PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tatiana C. Santos
AU  - Keimpe Wierda
AU  - Jurjen H. Broeke
AU  - Ruud F. Toonen
AU  - Matthijs Verhage
TI  - Early Golgi abnormalities and neurodegeneration upon loss of presynaptic proteins Munc18-1, syntaxin-1 or SNAP-25
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3352-16.2017
DP  - 2017 Mar 27
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 3352-16
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2017/03/27/JNEUROSCI.3352-16.2017.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2017/03/27/JNEUROSCI.3352-16.2017.full
AB  - The loss of presynaptic proteins Munc18-1, syntaxin-1 or SNAP-25 is known to produce cell death, but the underlying features have not been compared experimentally. Here, we investigated these features in cultured mouse CNS and dorsal root ganglion neurons. Side-by-side comparisons confirmed massive cell death, before synaptogenesis, within 1-4 days in vitro (DIV) upon loss of t-SNAREs (syntaxin-1, SNAP-25) or Munc18-1, but not v-SNAREs (synaptobrevins/VAMP1/2/3 using Tetanus Neurotoxin (TeNT), also in TI-VAMP/VAMP7 knock-out (KO) neurons). A condensed cis-Golgi was the first abnormality observed upon Munc18-1 or SNAP-25 loss within 3 DIV. This phenotype was distinct from the Golgi fragmentation observed in apoptosis. Cell death was too rapid after syntaxin-1 loss to study Golgi abnormalities. Syntaxin-1 and Munc18-1 depend on each other for normal cellular levels. We observed that endogenous syntaxin-1 accumulates at the Golgi of Munc18-1 KO neurons. However, expression of a non-neuronal Munc18 isoform that does not bind syntaxin-1, Munc18-3, in Munc18-1 KO neurons prevented cell death and restored normal cis-Golgi morphology, but not synaptic transmission or syntaxin-1 targeting. Finally, we observed that dorsal root ganglion neurons are the only Munc18-1 KO neurons that do not degenerate in vivo or in vitro. In these neurons, cis-Golgi abnormalities were less severe, with no changes in Golgi shape. Together these data demonstrate that cell death upon Munc18-1, syntaxin-1 or SNAP-25 loss occurs via a degenerative pathway unrelated to the known synapse function of these proteins and involving early cis-Golgi abnormalities, distinct from apoptosis.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThis study provides new insights in a neurodegeneration pathway triggered by the absence of specific proteins involved in synaptic transmission (syntaxin-1, Munc18-1, SNAP-25), while other proteins involved in the same molecular process (synaptobrevins, Munc13-1/2) do not cause degeneration. Massive cell death occurs in cultured neurons upon depleting syntaxin-1, Munc18-1 and/or SNAP-25, well before synapse formation. This study characterizes several relevant cellular phenotypes, especially early cis-Golgi abnormalities, distinct from abnormalities observed during apoptosis, and rules out several other phenotypes as causal (defects in syntaxin-1 targeting and synaptic transmission). As proteins like syntaxin-1, Munc18-1 or SNAP-25 modulate α-synuclein neuropathy and/or are dysregulated in Alzheimer's disease, understanding this type of neurodegeneration may provide new links between synaptic defects and neurodegeneration in humans.