Garcia Manriquez, Bailey, Strysick, Claire, Papapanagiotou, Julia, Rajasekeran, Prisha, Ryou, Hayeon, Green, Emily, Kikis, Elise
[
International Worm Meeting,
2021]
Environmental degradation caused by human behavior is of great concern for human health and the health of Earth's ecosystems. Air pollution, and, especially, traffic-associated particulate matter (TRAP) is a significant health concern. Epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to TRAP triggers Alzheimer's disease (AD) symptoms. Likewise, controlled laboratory studies in which AD mice were continuously exposed to TRAP revealed an increase in amyloid beta (Abeta) plaques. Abeta plaques are composed of misfolded protein. Their increase could be a direct consequence of the disruption of the proteostasis network or an indirect consequence of neuroinflammation. To determine whether TRAP directly impairs the folding of disease-associated proteins, we utilized C. elegans as a model that lacks a canonical inflammatory response. To this end, we exposed animals expressing Abeta or Huntington's disease-associated polyQ protein to nano-sized traffic-derived particulate matter. We found that TRAP triggered polyQ protein misfolding and increased Abeta toxicity. Together, our data suggest that TRAP may act, at least in part, to trigger disease by disrupting the proteostasis balance.