S-Nitrosylation of G protein-coupled receptor kinase 6 and Casein kinase 2 alpha modulates their kinase activity toward alpha-synuclein phosphorylation in an animal model of Parkinson's disease

PLoS One. 2020 Apr 28;15(4):e0232019. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232019. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder which is mostly sporadic but familial-linked PD (FPD) cases have also been found. The first reported gene mutation that linked to PD is α-synuclein (α-syn). Studies have shown that mutations, increased expression or abnormal processing of α-syn can contribute to PD, but it is believed that multiple mechanisms are involved. One of the contributing factors is post-translational modification (PTM), such as phosphorylation of α-syn at serine 129 by G-protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) and casein kinase 2α (CK2α). Another known important contributing factor to PD pathogenesis is oxidative and nitrosative stress. In this study, we found that GRK6 and CK2α can be S-nitrosylated by nitric oxide (NO) both in vitro and in vivo. S-nitrosylation of GRK6 and CK2α enhanced their kinase activity towards the phosphorylation of α-syn at S129. In an A53T α-syn transgenic mouse model of PD, we found that increased GRK6 and CK2α S-nitrosylation were observed in an age dependent manner and it was associated with an increased level of pSer129 α-syn. Treatment of A53T α-syn transgenic mice with Nω-Nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) significantly reduced the S-nitrosylation of GRK6 and CK2α in the brain. Finally, deletion of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in A53T α-syn transgenic mice reduced the levels of pSer129 α-syn and α-syn in an age dependent manner. Our results provide a novel mechanism of how NO through S-nitrosylation of GRK6 and CK2α can enhance the phosphorylation of pSer129 α-syn in an animal model of PD.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Animals
  • Casein Kinase II / chemistry
  • Casein Kinase II / metabolism*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinases / chemistry
  • G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinases / metabolism*
  • Gene Deletion
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Mutation
  • Nitric Oxide / metabolism*
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I / genetics
  • Nitroarginine / administration & dosage
  • Nitroarginine / pharmacology
  • Nitrosative Stress
  • Parkinson Disease / drug therapy
  • Parkinson Disease / genetics
  • Parkinson Disease / metabolism*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Serine / metabolism
  • alpha-Synuclein / chemistry
  • alpha-Synuclein / genetics*
  • alpha-Synuclein / metabolism*

Substances

  • SNCA protein, human
  • alpha-Synuclein
  • Nitroarginine
  • Nitric Oxide
  • Serine
  • NOS1 protein, human
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I
  • Casein Kinase II
  • G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinases
  • G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 6

Grants and funding

KKC received supported from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council DAG12SC03S, ITCPD/17-9, and GRF16100214. No, the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.