Impact of histone deacetylase inhibition and arimoclomol on heat shock protein expression and disease biomarkers in primary culture models of familial ALS

Mario Fernández Comaduran; Sandra Minotti; Suleima Jacob-Tomas; Javeria Rizwan; Nancy Larochelle; Richard Robitaille; Chantelle F Sephton; Maria Vera; Josephine N Nalbantoglu; Heather D Durham

doi:10.1016/j.cstres.2024.03.010

Impact of histone deacetylase inhibition and arimoclomol on heat shock protein expression and disease biomarkers in primary culture models of familial ALS

Cell Stress Chaperones. 2024 Apr 1;29(3):359-380. doi: 10.1016/j.cstres.2024.03.010. Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery and Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
² Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
³ Département de Neurosciences and Groupe de Recherche sur le Système Nerveux Central, Université de Montréal, and Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur le Cerveau et l'apprentissage, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, CERVO Brain Research Centre, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
⁵ Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery and Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Electronic address: heather.durham@mcgill.ca.

Abstract

Protein misfolding and mislocalization are common themes in neurodegenerative disorders, including motor neuron disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Maintaining proteostasis is a crosscutting therapeutic target, including the upregulation of heat shock proteins (HSP) to increase chaperoning capacity. Motor neurons have a high threshold for upregulating stress-inducible HSPA1A, but constitutively express high levels of HSPA8. This study compared the expression of these HSPs in cultured motor neurons expressing three variants linked to familial ALS: TAR DNA binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43)^G348C, fused in sarcoma (FUS)^R521G, or superoxide dismutase I (SOD1)^G93A. All variants were poor inducers of Hspa1a, and reduced levels of Hspa8 mRNA and protein, indicating multiple compromises in chaperoning capacity. To promote HSP expression, cultures were treated with the putative HSP coinducer, arimoclomol, and class I histone deacetylase inhibitors, to promote active chromatin for transcription, and with the combination. Treatments had variable, often different effects on the expression of Hspa1a and Hspa8, depending on the ALS variant expressed, mRNA distribution (somata and dendrites), and biomarker of toxicity measured (histone acetylation, maintaining nuclear TDP-43 and the neuronal Brm/Brg-associated factor chromatin remodeling complex component Brg1, mitochondrial transport, FUS aggregation). Overall, histone deacetylase inhibition alone was effective on more measures than arimoclomol. As in the FUS model, arimoclomol failed to induce HSPA1A or preserve Hspa8 mRNA in the TDP-43 model, despite preserving nuclear TDP-43 and Brg1, indicating neuroprotective properties other than HSP induction. The data speak to the complexity of drug mechanisms against multiple biomarkers of ALS pathogenesis, as well as to the importance of HSPA8 for neuronal proteostasis in both somata and dendrites.

Keywords: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Arimoclomol; Chromatin remodeling; Heat shock protein; Histone deacetylase inhibitor.