Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons and the appearance of Lewy bodies in the substantia nigra, leading to clinical symptoms of rigidity, resting tremor, and bradykinesia. A few percent of PD is of genetic origin, and over ten genes have been identified as causes of familial PD so Received October 9, 2009; revised manuscript received November 27, 2009; accepted December 1, 2009. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Y. Kotake, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan. E-mail: yaichiro@hiroshima-u.ac.jp Abbreviations used: 1BnTIQ, 1-Benzyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline; 1DAzBnTIQ, 1-(3-azido-5-azidomethylbenzyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline; 1MeTIQ, 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline; 3¢,4¢ DHBnTIQ, 1-(3,4-dihydroxybenzyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline; AR-JP, autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism; BSA, bovine serum albumin; CBB, Coomassie Brilliant Blue; GST, glutathione-S-transferase; IP, immunoprecipitation; N-Boc, N-tert-butoxycarbonyl; Pael-R, parkinassociated endothelin receptor-like receptor; PBS, phosphate-buffered saline; PD, Parkinson's disease; PVDF, polyvinylidene difluoride; SDS-PAGE, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; TIQ, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline; TNE, tris-NaCl-EDTA; TOF, time of flight; Tris, tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane; TTBS, Tween 20-containing tris-buffered saline; WB, western blotting.
AbstractSubstances that mimic the actions of causative gene products of familial Parkinson's disease (PD) are candidate as causative agents of idiopathic PD. 1-Benzyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (1BnTIQ), an endogenous neurotoxin, is present at three times higher levels in CSF of PD patients than in CSF of control subjects. However, the mechanism of 1BnTIQ's neurotoxicity is unclear. In this study, we tried to identify 1BnTIQ-binding proteins by using a diazido-functionalized 1BnTIQ analog, 1-(3-azido-5-azidomethylbenzyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline, designed and synthesized as a probe for radioisotope-free photoaffinity labeling. One major photolabeled protein identified using this probe was tubulin b, which has been reported to be a substrate of parkin, a ubiquitin E3 ligase and a causative gene product of familial PD. Loss of function mutation of parkin is reported to result in loss of tubulin b ubiquitination. Therefore, we examined the effect of 1BnTIQ on ubiquitination of tubulin b. The polyubiquitinated tubulin b level in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells was reduced in the presence of 1BnTIQ, even at concentrations as low as those detected in parkinsonian CSF. In vitro ubiquitination assay gave similar results. It is suggested that 1BnTIQ has the same effect on tubulin ubiquitination as does mutant parkin in familial PD. Taken together, substances which reduce polyubiquitination of tubulin such as 1BnTIQ are supposed to be candidates of etiological factors of PD.