1
|
Deconstruction of Neurotrypsin Reveals a Multi-factorially Regulated Activity Affecting Myotube Formation and Neuronal Excitability. Mol Neurobiol 2022; 59:7466-7485. [PMID: 36197591 PMCID: PMC9616769 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-022-03056-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Neurotrypsin (NT) is a highly specific nervous system multi-domain serine protease best known for its selective processing of the potent synaptic organizer agrin. Its enzymatic activity is thought to influence processes of synaptic plasticity, with its deregulation causing accelerated neuromuscular junction (NMJ) degeneration or contributing to forms of mental retardation. These biological effects are likely to stem from NT-based regulation of agrin signaling. However, dissecting the exact biological implications of NT-agrin interplay is difficult, due to the scarce molecular detail regarding NT activity and NT-agrin interactions. We developed a strategy to reliably produce and purify a catalytically competent engineered variant of NT called "NT-mini" and a library of C-terminal agrin fragments, with which we performed a thorough biochemical and biophysical characterization of NT enzyme functionality. We studied the regulatory effects of calcium ions and heparin, identified NT's heparin-binding domain, and discovered how zinc ions induce modulation of enzymatic activity. Additionally, we investigated myotube differentiation and hippocampal neuron excitability, evidencing a dose-dependent increase in neuronal activity alongside a negative impact on myoblast fusion when using the active NT enzyme. Collectively, our results provide in vitro and cellular foundations to unravel the molecular underpinnings and biological significance of NT-agrin interactions.
Collapse
|
2
|
Del Olmo B, Merkurjev D, Yao L, Pinsach-Abuin ML, Garcia-Bassets I, Almenar-Queralt A. Analysis of Clonal Composition in Human iPSC and ESC and Derived 2D and 3D Differentiated Cultures. METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (CLIFTON, N.J.) 2021; 2454:31-47. [PMID: 34505265 DOI: 10.1007/7651_2021_414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Human induced pluripotent and embryonic stem cell cultures (hiPSC/hESC) are phenotypically heterogeneous and prone to clonal deviations during subculturing and differentiation. Clonal deviations often emerge unnoticed, but they can change the biology of the cell culture with a negative impact on experimental reproducibility. Here, we describe a computational workflow to profile the bulk clonal composition in a hiPSC/hESC culture that can also be used to infer clonal deviations. This workflow processes data obtained with two versions of the same method. The two versions-epigenetic and transcriptomic-rely on a mechanism of stochastic H3K4me3 deposition during hiPSC/hESC derivation. This mechanism generates a signature of ten or more H3K4me3-enriched clustered protocadherin (PCDH) promoters distinct in every single cell. The aggregate of single-cell signatures provides an identificatory feature in every hiPSC/hESC line. This feature is stably transmitted to the cell progeny of the culture even after differentiation unless there is a clonal deviation event that changes the internal balance of single-cell signatures. H3K4me3 signatures can be profiled by chromatin immunoprecipitation and next-generation sequencing (ChIP-seq). Alternatively, an equivalent PCDH-expression version can be profiled by RNA-seq in PCDH-expressing hiPSC/hESC-derived cells (such as neurons, astrocytes, and cardiomyocytes; and, in long-term cultures, such as cerebral organoids). Notably, our workflow can also distinguish genetically identical hiPSC/hESC lines derived from the same patient or generated in the same editing process. Together, we propose a method to improve data sharing and reproducibility in the hiPSC and hESC fields.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bernat Del Olmo
- Visiting Scholar Program, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Daria Merkurjev
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Likun Yao
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mel Lina Pinsach-Abuin
- Visiting Scholar Program, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ivan Garcia-Bassets
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Angels Almenar-Queralt
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ma Q, Yang F, Mackintosh C, Jayani RS, Oh S, Jin C, Nair SJ, Merkurjev D, Ma W, Allen S, Wang D, Almenar-Queralt A, Garcia-Bassets I. Super-Enhancer Redistribution as a Mechanism of Broad Gene Dysregulation in Repeatedly Drug-Treated Cancer Cells. Cell Rep 2021; 31:107532. [PMID: 32320655 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cisplatin is an antineoplastic drug administered at suboptimal and intermittent doses to avoid life-threatening effects. Although this regimen shortly improves symptoms in the short term, it also leads to more malignant disease in the long term. We describe a multilayered analysis ranging from chromatin to translation-integrating chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), global run-on sequencing (GRO-seq), RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and ribosome profiling-to understand how cisplatin confers (pre)malignant features by using a well-established ovarian cancer model of cisplatin exposure. This approach allows us to segregate the human transcriptome into gene modules representing distinct regulatory principles and to characterize that the most cisplatin-disrupted modules are associated with underlying events of super-enhancer plasticity. These events arise when cancer cells initiate without ultimately ending the program of drug-stimulated death. Using a PageRank-based algorithm, we predict super-enhancer regulator ISL1 as a driver of this plasticity and validate this prediction by using CRISPR/dCas9-KRAB inhibition (CRISPRi) and CRISPR/dCas9-VP64 activation (CRISPRa) tools. Together, we propose that cisplatin reprograms cancer cells when inducing them to undergo near-to-death experiences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qi Ma
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Feng Yang
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Carlos Mackintosh
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Ranveer Singh Jayani
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Soohwan Oh
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Chunyu Jin
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Sreejith Janardhanan Nair
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Daria Merkurjev
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Wubin Ma
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Stephanie Allen
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Dong Wang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 611137, China
| | - Angels Almenar-Queralt
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Ivan Garcia-Bassets
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Pinsach-Abuin M, del Olmo B, Pérez-Agustin A, Mates J, Allegue C, Iglesias A, Ma Q, Merkurjev D, Konovalov S, Zhang J, Sheikh F, Telenti A, Brugada J, Brugada R, Gymrek M, di Iulio J, Garcia-Bassets I, Pagans S. Analysis of Brugada syndrome loci reveals that fine-mapping clustered GWAS hits enhances the annotation of disease-relevant variants. Cell Rep Med 2021; 2:100250. [PMID: 33948580 PMCID: PMC8080235 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Revised: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are instrumental in identifying loci harboring common single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) that affect human traits and diseases. GWAS hits emerge in clusters, but the focus is often on the most significant hit in each trait- or disease-associated locus. The remaining hits represent SNVs in linkage disequilibrium (LD) and are considered redundant and thus frequently marginally reported or exploited. Here, we interrogate the value of integrating the full set of GWAS hits in a locus repeatedly associated with cardiac conduction traits and arrhythmia, SCN5A-SCN10A. Our analysis reveals 5 common 7-SNV haplotypes (Hap1-5) with 2 combinations associated with life-threatening arrhythmia-Brugada syndrome (the risk Hap1/1 and protective Hap2/3 genotypes). Hap1 and Hap2 share 3 SNVs; thus, this analysis suggests that assuming redundancy among clustered GWAS hits can lead to confounding disease-risk associations and supports the need to deconstruct GWAS data in the context of haplotype composition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mel·lina Pinsach-Abuin
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- Visiting Scholar Program, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Salt, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Bernat del Olmo
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- Visiting Scholar Program, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Salt, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Adrian Pérez-Agustin
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Salt, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jesus Mates
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Salt, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Catarina Allegue
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- Visiting Scholar Program, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Salt, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Anna Iglesias
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Salt, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Qi Ma
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Daria Merkurjev
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sergiy Konovalov
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jing Zhang
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Farah Sheikh
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Amalio Telenti
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Josep Brugada
- Arrhythmia Unit, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ramon Brugada
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Salt, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
- Cardiology Service, Hospital Universitari Dr. Josep Trueta, Girona, Spain
| | - Melissa Gymrek
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Julia di Iulio
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ivan Garcia-Bassets
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sara Pagans
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
- Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Salt, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Seasonal variation in UVA light drives hormonal and behavioural changes in a marine annelid via a ciliary opsin. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:204-218. [PMID: 33432133 PMCID: PMC7611595 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01356-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The right timing of animal physiology and behaviour ensures the stability of populations and ecosystems. To predict anthropogenic impacts on these timings, more insight is needed into the interplay between environment and molecular timing mechanisms. This is particularly true in marine environments. Using high-resolution, long-term daylight measurements from a habitat of the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii, we found that temporal changes in ultraviolet A (UVA)/deep violet intensities, more than longer wavelengths, can provide annual time information, which differs from annual changes in the photoperiod. We developed experimental set-ups that resemble natural daylight illumination conditions, and automated, quantifiable behavioural tracking. Experimental reduction of UVA/deep violet light (approximately 370-430 nm) under a long photoperiod (16 h light and 8 h dark) significantly decreased locomotor activities, comparable to the decrease caused by a short photoperiod (8 h light and 16 h dark). In contrast, altering UVA/deep violet light intensities did not cause differences in locomotor levels under a short photoperiod. This modulation of locomotion by UVA/deep violet light under a long photoperiod requires c-opsin1, a UVA/deep violet sensor employing Gi signalling. C-opsin1 also regulates the levels of rate-limiting enzymes for monogenic amine synthesis and of several neurohormones, including pigment-dispersing factor, vasotocin (vasopressin/oxytocin) and neuropeptide Y. Our analyses indicate a complex inteplay between UVA/deep violet light intensities and photoperiod as indicators of annual time.
Collapse
|
6
|
Fathi Maroufi N, Taefehshokr S, Rashidi MR, Taefehshokr N, Khoshakhlagh M, Isazadeh A, Mokarizadeh N, Baradaran B, Nouri M. Vascular mimicry: changing the therapeutic paradigms in cancer. Mol Biol Rep 2020; 47:4749-4765. [PMID: 32424524 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-020-05515-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 05/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Cancer is a major problem in the health system, and despite many efforts to effectively treat it, none has yet been fully successful. Angiogenesis and metastasis are considered as major challenges in the treatment of various cancers. Researchers have struggled to succeed with anti-angiogenesis drugs for the effective treatment of cancer, although new challenges have emerged in the treatment with the emergence of resistance to anti-angiogenesis and anti-metastatic drugs. Numerous studies have shown that different cancers can resist anti-angiogenesis drugs in a new process called vascular mimicry (VM). The studies have revealed that cells resistant to anti-angiogenesis cancer therapies are more capable of forming VMs in the in vivo and in vitro environment, although there is a link between the presence of VM and poor clinical outcomes. Given the importance of the VM in the challenges facing cancer treatment, researchers are trying to identify factors that prevent the formation of these structures. In this review article, it is attempted to provide a comprehensive overview of the molecules and main signaling pathways involved in VM phenomena, as well as the agents currently being identified as anti-VM and the role of VM in response to treatment and prognosis of cancer patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nazila Fathi Maroufi
- Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.,Department of Biochemistry and Clinical Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.,Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Sina Taefehshokr
- Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Mohammad-Reza Rashidi
- Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Nima Taefehshokr
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Human Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Mahdieh Khoshakhlagh
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
| | - Alireza Isazadeh
- Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Narmin Mokarizadeh
- Department of Biochemistry and Clinical Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Behzad Baradaran
- Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Mohammad Nouri
- Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Chromatin establishes an immature version of neuronal protocadherin selection during the naive-to-primed conversion of pluripotent stem cells. Nat Genet 2019; 51:1691-1701. [PMID: 31740836 PMCID: PMC7061033 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-019-0526-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Accepted: 09/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
In the mammalian genome, the clustered protocadherin (cPcdh) locus is a paradigm of stochastic gene expression with the potential to generate a unique cPcdh combination in every neuron. Here, we report a chromatin-based mechanism emerging during the transition from the naive to the primed states of cell pluripotency that reduces by orders of magnitude the combinatorial potential in the human cPcdh locus. This mechanism selectively increases the frequency of stochastic selection of a small subset of cPcdh genes after neuronal differentiation in monolayers, months-old organoids, and engrafted cells in the rat spinal cord. Signs of these frequent selections can be observed in the brain throughout fetal development and disappear after birth, unless there is a condition of delayed maturation such as Down Syndrome. We therefore propose that a pattern of limited cPcdh diversity is maintained while human neurons still retain fetal-like levels of maturation. Short and long-term cultures of human stem cell-derived neurons reveal that a pattern of restricted selection of clustered protocadherin isoforms, pre-established in pluripotent cells, distinguishes immature from mature neurons.
Collapse
|
8
|
Swenarchuk LE. Nerve, Muscle, and Synaptogenesis. Cells 2019; 8:cells8111448. [PMID: 31744142 PMCID: PMC6912269 DOI: 10.3390/cells8111448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Revised: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The vertebrate skeletal neuromuscular junction (NMJ) has long served as a model system for studying synapse structure, function, and development. Over the last several decades, a neuron-specific isoform of agrin, a heparan sulfate proteoglycan, has been identified as playing a central role in synapse formation at all vertebrate skeletal neuromuscular synapses. While agrin was initially postulated to be the inductive molecule that initiates synaptogenesis, this model has been modified in response to work showing that postsynaptic differentiation can develop in the absence of innervation, and that synapses can form in transgenic mice in which the agrin gene is ablated. In place of a unitary mechanism for neuromuscular synapse formation, studies in both mice and zebrafish have led to the proposal that two mechanisms mediate synaptogenesis, with some synapses being induced by nerve contact while others involve the incorporation of prepatterned postsynaptic structures. Moreover, the current model also proposes that agrin can serve two functions, to induce synaptogenesis and to stabilize new synapses, once these are formed. This review examines the evidence for these propositions, and concludes that it remains possible that a single molecular mechanism mediates synaptogenesis at all NMJs, and that agrin acts as a stabilizer, while its role as inducer is open to question. Moreover, if agrin does not act to initiate synaptogenesis, it follows that as yet uncharacterized molecular interactions are required to play this essential inductive role. Several alternatives to agrin for this function are suggested, including focal pericellular proteolysis and integrin signaling, but all require experimental validation.
Collapse
|
9
|
Presenilins as Drug Targets for Alzheimer's Disease-Recent Insights from Cell Biology and Electrophysiology as Novel Opportunities in Drug Development. Int J Mol Sci 2018; 19:ijms19061621. [PMID: 29857474 PMCID: PMC6032171 DOI: 10.3390/ijms19061621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2018] [Revised: 05/26/2018] [Accepted: 05/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
A major cause underlying familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) are mutations in presenilin proteins, presenilin 1 (PS1) and presenilin 2 (PS2). Presenilins are components of the γ-secretase complex which, when mutated, can affect amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing to toxic forms of amyloid beta (Aβ). Consequently, presenilins have been the target of numerous and varied research efforts to develop therapeutic strategies for AD. The presenilin 1 gene harbors the largest number of AD-causing mutations resulting in the late onset familial form of AD. As a result, the majority of efforts for drug development focused on PS1 and Aβ. Soon after the discovery of the major involvement of PS1 and PS2 in γ-secretase activity, it became clear that neuronal signaling, particularly calcium ion (Ca2+) signaling, is regulated by presenilins and impacted by mutations in presenilin genes. Intracellular Ca2+ signaling not only controls the activity of neurons, but also gene expression patterns, structural functionality of the cytoskeleton, synaptic connectivity and viability. Here, we will briefly review the role of presenilins in γ-secretase activity, then focus on the regulation of Ca2+ signaling, oxidative stress, and cellular viability by presenilins within the context of AD and discuss the relevance of presenilins in AD drug development efforts.
Collapse
|
10
|
Delgado-Bellido D, Serrano-Saenz S, Fernández-Cortés M, Oliver FJ. Vasculogenic mimicry signaling revisited: focus on non-vascular VE-cadherin. Mol Cancer 2017; 16:65. [PMID: 28320399 PMCID: PMC5359927 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-017-0631-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 142] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2016] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) is a blood supply system independent of endothelial vessels in tumor cells from different origins. It reflects the plasticity of aggressive tumor cells that express vascular cell markers and line tumor vasculature. The presence of VM is associated with a high tumor grade, short survival, invasion and metastasis. Endothelial cells (ECs) express various members of the cadherin superfamily, in particular vascular endothelial (VE-) cadherin, which is the main adhesion receptor of endothelial adherent junctions. Aberrant extra-vascular expression of VE-cadherin has been observed in certain cancer types associated with VM. In this review we focus on non-endothelial VE-cadherin as a prominent factor involved in the acquisition of tubules-like structures by aggressive tumor cells and we summarize the specific signaling pathways, the association with trans-differentiation and stem-like phenotype and the therapeutic opportunities derived from the in-depth knowledge of the peculiarities of the biology of VE-cadherin and other key components of VM.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - F Javier Oliver
- IPBLN, CSIC, CIBERONC, Granada, Spain. .,IPBLN, CSIC, Av. Conocimiento s/n, 18016, Granada, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
van der Kant R, Goldstein LSB. Cellular functions of the amyloid precursor protein from development to dementia. Dev Cell 2015; 32:502-15. [PMID: 25710536 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2015.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 158] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is a key player in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The Aβ fragments of APP are the major constituent of AD-associated amyloid plaques, and mutations or duplications of the gene coding for APP can cause familial AD. Here we review the roles of APP in neuronal development, signaling, intracellular transport, and other aspects of neuronal homeostasis. We suggest that APP acts as a signaling nexus that transduces information about a range of extracellular conditions, including neuronal damage, to induction of intracellular signaling events. Subtle disruptions of APP signaling functions may be major contributors to AD-causing neuronal dysfunction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rik van der Kant
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
| | - Lawrence S B Goldstein
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
| |
Collapse
|