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Niso-Santano M, Fuentes JM, Galluzzi L. Immunological aspects of central neurodegeneration. Cell Discov 2024; 10:41. [PMID: 38594240 PMCID: PMC11004155 DOI: 10.1038/s41421-024-00666-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
The etiology of various neurodegenerative disorders that mainly affect the central nervous system including (but not limited to) Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease has classically been attributed to neuronal defects that culminate with the loss of specific neuronal populations. However, accumulating evidence suggests that numerous immune effector cells and the products thereof (including cytokines and other soluble mediators) have a major impact on the pathogenesis and/or severity of these and other neurodegenerative syndromes. These observations not only add to our understanding of neurodegenerative conditions but also imply that (at least in some cases) therapeutic strategies targeting immune cells or their products may mediate clinically relevant neuroprotective effects. Here, we critically discuss immunological mechanisms of central neurodegeneration and propose potential strategies to correct neurodegeneration-associated immunological dysfunction with therapeutic purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mireia Niso-Santano
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética, Facultad de Enfermería y Terapia Ocupacional, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBER-CIBERNED-ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
- Instituto Universitario de Investigación Biosanitaria de Extremadura (INUBE), Cáceres, Spain.
| | - José M Fuentes
- Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Genética, Facultad de Enfermería y Terapia Ocupacional, Universidad de Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas-Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBER-CIBERNED-ISCIII), Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Investigación Biosanitaria de Extremadura (INUBE), Cáceres, Spain
| | - Lorenzo Galluzzi
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
- Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Caryl and Israel Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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2
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Xia JQ, Cheng YF, Zhang SR, Ma YZ, Fu JJ, Yang TM, Zhang LY, Burgunder JM, Shang HF. The characteristic and prognostic role of blood inflammatory markers in patients with Huntington's disease from China. Front Neurol 2024; 15:1374365. [PMID: 38595854 PMCID: PMC11002148 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1374365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Objectives This study aims to elucidate the role of peripheral inflammation in Huntington's disease (HD) by examining the correlation of peripheral inflammatory markers with clinical manifestations and disease prognosis. Methods This investigation involved 92 HD patients and 92 matched healthy controls (HCs). We quantified various peripheral inflammatory markers and calculated their derived metrics including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII). Clinical assessments spanning cognitive, motor, and disease severity were administered. Comparative analysis of inflammatory markers and clinical correlations between HD and controls was performed. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression model were used to assess the effect of inflammatory markers on survival. Results The study revealed that HD patients had significantly reduced lymphocyte counts, and LMR. Conversely, NLR, PLR, and SII were elevated compared to HCs. Lymphocyte levels inversely correlated with the age of onset and monocyte levels inversely correlated with the UHDRS-total functional capacity (TFC) scores. After adjusting for age, sex, and CAG repeat length, lymphocyte count, NLR, PLR, and SII were significantly correlated with the progression rate of TFC scores. Elevated levels of white blood cells and monocytes were associated with an increased risk of disability and mortality in the HD cohort. Conclusion Our findings indicate that HD patients display a distinct peripheral inflammatory profile with increased NLR, PLR, and SII levels compared to HCs. The peripheral inflammation appears to be linked with accelerated disease progression and decreased survival in HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie-Qiang Xia
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Department of Neurology, The First People's Hospital of Shuangliu District, Chengdu, China
| | - Yang-Fan Cheng
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Si-Rui Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Yuan-Zheng Ma
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Jia-Jia Fu
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Tian-Mi Yang
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Ling-Yu Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
| | - Jean-Marc Burgunder
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
- Department of Neurology, Swiss Huntington's Disease Centre, Siloah, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Hui-Fang Shang
- Department of Neurology, Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Rare Disease Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
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3
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Cano-Cano F, Martín-Loro F, Gallardo-Orihuela A, González-Montelongo MDC, Ortuño-Miquel S, Hervás-Corpión I, de la Villa P, Ramón-Marco L, Navarro-Calvo J, Gómez-Jaramillo L, Arroba AI, Valor LM. Retinal dysfunction in Huntington's disease mouse models concurs with local gliosis and microglia activation. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4176. [PMID: 38378796 PMCID: PMC10879138 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54347-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by an aberrant expansion of CAG repeats in the HTT gene that mainly affects basal ganglia. Although striatal dysfunction has been widely studied in HD mouse models, other brain areas can also be relevant to the pathology. In this sense, we have special interest on the retina as this is the most exposed part of the central nervous system that enable health monitoring of patients using noninvasive techniques. To establish the retina as an appropriate tissue for HD studies, we need to correlate the retinal alterations with those in the inner brain, i.e., striatum. We confirmed the malfunction of the transgenic R6/1 retinas, which underwent a rearrangement of their transcriptome as extensive as in the striatum. Although tissue-enriched genes were downregulated in both areas, a neuroinflammation signature was only clearly induced in the R6/1 retina in which the observed glial activation was reminiscent of the situation in HD patient's brains. The retinal neuroinflammation was confirmed in the slow progressive knock-in zQ175 strain. Overall, these results demonstrated the suitability of the mouse retina as a research model for HD and its associated glial activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fátima Cano-Cano
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Av. Ana de Viya 21, 11009, Cádiz, Spain
| | - Francisco Martín-Loro
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Av. Ana de Viya 21, 11009, Cádiz, Spain
| | - Andrea Gallardo-Orihuela
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Av. Ana de Viya 21, 11009, Cádiz, Spain
| | - María Del Carmen González-Montelongo
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Av. Ana de Viya 21, 11009, Cádiz, Spain
| | - Samanta Ortuño-Miquel
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), Unidad de Bioinformática, Hospital General Universitario Dr. Balmis, 03010, Alicante, Spain
| | - Irati Hervás-Corpión
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Av. Ana de Viya 21, 11009, Cádiz, Spain
- Programa de Tumores Sólidos, Centro de Investigación Médica Aplicada (CIMA), Departamento de Pediatría, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), 31008, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Pedro de la Villa
- Departamento de Biología de Sistemas, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 28871, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigación Sanitaria (IRYCIS), 28034, Madrid, Spain
| | - Lucía Ramón-Marco
- Laboratorio de Investigación, Diagnostics Building, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), Hospital General Universitario Dr. Balmis, Av. Pintor Baeza 12, 03010, Alicante, Spain
| | - Jorge Navarro-Calvo
- Laboratorio de Investigación, Diagnostics Building, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), Hospital General Universitario Dr. Balmis, Av. Pintor Baeza 12, 03010, Alicante, Spain
| | - Laura Gómez-Jaramillo
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Av. Ana de Viya 21, 11009, Cádiz, Spain
| | - Ana I Arroba
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Av. Ana de Viya 21, 11009, Cádiz, Spain.
| | - Luis M Valor
- Laboratorio de Investigación, Diagnostics Building, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), Hospital General Universitario Dr. Balmis, Av. Pintor Baeza 12, 03010, Alicante, Spain.
- Instituto de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación en Biotecnología Sanitaria de Elche (IDiBE), 03202, Elche, Spain.
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4
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McGarry A, Hunter K, Gaughan J, Auinger P, Ferraro TN, Pradhan B, Ferrucci L, Egan JM, Moaddel R. An exploratory metabolomic comparison of participants with fast or absent functional progression from 2CARE, a randomized, double-blind clinical trial in Huntington's disease. Sci Rep 2024; 14:1101. [PMID: 38212353 PMCID: PMC10784537 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50553-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is increasingly recognized for diverse pathology outside of the nervous system. To describe the biology of HD in relation to functional progression, we previously analyzed the plasma and CSF metabolome in a cross-sectional study of participants who had various degrees of functional impairment. Here, we carried out an exploratory study in plasma from HD individuals over a 3-year time frame to assess whether differences exist between those with fast or absent clinical progression. There were more differences in circulating metabolite levels for fast progressors compared to absent progressors (111 vs 20, nominal p < 0.05). All metabolite changes in faster progressors were decreases, whereas some metabolite concentrations increased in absent progressors. Many of the metabolite levels that decreased in the fast progressors were higher at Screening compared to absent progressors but ended up lower by Year 3. Changes in faster progression suggest greater oxidative stress and inflammation (kynurenine, diacylglycerides, cysteine), disturbances in nitric oxide and urea metabolism (arginine, citrulline, ornithine, GABR), lower polyamines (putrescine and spermine), elevated glucose, and deficient AMPK signaling. Metabolomic differences between fast and absent progressors suggest the possibility of predicting functional decline in HD, and possibly delaying it with interventions to augment arginine, polyamines, and glucose regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew McGarry
- Department of Neurology, Cooper University Hospital and Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, Camden, NJ, USA.
| | - Krystal Hunter
- Department of Medicine, Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, Camden, NJ, USA
| | - John Gaughan
- Department of Neurology, Cooper University Hospital and Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, Camden, NJ, USA
| | - Peggy Auinger
- Department of Neurology, Center for Health and Technology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Thomas N Ferraro
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, Camden, NJ, USA
| | - Basant Pradhan
- Department of Psychiatry, Cooper Medical School at Rowan University, Camden, NJ, USA
| | - Luigi Ferrucci
- Biomedical Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
| | - Josephine M Egan
- Biomedical Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA
| | - Ruin Moaddel
- Biomedical Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
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5
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Wilton DK, Mastro K, Heller MD, Gergits FW, Willing CR, Fahey JB, Frouin A, Daggett A, Gu X, Kim YA, Faull RLM, Jayadev S, Yednock T, Yang XW, Stevens B. Microglia and complement mediate early corticostriatal synapse loss and cognitive dysfunction in Huntington's disease. Nat Med 2023; 29:2866-2884. [PMID: 37814059 PMCID: PMC10667107 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-023-02566-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating monogenic neurodegenerative disease characterized by early, selective pathology in the basal ganglia despite the ubiquitous expression of mutant huntingtin. The molecular mechanisms underlying this region-specific neuronal degeneration and how these relate to the development of early cognitive phenotypes are poorly understood. Here we show that there is selective loss of synaptic connections between the cortex and striatum in postmortem tissue from patients with HD that is associated with the increased activation and localization of complement proteins, innate immune molecules, to these synaptic elements. We also found that levels of these secreted innate immune molecules are elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid of premanifest HD patients and correlate with established measures of disease burden.In preclinical genetic models of HD, we show that complement proteins mediate the selective elimination of corticostriatal synapses at an early stage in disease pathogenesis, marking them for removal by microglia, the brain's resident macrophage population. This process requires mutant huntingtin to be expressed in both cortical and striatal neurons. Inhibition of this complement-dependent elimination mechanism through administration of a therapeutically relevant C1q function-blocking antibody or genetic ablation of a complement receptor on microglia prevented synapse loss, increased excitatory input to the striatum and rescued the early development of visual discrimination learning and cognitive flexibility deficits in these models. Together, our findings implicate microglia and the complement cascade in the selective, early degeneration of corticostriatal synapses and the development of cognitive deficits in presymptomatic HD; they also provide new preclinical data to support complement as a therapeutic target for early intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel K Wilton
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US.
| | - Kevin Mastro
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US
| | - Molly D Heller
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US
| | - Frederick W Gergits
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US
| | - Carly Rose Willing
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US
| | - Jaclyn B Fahey
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US
| | - Arnaud Frouin
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US
| | - Anthony Daggett
- Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Xiaofeng Gu
- Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yejin A Kim
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US
| | - Richard L M Faull
- Department of Anatomy with Radiology, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Suman Jayadev
- Department of Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Ted Yednock
- Annexon Biosciences, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - X William Yang
- Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Beth Stevens
- F. M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, US.
- Stanley Center, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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6
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Eide S, Misztal M, Feng ZP. Interleukin-6 as a marker of Huntington's disease progression: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain Behav Immun Health 2023; 30:100635. [PMID: 37215308 PMCID: PMC10196779 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100635] [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: 12/06/2022] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare, inherited disorder with a broad spectrum of manifestations that vary with disease severity and progression. Although genetic testing can readily confirm the initial diagnosis of HD, markers sensitive to HD progression are needed to aid the development of individual treatment plans. The current analysis aims to identify plasma Interleukin-6 (IL-6) as a marker of disease progression in HD patients. A systematic search of PubMed and Medline from conception through October 2021 was conducted. Studies reporting plasma IL-6 levels of mutation-positive HD patients and healthy controls that met inclusion criteria were selected. The search strategy collected 303 studies, 9 of which met analysis inclusion criteria. From included studies, plasma IL-6 levels of 469 individuals with the HD mutation and 206 healthy controls were collected. Plasma IL-6 levels were meta-analytically compared between healthy controls and individuals with the confirmed HD mutation at all stages of disease and correlated to performance on standardized measures of total cognitive and motor function. Plasma IL-6 was significantly increased in HD groups compared to controls (g = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.31,1.16, P < 0.01) and increased significantly throughout most stages of disease progression, notably between pre-manifest and manifest (g = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.04,0.59, P < 0.05) and early and moderate HD stages (g = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.18,0.86, P < 0.01). Significant correlations between plasma IL-6 levels and HD symptomatic progression were identified, with increased cytokine levels associated with more severe motor impairments (r = 0.179, 95% CI = 0.0479,0.304, P = 0.008) and more extreme disabilities in activities of daily living and/or work tasks (r = -0.229, 95% CI = -0.334, -0.119, P < 0.001). Conclusively, plasma IL-6 levels correlate with disease and motor symptom progression and may act as a viable marker for clinical use. Analysis is limited by small study numbers and highlights the need for future work to identify definitive ranges or rates of change of plasma IL-6 levels that correlate to progressive HD disease states.
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7
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Integrative Meta-Analysis of Huntington's Disease Transcriptome Landscape. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13122385. [PMID: 36553652 PMCID: PMC9777612 DOI: 10.3390/genes13122385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with autosomal dominant inheritance caused by glutamine expansion in the Huntingtin gene (HTT). Striatal projection neurons (SPNs) in HD are more vulnerable to cell death. The executive striatal population is directly connected with the Brodmann Area (BA9), which is mainly involved in motor functions. Analyzing the disease samples from BA9 from the SRA database provides insights related to neuron degeneration, which helps to identify a promising therapeutic strategy. Most gene expression studies examine the changes in expression and associated biological functions. In this study, we elucidate the relationship between variants and their effect on gene/downstream transcript expression. We computed gene and transcript abundance and identified variants from RNA-seq data using various pipelines. We predicted the effect of genome-wide association studies (GWAS)/novel variants on regulatory functions. We found that many variants affect the histone acetylation pattern in HD, thereby perturbing the transcription factor networks. Interestingly, some variants affect miRNA binding as well as their downstream gene expression. Tissue-specific network analysis showed that mitochondrial, neuroinflammation, vasculature, and angiogenesis-related genes are disrupted in HD. From this integrative omics analysis, we propose that abnormal neuroinflammation acts as a two-edged sword that indirectly affects the vasculature and associated energy metabolism. Rehabilitation of blood-brain barrier functionality and energy metabolism may secure the neuron from cell death.
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8
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Modelling the Human Blood-Brain Barrier in Huntington Disease. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23147813. [PMID: 35887162 PMCID: PMC9321930 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23147813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
While blood–brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction has been described in neurological disorders, including Huntington’s disease (HD), it is not known if endothelial cells themselves are functionally compromised when promoting BBB dysfunction. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms of BBB dysfunction remain elusive given the limitations with mouse models and post mortem tissue to identify primary deficits. We established models of BBB and undertook a transcriptome and functional analysis of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived brain-like microvascular endothelial cells (iBMEC) from HD patients or unaffected controls. We demonstrated that HD-iBMECs have abnormalities in barrier properties, as well as in specific BBB functions such as receptor-mediated transcytosis.
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9
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Martí-Martínez S, Valor LM. A Glimpse of Molecular Biomarkers in Huntington's Disease. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23105411. [PMID: 35628221 PMCID: PMC9142992 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23105411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by an abnormal expansion of CAG repeats in the Huntingtin (HTT) gene. Although the main symptomatology is explained by alterations at the level of the central nervous system, predominantly affecting the basal ganglia, a peripheral component of the disease is being increasingly acknowledged. Therefore, the manifestation of the disease is complex and variable among CAG expansion carriers, introducing uncertainty in the appearance of specific signs, age of onset and severity of disease. The monogenic nature of the disorder allows a precise diagnosis, but the use of biomarkers with prognostic value is still needed to achieve clinical management of the patients in an individual manner. In addition, we need tools to evaluate the patient's response to potential therapeutic approaches. In this review, we provide a succinct summary of the most interesting molecular biomarkers that have been assessed in patients, mostly obtained from body fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid, peripheral blood and saliva.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Martí-Martínez
- Servicio de Neurología, Hospital General Universitario Dr. Balmis, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), 03010 Alicante, Spain;
| | - Luis M. Valor
- Laboratorio de Apoyo a la Investigación, Hospital General Universitario Dr. Balmis, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), 03010 Alicante, Spain
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-965-913-988
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10
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Ahmadi A, Gispert JD, Navarro A, Vilor-Tejedor N, Sadeghi I. Single-cell Transcriptional Changes in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Neuroscience 2021; 479:192-205. [PMID: 34748859 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.10.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
In recent decades, our understanding of the molecular changes involved in neurodegenerative diseases has been transformed. Single-cell RNA sequencing and single-nucleus RNA sequencing technologies have been applied to provide cellular and molecular details of the brain at the single-cell level. This has expanded our knowledge of the central nervous system and provided insights into the molecular vulnerability of brain cell types and underlying mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we highlight the recent advances and findings related to neurodegenerative diseases using these cutting-edge technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amirhossein Ahmadi
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Nano and BioScience and Technology, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr 75169, Iran
| | - Juan D Gispert
- BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain
| | - Arcadi Navarro
- BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain; Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Natalia Vilor-Tejedor
- BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain; Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Erasmus MC University Medical Center. Department of Clinical Genetics, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Iman Sadeghi
- BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain; Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute for Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
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Malla B, Guo X, Senger G, Chasapopoulou Z, Yildirim F. A Systematic Review of Transcriptional Dysregulation in Huntington's Disease Studied by RNA Sequencing. Front Genet 2021; 12:751033. [PMID: 34721539 PMCID: PMC8554124 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.751033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion of polyglutamine repeats in exon 1 of the Huntingtin gene. Transcriptional dysregulation accompanied by epigenetic alterations is an early and central disease mechanism in HD yet, the exact mechanisms and regulators, and their associated gene expression programs remain incompletely understood. This systematic review investigates genome-wide transcriptional studies that were conducted using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology in HD patients and models. The review protocol was registered at the Open Science Framework (OSF). The biomedical literature and gene expression databases, PubMed and NCBI BioProject, Array Express, European Nucleotide Archive (ENA), European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA), respectively, were searched using the defined terms specified in the protocol following the PRISMA guidelines. We conducted a complete literature and database search to retrieve all RNA-seq-based gene expression studies in HD published until August 2020, retrieving 288 articles and 237 datasets from PubMed and the databases, respectively. A total of 27 studies meeting the eligibility criteria were included in this review. Collectively, comparative analysis of the datasets revealed frequent genes that are consistently dysregulated in HD. In postmortem brains from HD patients, DNAJB1, HSPA1B and HSPB1 genes were commonly upregulated across all brain regions and cell types except for medium spiny neurons (MSNs) at symptomatic disease stage, and HSPH1 and SAT1 genes were altered in expression in all symptomatic brain datasets, indicating early and sustained changes in the expression of genes related to heat shock response as well as response to misfolded proteins. Specifically in indirect pathway medium spiny neurons (iMSNs), mitochondria related genes were among the top uniquely dysregulated genes. Interestingly, blood from HD patients showed commonly differentially expressed genes with a number of brain regions and cells, with the highest number of overlapping genes with MSNs and BA9 region at symptomatic stage. We also found the differential expression and predicted altered activity of a set of transcription factors and epigenetic regulators, including BCL6, EGR1, FOSL2 and CREBBP, HDAC1, KDM4C, respectively, which may underlie the observed transcriptional changes in HD. Altogether, our work provides a complete overview of the transcriptional studies in HD, and by data synthesis, reveals a number of common and unique gene expression and regulatory changes across different cell and tissue types in HD. These changes could elucidate new insights into molecular mechanisms of differential vulnerability in HD. Systematic Review Registration: https://osf.io/pm3wq.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bimala Malla
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Xuanzong Guo
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gökçe Senger
- Department of Experimental Oncology, IEO European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Zoi Chasapopoulou
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ferah Yildirim
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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12
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Chen K, Lai C, Su Y, Bao WD, Yang LN, Xu PP, Zhu LQ. cGAS-STING-mediated IFN-I response in host defense and neuro-inflammatory diseases. Curr Neuropharmacol 2021; 20:362-371. [PMID: 34561985 PMCID: PMC9413793 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x19666210924110144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The presence of foreign or misplaced nucleic acids is a danger signal that triggers innate immune responses through activating cytosolic DNA sensor cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) and binding to its downstream signaling effector stimulator of interferon genes (STING). Then the cGAS-STING pathway activation links nucleic acid sensing to immune responses and pathogenic entities clearance. However, overactivation of this signaling pathway leads to fatal immune disorders and contributes to the progression of many human inflammatory diseases. Therefore, optimal activation of this pathway is crucial for the elimination of invading pathogens and the maintenance of immune homeostasis. In this review, we will summarize its fundamental roles in initiating host defense against invading pathogens and discuss its pathogenic roles in multiple neuro-inflammatory diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Chen
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Lab of Neurological Disorder of Education Ministry, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
| | - Chuan Lai
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Lab of Neurological Disorder of Education Ministry, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
| | - Yin Su
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Wen Dai Bao
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Lab of Neurological Disorder of Education Ministry, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
| | - Liu Nan Yang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Lab of Neurological Disorder of Education Ministry, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
| | - Ping-Ping Xu
- Endoscopy Center, Wuhan Children's Hospital , Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
| | - Ling-Qiang Zhu
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Lab of Neurological Disorder of Education Ministry, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
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13
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O'Regan GC, Farag SH, Casey CS, Wood-Kaczmar A, Pocock JM, Tabrizi SJ, Andre R. Human Huntington's disease pluripotent stem cell-derived microglia develop normally but are abnormally hyper-reactive and release elevated levels of reactive oxygen species. J Neuroinflammation 2021; 18:94. [PMID: 33874957 PMCID: PMC8054367 DOI: 10.1186/s12974-021-02147-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Neuroinflammation may contribute to the pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease, given evidence of activated microglia and elevated levels of inflammatory molecules in disease gene carriers, even those many years from symptom onset. We have shown previously that monocytes from Huntington’s disease patients are hyper-reactive to stimulation in a manner dependent on their autonomous expression of the disease-causing mutant HTT protein. To date, however, whether human microglia are similarly hyper-responsive in a cell-autonomous manner has not been determined. Methods Microglial-like cells were derived from human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) expressing mutant HTT containing varying polyglutamine lengths. These included lines that are otherwise isogenic, such that any observed differences can be attributed with certainty to the disease mutation itself. Analyses by quantitative PCR and immunofluorescence microscopy respectively of key genes and protein markers were undertaken to determine whether Huntington’s disease PSCs differentiated normally to a microglial fate. The resultant cultures and their supernatants were then assessed by various biochemical assays and multiplex ELISAs for viability and responses to stimulation, including the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species. Conditioned media were applied to PSC-derived striatal neurons, and vice versa, to determine the effects that the secretomes of each cell type might have on the other. Results Human PSCs generated microglia successfully irrespective of the expression of mutant HTT. These cells, however, were hyper-reactive to stimulation in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNFα. They also released elevated levels of reactive oxygen species that have neurotoxic potential. Accompanying such phenotypes, human Huntington’s disease PSC-derived microglia showed increased levels of apoptosis and were more susceptible to exogenous stress. Such stress appeared to be induced by supernatants from human PSC-derived striatal neurons expressing mutant HTT with a long polyglutamine tract. Conclusions These studies show, for the first time, that human Huntington’s disease PSC-derived microglia are hyper-reactive due to their autonomous expression of mutant HTT. This provides a cellular basis for the contribution that neuroinflammation might make to Huntington’s disease pathogenesis. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12974-021-02147-6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace C O'Regan
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, WC1N 3BG, London, UK
| | - Sahar H Farag
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, WC1N 3BG, London, UK
| | - Caroline S Casey
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, WC1N 3BG, London, UK
| | - Alison Wood-Kaczmar
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, WC1N 3BG, London, UK
| | - Jennifer M Pocock
- Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, WC1N 1PJ, London, UK
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, WC1N 3BG, London, UK.
| | - Ralph Andre
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, WC1N 3BG, London, UK.
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14
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Ernest James Phillips T, Maguire E. Phosphoinositides: Roles in the Development of Microglial-Mediated Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration. Front Cell Neurosci 2021; 15:652593. [PMID: 33841102 PMCID: PMC8032904 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2021.652593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Microglia are increasingly recognized as vital players in the pathology of a variety of neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s (PD) disease. While microglia have a protective role in the brain, their dysfunction can lead to neuroinflammation and contributes to disease progression. Also, a growing body of literature highlights the seven phosphoinositides, or PIPs, as key players in the regulation of microglial-mediated neuroinflammation. These small signaling lipids are phosphorylated derivates of phosphatidylinositol, are enriched in the brain, and have well-established roles in both homeostasis and disease.Disrupted PIP levels and signaling has been detected in a variety of dementias. Moreover, many known AD disease modifiers identified via genetic studies are expressed in microglia and are involved in phospholipid metabolism. One of these, the enzyme PLCγ2 that hydrolyzes the PIP species PI(4,5)P2, displays altered expression in AD and PD and is currently being investigated as a potential therapeutic target.Perhaps unsurprisingly, neurodegenerative conditions exhibiting PIP dyshomeostasis also tend to show alterations in aspects of microglial function regulated by these lipids. In particular, phosphoinositides regulate the activities of proteins and enzymes required for endocytosis, toll-like receptor signaling, purinergic signaling, chemotaxis, and migration, all of which are affected in a variety of neurodegenerative conditions. These functions are crucial to allow microglia to adequately survey the brain and respond appropriately to invading pathogens and other abnormalities, including misfolded proteins. AD and PD therapies are being developed to target many of the above pathways, and although not yet investigated, simultaneous PIP manipulation might enhance the beneficial effects observed. Currently, only limited therapeutics are available for dementia, and although these show some benefits for symptom severity and progression, they are far from curative. Given the importance of microglia and PIPs in dementia development, this review summarizes current research and asks whether we can exploit this information to design more targeted, or perhaps combined, dementia therapeutics. More work is needed to fully characterize the pathways discussed in this review, but given the strength of the current literature, insights in this area could be invaluable for the future of neurodegenerative disease research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Emily Maguire
- UK Dementia Research Institute at Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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15
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Yusuf IO, Chen HM, Cheng PH, Chang CY, Tsai SJ, Chuang JI, Wu CC, Huang BM, Sun HS, Chen CM, Yang SH. Fibroblast Growth Factor 9 Stimulates Neuronal Length Through NF-kB Signaling in Striatal Cell Huntington's Disease Models. Mol Neurobiol 2021; 58:2396-2406. [PMID: 33421017 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-020-02220-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Proper development of neuronal cells is important for brain functions, and impairment of neuronal development may lead to neuronal disorders, implying that improvement in neuronal development may be a therapeutic direction for these diseases. Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by impairment of neuronal structures, ultimately leading to neuronal death and dysfunctions of the central nervous system. Based on previous studies, fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) may provide neuroprotective functions in HD, and FGFs may enhance neuronal development and neurite outgrowth. However, whether FGF9 can provide neuronal protective functions through improvement of neuronal morphology in HD is still unclear. Here, we study the effects of FGF9 on neuronal length in HD and attempt to understand the related working mechanisms. Taking advantage of striatal cell lines from HD knock-in mice, we found that FGF9 increases total neuronal length and upregulates several structural and synaptic proteins under HD conditions. In addition, activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) signaling by FGF9 was observed to be significant in HD cells, and blockage of NF-kB leads to suppression of these structural and synaptic proteins induced by FGF9, suggesting the involvement of NF-kB signaling in these effects of FGF9. Taken these results together, FGF9 may enhance total neuronal length through upregulation of NF-kB signaling, and this mechanism could serve as an important mechanism for neuroprotective functions of FGF9 in HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Issa Olakunle Yusuf
- Taiwan International Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, National Cheng Kung University and Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan.,Institute of Clinical Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Hsiu-Mei Chen
- Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Pei-Hsun Cheng
- Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Chih-Yi Chang
- Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Shaw-Jenq Tsai
- Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan.,Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Jih-Ing Chuang
- Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan.,Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Ching Wu
- Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Bu-Miin Huang
- Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - H Sunny Sun
- Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Molecular Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan
| | - Chuan-Mu Chen
- Department of Life Sciences, College of Life Sciences, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, 40227, Taiwan
| | - Shang-Hsun Yang
- Taiwan International Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, National Cheng Kung University and Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan. .,Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan. .,Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan.
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16
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Andrade-Navarro MA, Mühlenberg K, Spruth EJ, Mah N, González-López A, Andreani T, Russ J, Huska MR, Muro EM, Fontaine JF, Amstislavskiy V, Soldatov A, Nietfeld W, Wanker EE, Priller J. RNA Sequencing of Human Peripheral Blood Cells Indicates Upregulation of Immune-Related Genes in Huntington's Disease. Front Neurol 2020; 11:573560. [PMID: 33329316 PMCID: PMC7731869 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.573560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a trinucleotide repeat expansion in the Huntingtin gene. As disease-modifying therapies for HD are being developed, peripheral blood cells may be used to indicate disease progression and to monitor treatment response. In order to investigate whether gene expression changes can be found in the blood of individuals with HD that distinguish them from healthy controls, we performed transcriptome analysis by next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq). We detected a gene expression signature consistent with dysregulation of immune-related functions and inflammatory response in peripheral blood from HD cases vs. controls, including induction of the interferon response genes, IFITM3, IFI6 and IRF7. Our results suggest that it is possible to detect gene expression changes in blood samples from individuals with HD, which may reflect the immune pathology associated with the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A Andrade-Navarro
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Katja Mühlenberg
- Neuroproteomics, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany
| | - Eike J Spruth
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nancy Mah
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Virchow-Klinikum, Berlin-Brandenburger Centrum für Regenerative Therapien, Berlin, Germany
| | - Adrián González-López
- Klinik f. Anästhesiologie m.S. operative Intensivmedizin, Virchow Klinikum, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tommaso Andreani
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Jenny Russ
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Bonn, Germany
| | - Matthew R Huska
- Department for Computational Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany
| | - Enrique M Muro
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Jean-Fred Fontaine
- Faculty of Biology, Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Alexei Soldatov
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Erich E Wanker
- Neuroproteomics, Max-Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany.,German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Josef Priller
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.,Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, UK Dementia Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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17
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Cross-sectional analysis of plasma and CSF metabolomic markers in Huntington's disease for participants of varying functional disability: a pilot study. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20490. [PMID: 33235276 PMCID: PMC7686309 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77526-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative condition. While generally considered for its devastating neurological phenotype, disturbances in other organ systems and metabolic pathways outside the brain have attracted attention for possible relevance to HD pathology, potential as therapeutic targets, or use as biomarkers of progression. In addition, it is not established how metabolic changes in the HD brain correlate to progression across the full spectrum of early to late-stage disease. In this pilot study, we sought to explore the metabolic profile across manifest HD from early to advanced clinical staging through metabolomic analysis by mass spectrometry in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). With disease progression, we observed nominally significant increases in plasma arginine, citrulline, and glycine, with decreases in total and d-serine, cholesterol esters, diacylglycerides, triacylglycerides, phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, and sphingomyelins. In CSF, worsening disease was associated with nominally significant increases in NAD+, arginine, saturated long chain free fatty acids, diacylglycerides, triacylglycerides, and sphingomyelins. Notably, diacylglycerides and triacylglyceride species associated with clinical progression were different between plasma and CSF, suggesting different metabolic preferences for these compartments. Increasing NAD+ levels strongly correlating with disease progression was an unexpected finding. Our data suggest that defects in the urea cycle, glycine, and serine metabolism may be underrecognized in the progression HD pathology, and merit further study for possible therapeutic relevance.
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18
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Mitchell CT, Krier I, Arjomand J, Borowsky B, Tabrizi SJ, Leavitt BR, Luthi-Carter R. Longitudinal expression changes are weak correlates of disease progression in Huntington's disease. Brain Commun 2020; 2:fcaa172. [PMID: 33305259 PMCID: PMC7713990 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaa172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2019] [Revised: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease is a severe but slowly progressive hereditary illness for which only symptomatic treatments are presently available. Clinical measures of disease progression are somewhat subjective and may require years to detect significant change. There is a clear need to identify more sensitive, objective and consistent measures to detect disease progression in Huntington's disease clinical trials. Whereas Huntington's disease demonstrates a robust and consistent gene expression signature in the brain, previous studies of blood cell RNAs have lacked concordance with clinical disease stage. Here we utilized longitudinally collected samples from a well-characterized cohort of control, Huntington's disease-at-risk and Huntington's disease subjects to evaluate the possible correlation of gene expression and disease status within individuals. We interrogated these data in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. A number of changes in gene expression showed consistency within this study and as compared to previous reports in the literature. The magnitude of the mean disease effect over 2 years' time was small, however, and did not track closely with motor symptom progression over the same time period. We therefore conclude that while blood-derived gene expression indicators can be of value in understanding Huntington's disease pathogenesis, they are insufficiently sensitive to be of use as state biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher T Mitchell
- University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
- School of Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Irina Krier
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- UCL Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Dementia Research Institute at UCL, Huntington's Disease Centre, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Blair R Leavitt
- Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 75Z 4H4
| | - Ruth Luthi-Carter
- University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
- School of Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
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19
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O'Regan GC, Farag SH, Ostroff GR, Tabrizi SJ, Andre R. Wild-type huntingtin regulates human macrophage function. Sci Rep 2020; 10:17269. [PMID: 33057179 PMCID: PMC7560844 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74042-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The huntingtin (HTT) protein in its mutant form is the cause of the inherited neurodegenerative disorder, Huntington's disease. Beyond its effects in the central nervous system, disease-associated mutant HTT causes aberrant phenotypes in myeloid-lineage innate immune system cells, namely monocytes and macrophages. Whether the wild-type form of the protein, however, has a role in normal human macrophage function has not been determined. Here, the effects of lowering the expression of wild-type (wt)HTT on the function of primary monocyte-derived macrophages from healthy, non-disease human subjects were examined. This demonstrated a previously undescribed role for wtHTT in maintaining normal macrophage health and function. Lowered wtHTT expression was associated, for instance, with a diminished release of induced cytokines, elevated phagocytosis and increased vulnerability to cellular stress. These may well occur by mechanisms different to that associated with the mutant form of the protein, given an absence of any effect on the intracellular signalling pathway predominantly associated with macrophage dysfunction in Huntington's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grace C O'Regan
- UCL Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sahar H Farag
- UCL Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Gary R Ostroff
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 373 Plantation Street, Two Biotech, Suite 113, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- UCL Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK. .,UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
| | - Ralph Andre
- UCL Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
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20
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Crapser JD, Ochaba J, Soni N, Reidling JC, Thompson LM, Green KN. Microglial depletion prevents extracellular matrix changes and striatal volume reduction in a model of Huntington's disease. Brain 2020; 143:266-288. [PMID: 31848580 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awz363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2019] [Revised: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease is associated with a reactive microglial response and consequent inflammation. To address the role of these cells in disease pathogenesis, we depleted microglia from R6/2 mice, a rapidly progressing model of Huntington's disease marked by behavioural impairment, mutant huntingtin (mHTT) accumulation, and early death, through colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibition (CSF1Ri) with pexidartinib (PLX3397) for the duration of disease. Although we observed an interferon gene signature in addition to downregulated neuritogenic and synaptic gene pathways with disease, overt inflammation was not evident by microglial morphology or cytokine transcript levels in R6/2 mice. Nonetheless, CSF1Ri-induced microglial elimination reduced or prevented disease-related grip strength and object recognition deficits, mHTT accumulation, astrogliosis, and striatal volume loss, the latter of which was not associated with reductions in cell number but with the extracellular accumulation of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs)-a primary component of glial scars. A concurrent loss of proteoglycan-containing perineuronal nets was also evident in R6/2 mice, and microglial elimination not only prevented this but also strikingly increased perineuronal nets in the brains of naïve littermates, suggesting a new role for microglia as homeostatic regulators of perineuronal net formation and integrity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua D Crapser
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine (UCI), Irvine, CA, USA.,Institute of Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Joseph Ochaba
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine (UCI), Irvine, CA, USA.,Institute of Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Neelakshi Soni
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine (UCI), Irvine, CA, USA.,Institute of Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Jack C Reidling
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine (UCI), Irvine, CA, USA.,Institute of Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Leslie M Thompson
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine (UCI), Irvine, CA, USA.,Institute of Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Kim N Green
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine (UCI), Irvine, CA, USA.,Institute of Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
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21
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Tabrizi SJ, Flower MD, Ross CA, Wild EJ. Huntington disease: new insights into molecular pathogenesis and therapeutic opportunities. Nat Rev Neurol 2020; 16:529-546. [PMID: 32796930 DOI: 10.1038/s41582-020-0389-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 216] [Impact Index Per Article: 54.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Huntington disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene (HTT) and involves a complex web of pathogenic mechanisms. Mutant HTT (mHTT) disrupts transcription, interferes with immune and mitochondrial function, and is aberrantly modified post-translationally. Evidence suggests that the mHTT RNA is toxic, and at the DNA level, somatic CAG repeat expansion in vulnerable cells influences the disease course. Genome-wide association studies have identified DNA repair pathways as modifiers of somatic instability and disease course in HD and other repeat expansion diseases. In animal models of HD, nucleocytoplasmic transport is disrupted and its restoration is neuroprotective. Novel cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma biomarkers are among the earliest detectable changes in individuals with premanifest HD and have the sensitivity to detect therapeutic benefit. Therapeutically, the first human trial of an HTT-lowering antisense oligonucleotide successfully, and safely, reduced the CSF concentration of mHTT in individuals with HD. A larger trial, powered to detect clinical efficacy, is underway, along with trials of other HTT-lowering approaches. In this Review, we discuss new insights into the molecular pathogenesis of HD and future therapeutic strategies, including the modulation of DNA repair and targeting the DNA mutation itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, University College London, London, UK. .,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK. .,UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Michael D Flower
- Huntington's Disease Centre, University College London, London, UK.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.,UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Christopher A Ross
- Departments of Neurology, Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Edward J Wild
- Huntington's Disease Centre, University College London, London, UK.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
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22
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Cyclic GMP-AMP synthase promotes the inflammatory and autophagy responses in Huntington disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:15989-15999. [PMID: 32581130 PMCID: PMC7354937 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2002144117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington disease (HD) is a genetic disorder caused by glutamine-expansion in the huntingtin (mHTT) protein, which affects motor, psychiatric, and cognitive function, but the mechanisms remain unclear. mHTT is known to induce DNA damage and affect autophagy, both associated with inflammatory responses, but what mediates all these were unknown. Here we report that cGAS, a DNA damage sensor, is highly upregulated in the striatum of a mouse model and HD human patient’s tissue. We found ribosomes, which make proteins, are robustly accumulated on the cGAS mRNA in HD cells. cGAS depletion decreases—and cGAS expression increases—both inflammatory and autophagy responses in HD striatal cells. Thus, cGAS is a therapeutic target for HD. Blocking cGAS will prevent/slow down HD symptoms. Huntington disease (HD) is caused by an expansion mutation of the N-terminal polyglutamine of huntingtin (mHTT). mHTT is ubiquitously present, but it induces noticeable damage to the brain’s striatum, thereby affecting motor, psychiatric, and cognitive functions. The striatal damage and progression of HD are associated with the inflammatory response; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we report that cGMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), a DNA sensor, is a critical regulator of inflammatory and autophagy responses in HD. Ribosome profiling revealed that the cGAS mRNA has high ribosome occupancy at exon 1 and codon-specific pauses at positions 171 (CCG) and 172 (CGT) in HD striatal cells. Moreover, the protein levels and activity of cGAS (based on the phosphorylated STING and phosphorylated TBK1 levels), and the expression and ribosome occupancy of cGAS-dependent inflammatory genes (Ccl5 and Cxcl10) are increased in HD striatum. Depletion of cGAS diminishes cGAS activity and decreases the expression of inflammatory genes while suppressing the up-regulation of autophagy in HD cells. In contrast, reinstating cGAS in cGAS-depleted HD cells activates cGAS activity and promotes inflammatory and autophagy responses. Ribosome profiling also revealed that LC3A and LC3B, the two major autophagy initiators, show altered ribosome occupancy in HD cells. We also detected the presence of numerous micronuclei, which are known to induce cGAS, in the cytoplasm of neurons derived from human HD embryonic stem cells. Collectively, our results indicate that cGAS is up-regulated in HD and mediates inflammatory and autophagy responses. Thus, targeting the cGAS pathway may offer therapeutic benefits in HD.
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23
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Innate immune responses to paraquat exposure in a Drosophila model of Parkinson's disease. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12714. [PMID: 31481676 PMCID: PMC6722124 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-48977-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic (DA) neurons. Limited understanding of the early molecular pathways associated with the demise of DA neurons, including those of inflammatory exacerbation of neurodegeneration, is a major impediment to therapeutic development. Recent studies have implicated gene-environment interactions in PD susceptibility. We used transcriptomic profiling in a Drosophila PD model in response to paraquat (PQ)-induced oxidative stress to identify pre-symptomatic signatures of impending neuron dysfunction. Our RNAseq data analysis revealed extensive regulation of innate immune response genes following PQ ingestion. We found that PQ exposure leads to the activation of the NF-κB transcription factor, Relish, and the stress signaling factor JNK, encoded by the gene basket in Drosophila. Relish knockdown in the dopaminergic neurons confers PQ resistance and rescues mobility defects and DA neuron loss. Furthermore, PQ-induced toxicity is mediated through the immune deficiency signaling pathway. Surprisingly, the expression of Relish-dependent anti-microbial peptide (AMPs) genes is suppressed upon PQ exposure causing increased sensitivity to Gram-negative bacterial infection. This work provides a novel link between PQ exposure and innate immune system modulation underlying environmental toxin-induced neurodegeneration, thereby underscoring the role of the innate immune system in PD pathogenesis.
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24
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Paul BD, Snyder SH. Impaired Redox Signaling in Huntington's Disease: Therapeutic Implications. Front Mol Neurosci 2019; 12:68. [PMID: 30941013 PMCID: PMC6433839 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2019.00068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2018] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease triggered by expansion of polyglutamine repeats in the protein huntingtin. Mutant huntingtin (mHtt) aggregates and elicits toxicity by multiple mechanisms which range from dysregulated transcription to disturbances in several metabolic pathways in both the brain and peripheral tissues. Hallmarks of HD include elevated oxidative stress and imbalanced redox signaling. Disruption of antioxidant defense mechanisms, involving antioxidant molecules and enzymes involved in scavenging or reversing oxidative damage, have been linked to the pathophysiology of HD. In addition, mitochondrial function is compromised in HD leading to impaired bioenergetics and elevated production of free radicals in cells. However, the exact mechanisms linking redox imbalance to neurodegeneration are still elusive. This review will focus on the current understanding of aberrant redox homeostasis in HD and potential therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bindu D Paul
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Solomon H Snyder
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
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25
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Schlachetzki JCM, Prots I, Tao J, Chun HB, Saijo K, Gosselin D, Winner B, Glass CK, Winkler J. A monocyte gene expression signature in the early clinical course of Parkinson's disease. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10757. [PMID: 30018301 PMCID: PMC6050266 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28986-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2018] [Accepted: 06/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Microglia are the main immune cells of the brain and express a large genetic pattern of genes linked to Parkinson’s disease risk alleles. Monocytes like microglia are myeloid-lineage cells, raising the questions of the extent to which they share gene expression with microglia and whether they are already altered early in the clinical course of the disease. To decipher a monocytic gene expression signature in Parkinson’s disease, we performed RNA-seq and applied the two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to identify differentially expressed genes between controls and patients with Parkinson's disease and changes in gene expression variability and dysregulation. The gene expression profiles of normal human monocytes and microglia showed a plethora of differentially expressed genes. Additionally, we identified a distinct gene expression pattern of monocytes isolated from Parkinson’s disease patients at an early disease stage compared to controls using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Differentially expressed genes included genes involved in immune activation such as HLA-DQB1, MYD88, REL, and TNF-α. Our data suggest that future studies of distinct leukocyte subsets are warranted to identify possible surrogate biomarkers and may lead to the identification of novel interventions early in the disease course.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes C M Schlachetzki
- Department of Molecular Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054, Erlangen, Germany. .,Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego at La Jolla, CA, 92093-0651, USA.
| | - Iryna Prots
- Department of Stem Cell Biology, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Jenhan Tao
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego at La Jolla, CA, 92093-0651, USA
| | - Hyun B Chun
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego at La Jolla, CA, 92093-0651, USA
| | - Kaoru Saijo
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3200, USA
| | - David Gosselin
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego at La Jolla, CA, 92093-0651, USA.,Department of Molecular Medicine, Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec - Université Laval, Québec, G1V 4G2, Canada
| | - Beate Winner
- Department of Stem Cell Biology, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Christopher K Glass
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego at La Jolla, CA, 92093-0651, USA
| | - Jürgen Winkler
- Department of Molecular Neurology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
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26
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Early alteration of epigenetic-related transcription in Huntington's disease mouse models. Sci Rep 2018; 8:9925. [PMID: 29967375 PMCID: PMC6028428 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28185-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcriptional dysregulation in Huntington’s disease (HD) affects the expression of genes involved in survival and neuronal functions throughout the progression of the pathology. In recent years, extensive research has focused on epigenetic and chromatin-modifying factors as a causative explanation for such dysregulation, offering attractive targets for pharmacological therapies. In this work, we extensively examined the gene expression profiles in the cortex, striatum, hippocampus and cerebellum of juvenile R6/1 and N171-82Q mice, models of rapidly progressive HD, to retrieve the early transcriptional signatures associated with this pathology. These profiles were largely consistent across HD datasets, contained tissular and neuronal-specific genes and showed significant correspondence with the transcriptional changes in mouse strains deficient for epigenetic regulatory genes. The most prominent cases were the conditional knockout of the lysine acetyltransferase CBP in post-mitotic forebrain neurons, the double knockout of the histone methyltransferases Ezh1 and Ezh2, components of the polycomb repressor complex 2 (PRC2), and the conditional mutants of the histone methyltransferases G9a (Ehmt2) and GLP (Ehmt1). Based on these observations, we propose that the neuronal epigenetic status is compromised in the prodromal stages of HD, leading to an altered transcriptional programme that is prominently involved in neuronal identity.
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27
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Pandey M, Rajamma U. Huntington's disease: the coming of age. J Genet 2018; 97:649-664. [PMID: 30027901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is caused due to an abnormal expansion of polyglutamine repeats in the first exon of huntingtin gene. The mutation in huntingtin causes abnormalities in the functioning of protein, leading to deleterious effects ultimately to the demise of specific neuronal cells.The disease is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner and leads to a plethora of neuropsychiatric behaviour and neuronal cell death mainly in striatal and cortical regions of the brain, eventually leading to death of the individual. The discovery of the mutant gene led to a surge in molecular diagnostics of the disease and in making different transgenic models in different organisms to understand the function of wild-type and mutant proteins. Despite difficult challenges, there has been a significant increase in understanding the functioning of the protein in normal and other gain-of-function interactions in mutant form. However, there have been no significant improvements in treatments of the patients suffering from this ailment and most of the treatment is still symptomatic. HD warrants more attention towards better understanding and treatment as more advancement in molecular diagnostics and therapeutic interventions are available. Several different transgenic models are available in different organisms, ranging from fruit flies to primate monkeys, for studies on understanding the pathogenicity of the mutant gene. It is the right time to assess the advancement in the field and try new strategies for neuroprotection using key pathways as target. The present review highlights the key ingredients of pathology in the HD and discusses important studies for drug trials and future goals for therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mritunjay Pandey
- Metabolic Diseases Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
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28
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McColgan P, Gregory S, Seunarine KK, Razi A, Papoutsi M, Johnson E, Durr A, Roos RAC, Leavitt BR, Holmans P, Scahill RI, Clark CA, Rees G, Tabrizi SJ. Brain Regions Showing White Matter Loss in Huntington's Disease Are Enriched for Synaptic and Metabolic Genes. Biol Psychiatry 2018; 83:456-465. [PMID: 29174593 PMCID: PMC5803509 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.10.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Revised: 10/05/2017] [Accepted: 10/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The earliest white matter changes in Huntington's disease are seen before disease onset in the premanifest stage around the striatum, within the corpus callosum, and in posterior white matter tracts. While experimental evidence suggests that these changes may be related to abnormal gene transcription, we lack an understanding of the biological processes driving this regional vulnerability. METHODS Here, we investigate the relationship between regional transcription in the healthy brain, using the Allen Institute for Brain Science transcriptome atlas, and regional white matter connectivity loss at three time points over 24 months in subjects with premanifest Huntington's disease relative to control participants. The baseline cohort included 72 premanifest Huntington's disease participants and 85 healthy control participants. RESULTS We show that loss of corticostriatal, interhemispheric, and intrahemispheric white matter connections at baseline and over 24 months in premanifest Huntington's disease is associated with gene expression profiles enriched for synaptic genes and metabolic genes. Corticostriatal gene expression profiles are predominately associated with motor, parietal, and occipital regions, while interhemispheric expression profiles are associated with frontotemporal regions. We also show that genes with known abnormal transcription in human Huntington's disease and animal models are overrepresented in synaptic gene expression profiles, but not in metabolic gene expression profiles. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest a dual mechanism of white matter vulnerability in Huntington's disease, in which abnormal transcription of synaptic genes and metabolic disturbance not related to transcription may drive white matter loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter McColgan
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Gregory
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kiran K Seunarine
- Developmental Imaging and Biophysics Section, UCL Institute of Child Health, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Adeel Razi
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom; Department of Electronic Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Marina Papoutsi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Eileanoir Johnson
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alexandra Durr
- APHP Department of Genetics, University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière; and ICM (Brain and Spine Institute) INSERM U1127, CNRS UMR7225, Sorbonne Universités - UPMC Paris VI UMR_S1127, Paris, France
| | - Raymund A C Roos
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Blair R Leavitt
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Peter Holmans
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Rachael I Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Chris A Clark
- Developmental Imaging and Biophysics Section, UCL Institute of Child Health, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Geraint Rees
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom; National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, United Kingdom.
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29
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RD-Connect, NeurOmics and EURenOmics: collaborative European initiative for rare diseases. Eur J Hum Genet 2018; 26:778-785. [PMID: 29487416 PMCID: PMC5974013 DOI: 10.1038/s41431-018-0115-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2017] [Revised: 12/21/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Although individually uncommon, rare diseases (RDs) collectively affect 6–8% of the population. The unmet need of the rare disease community was recognized by the European Commission which in 2012 funded three flagship projects, RD-Connect, NeurOmics, and EURenOmics, to help move the field forward with the ambition of advancing -omics research and data sharing at their core in line with the goals of IRDiRC (International Rare Disease Research Consortium). NeurOmics and EURenOmics generate -omics data and improve diagnosis and therapy in rare renal and neurological diseases, with RD-Connect developing an infrastructure to facilitate the sharing, systematic integration and analysis of these data. Here, we summarize the achievements of these three projects, their impact on the RD community and their vision for the future. We also report from the Joint Outreach Day organized by the three projects on the 3rd of May 2017 in Berlin. The workshop stimulated an open, multi-stakeholder discussion on the challenges of the rare diseases, and highlighted the cross-project cooperation and the common goal: the use of innovative genomic technologies in rare disease research.
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30
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St-Amour I, Turgeon A, Goupil C, Planel E, Hébert SS. Co-occurrence of mixed proteinopathies in late-stage Huntington's disease. Acta Neuropathol 2018; 135:249-265. [PMID: 29134321 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-017-1786-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Revised: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 11/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating evidence highlights the potential role of mixed proteinopathies (i.e., abnormal protein aggregation) in the development of clinical manifestations of neurodegenerative diseases (NDD). Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited NDD caused by autosomal-dominant expanded CAG trinucleotide repeat mutation in the gene coding for Huntingtin (Htt). Previous studies have suggested the coexistence of phosphorylated-Tau, α-synuclein (α-Syn) and TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) inclusions in HD. However, definite evidence that HD pathology in humans can be accompanied by other proteinopathies is still lacking. Using human post-mortem putamen samples from 31 controls and 56 HD individuals, we performed biochemical analyses of the expression, oligomerization and aggregation of Tau, α-Syn, TDP-43, and Amyloid precursor protein (APP)/Aβ. In HD brain, we observed reduced soluble protein (but not mRNA) levels of Htt, α-Syn, and Tau. Our results also support abnormal phosphorylation of Tau in more advanced stages of disease. Aberrant splicing of Tau exons 2, 3 (exclusion) and 10 (inclusion) was also detected in HD patients, leading to higher 0N4R and lower 1N3R isoforms. Finally, following formic acid extraction, we observed increased aggregation of TDP-43, α-Syn, and phosphorylated-Tau during HD progression. Notably, we observed that 88% of HD patients with Vonsattel grade 4 neuropathology displayed at least one non-Htt proteinopathy compared to 29% in controls. Interestingly, α-Syn aggregation correlated with Htt, TDP-43 and phosphorylated-Tau in HD but not in controls. The impact of this work is twofold: (1) it provides compelling evidences that Tau, α-Syn and TDP-43 proteinopathies are increased in HD, and (2) it suggests the involvement of common mechanisms leading to abnormal accumulation of aggregation-prone proteins in NDD. Further studies will be needed to decipher the impact of these proteinopathies on clinical manifestation of HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabelle St-Amour
- Axe Neurosciences, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, CHUL, 2705 Boul. Laurier, P0-9800, Québec, QC, G1V 4G2, Canada
- Département de psychiatrie et de neurosciences, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Andréanne Turgeon
- Axe Neurosciences, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, CHUL, 2705 Boul. Laurier, P0-9800, Québec, QC, G1V 4G2, Canada
- Département de psychiatrie et de neurosciences, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Claudia Goupil
- Axe Neurosciences, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, CHUL, 2705 Boul. Laurier, P0-9800, Québec, QC, G1V 4G2, Canada
- Département de psychiatrie et de neurosciences, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Emmanuel Planel
- Axe Neurosciences, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, CHUL, 2705 Boul. Laurier, P0-9800, Québec, QC, G1V 4G2, Canada
- Département de psychiatrie et de neurosciences, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Sébastien S Hébert
- Axe Neurosciences, Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, CHUL, 2705 Boul. Laurier, P0-9800, Québec, QC, G1V 4G2, Canada.
- Département de psychiatrie et de neurosciences, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada.
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31
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Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant progressive neurological disorder characterized by motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms that typically present later on in life, although juvenile cases do exist. The identification of the disease-causing mutation, a CAG triplet repeat expansion in the HTT gene, in 1993 generated numerous investigations into the cellular and molecular pathways underlying the disorder. HD mouse models have played a prominent role in these studies, and the use of these mouse models of HD in the development and evaluation of novel therapeutic strategies is reviewed in this chapter. As new interventions and therapeutic approaches are evaluated and implemented, genetic mouse models will continue to be used with the hope of developing effective treatments for HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Kosior
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, and Department of Medical Genetics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Blair R Leavitt
- Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, and Department of Medical Genetics, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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32
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Miller JRC, Pfister EL, Liu W, Andre R, Träger U, Kennington LA, Lo K, Dijkstra S, Macdonald D, Ostroff G, Aronin N, Tabrizi SJ. Allele-Selective Suppression of Mutant Huntingtin in Primary Human Blood Cells. Sci Rep 2017; 7:46740. [PMID: 28436437 PMCID: PMC5402279 DOI: 10.1038/srep46740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 03/27/2017] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Post-transcriptional gene silencing is a promising therapy for the monogenic, autosomal dominant, Huntington's disease (HD). However, wild-type huntingtin (HTT) has important cellular functions, so the ideal strategy would selectively lower mutant HTT while sparing wild-type. HD patients were genotyped for heterozygosity at three SNP sites, before phasing each SNP allele to wild-type or mutant HTT. Primary ex vivo myeloid cells were isolated from heterozygous patients and transfected with SNP-targeted siRNA, using glucan particles taken up by phagocytosis. Highly selective mRNA knockdown was achieved when targeting each allele of rs362331 in exon 50 of the HTT transcript; this selectivity was also present on protein studies. However, similar selectivity was not observed when targeting rs362273 or rs362307. Furthermore, HD myeloid cells are hyper-reactive compared to control. Allele-selective suppression of either wild-type or mutant HTT produced a significant, equivalent reduction in the cytokine response of HD myeloid cells to LPS, suggesting that wild-type HTT has a novel immune function. We demonstrate a sequential therapeutic process comprising genotyping and mutant HTT-linkage of SNPs, followed by personalised allele-selective suppression in a small patient cohort. We further show that allele-selectivity in ex vivo patient cells is highly SNP-dependent, with implications for clinical trial target selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- James R. C. Miller
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Edith L. Pfister
- RNA Therapeutics Institute and Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Wanzhao Liu
- RNA Therapeutics Institute and Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Ralph Andre
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Ulrike Träger
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Lori A. Kennington
- RNA Therapeutics Institute and Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Gary Ostroff
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Neil Aronin
- RNA Therapeutics Institute and Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Sarah J. Tabrizi
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
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33
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Hensman Moss DJ, Flower MD, Lo KK, Miller JRC, van Ommen GJB, ’t Hoen PAC, Stone TC, Guinee A, Langbehn DR, Jones L, Plagnol V, van Roon-Mom WMC, Holmans P, Tabrizi SJ. Huntington's disease blood and brain show a common gene expression pattern and share an immune signature with Alzheimer's disease. Sci Rep 2017; 7:44849. [PMID: 28322270 PMCID: PMC5359597 DOI: 10.1038/srep44849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
There is widespread transcriptional dysregulation in Huntington's disease (HD) brain, but analysis is inevitably limited by advanced disease and postmortem changes. However, mutant HTT is ubiquitously expressed and acts systemically, meaning blood, which is readily available and contains cells that are dysfunctional in HD, could act as a surrogate for brain tissue. We conducted an RNA-Seq transcriptomic analysis using whole blood from two HD cohorts, and performed gene set enrichment analysis using public databases and weighted correlation network analysis modules from HD and control brain datasets. We identified dysregulated gene sets in blood that replicated in the independent cohorts, correlated with disease severity, corresponded to the most significantly dysregulated modules in the HD caudate, the most prominently affected brain region, and significantly overlapped with the transcriptional signature of HD myeloid cells. High-throughput sequencing technologies and use of gene sets likely surmounted the limitations of previously inconsistent HD blood expression studies. Our results suggest transcription is disrupted in peripheral cells in HD through mechanisms that parallel those in brain. Immune upregulation in HD overlapped with Alzheimer's disease, suggesting a common pathogenic mechanism involving macrophage phagocytosis and microglial synaptic pruning, and raises the potential for shared therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davina J. Hensman Moss
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Michael D. Flower
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Kitty K. Lo
- University College London Genetics Institute, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - James R. C. Miller
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, WC1B 5EH, UK
| | - Gert-Jan B. van Ommen
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Postzone S-4-P, The Netherlands
| | - Peter A. C. ’t Hoen
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Postzone S-4-P, The Netherlands
| | - Timothy C. Stone
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Amelia Guinee
- Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, CB2 8PQ, Cambridge UK
| | - Douglas R. Langbehn
- Departments of Psychiatry and Biostatistics, University of Iowa, IA 52242, USA
| | - Lesley Jones
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Vincent Plagnol
- University College London Genetics Institute, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | | | - Peter Holmans
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - Sarah J. Tabrizi
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, WC1B 5EH, UK
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Cyclin Y-mediated transcript profiling reveals several important functional pathways regulated by Cyclin Y in hippocampal neurons. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0172547. [PMID: 28241067 PMCID: PMC5328252 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2016] [Accepted: 02/05/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cyclin Y (CCNY), which is a cyclin protein known to play a role in cell division, is unexpectedly and thus interestingly expressed in non-proliferating neuronal cells. There have been only a few studies reporting the neuronal functions of CCNY in synapse remodeling and hippocampal long-term potentiation. Therefore, we here provide global and comprehensive information on the putative functions of CCNY in biological and functional pathways in neuronal systems. We adopted high-throughput RNA-sequencing technology for analyzing transcriptomes regulated by CCNY and utilized bioinformatics for identifying putative molecules, biological processes, and functional pathways that are possibly connected to CCNY functions in hippocampal neuronal cells of rats. We revealed that several enriched annotation terms and pathways associated with CCNY expression within neurons, including apoptosis, learning or memory, synaptic plasticity, actin cytoskeleton, focal adhesion, extracellular matrix-receptor interaction and chemokine signaling pathway are targeted by CCNY. In addition, the mRNA levels of some genes enriched for those annotation terms and pathways or genes reported to be altered in Alzheimer's disease mouse model were further validated by quantitative real-time PCR in hippocampal neuronal cells. The present study provides an excellent resource for future investigations of CCNY functions in neuronal systems.
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35
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Colonna M, Butovsky O. Microglia Function in the Central Nervous System During Health and Neurodegeneration. Annu Rev Immunol 2017; 35:441-468. [PMID: 28226226 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-immunol-051116-052358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1312] [Impact Index Per Article: 187.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Microglia are resident cells of the brain that regulate brain development, maintenance of neuronal networks, and injury repair. Microglia serve as brain macrophages but are distinct from other tissue macrophages owing to their unique homeostatic phenotype and tight regulation by the central nervous system (CNS) microenvironment. They are responsible for the elimination of microbes, dead cells, redundant synapses, protein aggregates, and other particulate and soluble antigens that may endanger the CNS. Furthermore, as the primary source of proinflammatory cytokines, microglia are pivotal mediators of neuroinflammation and can induce or modulate a broad spectrum of cellular responses. Alterations in microglia functionality are implicated in brain development and aging, as well as in neurodegeneration. Recent observations about microglia ontogeny combined with extensive gene expression profiling and novel tools to study microglia biology have allowed us to characterize the spectrum of microglial phenotypes during development, homeostasis, and disease. In this article, we review recent advances in our understanding of the biology of microglia, their contribution to homeostasis, and their involvement in neurodegeneration. Moreover, we highlight the complexity of targeting microglia for therapeutic intervention in neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Colonna
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110;
| | - Oleg Butovsky
- Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115;
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