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Dang X, Zhang L, Franco A, Dorn II GW. Activating mitofusins interrupts mitochondrial degeneration and delays disease progression in SOD1 mutant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Hum Mol Genet 2023; 32:1208-1222. [PMID: 36416308 PMCID: PMC10026224 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddac287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Mitochondrial involvement in neurodegenerative diseases is widespread and multifactorial. Targeting mitochondrial pathology is therefore of interest. The recent development of bioactive molecules that modulate mitochondrial dynamics (fusion, fission and motility) offers a new therapeutic approach for neurodegenerative diseases with either indirect or direct mitochondrial involvement. Here, we asked: (1) Can enhanced mitochondrial fusion and motility improve secondary mitochondrial pathology in superoxide dismutase1 (SOD1) mutant amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)? And: (2) What is the impact of enhancing mitochondria fitness on in vivo manifestations of SOD1 mutant ALS? We observed that small molecule mitofusin activators corrected mitochondrial fragmentation, depolarization and dysmotility in genetically diverse ALS patient reprogrammed motor neurons and fibroblasts, and in motor neurons, sensory neurons and fibroblasts from SOD1 G93A mice. Continuous, but not intermittent, pharmacologic mitofusin activation delayed phenotype progression and lethality in SOD1 G93A mice, reducing neuron loss and improving neuromuscular connectivity. Mechanistically, mitofusin activation increased mitochondrial motility, fitness and residency within neuromuscular synapses; reduced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production; and diminished apoptosis in SOD1 mutant neurons. These benefits were accompanied by improved mitochondrial respiratory coupling, despite characteristic SOD1 mutant ALS-associated downregulation of mitochondrial respiratory complexes. Targeting mitochondrial dysdynamism is a promising approach to alleviate pathology caused by secondary mitochondrial dysfunction in some neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiawei Dang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis MO USA
- Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiao Tong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, China
| | - Lihong Zhang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis MO USA
| | - Antonietta Franco
- Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis MO USA
| | - Gerald W Dorn II
- Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis MO USA
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2
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Pun FW, Liu BHM, Long X, Leung HW, Leung GHD, Mewborne QT, Gao J, Shneyderman A, Ozerov IV, Wang J, Ren F, Aliper A, Bischof E, Izumchenko E, Guan X, Zhang K, Lu B, Rothstein JD, Cudkowicz ME, Zhavoronkov A. Identification of Therapeutic Targets for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Using PandaOmics – An AI-Enabled Biological Target Discovery Platform. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:914017. [PMID: 35837482 PMCID: PMC9273868 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.914017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe neurodegenerative disease with ill-defined pathogenesis, calling for urgent developments of new therapeutic regimens. Herein, we applied PandaOmics, an AI-driven target discovery platform, to analyze the expression profiles of central nervous system (CNS) samples (237 cases; 91 controls) from public datasets, and direct iPSC-derived motor neurons (diMNs) (135 cases; 31 controls) from Answer ALS. Seventeen high-confidence and eleven novel therapeutic targets were identified and will be released onto ALS.AI (http://als.ai/). Among the proposed targets screened in the c9ALS Drosophila model, we verified 8 unreported genes (KCNB2, KCNS3, ADRA2B, NR3C1, P2RY14, PPP3CB, PTPRC, and RARA) whose suppression strongly rescues eye neurodegeneration. Dysregulated pathways identified from CNS and diMN data characterize different stages of disease development. Altogether, our study provides new insights into ALS pathophysiology and demonstrates how AI speeds up the target discovery process, and opens up new opportunities for therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank W. Pun
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Bonnie Hei Man Liu
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xi Long
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Hoi Wing Leung
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Geoffrey Ho Duen Leung
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Quinlan T. Mewborne
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Junli Gao
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Anastasia Shneyderman
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ivan V. Ozerov
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ju Wang
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Feng Ren
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Alexander Aliper
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Evelyne Bischof
- College of Clinical Medicine, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China
- International Center for Multimorbidity and Complexity in Medicine (ICMC), Universität Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Evgeny Izumchenko
- Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology and Oncology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Xiaoming Guan
- 4B Technologies Limited, Suzhou BioBay, Suzhou, China
| | - Ke Zhang
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, United States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Bai Lu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Jeffrey D. Rothstein
- Brain Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Merit E. Cudkowicz
- Healey & AMG Center for ALS, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Merit E. Cudkowicz,
| | - Alex Zhavoronkov
- Insilico Medicine Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, United States
- Alex Zhavoronkov,
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Emon MAEK, Kodamullil AT, Karki R, Younesi E, Hofmann-Apitius M. Using Drugs as Molecular Probes: A Computational Chemical Biology Approach in Neurodegenerative Diseases. J Alzheimers Dis 2018; 56:677-686. [PMID: 28035920 PMCID: PMC5271458 DOI: 10.3233/jad-160222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease are complex to tackle because of the complexity of the brain, both in structure and function. Such complexity is reflected by the involvement of various brain regions and multiple pathways in the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases that render single drug target approaches ineffective. Particularly in the area of neurodegeneration, attention has been drawn to repurposing existing drugs with proven efficacy and safety profiles. However, there is a lack of systematic analysis of the brain chemical space to predict the feasibility of repurposing strategies. Using a mechanism-based, drug-target interaction modeling approach, we have identified promising drug candidates for repositioning. Mechanistic cause-and-effect models consolidate relevant prior knowledge on drugs, targets, and pathways from the scientific literature and integrate insights derived from experimental data. We demonstrate the power of this approach by predicting two repositioning candidates for Alzheimer’s disease and one for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Asif Emran Khan Emon
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI), Sankt Augustin, Germany.,Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn-Aachen International Center for IT, Bonn, Germany
| | - Alpha Tom Kodamullil
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI), Sankt Augustin, Germany.,Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn-Aachen International Center for IT, Bonn, Germany
| | - Reagon Karki
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI), Sankt Augustin, Germany.,Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn-Aachen International Center for IT, Bonn, Germany
| | - Erfan Younesi
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI), Sankt Augustin, Germany
| | - Martin Hofmann-Apitius
- Department of Bioinformatics, Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI), Sankt Augustin, Germany.,Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn-Aachen International Center for IT, Bonn, Germany
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Tortarolo M, Lo Coco D, Veglianese P, Vallarola A, Giordana MT, Marcon G, Beghi E, Poloni M, Strong MJ, Iyer AM, Aronica E, Bendotti C. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a Multisystem Pathology: Insights into the Role of TNF α. Mediators Inflamm 2017; 2017:2985051. [PMID: 29081600 PMCID: PMC5610855 DOI: 10.1155/2017/2985051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is considered a multifactorial, multisystem disease in which inflammation and the immune system play important roles in development and progression. The pleiotropic cytokine TNFα is one of the major players governing the inflammation in the central nervous system and peripheral districts such as the neuromuscular and immune system. Changes in TNFα levels are reported in blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and nerve tissues of ALS patients and animal models. However, whether they play a detrimental or protective role on the disease progression is still not clear. Our group and others have recently reported opposite involvements of TNFR1 and TNFR2 in motor neuron death. TNFR2 mediates TNFα toxic effects on these neurons presumably through the activation of MAP kinase-related pathways. On the other hand, TNFR2 regulates the function and proliferation of regulatory T cells (Treg) whose expression is inversely correlated with the disease progression rate in ALS patients. In addition, TNFα is considered a procachectic factor with a direct catabolic effect on skeletal muscles, causing wasting. We review and discuss the role of TNFα in ALS in the light of its multisystem nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Tortarolo
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy
| | - Daniele Lo Coco
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy
- ALS Research Center, Dipartimento di Biomedicina Sperimentale e Neuroscienze Cliniche (BioNeC), University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Pietro Veglianese
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy
| | - Antonio Vallarola
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Gabriella Marcon
- Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
- DAME, University of Udine, Udine, Italy
| | - Ettore Beghi
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Poloni
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy
| | - Michael J. Strong
- Cell Biology Research Group, Robarts Research Institute, London, ON, Canada
| | - Anand M. Iyer
- Department of Neuropathology, Academisch Medisch Centrum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Eleonora Aronica
- Department of Neuropathology, Academisch Medisch Centrum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Caterina Bendotti
- Department of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy
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