Abstract
15
Many life processes are regulated by physiological redox signal s, referred to as oxidative 16
eustress. However, excessive oxidative stress can damage biomolecules and contribute to 17
disease. The neuronal microtubule system is critically involved in axon homeostasis, regulation 18
of axonal transport, and neurodegenerative processes. However, whether and how physiological 19
redox signals affect axonal microtubules is largely unknown. Using live cell imaging and super-20
resolution microscopy, we show that subtoxic concentrations of the central redox metabolite 21
hydrogen peroxide increase axonal microtubule dynamics, alter the structure of the axonal 22
microtubule array , and affect the efficiency of axonal transport. We report that t he 23
mitochondria-targeting antioxidant SkQ1 and the microtubule stabilizer EpoD abolish the 24
increase in microtubule dynamics. We found that oxidative eustress and distress specifically 25
modulate the phosphorylation state of the microtubule system and induce a largely non-26
overlapping phosphorylation pattern of MAP1B as the main target. Cell-wide phosphoproteome 27
analysis revealed that different signaling pathways are inversely activated by oxidative eustress 28
and distress. Signaling via casein kinase (CK2) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDK) is 29
activated during eustress and signaling via mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and 30
serum/glucocorticoid-regulated protein kinase (SGK) is activated during distress. The results 31
suggest that the redox metabolite and second messenger hydrogen peroxide induces rapid and 32
local reorganization of the microtubule array in response to mitochondrial activity or as a 33
messenger from neighboring cells by activating specific signaling cascades. 34
35
Keywords
microtubules; tau; axon; redox signalling; hydrogen peroxide. 36
37
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3
Introduction
38
Microtubules are a crucial filament system involved in virtually all aspects of a neuron's life. In 39
the axon, they have a characteristic organization consisting of an array of relatively short 40
microtubules, the plus-end of which is oriented towards the distal tip (Penazzi et al., 2016a) . 41
Such organization is thought t o be cr itical for efficient axonal transport, in which cargo is 42
carried to the distal axon over long distances. Although axonal microtubules are relatively 43
stable, they still show considerable dynamics, with the plus ends of the microtubules exhibiting 44
stochastic changes between growth and shrinkage , referred to as dynamic instability. 45
Microtubule stability and dynamics are regulated by a variety of tubulin - and microtubule -46
interacting proteins , including microtubule nucleators, microtubule -binding proteins, end -47
binding proteins, tubulin -sequestering proteins and microtubule -severing proteins. Further 48
complexity arises from the presence of a variety of different tubulin isoforms, where humans 49
have eight − and nine −tubulin genes, most of which are expressed in neurons (Uhlen et al., 50
2015). Many of the components of the microtubule system have extensive posttranslational 51
modifications (PTMs) that modulate their activity. The best studied PTM of the microtubule 52
system is phosphorylation , and increased phosphorylation of specific serine and threonine 53
residues is known to influence the interaction of neuronal microtubule -associated proteins 54
(MAPs) such as MAP1B and tau , with microtubules. Of disease -related importance is the 55
modulation of the interaction of the MAP tau with axonal microtubules, as tau is 56
hyperphosphorylated in Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies , which largely reduces its 57
interaction with microtubules (Arendt et al., 2016). 58
Oxidative stress is associated with many neurodegenerative diseases , and increased levels of 59
reactive oxygen species (ROS) may play a role in triggering axonal degeneration and 60
microtubule disassembly (Pratico et al., 2002). High levels of ROS form additional free radical 61
compounds that have the potential to damage lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids over time 62
(Vincent et al., 2009). Indeed, high levels of ROS have been shown to inhibit axonal transport 63
(Fang et al., 2012) and induce axonal degeneration, as evidenced by the morphological features 64
of axon beading and fragmentation (Fukui et al., 2011). However, more recently it has become 65
clear that moderately elevated ROS levels can act as a crucial physiological mediator of many 66
cellular processes (Sinenko et al., 2021). This led to the distinction of “oxidative distress” as a 67
mechanism leading to pathology and “oxidative eustress” as an important physiological 68
regulator of intrinsic signalling pathways (Wilson et al., 2018). 69
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4
The most common ROS members in mediating oxidative eustress are the superoxide anion, the 70
hydroxyl radical, and hydrogen peroxide. Because these ROS species act as relatively short -71
lived second messengers, they are able to regulate intrinsic signalling pathways (Wilson et al., 72
2018). Hydrogen peroxide was found to be the most important redox metabolite involved in 73
signal transduction and redox regulation. It is an electrically neutral molecule and is chemically 74
more stable than the other members of the ROS family. As a messenger molecule, hydrogen 75
peroxide diffuses through cells and tissues to trigger immediate cellular effects that link redox 76
biology with regulation through phosphorylation and dephosphorylation (Sies, 2017) . 77
Physiological hydrogen peroxide levels promote the establishment of neuronal polarity, neurite 78
growth and axon specification (Wilson et al., 2015) . While all of these processes cr itically 79
depend on the regulation of microtubule polymerization, the mechanisms of how hydrogen 80
peroxide influences axonal microtubules and microtubule-dependent functions under oxidative 81
eustress conditions are largely unknown. 82
Here, we determined the effect of subtoxic concentrations of hydrogen peroxide , reflecting 83
oxidative eustress, on axonal microtubule dynamics using quantitative live -cell imaging. We 84
analyzed changes in the structure of the axonal microtubule array using single-molecule 85
localization microscopy and algorithm -based reconstruction of microtubules. We examined 86
possible functional microtubule-dependent consequences by tracking individual APP vesicles 87
and determining the tau-microtubule interaction using fluorescence-decay after photoactivation 88
(FDAP) experiments. To identify downstream targets of increased ROS , we performed 89
proteomic and phosphoproteomic analysis of differentiated neur ons treated with subtoxic 90
hydrogen peroxide and compared them with arsenite treatment as an inducer of oxidative 91
distress-mediated toxicity. 92
93
Materials
95
Unless otherwise stated, c hemicals and cell culture material were purchased from Sarstedt 96
(Nümbrecht, Germany), Sigma -Aldrich (Deisenhofen, Germany), and Thermo -Fisher 97
Scientific (Waltham, USA). The microtubule-targeting agent epothilone D (EpoD) was a kind 98
gift from Amos Smith 3rd (University of Pennsylvania) and was prepared as previously 99
described (Lee et al., 2001; Rivkin et al., 2004) . The purity of the compound was > 95%, as 100
determined by LC-MS and NMR analyses. The spectroscopic properties were identical to those 101
reported in the literature. The mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1, and TPP, which lacks 102
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5
the antioxidant quinone moiety, were provided by Maxim Skulachev (Mitotech S.A., 103
Luxembourg). 104
105
Cell culture and transfections 106
PC12 cells were cultured in serum -DMEM and transfections were performed with 107
Lipofectamine 2000 (Thermo -Fisher Scientific, USA) as previously described (Fath et al., 108
2002). Expression plasmids for PAGFP-α-Tubulin and mEGFP-α-Tubulin have been described 109
previously (Conze et al., 2022b) . The expression plasmid PAGFP-htau441wt (Gauthier-110
Kemper et al., 2011) was used to express the longest CNS-isoform of tau. pEGFP-n1-APP was 111
obtained from Zita Balklava and Thomas Wassmer (Addgene plasmid #69924; 112
http://n2t.net/addgene:69924; RRID: Addgene_69924). 113
114
Metabolic activity and cytotoxicity profiling using a combined LDH and MTT Assay 115
PC12 cells were cultured in 96 -well plates at 1 ×104 cells/well in serum-reduced medium 116
supplemented with 100 ng/m l 7S mouse NGF. Cells were incubated for 48 hours to initiate 117
neuronal differentiation. Concentration -response profiling of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was 118
performed with four triplicates and six concentrations ranging from 50-900 µM. The respective 119
H2O2 concentration was added to each well 3 hours before the measurement. Designated wells 120
for controls were untreated for negative control or a total cell lysis was induced by the addition 121
of 1% Triton-X for a positive control. For the LDH assay, 50 µl medium from each well of the 122
assay plate was transferred to a separate 96-well plate. For quantification of the LDH release, 123
50 µl of LDH reagent (4 mM iodonitrotetrazolium chloride (INT), 6.4 mM beta -nicotinamide 124
adenine dinucleotide sodium salt (NAD), 320 mM lithium lactate, 150 mM of 1 -125
methoxyphenazine methosulfate (MPMS) in 0.2 M Tris -HCl buffer, pH 8.2) was added. The 126
plate was shaken for 10 seconds and incubated in the dark for several minutes. Absorbance was 127
measured at 490 nm using a Thermomax Microplate Reader operated with SoftMaxPro Version 128
1.1 (Molecular Devices Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, U.S.A.). LDH release measurements were 129
normalized to the optical densities of the positive control wells. For the MTT assay, MTT 130
reagent (3,(4,5.dimethylthiazol-2-yl)2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) at a final concentration 131
of 1 mg/ml MTT was added to the wells in the remaining assay plate. The cells were incubated 132
for a further 2 hours in the cell culture incubator before the reaction was stopped by addi ng 133
50 μl of lysis buffer (20% (wt/vol) sodium dodecyl sulfate in 1:1 (vol/vol) N,N -134
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6
dimethylformamide/water, pH 4.7). After overnight incubation at 37 °C, the optical densities 135
of the formazan product were determined at 570 nm. MTT conversion measurements were 136
normalized to the optical densities of the negative control wells. 137
138
Detection of intracellular ROS levels 139
Intracellular ROS level s were assessed using the Cellular ROS Assay Kit Orange (abcam, 140
ab186028, Cambridge, UK). PC12 cells (2 ×104 cells/well) were seeded in 60 μl of serum -141
reduced DMEM supplemented with 100 ng/ml 7S mouse NGF in a 96-well plate. To measure 142
the effect of SkQ1, 30µl of NGF containing serum-reduced medium supplemented with 0.2 µM 143
SkQ1 or carrier control (0.2% EtOH) were added after 24 hours. After a further 24 hours of 144
incubation, the cells were treated with the respective H2O2 concentration (150 µM and 450 µM) 145
for 3 hours. A total of six independent experiments w ere conducted. Intracellular ROS level s 146
were determined according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Briefly, cells were incubated 147
with 100 µl of ROS Orange Working solution for 60 min . Changes in fluorescence intensity 148
were measured with the FLUOstar Optima (BMG Labtechnologies, Ortenberg, Germany) at 149
Ex/Em = 540/570 nm. The fluorescence intensities were normalized to the respective negative 150
control values after background subtraction. 151
152
Live-cell imaging 153
Fluorescence decay after photoactivation (FDAP) experiments with PAGFP -α-tubulin- or 154
PAGFP-tau-expressing cells were performed essentially as described previously (Niewidok et 155
al., 2016). Briefly, PC12 cells were plated on 35-mm poly-L-lysine and collagen-coated glass-156
bottom culture dishes (MatTek, USA). After transfection, PC12 cells were neuronally 157
differentiated by media exchange with DMEM with 1% (vol/vol) serum containing 100 ng/ml 158
7S mouse NGF (Alomone Laboratories, Germany). Cultivation was continued for 4 days with 159
medium exchange to DMEM with 1% (vol/vol) serum containing NGF and without phenol red 160
one day prior to live imaging. Live imaging of PC12 cells for photoactivation experiments was 161
performed using a Nikon Eclipse Ti2 -E laser scanning microscope (Nikon, Japan) equipped 162
with a LU-N4 laser unit with 488-nm and 405-nm lasers and a Fluor 60× ultraviolet-corrected 163
Objective
lens (NA 1.4) enclosed in an incubation chamber at 37°C and 5% CO 2. Automated 164
image acquisition of PAGFP-tubulin- or PAGFP-tau-expressing cells after photoactivation was 165
performed essentially as described previously (Igaev et al., 2014). Briefly, photoactivation of a 166
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6 μm long neurite segment was performed with a 405 -nm laser. A set of consecutive image 167
series (time stacks) was created at a frequency of 1 frame/s and 112 frames were collected per 168
activated cell with a resolution of 256×256 pixels. 169
Live-cell imaging to analyze APP transport in PC12 cells was performed essentially as 170
previously described (Conze et al., 2022a) using a Zeiss Cell Observer Z1 (Zeiss, Germany) 171
with high -speed confocal imaging using the CSU -X1 spinning disc technology from 172
Yokogawa, equipped with an optically pumped 488-nm semiconductor laser surrounded by a 173
sample incubation chamber controlled by a Zeiss TempModule S1. pH stability was maintained 174
by adding 30 mM HEPES buffer to the cell culture medium before image acquisition. For image 175
capture of eGFP-APP vesicle tracking, the 488-nm laser and Alpha Plan-Apochromat ×63 (NA 176
1.46) objective were used. An image series (time stack) of 60 s was acquired at a speed of five 177
images per second, captured with a Hamamatsu ORCA flash V3 and 2×2 binning at a resolution 178
of 640×640 pixels (pixel size 172 nm). The image series were deconvolved with the software 179
Huygens Remote Manager v3.5 (Scientific Volume Imaging B.V., Hilversum, Netherlands) 180
using a theoretical PSF and a classical maximum likelihood estimation as the deconvolution 181
algorithm with 20 iterations and a quality criterion of 0.05. 182
Treatment of PC12 cells with 150 µM H 2O2 was performed 3 hours before live imaging. To 183
assess the effect of the antioxidant SkQ1 in FDAP experiments, cells were treated with 0.2 µM 184
of the compound 24 hours before H2O2 addition. To determine the effect of H2O2 treatment on 185
stabilized MTs by epothilone D (EpoD) in FDAP experiments as well as APP vesicle tracking, 186
cells were treated with 1 nM EpoD or its carrier control (0.01% DMSO) one hour before H2O2 187
treatment. 188
189
FDAP data analysis 190
A reaction-diffusion model was used to determine the association rate k*on and the dissociation 191
rate k off constant of tubulin or tau binding , as described previously (Igaev et al., 2014) . 192
Processing and analysis of individual FDAP curves was performed as previously described 193
(Niewidok et al., 2016) using a custom C-based tool called cFDAP. The fitting procedure was 194
used to obtain k *on and koff from each individual FDAP curve, while the χ2 value was used as 195
an indicator of the goodness of fit of the model function. Effective diffusion constants were 196
obtained by fitting fluorescence decay data from photoactivation experiments using a one -197
dimensional diffusion model function for FDAP, as previously described (Weissmann et al., 198
2009). 199
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200
Tracking and quantifying axonal transport 201
APP transport was tracked and analyzed using Imaris v 9.2 (Bitplane, Oxford Instruments). 202
Vesicles were detected by the Gaussian -filtered intensity of their signal within a diameter of 203
500 nm around the respective signal peak. Vesicle transport was tracked by an autoregressive 204
motion algorithm with a maximum distance of a future position of the signal of 1 µm and a 205
maximum gap size of 2 frames (400 ms). To determine the direction of the tracked vesicles, a 206
Reference
point at the transition from the cell body to the neurite was used, while only the tracks 207
that spanned a period of at least 3 s (15 frames) were considered for further analysis. Quantified 208
transport parameters were exported to spreadsheets (Excel, Microsoft Corporation, USA) and 209
further processed using TIBCO Spotfire Data Analysis Software (TIBCO Software Inc., USA). 210
Vesicles that exceeded a displacement of more than 0.75 µm over the observation time of 60 s 211
were designated as mobile, otherwise as stationary. 212
213
Super-resolution microscopy with DNA-PAINT 214
For super -resolution microscopy, PC12 cells were transfected with mEGFP -α-Tubulin and 215
neuronally differentiated for 4 days as described above. Fixation, immunostaining, and super-216
resolution microscopy with DNA -PAINT were performed essentially as previously described 217
(Conze et al., 2022b) . Briefly, PC12 cells were processed using a combined NP -40 218
permeabilization-fixation protocol, which removes membranes and cytosolic components but 219
preserves cytoskeletal structures and associated proteins (Brandt et al., 1995). Immunostaining 220
used an anti -GFP nanobody obtained from the Massive -Tag-Q Anti -GFP DNA -PAINT kit 221
(Massive Photonics GmbH, Gräfelfing, Germany). Just before imaging, cells were washed three 222
times with PBS and incubated with a 1:1000 dilution of 50 nm gold nanorods (Nanopartz, E12-223
50-600-25) that function as fiducial markers during image acquisition. Afterwards, cells were 224
washed three times with PBS before an imaging buffer (Massive Photonics) supplemented with 225
250 pM Cy3b-conjugated imager DNA-strand, complementary to the DNA strand attached to 226
the anti-GFP nanobody, was added. Cells were imaged by total internal reflection fluorescence 227
(TIRF) microscopy using an inverted microscope frame (Olympus IX -81) equipped with a 228
motorized quad-line TIR illumination condenser (cellTIRF-4-Line, Olympus) and a motorized 229
xy-stage (Märzhäuser Scan IM 120x80). Three -dimensional single-molecule localization was 230
achieved by astigmatic imaging using a cylindrical lens (Olympus) implemented directly in 231
front of the filter wheel. 232
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9
233
Post-processing of DNA-PAINT datasets 234
Raw data sets were processed using the "Picasso" software package (Schnitzbauer et al., 2017), 235
https://github.com/jungmannlab/picasso). At the beginning of each imaging session, a z -stack 236
of immobilized fluorescent TetraSpeck™ microspheres with a diameter of 100 nm (Invitrogen, 237
T7279) was acquired. This was done in the respective imaging buffer with a step size of 10 nm 238
using a piezo z -stage (NanoScanZ, NZ100, Prior Scientific). This is a necessity for the 239
calibration of astigmatic PSFs, which is a prerequisite for three -dimensional single-molecule 240
localization microscopy. This z-stack was analyzed using “Picasso: Localize” with parameters, 241
that allow the identification of single beads in each frame. The photon conversion parameters 242
were set as follows: EM Gain: 1, Baseline: 400, Sensitivity 0.46, Quantum Efficiency: 0.80 and 243
pixel size: 130 nm. A calibration file was generated with the "Calibrate 3D" function of "Picasso 244
localize". This file, as well as the same photon conversion parameters, were used for image 245
processing of raw sample files. The Min. Net. Gradient was adjusted to remove non-specifically 246
bound imager strands or other background signals to filter for localizations with the highest 247
signal intensities. Single-molecule localizations were fitted with a Gaussian least-square fit. For 248
3D localization, the magnification factor was set to 1.0. Processed data sets were opened with 249
"Picasso: Render" and a drift correction with cross -correlation was performed, followed by a 250
correction using the fiducials. The localizations of these datasets were then exported for the 251
ImageJ plugin ThunderSTORM for 3D rendering to obtain image -stacks with a well -defined 252
voxel size set to 26 nm×26 nm×25 nm based on the overall axial resolution of 25 nm (Ovesny 253
et al., 2014). 254
255
SIFNE analysis of post-processed DNA-PAINT data 256
Computational analysis and quantification of the microtubule array in axon-like processes of 257
PC12 cells was performed using the open-source SIFNE (SMLM image filament extractor) 258
software package (Zhang et al., 2017) . The MATLAB -based tool involves the iterative 259
extraction of the filamentous structures from the image data set and the subsequent 260
identification and assignment of the detected filaments. Since the axial distance between 261
microtubules in PC12 neurites is about 70 nm (Jacobs and Stevens, 1986) , we chose optical 262
sections with a thickness of 150 nm for filament extraction by SIFNE. This allowed us to use 263
sections where the resolution was highest while avoiding overlapping microtubules from 264
another pla ne that would confound our statistics. The region of interest (ROI) in axon -like 265
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10
processes of PC12 cells was set to the shaft of the neurite. For image enhancement using line 266
and orientation filter transformation algorithms (LFT and OFT), a radius of 10 pixels with 40 267
rotations of the scan line segment was used. S egmentation was performed using SIFNE's 268
automatic thresholding function based on Otsu's method. For creating a pool of minimal linear 269
filament fragments, areas of filament connections were removed by a local area around each 270
connection of 2×2 pixels. To recover unrecognized linear structures, iterative extraction of the 271
filaments was performed twice, followed by registration of the propagation direction of each 272
filament tip. The grouping and analysis of the detected filaments was carried out with a pixel 273
size of 26 nm and a maximum curvature of 1 rad/µm. The search angle and radius were set to 274
60° and 40 pixels, respectively. The allowable orientation difference between the endpoints was 275
set to 60°. The maximum allowable angle difference and endpoint gap vector were set to 60° 276
and 30°, respectively. The weights for similarity and continuity conditions during the scoring 277
calculations were set to 1. Due to the high complexity of the cytoskeletal network, fragment 278
overlap was not allowed as suggested by (Zhang et al., 2017). For sorting composite filaments, 279
the minimum filament length was set to 15 pixels corresponding to 390 nm, while ungrouped 280
filaments were left in the data set. 281
282
Proteome and phosphoproteome analysis 283
PC12 cells were neuronally differentiated by culture in serum-reduced DMEM with 100 ng/ml 284
7 S mouse NGF for 4 days and treated with 150 µM H2O2 for 3 hours, 0.5 mM arsenite for 20 285
min, or left as respective controls. Proteome and phosphoproteome analysis w ere essentially 286
performed as described previously (Pinzi et al., 2024) . Briefly, cells were incubated in lysis 287
buffer (8M urea in 50mM Tris/HCl, pH 7.8) supplemented with Phos-Stop tablets (Roche 288
Diagnostics GmbH, Germany), sonicated and cleared by centrifugation. Protein concentrations 289
were determined using Pierce™ BCA Protein Assay (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA). 0.2 μg/μl 290
α-casein was added to a protein amount of 1.2 mg, and reduction and alkylation were carried 291
out in lysis buffer containing 15 mM iodoacetamide and 5 mM DL-dithiothreitol. The proteins 292
were digested with trypsin/Lys-C Mix (Promega Corporation, USA), and 10 μg of each sample 293
was used for proteomic analysis. For phosphoenrichment, the remaining samples were desalted 294
using Sep -Pak® Classic C18 cartridges (Waters, Ireland) . The eluate was lyophilized and 295
enriched with a High-Select™ TiO2 Phosphopeptide Enrichment Kit (Thermo Fisher Scientific, 296
USA). For proteome and phosphoproteome analysis, samples were collected from a PepMap 297
C18 easy spray column (Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA). MS analysis was performed as 298
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11
previously described (Schoppe et al., 2020). The *.raw data files were analyzed using PEAKS 299
Online software (Bioinformatic Solutions Inc, Canada). PEAKS Q (de -novo-assisted 300
quantification) analysis was used for data refinement with mass correction, de novo sequencing 301
and de novo-assisted database search, and subsequent label -free quantification. The search 302
engine was applied to Rattus norvegicus *.fasta databases. MS/MS searches were performed 303
using a mass tolerance of 10 ppm parent ions and a mass tolerance of 0.2 Da fragments. Trypsin 304
with up to two missing cleavage sites was selected as the cleavage enzyme. The 305
carbamidomethylation modification was chosen as the fixed modification and the oxidation of 306
methionine, the acetylation of lysine and the phosphorylation of serine, threonine and tyrosine 307
as variable modifications. A maximum of three variable modifications were allowed per 308
peptide. Normalization to the total ion current level was performed for each sample. The 309
ANOVA test was used to calculate the significance level for each protein, outliers were 310
removed, and the top three peptides were used to quantify the protein signal where possible. 311
The peptide identification was considered valid at a false detection rate of 1% (q-value < 0.001) 312
(maximum delta Cn of the percolator was 0.05). The minimum length of acceptable identified 313
peptides was set to six amino acids. Each condition was analyzed in triplicate. All proteins were 314
assigned their gene symbol via the Uniprot knowledge database (http://www.uniprot.org/). 315
316
Bioinformatic analysis 317
The components of the microtubule system highlighted on the volcano plots were based on the 318
classification of the different functional groups of the microtubule system in (Trushina et al., 319
2019b): structure proteins (α - and β -tubulins), nucleators (γ -tubulins and γ -tubulin complex 320
proteins (GCPs)), MT-binding proteins (MAP1A, MAP1B, MAP1S, MAP2, tau (encoded by 321
the MAPT gene), MAP4, MAP6 (STOP) and MAP7 (ensconsin)), tubulin-sequestering proteins 322
(stathmins, encoded by STMN1, STMN2 (SCG10), STMN3 (SCLIP), STMN4 (RB3)), end -323
binding proteins (EB1, EB2, EB3 (encoded by MAPRE1, MAPRE2, MAPRE3, respectively), 324
CLASP1 and CLASP2), MT -severing proteins (P60 -katanin (encoded by KATNA1 and 325
KATNB1), fidgetin (FIGN) and spastin (SPAST)). Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment 326
analysis was performed to identify overrepresented Molecular Function (MF) and Cellular 327
Component (CC) categories using EnrichR (Xie et al., 2021) . All differentially expressed 328
proteins and all proteins with upregulated phosphosites were used to create gene sets for 329
enrichment analysis. The 10 highest -scoring GO -terms for molecular function and cellular 330
component were displayed. Gene Ontology (GO) regarding molecular function and cellular 331
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12
component was used to construct of protein classifications. Kinase enrichment analysis (KEA) 332
was performed u sing the curated kinase -substrate database KEA2 (Lachmann and Ma'ayan, 333
2009). The gene symbols with phosphorylated sites of differentially phosphorylated proteins 334
were used to infer upstream kinases whose putative substrates are overrepresented. To identify 335
the most important functional pathways upon treatment with hydrogen peroxide or arsenite, 336
significantly enriched kinases were compared. 337
338
Statistical analysis 339
Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism v8.0.1 (GraphPad Software, USA). 340
All datasets were tested for normality using the D'Agostino-Pearson and Shapiro -Wilk tests. 341
When necessary, datasets were log transformed to allow further statistical testing. Statistical 342
outliers were identified using the ROUT method. Homogeneity was assessed using the Levene 343
test. An unpaired two -tailed t -test was used to compare two datasets. In cases of unequal 344
variances, Welch’s correction was applied. To compare more than two data sets, one-way 345
ANOVA was performed followed by Dunnet post-hoc test. All statistical values are expressed 346
as mean ± SEM. 347
348
Results
349
Subtoxic concentrations of hydrogen peroxide decrease microtubule polymer in axon-like 350
processes by decreasing kon and increasing koff rates of microtubule polymerization. 351
The redox metabolite hydrogen peroxide is known to act as a messenger molecule and diffuses 352
through cells and tissues (Sies, 2017) . While high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide are 353
considered toxic (“oxidative distress”), low levels of hydrogen peroxide have been shown to 354
promote neuronal development and axon specification (Wilson et al., 2015) , thus positively 355
modulating cellular function s through a process called “oxidative eustress” (Wilson et al., 356
2018). Therefore, we first determined the level of subtoxic concentrations of hydrogen peroxide 357
in model neurons, which are likely to induce eustress mechanisms in the cells. 358
We used a combined MTT and LDH assay to determine the metabolic activity and cytotoxicity 359
profile of exogenously added hydrogen peroxide on differentiated neuronal cells. We observed 360
that a short (3 hour) treatment with 150 µM hydrogen peroxide affected neither MTT 361
conversion, as a measure of metabolic activity, nor LDH release, as a measure of toxicity (Fig. 362
1A). In contrast, an increase to 225 µM hydrogen peroxide induced both a decrease in MTT 363
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13
conversion and an increase in LDH release, both of which became highly significant at 450 µM. 364
Treatment with subtoxic 150 µM hydrogen peroxide increased intracellular ROS level by 365
~30%, while toxic 450 µM hydrogen peroxide resulted in an increase of ~70% (Fig. 1B). 366
In further experiments , we therefore decided to focus on treat ing neuronal cells with the 367
subtoxic concentration of 150 µM hydrogen peroxide, which results in only a moderate increase 368
in intracellular ROS levels , likely reflecting “oxidative eustress” . Because neuronal 369
development and function cr itically depend on the regulation of microtubule polymerization, 370
we determined the effect of hydrogen peroxide on axonal microtubule dynamics using a 371
previously established live cell imaging approach. The method is based on fluorescence decay 372
after photoactivation (FDAP) measurements of model neurons transfected to express PAGFP -373
tagged α-tubulin (PAGFP-α-tubulin). Changes in microtubule dynamics were then monitored 374
by FDAP measurements on cells in which the fluorescence of PAGFP was focally activated in 375
the middle of an axon -like process (Fig. 1C). FDAP curves showed that hydrogen peroxide 376
treatment resulted in increased fluorescence decay, indicating a lower proportion of 377
polymerized tubulin (Fig. 1D). Notably, application of a reaction -diffusion model resulted in 378
greatly reduced k*on, indicating that hydrogen peroxide induces microtubule depolymerization 379
(Fig. 1E). The significant increase in koff indicates higher microtubule dynamics as it reflects a 380
shortened residence time of the tubulin dimers in the polymer. T he amount of polymerized 381
tubulin in the axon-like processes was reduced by ~10% from more than 8 0% to ~70% (Fig. 382
1F). 383
Taken together, the data indicate that subtoxic concentrations of hydrogen peroxide modulate 384
the properties of the axonal microtubule array by reducing the proportion of microtubule 385
polymer and increasing their dynamics. 386
387
The mitochondria-targeted antioxidant SkQ1 and the microtubule stabilizer epothilone D 388
prevent hydrogen peroxide-induced microtubule depolymerization. 389
A major source of ROS under physiological conditions is mitochondria. Through their NAD+ 390
pool, t hey play a predominant role in defining cellular responses to stress. While the 391
mitochondrial NAD +/NADH redox ratio is maintained separately, it appears to be strongly 392
connected to the cytosolic NAD+ pool and responsive to changes in its perturbations (Hu et al., 393
2021). Therefore, we asked whether targeting the redox status of mitochondria would influence 394
hydrogen peroxide-mediated modulation of microtubule dynamics. 395
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14
To modulate the mitochondrial redox state, we used the mitochondria -targeted antioxidant 396
SkQ1. SkQ1 is a derivative of plastoquinone, a potent antioxidant (Antonenko et al., 2008) and 397
has already been used in preclinical studies to treat cardiovascular and renal diseases (Fedorov 398
et al., 2022). Indeed, treatment with SkQ1 completely abolished the hydrogen-peroxide induced 399
increase in intracellular ROS levels (Fig. 1G). The same was true for the hydrogen peroxide -400
induced modulation in microtubule polymer, where pretreatment with SkQ1 completely 401
abolished the effect of hydrogen peroxide on microtubule polymer reduction in axon -like 402
processes (Fig. 1H, I). In contrast, TPP lacking the antioxidant quinone moiety had no effect 403
(Fig. 1I) confirming the antioxidant activity of SkQ1 in preserving the state of axonal 404
microtubules. 405
If the cytosolic redox state indeed modulates axonal microtubule dynamics, thereby leading to 406
reduced microtubule polymer, a microtubule stabilizer may prevent this effect. To test this 407
hypothesis, we used the well-characterized microtubule-targeting agent (MTA) epothilone D 408
(EpoD). This small molecule microtubule stabilizer binds to the β -tubulin subunit on the 409
luminal surface of microtubules, induces tubulin polymerization similar to paclitaxel (Buey et 410
al., 2004) , and reduces microtubule-dependent spine loss in an Alzheimer’s disease model 411
already at subnanomolar concentration s (Penazzi et al., 2016b) . In fact, treatment with 412
nanomolar EpoD abolished the decrease in microtubule polymer caused by hydrogen peroxide 413
(Fig. 1J, K). 414
Thus, the data indicate that the mitochondrial redox state modulates microtubule dynamic s in 415
the axonal compartment. Furthermore, they show that microtubule -stabilizing drugs ove rride 416
the modulation of microtubule dynamics by the cytosolic redox state. 417
418
Subtoxic hydrogen peroxide modulates the structure of the axonal microtubule array by 419
reducing microtubule mass and increasing microtubule length. 420
Axonal microtubules are not continuous but are present in an array of relatively short, uniformly 421
oriented fragments . In developing mammalian axons, average microtubule s are only a few 422
micrometers long (Bray and Bunge, 1981; Yu and Baas, 1994) . The question therefore arises 423
as to whether hydrogen peroxide also changes the microtubule arra ngement in axon s, for 424
example their length distribution or their physical properties. 425
To determine microtubule organization in axon -like processes, we used single molecule 426
localization microscopy (SMLM) using DNA -PAINT (Point Accumulation in Nanoscale 427
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15
Topography) (Jungmann et al., 2010), followed by algorithm-based filament extraction (Zhang 428
et al., 2017) (Fig. 2A). We have previously validated the approach in axon-like processes of 429
PC12 cells and dendrites of primary neurons (Conze et al., 2022b). As expected from the FDAP 430
data, hydrogen peroxide resulted in reduced microtubule polymer , as evidenced by lower 431
microtubule mass and density (Fig. 2B, left). Interestingly, hydrogen peroxide led to an increase 432
in mean microtubule length (Fig. 2B, middle), suggesting a trend toward fewer but longer 433
microtubules in the processes. The physical properties of the microtubules, indicated by their 434
straightness, did not change (Fig. 2B, right). To determine how hydrogen peroxide affect s 435
microtubule length, we plotted the length distribution in a relative frequency histogram (Fig. 436
2C). The data show that hydrogen peroxide increases mean microtubule length primarily by 437
reducing the proportion of short microtubules (0.5-2.5 µm length) and increasing the number 438
of long microtubules (>8 µm). 439
Thus, the data indicate that hydrogen peroxide alters the organization of microtubule arrays in 440
axon-like processes by reducing their mass and increasing their length, but does not affect their 441
physical properties. 442
443
Hydrogen peroxide-induced changes in the microtubule array reduce the proportion of 444
mobile vesicles but have no effect on the speed and velocity of axonal transport. 445
A change in axonal microtubule arra ngement may have a direct impact on the properties of 446
axonal transport, as C. elegans motor neurons have been shown to pause axonal transport at the 447
ends of microtubules before switching to a new polymer (Yogev et al., 2016) . This suggests 448
that altering microtubule tracks can affect the efficiency of axonal transport. 449
To determine whether the hydrogen peroxide-induced change in the microtubule array affects 450
axonal transport parameters, we used single-vesicle tracking of eGFP-tagged amyloid precursor 451
protein (APP), a key axonal transport cargo (Morotz et al., 2019) (Fig. 3A). Hydrogen peroxide 452
treatment reduced the proportion of mobile vesicles by a pproximately 20% compared to a 453
control (Fig. 3B, left ), indicating a reduction in the total amount of cargo transported. To 454
quantify the movement of mobile vesicles, we determined the effect of hydrogen peroxide on 455
velocity (displacement per time) and speed (run length per time) from the trajectories of each 456
cell analyzed (Fig 3B, middle and right). Both the velocity and speed of APP-vesicles were the 457
same under both conditions, indicating that the change in microtubule length distribution had 458
no effect on the transport of the vesicles on the microtubule tracks once they were moving. 459
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16
To confirm that the observed reduction in the proportion of mobile vesicles is due to the change 460
in the organization of the microtubule array, we determined the effect of the microtubule 461
stabilizer EpoD. We previously observed that nanomolar concentrations of EpoD shift ed the 462
length distribution of microtubules in axon -like processes toward shorter and denser 463
microtubules (Conze et al., 2022b). Indeed, EpoD abolished the effect of hydrogen peroxide on 464
reducing the fraction of mobile vesicles (Fig. 3C), suggesting that the effect was caused by the 465
altered organization of the microtubule array. 466
Thus, the data indicate that hydrogen peroxide has the potential to influence axonal transport 467
by reducing the total amount of cargo transported, likely due to its effect on modulating the 468
microtubule array. 469
470
Hydrogen peroxide-induced changes in the microtubule array do not affect the dynamic 471
interaction of the axonal tau protein with microtubules. 472
Tau protein is an axonal ly enriched microtubule -associated protein (MAP) th at is th ought to 473
regulate axonal microtubule polymerization. Pathological changes in tau are involved in a class 474
of neurodegenerative diseases collectively referred to as tauopathies (Arendt et al., 2016) . 475
Under physiological conditions , tau dynamically interacts with microtubules and exhibits a 476
“kiss and hop” behavior that is likely required to regulate microtubule polymerization without 477
affecting the efficiency of axonal transport (Janning et al., 2014) . Indeed, post -translational 478
modifications of tau that make tau microtubule interaction less dynamic can lead to axonal 479
transport defects that cause dendritic atrophy in tauopathies (Bakota and Brandt, 2024; Conze 480
et al., 2022a). 481
Therefore, hydrogen peroxide could induce changes in t he interaction of tau with axonal 482
microtubules, which may affect microtubule dynamics , cause the observed reduction in 483
microtubule polymer , and impair microtubule-dependent cargo transport. We used FDAP 484
experiments to determine a po ssible change in the dynamics of tau interaction with 485
microtubules in axon-like processes of the model neurons. Tau was N -terminally tagged with 486
photoactivatable GFP (PAGFP) and expressed exogenously in PC12 cells , which were 487
differentiated to a neuronal phenotype. Following focal activation of tau in hydrogen peroxide-488
treated or control cells, tau showed similar dissipation from the activation area (Fig. 3D, left). 489
Application of a refined reaction -diffusion model of the tau-microtubule interaction allowed 490
the determination of the binding constants (k*on and koff rates) of the tau microtubule-interaction 491
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17
(Igaev et al., 2014) . We did not detect any difference in either kinetic constant as a result of 492
hydrogen peroxide treatment (Fig. 3D, right). 493
Thus, the data indicate that hydrogen peroxide does not affect the dynamics of tau-microtubule 494
interaction in axon -like processes. Consequently, the data also indicates that the increase in 495
microtubule dynamics as a result of hydrogen peroxide treatment is not caused by a change in 496
the interaction of tau with microtubules. 497
498
Subtoxic hydrogen peroxide modulates the phosphorylation state of components of the 499
microtubule system. 500
Hydrogen peroxide , a s a second messenger molecule, is thought to link redox biology to 501
intrinsic signalling pathways (Sies, 2017). Thus, it is likely that subtoxic hydrogen peroxide 502
shapes the axonal microtubule array by affecting the expression or phosphorylation of proteins 503
of the microtubule system. To identify the respective target molecules and their modification, 504
we performed proteomics and phosphoproteomics analysis of differentiated model neurons 505
treated with hydrogen peroxide compared to control conditions (Fig. 4A). GO-term analysis for 506
differentially expressed proteins revealed mainly NADPH-binding and RNA polymerase -507
binding proteins (Fig. 4B). The only microtubule -related protein with differential expression 508
was MAPRE3 (Microtubule-associated protein RP/EB family member 3, EB3), which showed 509
slightly increased expression in hydrogen peroxide -exposed cells (Fig. 4C). EB3 is known to 510
be a microtubule plus -end binding protein (Akhmanova and Steinmetz, 2015) and promotes 511
microtubule growth by su ppressing catastrophe (Komarova et al., 2009) . However, it was 512
recently shown to be also relevant to microtubule minus-end organization (Yang et al., 2017). 513
Therefore, the increase in mean microtubule length which we observed in the microtubule array 514
could be due to the increased EB3 expression. 515
In contrast to the moderate effect on the expression of microtubule system proteins, hydrogen 516
peroxide had a strong effect on the phosphorylation of various microtubule proteins , as 517
demonstrated by phosphoproteomic analysis (Fig. 4D, E). GO-term analysis of proteins with 518
upregulated phosphosites revealed the presence of many cytoskeletal proteins, particularly 519
components of the microtubule skeleton (Fig. 4D). Further examination of the proteins with 520
upregulated phosphosites revealed that various functional subgroups of the microtubule system, 521
including structur al proteins, tubulin -sequestering proteins and microtubule -associated 522
proteins, exhibited increased phosphorylation (Fig. 4E). 523
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18
Thus, the data indicate that hydrogen peroxide shapes the axonal microtubule array primarily 524
by modulating the phosphorylation status of different functional groups of the microtubule 525
system. 526
527
Hydrogen peroxide and ROS-generation by arsenite induce differential phosphorylation 528
of MAP1B as the major target of microtubule proteins. 529
If hydrogen peroxide acts as a second messenger molecule, it would be expected to selectively 530
regulate signalling pathways under eustress conditions that differ from the action of other redox 531
modulators, particularly when compared to conditions that induce oxidative distress. Therefore, 532
we decided to compare the effect of subtoxic hydrogen peroxide with ROS-generation by 533
arsenite, a naturally occurring toxicant (Huber et al., 2022). 534
Phosphoproteomic analysis showed that arsenite also affected the phosphorylation of several 535
functional groups of the microtubule system, including structural proteins, microtubule-binding 536
proteins, microtubule nucleators , and tubulin -binding proteins (Fig. 5A). In fact, arsenite 537
induced a higher number of upregulated phosphosites than hydrogen peroxide, which was more 538
than twice as high for the microtubule system proteins (Fig. 5B). Notably, the overlap of 539
upregulated phosphosites induced by hydrogen peroxide and arsenite was small, and less than 540
5% (4 out of 82) of the phosphosites increased by arsenite were also increased in the presence 541
of hydrogen peroxide. 542
A comparison of the target proteins that showed increased phosphorylation revealed that twice 543
as many proteins of the microtubule system were altered in arsenite-exposed cells (Fig. 5C, D). 544
In both cases, the microtubule -binding protein MAP1B was the main target. MAP1B is 545
predominantly expressed in the nervous system and has been implicated in the regulation of 546
axonal elongation and guidance (Bouquet et al., 2004; Gonzalez-Billault et al., 2001). MAP1B 547
showed a complex pattern of increased phosphorylation sites with both hydrogen peroxide (22 548
sites) and arsenite (27 sites) (Fig. 5E). Notably, only one of the sites (S1772) showed increased 549
phosphorylation under both conditions. This specificity of increased phosphorylation at 550
selected sites was also present in other MAPs such as tau (total of 6 phosphosites, no overlap) 551
and MAP2 (total of 16 phosphosites, no overlap). 552
Thus, the data indicate that hydrogen peroxide leads to a specific phosphorylation pattern of 553
proteins of the microtubule system that is largely distinct from the effects of arsenite as a toxic 554
redox modulator, reflecting conditions of oxidative distress. The data also point to MAP1B as 555
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19
the main target for both redox modulators , suggesting that MAP1B is the master regulator of 556
redox-mediated axonal microtubule dynamics. 557
558
Cell-wide phosphoproteome analysis of predicted upstream kinases in neuronally 559
diffentiated cells reveals a pattern of inversely regulated kinases by hydrogen peroxide 560
and arsenite. 561
The fact that the two redox modulators hydrogen peroxide and arsenite each have a di fferent 562
effect on the phosphorylation of microtubule -regulating proteins suggests that oxidative 563
eustress and distress influence specific signalling cascades differently. Therefore, we performed 564
a kinase enrichment analysis using all changed phosphosites as input to predict the upstream 565
kinases responsible for the different phosphorylation events observed (Kuleshov et al., 2021). 566
Remarkably, w e observed no overlap between the predicted upstream kinases that were 567
activated by the two redox modulators (Fig. 6A). Prominent upstream kinases activated by 568
hydrogen peroxide included kinases known to su ppress apoptosis such as DNA -dependent 569
protein kinase PRKDC (Yue et al., 2020) or the casein kinase 2 subunit CSNK2A2 (Ahmad et 570
al., 2008). Other kinases are known to be involved in regulating brain metabolism such as the 571
pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases PDK2 and 3 (Wang et al., 2023). On the other hand, prominent 572
predicted upstream kinases activated by arsenite were several members of the MAP kinase 573
signal transduction pathway (MAPK3, MAP3K4, MAP2K1, 3, 4, 6, and 7), mammalian target 574
of rapamycin (mTOR) , and serum/glucocorticoid regulated protein kinases SGK1, 2 and 3. 575
Deregulation of the MAPK signaling and mTOR pathway has been implicated in the 576
development of several neurodegenerative diseases (Ahmed et al., 2020; Perluigi et al., 2015) 577
and upregulation of SKG is associated with various neurodegenerative disorders (Kwon et al., 578
2021). 579
Of particular importance for the regulation of differential phosphorylation by certain redox 580
modulators could be those signalling pathways that lead to a reverse change in phosphorylation, 581
i.e. to activation under one condition, but to inhibition under the other. The respective activated 582
upstream kinases for hydrogen peroxide versus arsenite include pyruvate dehydrogenase 583
kinases (PDKs), which play a crucial role in aerobic metabolism , linking glycolysis to the 584
tricarboxylic acid cycle and ATP generation (Wang et al., 2021), and a subunit of casein kinase 585
1, a major contributor to the generation of the human phospho-proteome (Borgo et al., 2021) 586
(Fig. 6B). In turn, the upstream kinases for arsenite versus hydrogen peroxide include mTOR 587
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and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 3 (SGK3), kinases whose dysregulation has been linked to 588
metabolic dysfunction and disease (Liao et al., 2022; Maiese, 2020). 589
Taken together, cell-wide phosphoproteome analysis shows that different signalling pathways 590
are mutually exclusively activated by oxidative eustress and distress . While treatment with 591
subtoxic hydrogen peroxide (reflecting oxidative eustress) is mainly associated with kinases 592
suppressing apoptosis and regulating brain metabolism (PRKDC and CK2 ) and cellular 593
metabolism (PDKs), treatment with the toxic redox modulator arsenite (reflecting oxidative 594
distress) resulted in activati on of signal ling pathways associated with neurodegeneration 595
(mTOR, SGKs). The different phosphorylation patterns of microtubule-regulating proteins, in 596
particular MAP1B, is reflected by a mutually exclusive activation of signaling pathways at 597
eustress versus distress conditions. 598
599
Discussion
600
Reactive oxygen species are involved in a variety of physiological cellular functions such as 601
cell proliferation, differentiation and maturation (Beckhauser et al., 2016). However, when ROS 602
accumulation exceeds antioxidant defense mechanisms , it leads to oxidative distress and 603
promotes pathological conditions in the brain (Pratico et al., 2002) . The development and 604
maturation of neurons critically depends on the microtubule cytoskeleton. Pathological changes 605
in the microtubule system and microtubule-dependent functions such as axonal transport occur 606
early in the disease process and disruption of microtubule dynamics may be a key mechanism 607
contributing to neurodegeneration (Penazzi et al., 2016a). However, it is largely unknown how 608
physiological, nontoxic ROS levels (oxidative eustress) influence axonal microtubule dynamics 609
and microtubule-dependent functions and how they differ from conditions that trigger oxidative 610
distress. 611
Here, we show that (1) a subtoxic concentration of the redox messenger hydrogen peroxide 612
increases microtubule dynamics and shape s microtubule organization in axon -like processes, 613
that (2) hydrogen peroxide modulates the phosphorylation state of different functional groups 614
of the microtubule system, and that (3) subtoxic hydrogen peroxide induces a complex and 615
ROS-specific phosphorylation pattern of MAP1B as the main target protein of the microtubular 616
system. By cell-wide phosphoproteome analysis, we further provide evidence that (4) different 617
signalling pathways are mutually exclusive activated by oxidative eustress and distress, 618
reflecting the distinct phosphorylation patterns of microtubule-related proteins. While oxidative 619
eustress is associated with the activation of pathways related to kinases that suppress apoptosis 620
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21
and regulat e brain metabolism (PRKDC , CK2, PDKs), treatment with the toxic redox 621
modulator arsenite led to the activation of signalling pathways related to neurodegeneration 622
(mTOR, SGKs). 623
Axonal microtubules exhibit a unique organization in that they exist in relatively short 624
fragments with a uniform orientation and their dynamic plus -ends pointing towards the axon 625
tip. Although most axonal microtubules are more stable than the microtubules of dendrites, 626
axons also possess dynamic microtubules that undergo phases of polymerization and 627
depolymerization, a process known as dynamic instability (Baas et al., 2016) . The dynamic 628
microtubules in the axon can act as sensors of the cellular microenvironment and enable the 629
rapid reorganization of the cytoskeleton in response to changes in the environment (Coles and 630
Bradke, 2015) . The r egulation of microtubule nucleation and the dynamics of their 631
polymerization could therefore play an important role in local axon homeostasis for axon 632
maintenance, function and pathology (Hahn et al., 2019). Regulation by ROS can thus couple 633
neuronal activity to the local organization of the microtubule array. High neuronal activity 634
would lead to an increase in ROS species due to more active mitochondria. A physiologically 635
increased hydrogen peroxide content would then lead to a rearrangement of the microtubule 636
array by decreasing microtubule density and increasing mean microtubule length, accompanied 637
by a reduced amount of transported cargo, as we observed in our experiments (Fig. 7). This 638
would create a negative feedback loop to dampen over-activation of the neuron. 639
Hydrogen peroxide may also play a role in communication between glial cells and neurons. As 640
a messenger molecule, hydrogen peroxide diffuses through cells and tissues, which would allow 641
myelinating oligodendrocytes, which are known to provide metabolic and functional support to 642
the underlying axon (Duncan et al., 2021; Simons and Nave, 2015) , to modulate the structure 643
and dynamics of axonal microtubule s. Oligodendrocytes, in turn, could also act as a sink for 644
hydrogen peroxide produced locally in the axon. Therefore, it would be interesting to determine 645
the possible crosstalk of oligodendrocytes and neurons with respect to redox signalling. 646
Our data show that several functional groups of the microtubule system are differentially 647
phosphorylated due to hydrogen peroxide signalling. By far the largest group is microtubule-648
associated proteins (MAPs), followed by the tubulin sequestering protein stathmin 2. This 649
suggests that the other groups of microtubule-regulating proteins such as microtubule-severing 650
factors, end -binding proteins or microtubule nucleators are not involved in the immediate 651
response to hydrogen peroxide with re gard to axonal microtubule homeostasis. Interestingly, 652
microtubule-binding proteins and tubulin-sequestering proteins were also identified as the most 653
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22
important drivers for the development of increased neuronal complexity during vertebrate 654
evolution, as they showed the largest increase in the number of orthologs and predicted protein-655
coding splice variants (Trushina et al., 2019b) . Thus, MAPs and tubulin -sequestering factors 656
appear to be the most important microtubule -regulating proteins in adapting the microtubule 657
skeleton to changes in the environment, both on an evolutionary scale and in terms of regulating 658
axonal microtubule homeostasis. Under oxidative distress conditions (arsenite treatment), end-659
binding proteins and a microtubule nucleator also joined the functional groups modified by 660
phosphorylation, which may indicate that increased phosphorylation of end-binding proteins in 661
particular could be responsible for the pathological changes of the axonal microtubule array. 662
Our data show that MAP1B is the main target of phosphorylation in both eustress and distress 663
conditions and approximately two third of the phosphorylation sites of microtubule-related 664
proteins that are upregulated in eustress conditions belong to MAP1B. MAP1B appears to 665
preferentially associate with tyrosinated (dynamic) microtubules, rather than detyrosinated 666
(stable) microtubules (Tymanskyj et al., 2012) , which may increase the pool of dynamic 667
microtubules (Tortosa et al., 2013; Utreras et al., 2008). Such behavior could be important for 668
the local regulation of axonal microtubule dynamics and polymerization. Phosphorylation of 669
MAP1B at different sites can regulate the local fine -tuning of neurite branching and 670
microtubule dynamics (Barnat et al., 2016; Scales et al., 2009; Ulloa et al., 1993). Historically, 671
two types of MAP1B phosphorylation have been distinguished. Mode I phosphorylation 672
induces a shift in electropho retic mobility and decreases with development , while mode II 673
phosphorylation does not affect electrophoretic mobility and remains unchanged (Kawauchi et 674
al., 2005). Phosphorylation at mode I sites results in a loss of microtubule-stabilizing ability 675
(Goold et al., 1999) and mode I phosphorylated MAP1B is also observed in neurofibrillary 676
tangles (NFTs) and dystrophic neurites in Alzheimer’s disease brains (Ulloa et al., 1994). This 677
suggests that mode I phosphorylation may be associated with nervous system pathogenesis and 678
reflects the MAP1B phosphorylation at oxidative distress conditions . In contrast, m ode II 679
phosphorylation is mediated for example by casein kinase 2 (Ulloa et al., 1993) , a predicted 680
upstream kinase with inverse regulation with hydrogen peroxide and arsenite. Regions of 681
phosphorylated epitopes recognized by the monoclonal antibody SMI -31 implicated in 682
detecting mode I phosphorylation sites (Johnstone et al., 1997) are present both after arsenite 683
treatment (1836 -2076) and hydrogen peroxide treatment ( 1244-1264) (Fig. 6E) . It will be 684
interesting to determine the functional consequences of the hydrogen peroxide-induced change 685
in phosphorylation compared to the arsenite-induced change, in order to determine sites that 686
may be cr ucial for the physiological versus pathological regulation of microtubule 687
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23
polymerization. However, the remarkable complexity of MAP1B phosphorylation makes this a 688
difficult undertaking. 689
Increased phosphorylation of the microtubule -associated protein tau is associated with the 690
development of tauopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease (Arendt et al., 2016; Trushina et al., 691
2019a). Remarkably, our data show that tau is not a major target in either oxidative eustress or 692
distress. This is consistent with our observation that treatment with hydrogen peroxide does not 693
affect the tau-microtubule interaction, as many of the disease-related tau phosphorylation events 694
negatively affect tau binding to microtubules. Thus, the data indicate that increased 695
phosphorylation of tau is not involved in the regulation of microtubule polymerization under 696
oxidative eustress conditions and that increased phosphorylation of tau and the concomitant 697
dysregulation of axonal microtubule polymerization is a later event during neurodegeneration. 698
699
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: 700
We thank Maxim Skulachev (Mitotech S.A., Luxembourg) for providing SkQ1 and TPP, and 701
Amos Smith 3rd (University of Pennsylvania) for providing EpoD. This work was supported by 702
the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG BR1192/14-1 to RB). 703
704
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS: 705
Christian Conze: Investigation, Writing - Original Draft; Nataliya I. Trushina : Investigation, 706
Writing - Original Draft; Nanci Monteiro-Abreu: Investigation, Writing - Original Draft; Daniel 707
Villar Romero : Investigation, Writing - Original Draft ; Eike Wienbeuker : Investigation, 708
Writing - Original Draft ; Anna-Sophie Schwarze : Investigation; Michael Holtmannspötter : 709
Investigation, Writing - Original Draft; Lidia Bakota: Writing - Original Draft, Supervision; 710
Roland Brandt: Conceptualization, Writing - Original Draft, Supervision, Funding acquisition. 711
The authors declare that no generative AI or AI -assisted technologies were used in the 712
preparation of this manuscript. 713
714
COMPETING INTERESTS STATEMENT: 715
The authors declare no competing interests. 716
717
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24
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956
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29
FIGURES 957
958
Fig. 1. Subtoxic concentrations of hydrogen peroxide decrease microtubule polymer in 959
axon-like processes by decreasing k on and increasing k off rates of microtubule 960
polymerization. 961
A. Combined MTT (blue) and LDH (red) assay showing the effect of 3 h H2O2 exposure on 962
neuronally differentiated PC12 cells. Mean ± SEM of 4 experiments , each carried out in 963
triplicates, are shown. Statistically significant differences as determined by o ne-way ANOVA 964
followed by a Dunnett post hoc test showed significant differences from a control at 965
concentrations ≥ 225 µM. B. Bar graphs showing the increase in intracellular ROS level in 966
response to H2O2. Each data point represents an independent experiment normalized to a 967
control. Mean ± SEM is shown. Statistically significant differences between treated and control 968
cells as determined by o ne-sample t-tests are indicated (**p<0.01) . C. Representative time-969
lapse images of a fluorescence decay after photoactivation (FDAP) experiment in an axon-like 970
process. A 6 µm long segment (white box) in the middle of a process was photoactivated and 971
the fluorescence decay in this area was monitored over time. A schematic representation of the 972
(which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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30
FDAP approach and the expressed construct is shown on the left. D. FDAP diagrams after 973
photoactivation of PAGFP--Tubulin expressing cells show an increased fluorescence decay 974
after treatment with H2O2. Mean values ± SEM of 29 (control) and 13 (150 µM H2O2) cells are 975
shown. E. Scatterplots of the association (k*on) and dissociation rate constants (koff), determined 976
by modelling the FDAP plots from (D) , show that H 2O2 decreases k*on and increases koff. 977
Statistically significant differences between treated and control cells, determined by unpaired 978
two-tailed Student’s t-tests, are indicated. *p<0.05, **p<0.01. F. The scatterplot of the amount 979
of polymerized tubulin determined from the association and dissociation constants in (E) shows 980
that H 2O2 reduces the amount of polymerized tubulin in axon -like processes. Statistically 981
significant differences determined by unpaired two -tailed Student’s t -tests are indicated. 982
***p<0.001. G. A s chematic representation of the conversion between the oxidized and 983
reduced forms of SkQ1 as a mitochondria-targeted antioxidant is shown. TPP, which lacks the 984
antioxidant quinone moiety, is indicated. A bar graph is displayed on the right showing that 985
pretreatment with SkQ1 abolished the increase in intracellular ROS levels in response to H2O2. 986
H. Schematic representation of the timeline of the experiment to determine the effect of 987
pretreatment with SkQ1 or a control (TPP) on microtubule polymerization. I. Scatterplot of the 988
amount of polymerized tubulin with the control (TPP) and SkQ1 , showing that pretreatment 989
with SkQ1 prevents H2O2-induced microtubule depolymerization in axon -like processes as 990
determined by FDAP experiments. Shown are mean values ± SEM of 16, 13 (TPP) and 28, 23 991
(SkQ1) cells for control and H 2O2-treatment, respectively. Statistically significant differences 992
determined by unpaired two -tailed Student’s t-tests are indicated. **p<0.01. J. Shown is the 993
time course of the experiment to determine the effect of pretreatment with the microtubule -994
stabilizer EpoD on H2O2-induced microtubule depolymerization. K. Scatterplot of the amount 995
of polymerized tubulin showing that pretreatment with EpoD prevents H 2O2-induced 996
microtubule depolymerization. Shown are m ean values ± SEM of 21, 14 ( carrier, 0.01% 997
DMSO) and 29, 17 (1 nM EpoD) cells for control and H2O2-treatment, respectively. Statistically 998
significant differences determined by unpaired two -tailed Student’s t -tests are indicated. 999
**p<0.01. 1000
1001
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31
1002
Fig. 2. Subtoxic hydrogen peroxide modulates the structure of the axonal microtubule 1003
array by reducing microtubule mass and increasing microtubule length. 1004
A. Shown on the left is a schematic representation of the single molecule localization 1005
microscopy (SMLM) approach to quantify MT organization . An indication of the average 1006
microtubule spacing in axon-like processes of differentiated PC12 is included. A total internal 1007
reflection fluorescence ( TIRF) image of the 3D -rendered SML data and a 150 nm optical 1008
section with fire color code are shown in the middle. Microtubule filaments as extracted from 1009
a selected ROI using SIFNE (single-molecule localization microscopy image filament network 1010
extractor) are shown in the rainbow color code on the right . Scale bar 10µm. B. Boxplots 1011
showing the mass, density, m ean length and straightness of microtubules . Each data dot 1012
represents the average of a single cell (control, 6 cells with n=902 individual microtubules ; 1013
H2O2, 7 cells with n=457 individual microtubules). H2O2 treatment reduces microtubule mass 1014
but increases mean microtubule length. Statistically significant differences determined by 1015
unpaired two -tailed Student’s t -tests are indicated. *p<0.05, **p<0.01. C. Distribution of 1016
microtubule lengths in a relative abundance histogram. Dotted lines show mean microtubule 1017
length under control conditions and with H2O2. The bin width was set to 0.5 µm and the area 1018
of the histogram bars is 1.0. H2O2 shifts the length distribution by reducing the proportion of 1019
short microtubules (0.5-2.5 µm length) and increasing the number of long microtubules (>8 1020
µm). 1021
1022
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32
1023
Fig. 3. Hydrogen peroxide -induced changes in the microtubule array reduce the 1024
proportion of mobile vesicles but have no effect on the speed and velocity of axonal 1025
transport, or the interaction with the axonal tau protein. 1026
A. Tracking APP vesicles in a PC12 cell process using eGFP-tagged APP and an autoregressive 1027
motion algorithm. The first micrograph shows an overview of a cell expressing APP-eGFP. The 1028
images on the right show selected time s of the APP vesicle movement from the part of the 1029
process marked by the white box in the overview image. Arrows point to a moving (white) and 1030
a stationary vesicle (red). Scale bars, 10 μm (overview) and 1 μm (time lapse). B. The bar graph 1031
shows proportions of mobile vesicles in the axon -like process under control conditions and in 1032
response to H2O2. Velocity and speed of mobile vesicles are shown in the scatter plots on the 1033
right (mean ± SEM of n = 25 cells with 1595 trajectories (control) and 23 cells with 1209 1034
trajectories (H2O2); each point represents an average value for one analyzed cell). Statistically 1035
significant differences determined by unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-tests are indicated. **p < 1036
0.01. C. Proportion of mobile vesicles in cells pretreated with 1 nM EpoD according to the 1037
timeline shown in Fig 2D. Each data point represents an average value for a corresponding cell 1038
(mean ± SEM of 20 cells with 1276 trajectories ( control) and 25 cells with 1720 trajectories 1039
(H2O2)). D. Effect of H2O2 on the interaction of tau with microtubules. A schematic 1040
representation of the FDAP approach and the expressed tau construct is shown on the left. 1041
FDAP plots after photoactivation of PAGFP -Tau expressing cells (middle) show a similar 1042
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33
fluorescence decay with and without H 2O2. Likewise, the scatterplots of the association (k *on) 1043
and dissociation rate constants (k off) (right) show no statistically significant differences. Mean 1044
values ± SEM of 25 (control) and 14 (H2O2) cells are shown. 1045
1046
1047
Fig. 4. Subtoxic hydrogen peroxide modulates the phosphorylation state of components of 1048
the microtubule system. 1049
A. Schematic representation of the approach for proteomics and phosphoproteomics analyses 1050
of differentiated model neurons treated with hydrogen peroxide compared to control. B. Bar 1051
plot with the top enriched GO-terms for molecular function of all differentially regulated 1052
proteins in response to H2O2. The length of the bar indicates the p -value, reflecting the 1053
enrichment significance of each term. Note an enrichment of proteins mostly involved in RNA 1054
processing and redox modulation. C. Volcano plot showing up- and down-regulated proteins 1055
in hydrogen peroxide -treated cultures compared to controls. Log2 fold changes are plotted 1056
against -log10 p -values. Significant upregulation upon H 2O2 treatment is shown in blue, 1057
downregulation in dark grey. Members of different groups of microtubule -regulating proteins 1058
are indicated. The axes are cut for representation purposes (x -axis from -3 to 3, y-axis from 0 1059
to 60); all the proteins above the limits are shown as points at each limit border. Members of 1060
different groups of microtubule -regulating proteins are indicated in different colors, with 1061
significantly changed ones labelled with their gene names. Only one protein of the more than 1062
30 identified proteins of the microtubule system (MAPRE3) shows a slight but significant 1063
upregulation. D. Bar plot with the top enriched GO -terms for cellular components of all 1064
proteins with upregulated phosphosites in response to H2O2. The length of the bar indicates the 1065
p-value, reflecting the enrichment significance of each term. Note enrichment of nuclear 1066
components, organelles and proteins of the cytoskeleton. E. Volcano plot showing up - and 1067
down-regulated phosphosites in hydrogen peroxide-treated cultures compared to controls. The 1068
axes are cut for representation purposes and all phosphosites above the limits are shown as 1069
points at each limit border. Coloring and labelling as in C. 1070
(which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
The copyright holder for this preprintthis version posted July 4, 2024. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.01.601594doi: bioRxiv preprint
34
1071
1072
Fig. 5. Subtoxic hydrogen peroxide and ROS-generation by arsenite induce differential 1073
phosphorylation of MAP1B as the major target of microtubule proteins. 1074
A. Volcano plot showing upregulated phosphosites in arsenite -treated c ells compared to 1075
control. Members of different groups of microtubule -regulating proteins are indicated by the 1076
same color code as in Fig. 5C. Log2 fold changes are plotted against -log10 p-values. Significant 1077
upregulation upon arsenite treatment is shown in orange, downregulation in dark grey. The axes 1078
are cut for representation purposes and all phosphosites above the limits are shown as points at 1079
each limit border. B. Venn diagram showing low overlap of phosphosites of microtubule -1080
regulating proteins upregulated in response to hydrogen peroxide or arsenite. C, D. Distribution 1081
of upregulated phosphosites on different proteins of the microtubule system in response to 1082
hydrogen peroxide (C) or arsenite (D). Note that MT-binding proteins and especially MAP1B 1083
are the main target. E. Graphical representation of the different phosphosites on MAP1B that 1084
are upregulated in response to hydrogen peroxide or arsenite. The blue bar shows the 1085
microtubule-binding region according to the deletion study by (Noble et al., 1989) . 1086
Phosphorylated epitopes recognized by the monoclonal antibody SMI -31 (Johnstone et al., 1087
1997), which detects disease-associated mode I phosphorylation sites, which cause a loss of the 1088
microtubule stabilizing activity, are indicated by the dark green bar. 1089
1090
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The copyright holder for this preprintthis version posted July 4, 2024. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.01.601594doi: bioRxiv preprint
35
1091
Fig. 6. Cell-wide phosphoproteome analysis of predicted upstream kinases in neuronally 1092
differentiated cells reveals a pattern of inversely regulated kinases by hydrogen peroxide 1093
and arsenite. 1094
A. Kinase enrichment analysis of the phosphoproteomics data to identify the pattern of kinases 1095
responsible for increased phosphorylation of all cellular proteins in response to hydrogen 1096
peroxide (left) and arsenite (right). Note that there is no overlap between significantly 1097
upregulated upstream kinases with hydrogen peroxide and arsenite. B. Venn diagrams showing 1098
upstream kinases leading to a reverse change in phosphorylation, i.e. induction of increased 1099
phosphorylation with hydrogen peroxide and reduced phosphorylation with arsenite (top) and 1100
increased phosphorylation with arsenite and reduced phosphorylation with hydrogen peroxide 1101
(bottom). The respective upstream kinases with reverse change are indicated below the 1102
corresponding Venn diagram. 1103
1104
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The copyright holder for this preprintthis version posted July 4, 2024. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.07.01.601594doi: bioRxiv preprint
36
1105
Fig. 7. Schematic representation of the effect of hydrogen peroxide on axonal microtubule 1106
organization and microtubule-dependent transport. 1107
Hydrogen peroxide diffuses through cells and tissues and can reach neighboring axons when 1108
produced in oligodendrocytes or astrocytes. In addition, it is also produced by mitochondria in 1109
the axons . In axons, H 2O2 causes a reorganization of the microtubule cytoskeleton toward 1110
longer but less dense microtubules, which reduces the efficiency of vesicle transport because it 1111
becomes more difficult for vesicles to change the microtubule track. Figure created with 1112
BioRender.com. 1113
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