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Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA, also known as Kennedy's disease) is one of nine neurodegenerative disorders that are caused by expansion of polyglutamine-encoding CAG repeats. Intracellular accumulation of abnormal proteins in these diseases, a pathological hallmark, is associated with defects in protein homeostasis. Enhancement of the cellular proteostasis capacity with small molecules has therefore emerged as a promising approach to treatment. Here, we characterize a novel curcumin analog, ASC-JM17, as an activator of central pathways controlling protein folding, degradation and oxidative stress resistance. ASC-JM17 acts on Nrf1, Nrf2 and Hsf1 to increase the expression of proteasome subunits, antioxidant enzymes and molecular chaperones. We show that ASC-JM17 ameliorates toxicity of the mutant androgen receptor (AR) responsible for SBMA in cell, fly and mouse models. Knockdown of the Drosophila Nrf1 and Nrf2 ortholog cap 'n' collar isoform-C, but not Hsf1, blocks the protective effect of ASC-JM17 on mutant AR-induced eye degeneration in flies. Our observations indicate that activation of the Nrf1/Nrf2 pathway is a viable option for pharmacological intervention in SBMA and potentially other polyglutamine diseases.

Original publication

DOI

10.1093/hmg/ddw073

Type

Journal article

Journal

Hum Mol Genet

Publication Date

15/05/2016

Volume

25

Pages

1979 - 1989

Keywords

Animals, Bulbo-Spinal Atrophy, X-Linked, Curcumin, DNA-Binding Proteins, Disease Models, Animal, Drosophila Proteins, Drosophila melanogaster, Gene Knockdown Techniques, Heat Shock Transcription Factors, Humans, Mice, Muscular Disorders, Atrophic, NF-E2-Related Factor 1, NF-E2-Related Factor 2, Oxidative Stress, Peptides, Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex, Protein Aggregation, Pathological, Protein Folding, Receptors, Androgen, Signal Transduction, Small Molecule Libraries, Transcription Factors, Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion