Bi-directional regulation of AIMP2 and its splice variant on PARP-1-dependent neuronal cell death; Therapeutic implication for Parkinson's disease

BACKGROUND: Parthanatos represents a critical molecular aspect of Parkinson's disease, wherein AIMP2 aberrantly activates PARP-1 through direct physical interaction.

Although AIMP2 ought to be a therapeutic target for the disease, regrettably, it is deemed undruggable due to its non-enzymatic nature and predominant localization within the tRNA synthetase multi-complex.

Instead, AIMP2 possesses an antagonistic splice variant, designated DX2, which counteracts AIMP2-induced apoptosis in the p53 or inflammatory pathway.

Consequently, we examined whether DX2 competes with AIMP2 for PARP-1 activation and is therapeutically effective in Parkinson’s disease.

METHODS: The binding affinity of AIMP2 and DX2 to PARP-1 was contrasted through immunoprecipitation.

The efficacy of DX2 in neuronal cell death was assessed under 6-OHDA and H2O2 in vitro conditions.

Additionally, endosomal and exosomal activity of synaptic vesicles was gauged in AIMP2 or DX2 overexpressed hippocampal primary neurons utilizing optical live imaging with VAMP-vGlut1 probes.

To ascertain the role of DX2 in vivo, rotenone-induced behavioral alterations were compared between wild-type and DX2 transgenic animals.

A DX2-encoding self-complementary adeno-associated virus (scAAV) was intracranially injected into 6-OHDA induced in vivo animal models, and their mobility was examined.

Subsequently, the isolated brain tissues were analyzed.

RESULTS: DX2 translocates into the nucleus upon ROS stress more rapidly than AIMP2.

The binding affinity of DX2 to PARP-1 appeared to be more robust compared to that of AIMP2, resulting in the inhibition of PARP-1 induced neuronal cell death.

DX2 transgenic animals exhibited neuroprotective behavior in rotenone-induced neuronal damage conditions.

Following a single intracranial injection of AAV-DX2, both behavior and mobility were consistently ameliorated in neurodegenerative animal models induced by 6-OHDA.

CONCLUSION: AIMP2 and DX2 are proposed to engage in bidirectional regulation of parthanatos.

They physically interact with PARP-1.

Notably, DX2's cell survival properties manifest exclusively in the context of abnormal AIMP2 accumulation, devoid of any tumorigenic effects.

This suggests that DX2 could represent a distinctive therapeutic target for addressing Parkinson's disease in patients.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40478-023-01697-5.