CMT-3 targets different α-synuclein aggregates mitigating their toxic and inflammogenic effects

Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 20;10(1):20258. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-76927-0.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder for which only symptomatic treatments are available. Repurposing drugs that target α-synuclein aggregation, considered one of the main drivers of PD progression, could accelerate the development of disease-modifying therapies. In this work, we focused on chemically modified tetracycline 3 (CMT-3), a derivative with reduced antibiotic activity that crosses the blood-brain barrier and is pharmacologically safe. We found that CMT-3 inhibited α-synuclein amyloid aggregation and led to the formation of non-toxic molecular species, unlike minocycline. Furthermore, CMT-3 disassembled preformed α-synuclein amyloid fibrils into smaller fragments that were unable to seed in subsequent aggregation reactions. Most interestingly, disaggregated species were non-toxic and less inflammogenic on brain microglial cells. Finally, we modelled the interactions between CMT-3 and α-synuclein aggregates by molecular simulations. In this way, we propose a mechanism for fibril disassembly. Our results place CMT-3 as a potential disease modifier for PD and possibly other synucleinopathies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Drug Repositioning
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / chemically induced*
  • Parkinson Disease / drug therapy
  • Protein Aggregates
  • Tetracyclines / pharmacology*
  • Tetracyclines / therapeutic use
  • alpha-Synuclein / metabolism
  • alpha-Synuclein / toxicity*

Substances

  • Protein Aggregates
  • Tetracyclines
  • alpha-Synuclein
  • tetracycline CMT-3