TNF-α signaling promotes neuronal necroptosis in AD mice
We hypothesized that elevated TNF-α signaling in AD brain may lead to neuronal necroptosis. To test this hypothesis, we first examined the level of MLKL, a marker of cell necroptosis, in the brains of AD patients. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining demonstrated MLKL upregulation in samples of cerebral cortex from AD patients at Braak VI stage compared to age-matched healthy controls (Ctrl) (Fig. 1a). We then checked the levels of total MLKL and phosphorylated-MLKL (p-MLKL) in 10-month old APP/PS1 and 5×FAD transgenic AD mouse models. IHC images of hippocampal CA1 regions showed that compared to wild type (WT) littermate controls, p-MLKL levels were greatly increased in either APP/PS1 or 5×FAD mice, although total MLKL levels were only mildly augmented (Fig. 1b, c). We noted that 5×FAD showed stronger activation of MLKL compared to APP/PS1 mice, possibly due to their more severe AD pathology [29]. In addition to the IHC data, immunoblotting of whole brain lysate also showed a higher p-MLKL level in 10-month old APP/PS1 mice compared to WT littermates (Fig. 1d). These data indicate that in line with previous findings [8], necroptosis is indeed activated in AD.
To assess whether TNF-α signaling is involved in neuronal necroptosis in the hippocampus, we carried out lateral ventricle injection of murine TNF-α as described [30] (Fig. 1e left). Notably, 5 μg TNF-α compared to PBS control injection induced p-MLKL levels ~3 fold in the cells of CA1 pyramidal layers (Fig. 1f, g), suggesting that a high level of TNF-α is sufficient to activate necroptosis in mouse hippocampus. In addition, TNF-α injection into APP/PS1 hippocampus only slightly increased the levels of p-MLKL (~1.47 fold), perhaps because the level of p-MLKL activated in APP/PS1 mice was already so high (Fig 1f, g).
To further study the function of TNF-α signaling in necroptosis, we used adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-mediated small hairpin RNA (shRNA) to knockdown (KD) TNFR1 (Fig. S2a), a TNF-α receptor mediating cell death signaling. Assessed by IHC and immunoblotting at least 70% reduction of TNFR1 efficiency were seen (Fig. S1a, c). Using intrahippocampal injection (Fig. 1e middle and right), we transduced CA1 cells with AAV particles expressing a TNFR1 shRNA or a scrambled control (sc) shRNA in 10-month old APP/PS1 mice. After 3 weeks, p-MLKL levels were then examined by IHC. Data showed that TNFR1 shRNA reduced p-MLKL levels by 55.5% compared to sc shRNA (Fig. 1h, J left). By injection of an anti-TNFR1 neutralizing antibody that can block TNF-α signaling [31], we also observed an average 45.5% reduction of p-MLKL levels in CA1 neurons (Fig. 1i, j right).
In sum, we infer TNF-α/TNFR1 signaling is indispensable for the neuronal necroptosis activated in AD patients and AD mouse models.
TNF-α can trigger neuronal necroptosis in cell culture
To explore the molecular mechanism of TNF-α-mediated neuronal necroptosis, we performed cell culture experiments using various neuronal cell types including SH-SY5Y, PC-12 and primary cortical neurons. We examined the effects of TNF-α on cell viability in all above cell types. The pan-caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk (zVAD, Z) and cIAPs inhibitor Smac mimetic (S), two inducers of cell necroptosis [32], were also utilized. We found that 40 ng/ml TNF-α alone (T) induced a loss of cell viability in all three cell types, with a percentage of 16.4% (SH-SY5Y), 21.5% (PC12), and 22.4% (primary neurons), but zVAD did not fully block cell death (Fig. 2a and Fig. S3a). We further observed that Smac mimetic remarkably increased TNF-α-induced cell death, which could only be partially inhibited by zVAD, with a percentage of 5.5% in SH-SY5Y or 27% in PC12. Moreover, zVAD even provoked cell death in primary neurons with a percentage of 4.9% (Fig. 2a). These data imply that TNF-α or TSZ treatment can induce type(s) of cell death besides common apoptosis.
Propidium iodide (PI) staining and cell morphology images showed that TNF-α, especially combined with Smac mimetic and zVAD (TSZ) treatment, indeed triggered the characteristic features of necrosis/necroptosis [27], including PI-positive labeling and cell swelling (Fig. 2b). Quantitation indicated that TSZ increased cell necrosis with a percentage of 51% in SH-SY5Y, 53.2% in PC12 or 54% in primary neurons; TNF-α treatment also slightly increased necrosis with a percentage of 11.7% in PC12, 14.7% in SH-SY5Y, and 14% in primary neurons (Fig. 2c).
To confirm the involvement of necroptosis in TNF-α-induced cell death, we used Acridine Orange (AO) staining, a unique technique used to distinguish necroptosis from apoptosis [27]. After staining, cultured SH-SY5Y cells as well as primary neurons showed flattened morphology with intact cytoplasm (red fluorescence) and nuclei (green fluorescence) (Fig. 2d). TNF-α treatment induced cell contraction and nuclear condensation, while TS triggered features of apoptotic cells, with nuclear fragmentation. Particularly, zVAD yielded necrotic cell morphology in TS treated cells with PI-positive nuclei, loss of plasma membrane integrity, and translucent cytosol. zVAD also slightly induced cell necrosis in TNF-α treated cells (Fig. 2b-d). To verify that TNF-α-induced cell necrosis is indeed necroptosis, we examined the levels of the specific marker p-MLKL with different combination treatment of T/S/Z. We found that TNF-α or Smac mimetic alone both mildly activated caspase-8 and caspase-3 in SH-SY5Y cells but not in primary neurons, and the activation was inhibited by zVAD (Fig. 2e). Interestingly, TS powerfully activated caspase-8 and caspase-3, an action entirely blocked by zVAD (Fig. 2e). In addition to the apoptotic caspase activation, TNF-α or TZ treatment indeed upregulated p-MLKL, while TSZ treatment had a sharp effect on p-MLKL (Fig. 2e and Fig. S3b).
Taken together, our data show that TNF-α alone can mildly activate neuronal necroptosis; but combined with Smac mimetic and zVAD (TSZ), it triggers strong activation of neuronal necroptosis.
TNF-α-induced neuronal necroptosis is dependent on RIPK1 action
We aimed to clarify whether TNF-α-induced neuronal necroptosis is dependent on RIPK1, a known crucial control center in regulating TNF-α-induced NF-κB signaling pathway as well as apoptosis and necroptosis [21]. In cultured SH-SY5Y and primary neurons, similar to MLKL activation (Fig. 2e), TNF-α alone lightly induced the phosphorylation of RIPK1 on Ser166 -used as a marker of RIPK1 activation (Fig. 3a). TNF-α also increased the phosphorylation of RIPK3, a RIPK1 binding partner, on its Ser227 (human) or Thr231/Ser232 (mouse) site. Smac mimetic, however, markedly repressed RIPK1/3 phosphorylation, while TSZ strongly activated RIPK1 and RIPK3 (Fig. 3a). Of note, we observed that zVAD effectively prevented TS induced RIPK1 cleavage (Fig. 3a), suggesting a possible promotion of RIPK1 oligomerization and aggregation, additional features of RIPK1-dependent necroptosis [8, 33]. As shown in Fig. 3b, TNF-α alone or TSZ did not change the RIPK1 levels in the soluble Triton X-100 fractions, but strongly elevated RIPK1 levels in the insoluble urea fractions, indicating an increased RIPK1 aggregation by TSZ treatment. Using an RIPK1 inhibitor Necrostain-1 (Nec-1), we found that Nec-1 effectively suppressed the activation of RIPK3 and MLKL, as well as subsequent cell necroptosis induced by TNF-α or TSZ (Fig. 3c-e). Furthermore, RIPK1 reduction by lentiviral vector mediated shRNA distinctly blocked phosphorylation of RIPK1/3 and MLKL, and thereby also blocked cell necroptosis (Fig. 3f, g and Fig. S2b). Thus, our data suggest that TNF-α-induced neuronal necroptosis is dependent on the activation of an RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL cascade.
p62 mediates TNF-α-induced necroptosis via its interaction with RIPK1
Previous studies have found that RIPK1 interacts directly with p62/SQSTM1, a molecule responsible for the clearance of aggregated proteins [34]. We inferred that p62 might participate in RIPK1-dependent neuronal necroptosis in AD. To test this notion, we first examined the protein complex formation of RIPK1, RIPK3 and p62 in neuronal necroptotic cells. Immunoprecipitation data showed that p62 indeed complexed with RIPK1, RIPK3 and MLKL when cells were treated with TSZ (Fig. 4a). Endogenous p62 was also upregulated in both SH-SY5Y cells and primary neurons with TNF-α or TSZ treatment (Fig. 4b, c).
To evaluate the function of p62 in necroptosis, we transduced SH-SY5Y cells with recombinant adenoviral particles encoding GFP-tagged p62 (Ad-p62-GFP) or encoding LacZ as a control (Ad-LacZ) (Fig. S2c). Interestingly, overexpression of p62-GFP evidently upregulated the total protein levels of RIPK1, increased the phosphorylation levels of RIPK1 as well as MLKL, and augmented the percentage of neuronal necroptosis (Fig. S4a, b). Consistently, p62 shRNA transduced into cells with lentiviral particles reversed the effect of p62 overexpression (Fig. S2b, S4c, d). Furthermore, necroptosis was restored by expression of p62-GFP (shRNA-resistant) in p62 shRNA transfected cells (Fig. 4d, e), implying a critical role of p62 in TNF-α-induced neuronal necroptosis.
The ZZ domain (amino acid 122-167) of p62 is the binding domain with RIPK1 [35]. Here, a ZZ domain deleted p62 (p62-ZZΔ, 3×Flag-tagged) expressing plasmid (Fig. S2b) was used to determine whether necroptosis elevation by p62 expression is due to its interaction with RIPK1. Data showed that the expression of p62-ZZΔ in p62 KD cells failed to recover the activation of RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL pathway and subsequent necroptosis (Fig. 4d, e). We conclude that p62 promotes neuronal necroptosis by complexing with RIPK1 and activating MLKL.
To test the possible promotion role of p62 for neuronal necroptosis in AD, we then assessed p62 levels in the brains of AD patients. IHC staining showed higher p62 levels in samples of cerebral cortex from AD patients compared to healthy controls (Fig. 4f). Similarly, IHC images of hippocampal CA1 regions also showed remarkable upregulation of p62 in APP/PS1 mice compared to WT littermates (Fig. 4f, g). Next, we used AAV vector-mediated shRNA to knock down p62 (Fig. S1b, d, S2a) and transduced cells in CA1 regions with AAV particles in APP/PS1 mice by intrahippocampal injection. After three weeks, IHC of p62 and p-MLKL was performed. Our data indicated that p62 shRNA diminished p-MLKL levels by 47% compared to sc shRNA (Fig. 4h, i).
Overall, our results demonstrate that p62 elevates neuronal necroptosis by interacting with RIPK1 and promoting phosphorylation of RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL cascades, both in TNF-α-treated neuronal cultures and in AD mouse brain.
Impaired autophagic flux regulates neuronal necroptosis
p62 is a critical molecule participating in several processes of autophagic flux including the initiation/assembly of autophagosome, docking/fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes, and cargo degradation [36]. We asked whether p62 upregulation during neuronal necroptosis is caused by impaired autophagic flux. We checked the state of autophagic flux by monitoring the protein levels and cellular localization of LC3, a key marker of autophagy. In all three cell culture models mentioned above, TNF-α treatment upregulated LC3-II, a standard indicator for autophagosomes, in a dose-dependent manner (Fig. S5a). Strikingly, the levels of LC3-II and p62 were much higher with TSZ compared to TNF-α treatment (Fig. 4b, 5a). Moreover, p62 levels in the insoluble fraction was sharply increased in TSZ treated cells (Fig. 5b), suggesting that the formation of p62 aggregates is correlated with the inhibition of autophagy-mediated protein degradation.
To confirm this notion, we used recombinant adenoviral particles encoding GFP and mCherry tagged LC3 (Ad-GFP&mCherry-LC3) to evaluate autophagic flux [36]. As shown in Fig. S5b, c, TNF-α gradually reduced the number of red dots (mCherry without GFP fluorescence puncta, representing autolysosomes) and increased the number of yellow dots (co-localization of mCherry with GFP fluorescence puncta, representing autophagosomes). This change was notably further amplified by treatment with zVAD and Smac mimetic (Fig. 5c, d), suggesting that TNF-α can impair neuronal autophagic flux. To clarify whether the impaired autophagic flux contributes to necroptosis, we used an autophagic flux inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) that can effectively raise the lysosomal pH and inhibit proteases [36]. Of note, CQ sharply increased the upregulation of p62 and LC3-II triggered by TNF-α or TSZ treatment and enhanced the activation of RIPK1 and MLKL, as well as the consequent neuronal necrosis (Fig. 5e, f).
Our data thus clearly show that impaired neuronal autophagic flux contributes to TNF-α-induced neuronal necroptosis.
UVRAG down-regulation by TSZ leads to neuronal necroptosis
We extended our study to the molecular mechanism of autophagy in TNF-α-mediated neuronal necroptosis. We examined mRNA expression levels of a series of genes responsible for the recognition and fusion of autophagosome and lysosome [37]. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) data showed that among the tested genes, UVRAG mRNA, was the most significantly downregulated by TSZ treatment (Fig. 6a and Fig. S5d), suggesting that TSZ may disrupt neuronal autophagic flux by down-regulating UVRAG. To test this possibility, we constructed a SH-SY5Y cell line stably expressing UVRAG. Data showed that UVRAG overexpression reversed TSZ-induced autophagic flux impairment and necroptosis activation by preventing LC3-II and p62 upregulation as well as RIPK1/MLKL phosphorylation (Fig. 6b-e). Hence, our data infer that down-regulation of UVRAG transcription by TSZ impairs neuronal autophagic flux, leading to p62 accumulation and the onset of necroptosis.
UVRAG transcription is reduced through inactivation of NF-κB
cIAP1/2 facilitates TNF-α-induced transcription factor NF-κB activation [38]. Given that Smac mimetic(S), as an inhibitor of cIAP1/2, can induce strong neuronal necroptosis (Fig. 2), we speculated that TSZ-induced UVRAG downregulation resulted from NF-κB inhibition. Therefore, we checked the level of RelA (p65), a key subunit of NF-κBs, before and after TSZ treatment. Compared to TNF-α alone, TSZ did not alter the levels of RelA in cytoplasm, but reduced the levels in nuclei, indicative of an inhibition of NF-κB activation (Fig. 6f).
Next we analyzed the core promoter regions of Uvrag gene across species using ConTra v2 software and found a high-scoring NF-κB binding site (Fig. 6g, h). Chromatin-IP (ChIP) qPCR showed that NF-κB indeed bound to the indicated region of the Uvrag promoter (Fig. 6i). Importantly, TSZ significantly reduced the binding of RelA to the Uvrag promoter (Fig. 6i). We thus conclude that Uvrag is a direct target of TNF-α/TNFR1/NF-κB signaling and TSZ reduces UVRAG transcription by inhibiting NF-κB action.
Upregulation of UVRAG reduced neuronal necroptosis in AD
Based on our findings, we considered that UVRAG upregulation may inhibit neuronal necroptosis in AD mice. To test this hypothesis, we first utilized AAV-mediated overexpression of UVRAG (Fig. S2a) in primary neuronal cultures. UVRAG overexpression did markedly suppress TNF-α-induced MLKL phosphorylation (Fig. 7a, b). We next transduced cells in hippocampal CA1 regions with AAV expressing UVRAG or control GFP in APP/PS1 mice at 10-month age by intrahippocampal injection. After 3 weeks, we sacrificed the APP/PS1 mice and measured p62 and p-MLKL levels in transfected neurons. IHC images showed the average level of p62 in UVRAG-overexpressing neurons was 34.5% lower than that in control GFP expressing neurons (Fig. 7c, e). Notably, UVRAG overexpression also lowered MLKL phosphorylation 36.5% (Fig. 7d, f). These results support the notion that upregulation of UVRAG inhibits neuronal necroptosis in AD mice, and that UVRAG may thus be a potential target for AD intervention.