Viral infection or related to neurodegenerative diseases?

"Nature-Communication" published a proof-of-concept study in mammalian cells, Highly efficient intercellular spreading of protein misfolding mediated by viral ligand-receptor interactions, and found that glycoproteins on the surface of viruses that help them enter target cells may promote neurodegeneration Proliferation of protein polymers in sexual diseases
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These findings are based on the study of two viruses, revealing the possibility of cell-to-cell transmission in neurodegenerative diseases
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Misfolding and accumulation of different proteins (such as Tau protein) are hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases, including prion disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease
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Previous studies have shown that the proteopathic seed (pathological protein deposition) related to neurodegenerative diseases can pass through membraneless accumulations secreted by extracellular vesicles (EV), or through Direct cell-to-cell contact, spread to unaffected cells
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It is unclear to what extent these individual processes contribute to the transmission of protein-causing seeds to healthy cells
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Ina Vorberg and colleagues of the German Research Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Germany hypothesized that the seed transport process, including membrane contact (seen in EV transport) or direct cell-to-cell contact, can be partially controlled in the cell entry process
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The cell entry process is mediated by the interaction between a specific ligand (a molecule that binds to a protein receptor) and the target cell surface receptor
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This process can also be observed when viral glycoproteins (as ligands) bind to cells to enter receptors and mediate virus invasion
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As a proof of concept, the authors conducted experiments using the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) glycoprotein and the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2
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They found that both of these viral glycoproteins enhanced the spread of disease-causing proteins through EVs and cell-to-cell transmission
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The authors believe that these findings emphasize the possibility of spreading through direct membrane contact mechanisms when protein pathogenic seeds have suitable ligands, and may also indicate that viral infection may accelerate the spread of protein pathogenic seeds
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The authors concluded that further research is needed to investigate the effect of viruses on protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases
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In co-cultured recipient cells, VSV-G expression enhanced the induction of prions
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Source: Vorberg et al.
©NatureNat Com | doi: 10.
1038/s41467-021-25855-2