Aggregate-selective removal of pathological tau by clustering-activated degraders

Abstract

Selective degradation of pathological protein aggregates while sparing monomeric forms is of major therapeutic interest. The E3 ligase tripartite motif–containing protein 21 (TRIM21) degrades antibody-bound proteins in an assembly state–specific manner due to the requirement of TRIM21 RING domain clustering for activation, yet effective targeting of intracellular assemblies remains challenging. Here, we fused the RING domain of TRIM21 to a target-specific nanobody to create intracellularly expressed constructs capable of selectively degrading assembled proteins. We evaluated this approach against green fluorescent protein–tagged histone 2B (H2B-GFP) and tau, a protein that undergoes pathological aggregation in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. RING-nanobody degraders prevented or reversed tau aggregation in culture and in vivo, with minimal impact on monomeric tau. This approach may have therapeutic potential for the many disorders driven by intracellular protein aggregation.