DEAD-box RNA helicase Dbp4/DDX10 is an enhancer of α-synuclein toxicity and oligomerization

PLoS Genet. 2021 Mar 3;17(3):e1009407. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009407. eCollection 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with misfolding and aggregation of α-synuclein as a hallmark protein. Two yeast strain collections comprising conditional alleles of essential genes were screened for the ability of each allele to reduce or improve yeast growth upon α-synuclein expression. The resulting 98 novel modulators of α-synuclein toxicity clustered in several major categories including transcription, rRNA processing and ribosome biogenesis, RNA metabolism and protein degradation. Furthermore, expression of α-synuclein caused alterations in pre-rRNA transcript levels in yeast and in human cells. We identified the nucleolar DEAD-box helicase Dbp4 as a prominent modulator of α-synuclein toxicity. Downregulation of DBP4 rescued cells from α-synuclein toxicity, whereas overexpression led to a synthetic lethal phenotype. We discovered that α-synuclein interacts with Dbp4 or its human ortholog DDX10, sequesters the protein outside the nucleolus in yeast and in human cells, and stabilizes a fraction of α-synuclein oligomeric species. These findings provide a novel link between nucleolar processes and α-synuclein mediated toxicity with DDX10 emerging as a promising drug target.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amyloid / metabolism
  • Amyloid / ultrastructure
  • DEAD-box RNA Helicases / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Humans
  • Inclusion Bodies / metabolism
  • Inclusion Bodies / pathology
  • Models, Biological
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases / etiology
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases / metabolism
  • Neurodegenerative Diseases / pathology
  • Protein Aggregates*
  • Protein Aggregation, Pathological / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Multimerization*
  • Protein Transport
  • Yeasts / genetics
  • Yeasts / metabolism
  • alpha-Synuclein / chemistry
  • alpha-Synuclein / genetics
  • alpha-Synuclein / metabolism*

Substances

  • Amyloid
  • Protein Aggregates
  • alpha-Synuclein
  • DDX10 protein, human
  • DEAD-box RNA Helicases

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG: BR1502/18-1 to GHB, BO3442/1-2 to MTB and SFB1190 to KEB). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.