Identification of the physiological promoter for spinocerebellar ataxia 2 gene reveals a CpG island for promoter activity situated into the exon 1 of this gene and provides data about the origin of the nonmethylated state of these types of islands

In Human and Mouse Spino-Cerebellar Tissue, Ataxin-2 Expansion Affects Ceramide-Sphingomyelin Metabolism

Ataxin-2 (human gene symbol ATXN2) acts during stress responses, modulating mRNA translation and nutrient metabolism. Ataxin-2 knockout mice exhibit progressive obesity, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance. Conversely, the progressive ATXN2 gain of function due to the fact of polyglutamine (polyQ) expansions leads to a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative process named spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) with early adipose tissue loss and late muscle atrophy. We tried to understand lipid dysregulation in a SCA2 patient brain and in an authentic mouse model. Thin layer chromatography of a patient cerebellum was compared to the lipid metabolome of Atxn2-CAG100-Knockin (KIN) mouse spinocerebellar tissue. The human pathology caused deficits of sulfatide, galactosylceramide, cholesterol, C22/24-sphingomyelin, and gangliosides GM1a/GD1b despite quite normal levels of C18-sphingomyelin. Cerebellum and spinal cord from the KIN mouse showed a consistent decrease of various ceramides with a significant elevation of sphingosine in the more severely affected spinal cord. Deficiency of C24/26-sphingomyelins contrasted with excess C18/20-sphingomyelin. Spinocerebellar expression profiling revealed consistent reductions of CERS protein isoforms, Sptlc2 and Smpd3, but upregulation of Cers2 mRNA, as prominent anomalies in the ceramide-sphingosine metabolism. Reduction of Asah2 mRNA correlated to deficient S1P levels. In addition, downregulations for the elongase Elovl1, Elovl4, Elovl5 mRNAs and ELOVL4 protein explain the deficit of very long-chain sphingomyelin. Reduced ASMase protein levels correlated to the accumulation of long-chain sphingomyelin. Overall, a deficit of myelin lipids was prominent in SCA2 nervous tissue at prefinal stage and not compensated by transcriptional adaptation of several metabolic enzymes. Myelination is controlled by mTORC1 signals; thus, our human and murine observations are in agreement with the known role of ATXN2 yeast, nematode, and mouse orthologs as mTORC1 inhibitors and autophagy promoters.

Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is autosomal dominantly inherited and caused by CAG repeat expansion in the ATXN2 gene. Because the CAG repeat expansion is localized to an encoded region of ATXN2, the result is an expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tract in the ATXN2 protein. SCA2 is characterized by progressive ataxia, and slow saccades. No treatment for SCA2 exists. ATXN2 mutation causes gains of new or toxic functions for the ATXN2 protein, resulting in abnormally slow Purkinje cell (PC) firing frequency and ultimately PC loss. This chapter describes the characteristics of SCA2 patients briefly, and reviews ATXN2 molecular features and progress toward the identification of a treatment for SCA2.

Epigenetic profiles in polyglutamine disorders

The dominant polyglutamine (polyQ) disorders are a group of progressive and incurable neurodegenerative disorders, which are caused by unstable expanded CAG trinucleotide repeats in the coding regions of their respective causative genes. The most prevalent polyQ disorders worldwide are Huntington’s disease and spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications and chromatin remodeling and noncoding RNA regulation, regulate gene expression or genome function. Epigenetic dysregulation has been suggested to play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of polyQ disorders. Here, we summarize the current knowledge of epigenetic changes present in several representative polyQ disorders and discuss the potentiality of miRNAs as therapeutic targets for the clinic therapy of these disorders.

Clinical features, neurogenetics and neuropathology of the polyglutamine spinocerebellar ataxias type 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7

The spinocerebellar ataxias type 1 (SCA1), 2 (SCA2), 3 (SCA3), 6 (SCA6) and 7 (SCA7) are genetically defined autosomal dominantly inherited progressive cerebellar ataxias (ADCAs). They belong to the group of CAG-repeat or polyglutamine diseases and share pathologically expanded and meiotically unstable glutamine-encoding CAG-repeats at distinct gene loci encoding elongated polyglutamine stretches in the disease proteins. In recent years, progress has been made in the understanding of the pathogenesis of these currently incurable diseases: Identification of underlying genetic mechanisms made it possible to classify the different ADCAs and to define their clinical and pathological features. Furthermore, advances in molecular biology yielded new insights into the physiological and pathophysiological role of the gene products of SCA1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA6 and SCA7 (i.e. ataxin-1, ataxin-2, ataxin-3, α-1A subunit of the P/Q type voltage-dependent calcium channel, ataxin-7). In the present review we summarize our current knowledge about the polyglutamine ataxias SCA1, SCA2, SCA3, SCA6 and SCA7 and compare their clinical and electrophysiological features, genetic and molecular biological background, as well as their brain pathologies. Furthermore, we provide an overview of the structure, interactions and functions of the different disease proteins. On the basis of these comprehensive data, similarities, differences and possible disease mechanisms are discussed.

ETS1 regulates the expression of ATXN2

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by the expansion of a CAG tract in the ATXN2 gene. The SCA2 phenotype is characterized by cerebellar ataxia, neuropathy and slow saccades. SCA2 foreshortens life span and is currently without symptomatic or disease-modifying treatments. Identifying function-specific therapeutics for SCA2 is problematic due to the limited knowledge of ATXN2 function. As SCA2 is likely caused by a gain-of-toxic or gain-of-normal function like other polyglutamine disorders, targeting ATXN2 expression may represent a valid therapeutic approach. This study characterized aspects of ATXN2 expression control using an ATXN2 promoter-luciferase (luc) reporter construct. We verified the fidelity of construct expression by generating transgenic mice expressing the reporter construct. High reporter expression was seen in the cerebellum and olfactory bulb in vivo but there was relatively low expression in other tissues, similar to the expression of endogenous ataxin-2. We verified the second of two possible start codons as the functional start codon in ATXN2. By evaluating deletions in the ATXN2 promoter, we identified an E-twenty six (ETS)-binding site required for ATXN2 expression. We verified that endogenous ETS1 interacted with the ATXN2 promoter by an electromobility supershift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation polymerase chain reaction. ETS1 overexpression increased ATXN2-luc (ATXN2-luciferase) as well as endogenous ATXN2 expression. Deletion of the putative ETS1-binding site abrogated the effects on the expression of ATXN2-luc. A dominant negative ETS1 and an ETS1 short-hairpin RNA both reduced ATXN2-luc expression. Our study broadens the understanding on the transcriptional control of ATXN2 and reveals specific regulatory features of the ATXN2 promoter that can be exploited therapeutically.

p53 negatively regulates the expression of FAT10, a gene upregulated in various cancers

FAT10 is a member of the ubiquitin-like modifier family of proteins and has been implicated to play important roles in antigen presentation, cytokine response, apoptosis and mitosis. We have recently demonstrated the upregulation of FAT10 gene expression in 90% of hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Here, we identified and characterized the promoter of the FAT10 gene to elucidate the mechanism of FAT10 gene expression. Notably, we found that the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR), from the transcription start site to 15 bases before the translational start site, displays significant promoter activity. Regions upstream of the 5'UTR (from +26 to -1997) do not confer any promoter activity. Curiously, FAT10 promoter activity and expression is significantly repressed in KB3-1 and HepG2 cells, which have wild-type p53, than in p53-negative Hep3B cells. The role of p53 in regulating FAT10 expression was evident by the significant downregulation (P<0.05) of FAT10 mRNA expression and promoter activity when wild-type p53 was transfected into p53-null Hep3B cells. Conversely, inhibiting p53 expression through siRNA against p53 significantly enhanced FAT10 expression and promoter activity. p53 was found to bind in vivo to the 5' half consensus sequence of p53-binding site located at the FAT10 promoter. Hence, we propose that FAT10 is a downstream target of p53 and dysregulation of FAT10 expression in p53-defective cells could contribute to carcinogenesis.

Ubiquitous expression of human SCA2 gene under the regulation of the SCA2 self promoter cause specific Purkinje cell degeneration in transgenic mice

The objective of this work was the generation of an animal model of the SCA2 disease for future studies on the benefits of therapeutic molecules and neuropathological mechanisms that underline this human disorder. The transgenic fragment was microinjected into pronuclei of B6D2F1 X OF1 mouse hybrid strain. For Northern blots, RNAs were hybridized with a human cDNA fragment from the SCA2 gene and a mouse beta-actin cDNA fragment. Monoclonal antibody directed to the N-terminal of the ataxin 2 protein with 22Q was used for Western blot analysis. A rotating rod apparatus was utilized to measure motor coordination of mice. Immunohistochemical detection of Purkinje neurons was performed with anti-calbindin 28K as primary antibody. Ubiquitous expression of the SCA2 transgene with 75 CAG repeats regulated by the SCA2 self promoter was obtained after generation of our transgenic mice. Analysis of transgenic mice revealed significant differences of motor coordination compared with the wild type littermates. Specific degeneration of Purkinje neurons and transgene over-expression in the brain, liver and skeletal muscle, rather than in lungs and kidneys was also observed, resembling the expression pattern of the ataxin 2 in humans.

Can ataxin-2 be down-regulated by allele-specific de novo DNA methylation in SCA2 patients?

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is caused by a CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion within the coding region of the ataxin-2 gene. Affected individuals typically have between 34 and 57 CAG repeats. Signs of the disorder generally begin in adulthood and include progressive ataxia, dysarthria, tremor, hyporeflexia, and slow saccades. As with other trinucleotide repeat disorders, SCA2 exhibits an inverse correlation between the size of the CAG repeat and the age at onset of clinically detectable disease, with neonatal cases of SCA2 being reported in individuals harboring over 200 CAG repeats. However, a wide range of age at onset is typically observed, especially in individuals with < 40 CAG repeats. CAG repeat number alone explains approximately 25-80% of the variability. In this paper, we hypothesize that the level of mutant ataxin-2 protein in affected cells contributes to these differences. One of the mechanisms that might influence this protein levels is de novo DNA methylation, which would specifically target the allele with the expanded CAG repeat leading to transcriptional silencing. Consequently, the symptoms of SCA2 would occur later in the patient's life history. Our postulations, as well as those previously reported to account for the phenotype of SCA2, are discussed.

The human MJD gene: genomic structure and functional characterization of the promoter region

Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of a CAG motif within the translated region of the human MJD (hMJD) gene which has been mapped to chromosome 14q. In this study, the hMJD gene was identified in two overlapping bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones and contained 11 exons resulting in a 6.14 kb transcript. The 5'-flanking region of the hMJD gene included a TATA-less promoter with GC-rich regions, a CCAAT box and multiple potential SP1 binding sites. Luciferase reporter assays performed in neuronal and non-neuronal human cell lines demonstrated a core promoter within the 200 bp region immediately upstream of the putative transcriptional start site (-89 according to the start codon). DNA-protein interactions defined by electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) revealed specific binding of nuclear proteins to the putative core promoter region.

Cloning and characterization of a family of proteins associated with Mpl

Thrombopoietin (TPO) controls the formation of megakaryocytes and platelets from hematopoietic stem cells via activation of the c-Mpl receptor and multiple downstream signal transduction pathways. We used two-hybrid screening to identify new proteins that interacted with the cytoplasmic domain of Mpl, and we found a new family of proteins designated A2D (for Ataxin-2 Domain protein). The A2D are 130-kDa proteins that have three regions similar to those of Ataxin-2, the gene product causing familial type 2 spinocerebellar ataxia. A2D has several isoforms with different C-terminal domains, all produced from a single gene by alternative splicing. Northern blotting indicated that the A2D gene is widely expressed in immortalized cell lines and hematopoietic and fetal tissues. A2D proteins were constitutively associated with Mpl in vivo in human hematopoietic UT7 cells. TPO also caused the release of A2D from the activated receptor, and the phosphorylation of A2D on tyrosines residues was dependent on the Mpl C-terminal domain. Finally, A2D bound to the unstimulated erythropoietin receptor, whereas erythropoietin caused dissociation from the erythropoietin receptor, suggesting that A2D proteins are new components of the cytokine signaling system.