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In the pigmented dopaminergic neurons of the human substantia nigra pars compacta the system relevant in iron storage is the polymer neuromelanin (NM). Although in most cells this function is mainly accomplished by ferritin, this protein complex appears not to be expressed in NM-containing neurons. Nevertheless the conceivable presence of iron-storing proteins as part of the NM granules has recently been discussed on the basis of Mössbauer spectroscopy and synchrotron x-ray microspectroscopy. Intriguingly by combining subcellular fractionation of NM granules, peptide sequencing via tandem mass spectrometry, and the additional confirmation by multiple reaction monitoring and immunogold labeling for electron microscopy, L-ferritin could now be unambiguously identified and localized in NM granules for the first time. This finding not only supports direct evidence for a regulatory role of L-ferritin in neuroectodermal cell pigmentation but also integrates a new player within a complicated network governing iron homeostasis in the dopamine neurons of the human substantia nigra. Thus our finding entails far reaching implications especially when considering etiopathogenetic aspects of Parkinson disease.

The sub-proteome analysis of organelles is a field of high relevance for molecular biology, because it provides detailed insights into the protein composition of cellular compartments. This approach not only results in a catalogue of organellar proteins, but in fact holds the potential to uncover the enzymatic armament engaged in biochemical reactions and to identify novel mechanisms of organelle biogenic pathways. Knowledge about protein localization may be a first step towards extensive functional analyses of specific target proteins engaged in development, aging, or disease. Moreover, several disorders of the human brain include aberrant protein function in specific compartments. Thus, a closer look at cellular organelles will allow for advancing our current perceptions of pathogenic processes. This chapter aims to provide a methodological workflow given by the isolation of neuromelanin granules from the human midbrain. This approach encompasses several modular steps that can easily be adjusted to any other organelle of interest and follows the sequence of (1) organelle isolation, (2) isolation quality controls by transmission electron microscopy and Western immuno blotting, and (3) gel-based protein separation towards protein identification by mass spectrometry.

Neuromelanin granules are pigmented organelles in the human midbrain that give name to a brain area, substantia nigra pars compacta, which macroscopically appears as a dark brown region in the midbrain due to the insoluble pigment neuromelanin. The substantia nigra pars compacta massively degenerates in Parkinson's disease and gives rise to severely disabling movement symptoms. It has been suggested that neuromelanin granules play an important role in the neurodegenerative events in Parkinson's disease: redox-active iron is bound to neuromelanin and thereby retained within this compartment, but in Parkinson's disease it is thought to be increasingly released into the cytosol, promoting oxidative stress. This unit includes a methodological workflow for the isolation of neuromelanin granules from the human midbrain. This top-down approach (describes an approach that reduces the complexity of the sample stepwise from the level of tissue to cell, and from cell to organelle) encompasses the organelle isolation by sequential density gradient centrifugation and the assessment of the isolation efficacy by western blotting., (Copyright 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

Currently, neuroproteomic approaches aimed at the profiling of total brain areas generally mirror the expression of the most abundant proteins, but fail to uncover less abundant proteins. By contrast, the focus on typical brain subproteomes, (e.g., synaptic vesicles, synaptic terminal membranes or the postsynaptic density), may give a more specific insight into brain function. Subproteomes are accessible via several strategies, including subcellular fractionation or affinity-based pull-down approaches. Combined with mass spectrometric quantification approaches, subcellular proteomics is expected to reveal differences in the protein constitution of related cellular organelles. Focusing on novel functions and mechanistic models, we review recent data on the analysis of brain-derived organelles and subproteomes, including presynaptic termini, synaptic vesicles, neuronal plasma membranes, postsynaptic density and neuromelanin granules, which were identified as novel lysosome-related organelles within the human brain.

HPLC has emerged as a valuable tool for separating proteins. To address the analysis of complex proteomes and quantitative changes of proteins therein, we developed a multidimensional LC (MDLC)-based approach followed by large gel 1-D SDS-PAGE. Here we present a novel strategy that allows for simultaneously identifying and quantifying differentially regulated proteins following three separation and fractionation steps. This MDLC platform integrates advantages of dual protein labelling using both fluorescence and isotope-coded tags for subsequent detection and quantification of abundance ratios of proteins by MS.

Background: Neuromelanin-containing neurons of the substantia nigra are highly vulnerable to degenerate in Parkinson's disease. Inhibition of the respiratory chain or formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by intracellular neuromelanin and triggering of inflammatory processes by extracellular neuromelanin emanating from melanized neurons after their demise are thought to be causally implicated in the high vulnerability of melanized neurons., Objective: We addressed the direct effect of purified neuromelanin on mitochondrial complex I activity, and its influence on ROS production and survival of primary mesencephalic neurons in the presence or absence of glia., Methods: Neuromelanin was isolated from midbrain of postmortem human brains. The content in iron and other elements was measured by inductively coupled mass spectrometry. The effect of neuromelanin on mitochondrial complex I activity was analyzed in post-nuclear extracts. Primary neuronal enriched and neuron-glia mixed cultures from midbrain were treated with different concentrations of neuromelanin. The generation of ROS was determined by fluorochrome detection. MAP2-positive and TH-positive neuronal viability was analyzed., Results: Neuromelanin did not affect complex I activity, but concentration-dependently increased ROS production in neurons and reduced the number of MAP2-positive and TH-positive cultured neurons. Glia protected neurons against the neuromelanin toxicity., Conclusion: Extracellular neuromelanin is detrimental to neurons implicating a mechanism of intracellular ROS production, but not complex I inhibition. ROS formation may be catalyzed by iron, which was sensitively identified in purified neuromelanin (3.3 mg/g). Importantly, we demonstrate that glial cells have the potential to mitigate the neurotoxic effect of neuromelanin., (2007 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Amyloidogenic processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) results in the generation of beta-amyloid, the main constituent of Alzheimer plaques, and the APP intracellular domain (AICD). Recently, it has been demonstrated that AICD has transactivation potential; however, the targets of AICD-dependent gene regulation and hence the physiological role of AICD remain largely unknown. We analyzed transcriptome changes during AICD-dependent gene regulation by using a human neural cell culture system inducible for expression of AICD, its coactivator FE65, or the combination of both. Induction of AICD was associated with increased expression of genes with known function in the organization and dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton, including alpha2-Actin and Transgelin (SM22). AICD target genes were also found to be differentially regulated in the frontal cortex of Alzheimer's disease patients compared with controls as well as in AICD/FE65 transiently transfected murine cortical neurons. Confocal image analysis of neural cells and cortical neurons expressing both AICD and FE65 confirmed pronounced changes in the organization of the actin cytoskeleton, including the destabilization of actin fibers and clumping of actin at the sites of cellular outgrowth. Our data point to a role of AICD in developmental and injury-related cytoskeletal dynamics in the nervous system.

The insulin-resistant brain state is related to late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease, and alterations in the insulin receptor (IR) and its downstream phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase signalling pathway have been found in human brain. These findings have not been confirmed in an experimental model related to sporadic Alzheimer's disease, for example rats showing a neuronal IR deficit subsequent to intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) treatment with streptozotocin (STZ). In this study, western blot analysis performed 1 month after i.c.v. injection of STZ showed an increase of 63% in the level of phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase-3alpha/beta (pGSK-3alpha/beta) protein in the rat hippocampus, whereas the levels of the unphosphorylated form (GSK-3alpha/beta) and protein kinase B (Akt/PKB) remained unchanged. Three months after STZ treatment, pGSK-3alpha/beta and Akt/PKB levels tended to decrease (by 8 and 9% respectively). The changes were region specific, as a different pattern was found in frontal cortex. Structural alterations were also found, characterized by beta-amyloid peptide-like aggregates in brain capillaries of rats treated with STZ. Similar neurochemical changes and cognitive deficits were recorded in rats treated with i.c.v. 5-thio-d-glucose, a blocker of glucose transporter (GLUT)2, a transporter that is probably involved in brain glucose sensing. The IR signalling cascade alteration and its consequences in rats treated with STZ are similar to those found in humans with sporadic Alzheimer's disease, and our results suggest a role for GLUT2 in Alzheimer's pathophysiology.

"Subcellular proteomics" is currently the most effective approach to characterize subcellular compartments. Based on the powerful combination of subcellular fractionation and protein identification by LC-MS/MS we were able for the first time to 1) isolate intact neuromelanin granules from the human brain and 2) establish the first protein profile of these granules. This compartment containing neuromelanin (NM) is primarily located in the primate's substantia nigra, one of the main brain regions that severely degenerates in Parkinson disease. We used mechanic tissue disaggregation, discontinuous sucrose gradient centrifugation, cell disruption, and organelle separation to isolate NM granules from human substantia nigra. Using transmission electron microscopy we demonstrated that the morphological characteristics of the isolated NM granules are similar to those described in human brain tissue. Fundamentally we found numerous proteins definitely demonstrating a close relationship of NM-containing granules with lysosomes or lysosome-related organelles originating from the endosome-lysosome lineage. Intriguingly we further revealed the presence of endoplasmic reticulum-derived chaperones, especially the transmembrane protein calnexin, which recently has been located in lysosome-related melanosomes and has been suggested to be a melanogenic chaperone.

Here we show that homocysteine stimulates low density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation at copper(II) concentrations causing only a slight oxidation of LDL lipids. LDL oxidation by homocysteine and copper(II) is further enhanced in the presence of cystine, although cystine alone does not stimulate LDL oxidation with copper(II). Similarly, a combination of cysteine with homocysteine provoked a more than additive increase of oxidation. Simultaneous presence of cysteine and homocystine also resulted in a more than additive oxidative effect which was not statistically significant, however. Stimulation of LDL oxidation in the presence of homocysteine by cystine was also observed with iron(III) at acidic pH and when LDL oxidation was initiated by azo-compound generated peroxyl radicals. At pH 7.4 histidine is able to prevent LDL oxidation by copper(II) in a thiol mixture similar to the one found in human plasma if present in tenfold excess over homocysteine, but loses its inhibitory effect at higher homocysteine concentrations. The synergistic effect on metal-catalyzed LDL oxidation observed with mixtures of homocysteine and cystine or cysteine sustains the hypothesis that the epidemiological association between raised homocysteine levels and risk of cardiovascular disease is caused by an increase in oxidative stress.