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da Silva LPD, da Cruz Guedes E, Fernandes ICO, Pedroza LAL, da Silva Pereira GJ, Gubert P. Exploring Caenorhabditis elegans as Parkinson's Disease Model: Neurotoxins and Genetic Implications. Neurotox Res 2024; 42:11. [PMID: 38319410 DOI: 10.1007/s12640-024-00686-3] [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: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world, the first being Alzheimer's disease. Patients with PD have a loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the basal ganglia, which controls voluntary movements, causing a motor impairment as a result of dopaminergic signaling impairment. Studies have shown that mutations in several genes, such as SNCA, PARK2, PINK1, DJ-1, ATP13A2, and LRRK2, and the exposure to neurotoxic agents can potentially increase the chances of PD development. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) plays an important role in studying the risk factors, such as genetic factors, aging, exposure to chemicals, disease progression, and drug treatments for PD. C. elegans has a conserved neurotransmission system during evolution; it produces dopamine, through the eight dopaminergic neurons; it can be used to study the effect of neurotoxins and also has strains that express human α-synuclein. Furthermore, the human PD-related genes, LRK-1, PINK-1, PDR-1, DJR-1.1, and CATP-6, are present and functional in this model. Therefore, this review focuses on highlighting and discussing the use of C. elegans an in vivo model in PD-related studies. Here, we identified that nematodes exposed to the neurotoxins, such as 6-OHDA, MPTP, paraquat, and rotenone, had a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons, dopamine deficits, and decreased survival rate. Several studies have reported that expression of human LRRK2 (G2019S) caused neurodegeneration and pink-1, pdr-1, and djr-1.1 deletion caused several effects PD-related in C. elegans, including mitochondrial dysfunctions. Of note, the deletion of catp-6 in nematodes caused behavioral dysfunction, mitochondrial damage, and reduced survival. In addition, nematodes expressing α-synuclein had neurodegeneration and dopamine-dependent deficits. Therefore, C. elegans can be considered an accurate animal model of PD that can be used to elucidate to assess the underlying mechanisms implicated in PD to find novel therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larissa Pereira Dantas da Silva
- Keizo Asami Institute, iLIKA, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Moraes Rego Avenue, 1235, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil
| | - Erika da Cruz Guedes
- Department of Pharmacology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Isabel Cristina Oliveira Fernandes
- Keizo Asami Institute, iLIKA, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Moraes Rego Avenue, 1235, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil
- Postgraduate Program in Biological Science, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
| | - Lucas Aleixo Leal Pedroza
- Keizo Asami Institute, iLIKA, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Moraes Rego Avenue, 1235, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil
| | | | - Priscila Gubert
- Keizo Asami Institute, iLIKA, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Moraes Rego Avenue, 1235, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil.
- Postgraduate Program in Biological Science, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil.
- Postgraduate Program in Pure and Applied Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Oeste da Bahia, Bahia, Brazil.
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Ito M, Fujii N, Kohara S, Tanaka M, Takao M, Mihara B, Saito Y, Mizuma A, Nakayama T, Netsu S, Suzuki N, Kakita A, Nagata E. Elevation of inositol pyrophosphate IP 7 in the mammalian spinal cord of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Front Neurol 2024; 14:1334004. [PMID: 38274887 PMCID: PMC10808411 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1334004] [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: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder associated with progressive impairment of spinal motor neurons. Continuous research endeavor is underway to fully understand the molecular mechanisms associating with this disorder. Although several studies have implied the involvement of inositol pyrophosphate IP7 in ALS, there is no direct experimental evidence proving this notion. In this study, we analyzed inositol pyrophosphate IP7 and its precursor IP6 in the mouse and human ALS biological samples to directly assess whether IP7 level and/or its metabolism are altered in ALS disease state. Methods We used a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) protocol originally-designed for mammalian IP6 and IP7 analysis. We measured the abundance of these molecules in the central nervous system (CNS) of ALS mouse model SOD1(G93A) transgenic (TG) mice as well as postmortem spinal cord of ALS patients. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from ALS patients were also analyzed to assess if IP7 status in these biofluids is associated with ALS disease state. Results SOD1(G93A) TG mice showed significant increase of IP7 level in the spinal cord compared with control mice at the late stage of disease progression, while its level in cerebrum and cerebellum remains constant. We also observed significantly elevated IP7 level and its product-to-precursor ratio (IP7/IP6) in the postmortem spinal cord of ALS patients, suggesting enhanced enzymatic activity of IP7-synthesizing kinases in the human ALS spinal cord. In contrast, human CSF did not contain detectable level of IP6 and IP7, and neither the IP7 level nor the IP7/IP6 ratio in human PBMCs differentiated ALS patients from age-matched healthy individuals. Conclusion By directly analyzing IP7 in the CNS of ALS mice and humans, the findings of this study provide direct evidence that IP7 level and/or the enzymatic activity of IP7-generating kinases IP6Ks are elevated in ALS spinal cord. On the other hand, this study also showed that IP7 is not suitable for biofluid-based ALS diagnosis. Further investigation is required to elucidate a role of IP7 in ALS pathology and utilize IP7 metabolism on the diagnostic application of ALS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masatoshi Ito
- Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan
- Department of Legal Medicine, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan
| | - Natsuko Fujii
- Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan
| | - Saori Kohara
- Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan
| | - Masayuki Tanaka
- Support Center for Medical Research and Education, Tokai University, Isehara, Japan
| | - Masaki Takao
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, National Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Neurology, Mihara Memorial Hospital, Isesaki, Japan
| | - Ban Mihara
- Department of Neurology, Mihara Memorial Hospital, Isesaki, Japan
| | - Yuko Saito
- Department of Neuropathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Atsushi Mizuma
- Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan
| | - Taira Nakayama
- Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan
| | - Shizuka Netsu
- Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan
| | - Naoto Suzuki
- Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan
| | - Akiyoshi Kakita
- Department of Pathology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan
| | - Eiichiro Nagata
- Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan
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Rahimpouresfahani F, Tabatabaei N, Rezai P. High-throughput light sheet imaging of adult and larval C. elegans Parkinson's disease model using a low-cost optofluidic device and a fluorescent microscope. RSC Adv 2024; 14:626-639. [PMID: 38173569 PMCID: PMC10759043 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra06323b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent advancements at the interface of microfluidics technology and light sheet fluorescence microscopy have opened the door for high-throughput and high-content investigation of C. elegans disease models. In this paper, we report on the development of a simple, miniaturized, and low-cost optofluidic platform that can be added to a conventional inverted fluorescent microscope for continuous light sheet imaging of transgenic worm populations with high lateral and axial resolutions of 1.1 µm and 2.4 µm, respectively. The optofluidic device is made entirely of PDMS with integrated optics for light sheet generation. Laser excitation is delivered to the device via a low-cost free space laser, and cross-sections of worm populations are imaged as they pass continuously through a channel. Results show the platform can image NW1229 whole worms with pan-neural fluorescent expression at a throughput of >20 worms per minute at L3 and young adult (YA) stages. As a benchmark test, we show that the low-cost device can quantify the reduced neuronal expressions of L3 and YA NW1229 worms when exposed to 500 µM 6-OHDA neurodegenerative agent. Following the benchmark validation, we utilized the platform in a novel application for imaging human alpha-synuclein reporter in populations of Parkinson's transgenic model (ERS100). Results show the ability of the low-cost platform to reliably detect and quantify the anomalous neural phenotypic changes in ERS100 populations at L3 and YA stages with high spatial resolution. The findings of this study show the potential of our low-cost optofluidic add-on platform to equip conventional fluorescent microscopes with light sheet capability for quantitative phenotypic studies of transgenic C. elegans at high resolution and throughput.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faraz Rahimpouresfahani
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, York University 4700 Keele St Toronto M3J 1P3 Ontario Canada +1-416-7362100
| | - Nima Tabatabaei
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, York University 4700 Keele St Toronto M3J 1P3 Ontario Canada +1-416-7362100
| | - Pouya Rezai
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, York University 4700 Keele St Toronto M3J 1P3 Ontario Canada +1-416-7362100
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Wu Y, Chen Y, Yu X, Zhang M, Li Z. Towards Understanding Neurodegenerative Diseases: Insights from Caenorhabditis elegans. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 25:443. [PMID: 38203614 PMCID: PMC10778690 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25010443] [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: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The elevated occurrence of debilitating neurodegenerative disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's disease (HD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Machado-Joseph disease (MJD), demands urgent disease-modifying therapeutics. Owing to the evolutionarily conserved molecular signalling pathways with mammalian species and facile genetic manipulation, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) emerges as a powerful and manipulative model system for mechanistic insights into neurodegenerative diseases. Herein, we review several representative C. elegans models established for five common neurodegenerative diseases, which closely simulate disease phenotypes specifically in the gain-of-function aspect. We exemplify applications of high-throughput genetic and drug screenings to illustrate the potential of C. elegans to probe novel therapeutic targets. This review highlights the utility of C. elegans as a comprehensive and versatile platform for the dissection of neurodegenerative diseases at the molecular level.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Zhaoyu Li
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; (Y.W.); (Y.C.); (X.Y.); (M.Z.)
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Clark AS, Kalmanson Z, Morton K, Hartman J, Meyer J, San-Miguel A. An unbiased, automated platform for scoring dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0281797. [PMID: 37418455 PMCID: PMC10328331 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has served as a simple model organism to study dopaminergic neurodegeneration, as it enables quantitative analysis of cellular and sub-cellular morphologies in live animals. These isogenic nematodes have a rapid life cycle and transparent body, making high-throughput imaging and evaluation of fluorescently tagged neurons possible. However, the current state-of-the-art method for quantifying dopaminergic degeneration requires researchers to manually examine images and score dendrites into groups of varying levels of neurodegeneration severity, which is time consuming, subject to bias, and limited in data sensitivity. We aim to overcome the pitfalls of manual neuron scoring by developing an automated, unbiased image processing algorithm to quantify dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans. The algorithm can be used on images acquired with different microscopy setups and only requires two inputs: a maximum projection image of the four cephalic neurons in the C. elegans head and the pixel size of the user's camera. We validate the platform by detecting and quantifying neurodegeneration in nematodes exposed to rotenone, cold shock, and 6-hydroxydopamine using 63x epifluorescence, 63x confocal, and 40x epifluorescence microscopy, respectively. Analysis of tubby mutant worms with altered fat storage showed that, contrary to our hypothesis, increased adiposity did not sensitize to stressor-induced neurodegeneration. We further verify the accuracy of the algorithm by comparing code-generated, categorical degeneration results with manually scored dendrites of the same experiments. The platform, which detects 20 different metrics of neurodegeneration, can provide comparative insight into how each exposure affects dopaminergic neurodegeneration patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S. Clark
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Zachary Kalmanson
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Katherine Morton
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Jessica Hartman
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America
| | - Joel Meyer
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Adriana San-Miguel
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America
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Lee RMQ, Koh TW. Genetic modifiers of synucleinopathies-lessons from experimental models. OXFORD OPEN NEUROSCIENCE 2023; 2:kvad001. [PMID: 38596238 PMCID: PMC10913850 DOI: 10.1093/oons/kvad001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Revised: 03/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
α-Synuclein is a pleiotropic protein underlying a group of progressive neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Together, these are known as synucleinopathies. Like all neurological diseases, understanding of disease mechanisms is hampered by the lack of access to biopsy tissues, precluding a real-time view of disease progression in the human body. This has driven researchers to devise various experimental models ranging from yeast to flies to human brain organoids, aiming to recapitulate aspects of synucleinopathies. Studies of these models have uncovered numerous genetic modifiers of α-synuclein, most of which are evolutionarily conserved. This review discusses what we have learned about disease mechanisms from these modifiers, and ways in which the study of modifiers have supported ongoing efforts to engineer disease-modifying interventions for synucleinopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Min Qi Lee
- Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, Singapore, 117604, Singapore
| | - Tong-Wey Koh
- Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, 1 Research Link, Singapore, 117604, Singapore
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Block S3 #05-01, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117558, Singapore
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Clark AS, Kalmanson Z, Morton K, Hartman J, Meyer J, San-Miguel A. An unbiased, automated platform for scoring dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.02.526781. [PMID: 36778421 PMCID: PMC9915681 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.02.526781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
Caenorhabditis elegans ( C. elegans ) has served as a simple model organism to study dopaminergic neurodegeneration, as it enables quantitative analysis of cellular and sub-cellular morphologies in live animals. These isogenic nematodes have a rapid life cycle and transparent body, making high-throughput imaging and evaluation of fluorescently tagged neurons possible. However, the current state-of-the-art method for quantifying dopaminergic degeneration requires researchers to manually examine images and score dendrites into groups of varying levels of neurodegeneration severity, which is time consuming, subject to bias, and limited in data sensitivity. We aim to overcome the pitfalls of manual neuron scoring by developing an automated, unbiased image processing algorithm to quantify dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans . The algorithm can be used on images acquired with different microscopy setups and only requires two inputs: a maximum projection image of the four cephalic neurons in the C. elegans head and the pixel size of the user’s camera. We validate the platform by detecting and quantifying neurodegeneration in nematodes exposed to rotenone, cold shock, and 6-hydroxydopamine using 63x epifluorescence, 63x confocal, and 40x epifluorescence microscopy, respectively. Analysis of tubby mutant worms with altered fat storage showed that, contrary to our hypothesis, increased adiposity did not sensitize to stressor-induced neurodegeneration. We further verify the accuracy of the algorithm by comparing code-generated, categorical degeneration results with manually scored dendrites of the same experiments. The platform, which detects 19 different metrics of neurodegeneration, can provide comparative insight into how each exposure affects dopaminergic neurodegeneration patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S Clark
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Zachary Kalmanson
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Katherine Morton
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Jessica Hartman
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - Joel Meyer
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Adriana San-Miguel
- Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
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Di Leva F, Filosi M, Oyston L, Silvestri E, Picard A, Lavdas AA, Lobbestael E, Baekelandt V, Neely GG, Pramstaller PP, Hicks AA, Corti C. Increased Levels of the Parkinson's Disease-Associated Gene ITPKB Correlate with Higher Expression Levels of α-Synuclein, Independent of Mutation Status. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:1984. [PMID: 36768321 PMCID: PMC9916293 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24031984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Autosomal dominant mutations in the gene encoding α-synuclein (SNCA) were the first to be linked with hereditary Parkinson's disease (PD). Duplication and triplication of SNCA has been observed in PD patients, together with mutations at the N-terminal of the protein, among which A30P and A53T influence the formation of fibrils. By overexpressing human α-synuclein in the neuronal system of Drosophila, we functionally validated the ability of IP3K2, an ortholog of the GWAS identified risk gene, Inositol-trisphosphate 3-kinase B (ITPKB), to modulate α-synuclein toxicity in vivo. ITPKB mRNA and protein levels were also increased in SK-N-SH cells overexpressing wild-type α-synuclein, A53T or A30P mutants. Kinase overexpression was detected in the cytoplasmatic and in the nuclear compartments in all α-synuclein cell types. By quantifying mRNAs in the cortex of PD patients, we observed higher levels of ITPKB mRNA when SNCA was expressed more (p < 0.05), compared to controls. A positive correlation was also observed between SNCA and ITPKB expression in the cortex of patients, which was not seen in the controls. We replicated this observation in a public dataset. Our data, generated in SK-N-SH cells and in cortex from PD patients, show that the expression of α-synuclein and ITPKB is correlated in pathological situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Di Leva
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Michele Filosi
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Lisa Oyston
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Erica Silvestri
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Anne Picard
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Alexandros A. Lavdas
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Evy Lobbestael
- Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Veerle Baekelandt
- Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - G. Gregory Neely
- Charles Perkins Centre and School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Peter P. Pramstaller
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Andrew A. Hicks
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
| | - Corrado Corti
- Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
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