient fibroblast extracts is catalyzed by an enzyme activity that comprises less than 1% of total Hex. Kinetic analysis of patient Hex A by using 4MUGS revealed Km's similar to that of control Hex A but Vmax's significantly different from that of the control enzyme. The inhibitors N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylglucosamine-6-PO4 were used to distinguish between active sites associated with the two different subunits of Hex A. A beta-subunit site with little activity toward 4MUGS is sensitive to N-acetylglucosamine but resistant to N-acetylglucosamine-6-PO4. This site accounts for most of the hydrolysis of 4MUG. By contrast, an alpha-subunit site that is sensitive to N-acetylglucosamine-6-PO4 but resistant to N-acetylglucosamine accounts for almost all of the hydrolysis of 4MUGS. In mutant cells, this site retains the ability to bind substrate but is deficient in catalytic activity toward 4MUGS. The pH optima of patients' Hex A is shifted to a more acidic range, and the enzymes are significantly more thermostable than control Hex A. By using the thermal fractionation procedure for serum isozyme discrimination, one parent of each patient is unambiguously classified as heterozygous for the TSD gene whereas the other parent has test values in the grey zone. When parents are tested by use of 4MUGS, however, all four parents are classified as heterozygotes. Comparison of the results of both assay procedures allows the carrier of the atypical TSD allele to be recognized and identifies the probands as compound heterozygotes.     

N-acetylneuraminic acid accumulation in a buoyant lysosomal fraction of cultured fibroblasts from patients with infantile generalized N-acetylneuraminic acid storage disease

Cultured fibroblasts from control individuals and two patients affected with the infantile variant of generalized N-acetylneuraminic acid (NeuAc) storage disease were disrupted by nitrogen cavitation, and the post-nuclear supernatant fractions were subjected to subcellular fractionation on Percoll gradients. Accumulating NeuAc in affected fibroblasts (approx. 150 nmol/mg protein) co-localized with the lysosomal marker N-acetyl-beta-hexosaminidase (Hex), in a fraction with a mean density of 1.035 g/ml. In contrast, more than 70% of the Hex activity of control cells sedimented in comparable gradients with a density of more than 1.07 g/ml. The lysosomal localization of NeuAc accumulation in affected fibroblasts was confirmed by treatment of post-nuclear supernatant fractions with 0.5 mM Gly-Phe-beta-naphthylamide (20 min, 37 degrees C) prior to centrifugation, which resulted in the simultaneous loss of latency of Hex and free NeuAc, and their association with the soluble fraction on Percoll gradients. The results provide direct evidence for the accumulation of free NeuAc in a unique buoyant lysosomal fraction of affected fibroblasts.     

Crystal structure of human beta-hexosaminidase B: understanding the molecular basis of Sandhoff and Tay-Sachs disease

In humans, two major beta-hexosaminidase isoenzymes exist: Hex A and Hex B. Hex A is a heterodimer of subunits alpha and beta (60% identity), whereas Hex B is a homodimer of beta-subunits. Interest in human beta-hexosaminidase stems from its association with Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff disease; these are prototypical lysosomal storage disorders resulting from the abnormal accumulation of G(M2)-ganglioside (G(M2)). Hex A degrades G(M2) by removing a terminal N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (beta-GalNAc) residue, and this activity requires the G(M2)-activator, a protein which solubilizes the ganglioside for presentation to Hex A. We present here the crystal structure of human Hex B, alone (2.4A) and in complex with the mechanistic inhibitors GalNAc-isofagomine (2.2A) or NAG-thiazoline (2.5A). From these, and the known X-ray structure of the G(M2)-activator, we have modeled Hex A in complex with the activator and ganglioside. Together, our crystallographic and modeling data demonstrate how alpha and beta-subunits dimerize to form either Hex A or Hex B, how these isoenzymes hydrolyze diverse substrates, and how many documented point mutations cause Sandhoff disease (beta-subunit mutations) and Tay-Sachs disease (alpha-subunit mutations).     

Methodological approaches to immunohistochemical demonstration of beta-hexosaminidase in human placental and renal tissue with monoclonal antibodies

The lysosomal enzyme, beta-hexosaminidase (Hex), was studied in full-term human placentas and in renal tissue using monoclonal antibodies raised against Hex purified from human placentas. The immunohistochemical reaction for Hex was pronounced in trophoblastic cells and macrophages of the basal plate and the smooth chorion, but was faint or negative in the amnion as well as in the syncytiotrophoblast and Hofbauer cells of the chorionic villi. The maternal decidual cells of the basal plate were negative. Biochemical enzyme analysis showed the highest activity in basal plate cells (containing trophoblast, decidual cells, macrophages and neutrophils) and a low activity in the chorionic villi. Placental tissue was less positive with monoclonal antibodies specific for Hex A, compared with antibodies reacting with both Hex A and Hex B. Epithelial cells of the renal proximal tubules were positive to the same degree with antibodies recognizing both Hex A and Hex B as well as those recognizing only Hex A.     

Metabolic correction in microglia derived from Sandhoff disease model mice

Sandhoff disease is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease caused by a defect of the beta-subunit gene (HEXB) associated with simultaneous deficiencies of beta-hexosaminidase A (HexA; alphabeta) and B (HexB; betabeta), and excessive accumulation of GM2 ganglioside (GM2) and oligosaccharides with N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residues at their non-reducing termini. Recent studies have shown the involvement of microglial activation in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration of this disease. We isolated primary microglial cells from the neonatal brains of Sandhoff disease model mice (SD mice) produced by disruption of the murine Hex beta-subunit gene allele (Hexb-/-). The cells expressed microglial cell-specific ionized calcium binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1)-immunoreactivity (IR) and antigen recognized by Ricinus communis agglutinin lectin-120 (RCA120), but not glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-IR specific for astrocytes. They also demonstrated significant intracellular accumulation of GM2 and GlcNAc-oligosaccharides. We produced a lentiviral vector encoding for the murine Hex beta-subunit and transduced it into the microglia from SD mice with the recombinant lentivirus, causing elimination of the intracellularly accumulated GM2 and GlcNAc-oligosaccharides and secretion of Hex isozyme activities from the transduced SD microglial cells. Recomibinant HexA isozyme isolated from the conditioned medium of a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line simultaneously expressing the human HEXA (alpha-subunit) and HEXB genes was also found to be incorporated into the SD microglia via cell surface cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor and mannose receptor to degrade the intracellularly accumulated GM2 and GlcNAc-oligosaccharides. These results suggest the therapeutic potential of recombinant lentivirus encoding the murine Hex beta-subunit and the human HexA isozyme (alphabeta heterodimer) for metabolic cross-correction in microglial cells involved in progressive neurodegeneration in SD mice.     

Mutational analyses of Tay-Sachs disease: studies on Tay-Sachs carriers of French Canadian background living in New England.

Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) results from mutations in HEXA that cause Hex A deficiency. Heterozygote-screening programs have been applied in groups with an increased TSD incidence, such as Ashkenazi Jews and French Canadians in Quebec. These programs are complicated by benign mutations that cause apparent Hex A deficiency but not TSD. Benign mutations account for only approximately 2% of Jewish and approximately 36% of non-Jewish enzyme-defined carriers. A carrier frequency of 1/53 (n = 1,434) was found in an ongoing prospective analysis of persons of French Canadian background living in New England by using an enzyme-based assay. DNA from enzyme-defined carriers from this population was analyzed to determine the molecular basis of Hex A deficiency. Samples (36) were tested for common mutations, and samples that were negative for these were screened for uncommon or novel mutations by using SSCP analysis. Exons showing mobility shifts were sequenced, and most mutations were confirmed by restriction enzyme digestion. Known disease-causing mutations were found in nine samples (four had a 7.6-kb deletion found in 80% of French Canadian TSD alleles), and known benign mutations were found in four samples. Seven novel changes were identified, including G748A in four samples. The molecular basis of Hex A deficiency in this carrier population differs from that of French Canadian TSD patients. Screening centers should be aware of the presence of benign mutations among U.S. French Canadians or Franco-Americans.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The human GM2 activator protein. A substrate specific cofactor of beta-hexosaminidase A.

Ganglioside GD1a-GalNAc was isolated from Tay-Sachs brain, tritium-labeled in its sphingosine moiety, and its enzymic degradation studied in vitro and in cultured fibroblasts. When offered as micelles, GD1a-GalNAc was almost not hydrolyzed by Hex A or Hex B, while after incorporation of the ganglioside into the outer leaflet of liposomes, the terminal GalNAc residue was rapidly split off by Hex a. In striking contrast to ganglioside GM2, the major glycolipid substrate of Hex A, the enzymic hydrolysis of GD1a-GalNAc was not promoted by the GM2 activator protein, although the activator protein did bind GD1a-GalNAc to form a water-soluble complex. Pathobiochemical studies corroborate these results. After incorporation of [3H]GD1a-GalNAc into cultured skin fibroblasts from healthy subjects and from patients with different variants of GM2 gangliosidosis, its degradation was found to be strongly attenuated in mutant cells with Hex A deficiencies such as variant B (Tay-Sachs disease), variant B1 and variant 0 (Sandhoff disease), while in cells with variant AB (GM2 activator deficiency), its catabolism was blocked only at the level of GM2. In line with these metabolic studies, a normal content of GD1a-GalNAc was found in brains of patients who had succumbed to variant AB of GM2 gangliosidosis whereas in brains from variants B, B1, and 0, its concentration was considerably elevated (up to 19-fold). Together with studies on the enzymic degradation of GM2 derivatives with modifications in the ceramide portion, these results indicate that mainly steric hindrance by adjacent lipid molecules impedes the access of Hex A to membrane-bound GM2 (whose degradation therefore depends on solubilization by the GM2 activator) and in addition that the interaction between the GM2. GM2 activator complex and the enzyme must be highly specific.     

Ultrastructural investigations on two lymphoid cell lines from Niemann-Pick disease type B

Lymphoid cell lines (LCL) were established by Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) transformation of blood B-lymphocytes from two different patients affected with Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) type B. Those lines were severely deficient in sphingomyelinase activity (8% and 10% residual activity). Ultrastructural investigations showed in both these lines the presence of numerous osmiophilic, dense and pleiomorphic inclusions characteristic of lysosomal storage (due to the accumulation of amphiphilic lipids) similar to those observed in tissues from NPD.     

A sequence in beta-hexosaminidase from Dictyostelium discoideum required for sorting of proteins to a compartment involved in developmentally induced secretion.

To study the sorting of proteins in Dictyostelium discoideum, we used vector constructs that contain cDNA coding for the entire beta-hexosaminidase protein to prepare transformants of a mutant that lacks this enzyme activity. These transformants overexpressed active, normally processed beta-hexosaminidase. The overexpressed enzyme colocalized with other acid hydrolases in the soluble fraction of vesicles in the lysosomal region of Percoll gradients. The sorting of other hydrolases was unaltered. We also prepared transformants with constructs that contain 22 (Hex 22-Inv), 70 (Hex 70-Inv), and 532 (Hex 532-Inv) amino-terminal amino acids from beta-hexosaminidase fused in frame with the coding sequence for the yeast SUC2 gene product, invertase. Fusion molecular masses were those expected for fully N-glycosylated proteins. Hex 22-Inv was rapidly (t1/2 less than 30 min) and quantitatively secreted. The others were slowly (t1/2 greater than 5 h) and partially secreted. Each expressed invertase activity. During growth, the invertase activity of Hex 70-Inv and Hex 532-Inv was retained to the same extent as that of endogenous lysosomal enzymes. Most of the Hex 70-Inv migrated in Percoll gradients with vesicles of intermediate density (d = 1.055), but a portion co-migrated with lysosomal enzymes at d = 1.08. Hex 70-Inv was sulfated, and its N-glycosides were resistant to endoglycosidase H, indicating Golgi processing. Hex 70-Inv and Hex 532-Inv, like endogenous lysosomal enzymes, were subject to developmentally induced secretion.     

Presence of an unusual GM2 derivative,taurine-conjugated GM2, in Tay-Sachs brain

Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) is a classical glycosphingolipid (GSL) storage disease. Although the genetic and biochemical bases for a massive cerebral accumulation of ganglioside GM2 in TSD have been well established, the mechanism for the neural dysfunction in TSD remains elusive. Upon analysis of GSLs from a variant B TS brain, we have detected a novel GSL that has not been previously revealed. We have isolated this GSL in pure form. Using NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and chemical synthesis, the structure of this unusual GSL was established to be a taurine-conjugated GM2 (tauro-GM2) in which the carboxyl group of N-acetylneuraminic acid was amidated by taurine. Using a rabbit anti-tauro-GM2 serum, we also detected the presence of tauro-GM2 in three other small brain samples from one variant B and two variant O TSD patients. On the other hand, tauro-GM2 was not found in three normal human brain samples. The presence of tauro-GM2 in TS brains, but not in normal brains, indicates the possible association of this unusual GM2 derivative with the pathogenesis of TSD. Our findings point to taurine conjugation as a heretofore unelucidated mechanism for TS brain to cope with water-insoluble GM2.     

Physiological substrates for human lysosomal beta -hexosaminidase S.

Human lysosomal beta-hexosaminidases remove terminal beta-glycosidically bound N-acetylhexosamine residues from a number of glycoconjugates. Three different isozymes composed of two noncovalently linked subunits alpha and beta exist: Hex A (alphabeta), Hex B (betabeta), and Hex S (alphaalpha). While the role of Hex A and B for the degradation of several anionic and neutral glycoconjugates has been well established, the physiological significance of labile Hex S has remained unclear. However, the striking accumulation of anionic oligosaccharides in double knockout mice totally deficient in hexosaminidase activity but not in mice expressing Hex S (Sango, K., McDonald, M. P., Crawley, J. N., Mack, M. L., Tifft, C.J., Skop, E., Starr, C. M., Hoffmann, A., Sandhoff, K., Suzuki, K., and Proia, R. L., (1996) Nat. Genet. 14, 348-352) prompted us to reinvestigate the substrate specificity of Hex S. To identify physiological substrates of Hex S, anionic and neutral oligosaccharides excreted in the urine of the double knockout mice were isolated and analyzed. Using ESI-MS/MS and glycosidase digestion the anionic glycans were identified as products of incomplete dermatan sulfate degradation whereas the neutral storage oligosaccharides were found to be fragments of N-glycan degradation. In vitro, recombinant Hex S was highly active on water-soluble and amphiphilic glycoconjugates including artificial substrates, sulfated GAG fragments, and the sulfated glycosphingolipid SM2. Hydrolysis of membrane-bound SM2 by the recombinant Hex S was synergistically stimulated by the GM2 activator protein and the lysosomal anionic phospholipid bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate.     

Presence of an atypical thermolabile species of beta-hexosaminidase B in metastatic-tumour tissue of human liver.

An atypical thermolabile species of Hex B (hexosaminidase B) has been found in metastatic-tumour sites of human liver which has a thermostability curve similar to that of Hex A (hexosaminidase A), which is present in decreased amounts relative to the Hex A isoenzyme, and which exhibits decreased relative activity at acidic pH values (2.6-3.6) when compared with control-liver Hex B. This atypical Hex B isoenzyme has a normal apparent Michaelis constant (0.6 mM) for 4-methylumbelliferyl 2-deoxy-2-acetamido-beta-D-glucopyranoside. The presence of this atypical Hex B suggests that variant beta-chains are being produced in metastatic-tumour tissue.     

Impaired proteolytic processing of lysosomal N-acetyl-beta-hexosaminidase in cultured fibroblasts from patients with infantile generalized N-acetylneuraminic acid storage disease

Cultured skin fibroblasts from patients suffering with infantile generalized N-acetylneuraminic acid (NeuAc) storage disease accumulate free NeuAc in a population of lysosomes less dense than those observed in normal fibroblasts (1.035 vs. greater than 1.07 mean density), as assessed by the distribution of lysosomal enzyme activities and NeuAc on Percoll gradients after subcellular fractionation. In the present study, normal and affected fibroblasts were labeled with [35S]methionine, and cell homogenates or subcellular fractions from Percoll gradients were immunoprecipitated with polyclonal antibodies to lysosomal N-acetyl-beta-hexosaminidase (Hex); immunoprecipitated polypeptides were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The synthesis and initial processing of Hex polypeptides were comparable in normal and affected fibroblasts, but mature polypeptides were quantitatively localized in "buoyant" lysosomes of affected cells, along with Hex activity; moreover, mature alpha-chain of Hex was approximately 2 kDa larger than that observed in normal cells. The molecular weight difference was apparently due to impaired proteolytic processing of alpha-chain in affected fibroblasts, since treatment of immunoprecipitated alpha-chain from normal and affected cells with neuraminidase and endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H failed to resolve the molecular weight difference. The impaired processing was observed to be persistent (after a chase of up to 200 h), but had no apparent effect on the turnover or activity of Hex in affected fibroblasts. The observed proteolytic processing defect may be primary or secondary in infantile NeuAc storage disease.     

Pyrimethamine as a potential pharmacological chaperone for late-onset forms of GM2 gangliosidosis

Late-onset GM2 gangliosidosis is composed of two related, autosomal recessive, neurodegenerative diseases, both resulting from deficiency of lysosomal, heterodimeric beta-hexosaminidase A (Hex A, alphabeta). Pharmacological chaperones (PC) are small molecules that can stabilize the conformation of a mutant protein, allowing it to pass the quality control system of the endoplasmic reticulum. To date all successful PCs have also been competitive inhibitors. Screening for Hex A inhibitors in a library of 1040 Food Drug Administration-approved compounds identified pyrimethamine (PYR (2,4-diamino 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-6-ethylpyrimidine)) as the most potent inhibitor. Cell lines from 10 late-onset Tay-Sachs (11 alpha-mutations, 2 novel) and 7 Sandhoff (9 beta-mutations, 4 novel) disease patients, were cultured with PYR at concentrations corresponding to therapeutic doses. Cells carrying the most common late-onset mutation, alphaG269S, showed significant increases in residual Hex A activity, as did all 7 of the beta-mutants tested. Cells responding to PC treatment included those carrying mutants resulting in reduced Hex heat stability and partial splice junction mutations of the inherently less stable alpha-subunit. PYR, which binds to the active site in domain II, was able to function as PC even to domain I beta-mutants. We concluded that PYR functions as a mutation-specific PC, variably enhancing residual lysosomal Hex A levels in late-onset GM2 gangliosidosis patient cells.     

beta-Glucosidase isoenzymes in Epstein-Barr virus-transformed lymphoid cell lines from normal subjects and patients with type 1 Gaucher disease

Lymphoid cell lines (LCL) from 3 adult patients with non-neuropathic Gaucher disease were established by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transformation and were investigated from the view of enzymology. Glucosylceramide-beta-glucosidase (GlcCer-beta-glucosidase) was present in soluble and particulate fraction of LCL from normal subjects and was deficient in type 1 Gaucher LCL; the deficiency of all molecular forms, shown by electrofocusing, indicates that they are coded by the same gene. The existence of two non-specific beta-glucosidases, one soluble (minor), the other membrane-bound (major), was demonstrated in leucocytes and LCL from normals; in Gaucher LCL, these were also present in a normal range. Characteristic properties of the non-specific membrane-bound beta-glucosidase were defined: lability at acidic pH and strong inhibitory effect by detergents. These properties allowed to discriminate it from the lysosomal GlcCer-beta-glucosidase and to define optimal assay conditions for determination of residual GlcCer-beta-glucosidase activity in Gaucher disease, using artificial substrate, without interference of non-specific membrane-bound beta-glucosidase. These results demonstrate that EBV-transformed LCL represent an accurate model system for enzymatic studies of Gaucher disease.     

AAV-Mediated Gene Delivery in a Feline Model of Sandhoff Disease Corrects Lysosomal Storage in the Central Nervous System

Sandhoff disease (SD) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by a mutation in the gene for the β-subunit of β-N-acetylhexosaminidase (Hex), resulting in the inability to catabolize ganglioside GM2 within the lysosomes. SD presents with an accumulation of GM2 and its asialo derivative GA2, primarily in the central nervous system. Myelin-enriched glycolipids, cerebrosides and sulfatides, are also decreased in SD corresponding with dysmyelination. At present, no treatment exists for SD. Previous studies have shown the therapeutic benefit of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-mediated gene therapy in the treatment of SD in murine and feline models. In this study, we treated presymptomatic SD cats with AAVrh8 vectors expressing feline Hex in the thalamus combined with intracerebroventricular (Thal/ICV) injections. Treated animals showed clearly improved neurologic function and quality of life, manifested in part by prevention or attenuation of whole-body tremors characteristic of untreated animals. Hex activity was significantly elevated, whereas storage of GM2 and GA2 was significantly decreased in tissue samples taken from the cortex, cerebellum, thalamus, and cervical spinal cord. Treatment also increased levels of myelin-enriched cerebrosides and sulfatides in the cortex and thalamus. This study demonstrates the therapeutic potential of AAV for feline SD and suggests a similar potential for human SD patients.     

Synthesis and bioevaluation of ω-N-amino analogs of B13

Novel ω-N-amino analogs of B13 (Class E) were designed, synthesized and tested as inhibitors of acid ceramidase (ACDase) and potential anticancer agents deprived of unwanted lysosomal destabilization and ACDase proteolytic degradation properties of LCL204 [Szulc, Z. M.; Mayroo, N.; Bai, A.; Bielawski, J.; Liu, X.; Norris, J. S.; Hannun, Y. A.; Bielawska, A. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2008, 16, 1015].Representative analog LCL464, (1R,2R)-2-N-(12′-N,N-dimethylaminododecanoyl amino)-1-(4″-nitrophenyl)-1,3-propandiol, inhibited ACDase activity in vitro, with a similar potency as B13 but higher than LCL204. LCL464 caused an early inhibition of this enzyme at a cellular level corresponding to decrease of sphingosine and specific increase of C₁₄- and C₁₆-ceramide. LCL464 did not induce lysosomal destabilization nor degradation of ACDase, showed increased cell death demonstrating inherent anticancer activity in a wide range of different cancer cell lines, and induction of apoptosis via executioner caspases activation. LCL464 represents a novel structural lead as chemotherapeutic agent acting via the inhibition of ACDase.