Accumulation of LRRK2-associated phospho-Rab12 degenerative lysosomes in tauopathies

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Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathogenic mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 ( LRRK2 ) are associated with endolysosomal dysfunction across cell types, and carriers of LRRK2 mutations variably present with phosphorylated tau and α-synuclein deposits in post-mortem analysis. LRRK2 mutations increase the phosphorylation of Rab substrates including Rab12. Rab12 is expressed in neuronal and non-neuronal cells with localization to membranes in the endolysosomal compartment. Under lysosomal stress, LRRK2 interaction with Rab12 upregulates LRRK2 kinase activity. In this study, using a recently developed monoclonal antibody directed to the LRRK2-mediated phosphorylation site on Rab12 at amino acid Ser106 (pS106-Rab12), we test whether aberrant LRRK2 phosphorylation is associated with tau and/or α-synuclein pathology across clinically distinct neurodegenerative diseases. Analysis of brain tissue lysates and immunohistochemistry of pathology-susceptible brain regions demonstrate that pS106-Rab12 levels are increased in Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and PD, and in LRRK2 mutation carriers. In early pathological stages, phosphorylated Rab12 localizes to granulovacuolar degeneration bodies (GVBs), which are thought to be active lysosomal-like structures, in neurons. pS106-Rab12-positive GVBs accumulate with pathological tau across brain tissues in DLB, AD, and PD, and in LRRK2 mutation carriers. In a mouse model of tauopathy, pS106-Rab12 localizes to GVBs during early tau deposition in an age-dependent manner. While GVBs are largely absent in neurons with mature protein pathology, subsets of both tau and α-synuclein inclusions appear to incorporate pS106-Rab12 at later pathological stages. Finally, pS106-Rab12 labels GVBs in neurons and shows widespread co-pathology with tau inclusions in primary tauopathies including Pick’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. These results implicate LRRK2 kinase activity and Rab phosphorylation in endolysosomal dysfunction in both tau and α-synuclein-associated neurodegenerative diseases.

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