Phagocytic glia are obligatory intermediates in transmission of mutant huntingtin aggregates across neuronal synapses.

ABSTRACT: Emerging evidence supports the hypothesis that pathogenic protein aggregates associated with neurodegenerative diseases spread from cell to cell through the brain in a manner akin to infectious prions. Here, we show that mutant huntingtin (mHtt) aggregates associated with Huntington disease transfer anterogradely from presynaptic to postsynaptic neurons in the adult Drosophila olfactory system. Trans-synaptic transmission of mHtt aggregates is inversely correlated with neuronal activity and blocked by inhibiting caspases in presynaptic neurons, implicating synaptic dysfunction and cell death in aggregate spreading. Remarkably, mHtt aggregate transmission across synapses requires the glial scavenger receptor Draper and involves a transient visit to the glial cytoplasm, indicating tha

SUBMITTER: Donnelly KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7297539 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature