Developers
Elisabet Augé, Itsaso Cabezón, Carme Pelegrí and Jordi Vilaplana
Description of the technology
Corpora amylacea are structures of unknown origin and function that appear with age in human brains and are profuse in selected brain areas in several neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and Pick’s diseases, multiple and hippocampal sclerosis, and in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and focal cortical dysplasia. They are constituted of glucose polymers and may contain waste elements derived from different cell types.
Studying the particular polyglucosan bodies in mouse brain, authors of this technology concluded that corpora amylacea present some neo-epitopes that can be recognized by natural antibodies, particularly, a certain kind of antibodies that are involved in tissue homeostasis (plasma IgMs). We hypothesize that corpora amylacea, and probably some other polyglucosan bodies, are a sort of waste containers in which deleterious or residual products are isolated to be later eliminated through the action of the innate immune system. In any case, the presence of neo-epitopes on these structures and the existence of natural antibodies directed against them could become a new focal point for the study of both age-related and degenerative brain processes.
Practical application
The authors have formulated a new technology for experimental investigations of age-related diseases. They have highlighted a new link between corpora amylacea and the innate immune system, and this link will certainly help to ascertain the nature and functions of corpora amylacea. Moreover, as the neo-epitopes that are target of natural IgMs have also been observed in periodic acid-Schiff granules in mice, these properties could perhaps be expanded to other polyglucosan bodies, making it necessary to study the presence of neo-epitopes in other related brain degenerative bodies such as Lafora bodies from Lafora disease (myoclonic epilepsy) or Bielschowsky bodies from Bielschowsky body disease (дate infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses).
In the same way in which the presence of neo-epitopes in certain malignant tumor cells and the presence of IgMs directed against these neo-epitopes is a recent field of study in the therapy and diagnosis of cancerous processes, so the existence of neo-epitopes on corpora amylacea and other degenerative brain structures and the presence of natural IgM antibodies directed against them could become a new research strategy for study of age-related or pathological degenerative brain processes. The technology may open up new lines of research into polyglucosan bodies and their physiopathological roles.
Laboratories
- Secció de Fisiologia, Departament de Bioquímica i Fisiologia, Facultat de Farmàcia i Ciències de l’Alimentació, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain)
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain)
- CIBERNED Centros de Biomedicina en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (Spain)
Links
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep41807
Publications
- Augé, E. et al. «New perspectives on corpora amylacea in the human brain." 7 Scientific Reports (2017): 41807.
- Manich, G. et al. «Periodic acid-Schiff granules in the brain of aged mice: From amyloid aggregates to degenerative structures containing neo-epitopes." 27 Ageing Res. Rev. (2016): 42–55.
- Manich, G. et al. «Clustered granules present in the hippocampus of aged mice result from a degenerative process affecting astrocytes and their surrounding neuropil." 36 Age (2014): 9690.