Cathepsin D overexpression in the nervous system rescues lethality and Aβ42 accumulation of cathepsin D systemic knockout in vivo

The lysosome is responsible for protein and organelle degradation and homeostasis and the cathepsins play a key role in maintaining protein quality control. Cathepsin D (CTSD), is one such lysosomal protease, which when deficient in humans lead to neurolipofuscinosis (NCL) and is important in removing toxic protein aggregates. Prior studies demonstrated that CTSD germ-line knockout-CtsdKO (CDKO) resulted in accumulation of protein aggregates, decreased proteasomal activities, and postnatal lethality on Day 26 ± 1. Overexpression of wildtype CTSD, but not cathepsin B, L or mutant CTSD, decreased α-synuclein toxicity in worms and mammalian cells. In this study we generated a mouse line expressing human CTSD with a floxed STOP cassette between the ubiquitous CAG promoter and the cDNA. After crossing with Nestin-cre, the STOP cassette is deleted in NESTIN + cells to allow CTSD overexpression-CTSDtg (CDtg). The CDtg mice exhibited normal behavior and similar sensitivity to sub-chronic 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) induced neurodegeneration. By breeding CDtg mice with CDKO mice, we found that over-expression of CTSD extended the lifespan of the CDKO mice, partially rescued proteasomal deficits and the accumulation of Aβ42 in the CDKO. This new transgenic mouse provides supports for the key role of CTSD in protecting against proteotoxicity and offers a new model to study the role of CTSD enhancement in vivo.

Notch3 cooperates with the EGFR pathway to modulate apoptosis through the induction of bim

Notch signaling is a highly conserved pathway important for normal embryonic development and cancer. We previously demonstrated a role for Notch3 in lung cancer pathogenesis. Notch3 inhibition resulted in tumor apoptosis and growth suppression. In vitro, these effects were enhanced when the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway was also inhibited, suggesting significant cross-talk between the two pathways. How Notch3 and epidermal growth factor receptor-mitogen-activated protein kinase (EGFR-MAPK) pathways cooperate in modulating apoptosis is not yet known. In this study, we provide evidence that Notch3 regulates Bim, a BH-3-only protein, via MAPK signaling. Furthermore, loss of Bim expression prevents tumor apoptosis induced by Notch3 inhibition. Using gamma-secretase inhibitor and erlotinib in a xenograft model, Bim induction and tumor inhibition were observed to be enhanced compared with either agent alone, consistent with our previous observation of significant synergism between Notch and EGFR-ras-MAPK signaling. Thus, our data support the hypothesis that Notch3 not only has a crucial role in lung cancer through regulating apoptosis, but also cooperates with the EGFR-MAPK pathway in modulating Bim.

Transforming growth factor alpha up-regulates desmin expression during embryonic mouse tongue myogenesis

Myogenesis is determined by a set of myogenic differentiation factors that are, in turn, regulated by a number of peptide growth factors. During embryonic mouse tongue formation, transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and their cognate receptor (EGFR) are co-expressed spatially and temporally with desmin, a muscle-specific structural protein. This investigation tested the hypothesis that TGF alpha directly regulates the myogenic program in developing tongue myoblasts. Mandibular processes from the first branchial arch of embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5) mouse embryos were microdissected and explanted into an organ culture system using serumless chemically defined medium. Exogenous TGF alpha at 10 and 20 ng/ml specifically increased the amount of desmin expression and the number of desmin-positive cells without affecting the general growth and development of the mandibles. This inductive response was detected as early as 2 days after treatment and sustained up to 9 days in culture. EGFR antisense oligonucleotides (30 microM) as well as tyrphostin (80 microM) were able to negate TGF alpha-induced up-regulation of desmin expression. These data indicate that autocrine and/or paracrine action of TGF alpha promotes tongue myogenesis, and that this action is mediated through functional kinase activity of the EGFR. We speculate that the myogenic program in the developing mouse tongue is dependent upon growth factor mediated cell-cell communication of mesenchymal cells originating from the occipital somites and ectomesenchymal cells originating from the cranial neural crest.

Induced expression of myoD, myogenin and desmin during myoblast differentiation in embryonic mouse tongue development

Significant progress has been made in defining mechanisms governing myogenesis at the transcriptional levels, but the extracellular signal-transduction pathways involved in myogenesis are not as yet defined. The developing mouse tongue provides a model for the regulation of myogenesis during precise time periods in embryogenesis. The molecular cues that regulate the close-range autocrine and/or paracrine signalling processes required for the fast-twitch complex tongue musculature are not known. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF alpha) controls myogenesis in embryonic mouse tongue through the induction of myogenic regulatory factors such as myoD, myf5, myogenin and MRF4/myf6/herculin. To test this hypothesis, the effects of exogenous TGF alpha on the transcription of myoD, myf5, myogenin, MRF4 and desmin were examined in tongue samples from embryonic day-10.5 mandibular explants cultured in serum-free, chemically defined medium and then processed for competitive, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. TGF alpha induced myoD, myogenin and desmin expression. Treatment with 20 and 40 ng/ml TGF alpha decreased or downregulated myf5 mRNA. MRF4 was not detected in the explants. TGF alpha apparently induces the early developmental stages of myogenesis through sequential upregulation of myoD and myogenin, downregulation of myf5 and corresponding significant increases in muscle-specific gene expression such as desmin transcription.

Equus caballus gelsolin--cDNA sequence and protein structural implications

We have generated and characterized the cDNA from equine smooth muscle that encodes gelsolin, an actin-modulating protein. Overlapping cDNA clones synthesized by the reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction and clones isolated from a horse genomic library provided the complete primary structure for the intracellular isoform of gelsolin, while cDNA complemented with protein sequence data produced the full-length primary transcript of the gelsolin isoform found circulating in equine plasma. The deduced amino acid sequences of the intracellular and secreted versions of equine gelsolin infer polypeptides of 731 and 755 residues with apparent molecular masses of 80.7 kDa and 83.2 kDa, respectively. Multiple sequence alignment analysis of equine, human, porcine, and murine orthologs of gelsolin demonstrates prominent similarities among all of these proteins, with the horse and human molecules exhibiting the largest degree of likeness with respect to polypeptide length and overall sequence composition. Both horse and human plasma gelsolins are comprised of 755 amino acids with 94% of the residues identical, while the degree of sequence identity in the shorter (731 residues) cytoplasmic gelsolins is 95%. Analysis of the sequences and structures of the six related domains that comprise gelsolin emphasizes the strong correlation that exists between primary structural conservation among mammalian gelsolins and maintenance of the three-dimensional domain fold characteristic of members of this protein family.

Timing of the expression of enamel gene products during mouse tooth development

In order to understand the mechanisms involved in tooth development it is important to define the timing for tissue-specific gene expression. A consequence of ameloblast cell differentiation is the sequential expression of tissue-specific genes whose products form the enamel extracellular matrix. The ameloblast phenotype has been characterized as consisting of two major classes of proteins: amelogenins and non-amelogenin proteins such as anionic enamel proteins (enamelins, tuft proteins, tuftelin, sulfated proteins) and enamel proteases. The postulated functions for the anionic enamel proteins are as nucleators for hydroxyapatite crystal formation while amelogenins control the crystal size, growth and orientation. While the amelogenins have been well characterized, detailed knowledge for anionic enamel proteins has been sparse. In the present study, we designed experiments to characterize one of the anionic enamel proteins from mouse molars, tuftelin, and to determine the timing of expression of this protein during molar tooth development. Our results showed the initial detection of tuftelin transcripts within proliferating inner enamel epithelial cells at very early stages of tooth development (13 days of embryonic development equivalent to the bud stage of tooth development). These data provide direct evidence that invalidates previous dogmas that enamel proteins were synthesized by polarized, non-dividing, fully differentiated ameloblast cells. In addition, tuftelin was found to be synthesized also by dental papilla mesenchyme cells suggesting that this protein is not enamel-specific. These data taken together open the possibility that the tuftelin present in the dentino-enamel junction could be secreted by both, preodontoblast cells and preameloblast cells. It might also suggest a possible different role for tuftelin than nucleator of hydroxyapatite crystals.

Coincident plasma ACTH and corticosterone time series: comparisons between young and old rats

Senescence is accompanied by a reduced ability to respond to a variety of physical and behavioral stressors. A sizable literature has been devoted to the interplay between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis dysfunction and senescence; yet, the precise interactions remain an enigma. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is secreted in pulsatile bursts generating complex signals in the plasma compartment that must be "read" by adrenocortical cells in order to initiate appropriate secretory responses. We have previously demonstrated subtle differences between young and old rats in the pattern of fluctuations in plasma ACTH concentrations over time, despite no difference in mean levels. The present work addressed the physiological significance of these differences in the plasma ACTH signal by analyzing the corresponding plasma corticosterone concentration time series and the relationship between these two hormones over time. Time series of integrated 10-min ACTH and corticosterone concentrations were collected over 4 h at the time of diurnal activation and analyzed in the time and frequency domains. The time of onset of the diurnal surge occurred 20 min later in old rats, and the ratio of corticosterone to ACTH was less at the time of onset and peak of the diurnal surge. Corticosterone levels were lower in old rats and mean ACTH and corticosterone levels were correlated in young but not old rats, as were maximum levels of the two hormones. Cross-correlation of ACTH and corticosterone time series and comparison of spectra were consistent with smoother fluctuations in plasma corticosterone in old animals with less variability at time scales less than 55 min. We conclude that age may be associated with a delay in diurnal activation of the HPA axis, a loss of sensitivity of adrenal corticosterone secretion to plasma ACTH levels, and a relative loss of high frequency variability in the corticosterone signal, as seen in many physiological systems with age.

Silicon analysis in biological specimens by direct current plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy

A method for the determination of total elemental silicon concentrations in biological fluids by direct current plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (DCP-AES) is presented. The method is linear up to 30 micrograms/mL in blood, serum, plasma, and urine, with a detection limit of 0.2 microgram/mL. Population ranges of silicon concentration in blood, plasma, serum, and urine were found to be less than 0.3 to 33 micrograms/mL, less than 0.4 to 39 micrograms/mL, less than 0.2 to 68 micrograms/mL, and less than 0.3 to 180 micrograms/mL, respectively. Over 50% of all measured concentrations were less than 0.5 microgram/mL for blood, plasma, and serum. Estimates of "normal" population ranges are reported, and potential applicability of this procedure to silicone-related maladies is discussed.

High intensity venous sampling reveals subtle alterations in plasma adrenocorticotropin patterns in old rats

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis has been theoretically linked to the processes of aging for decades. To investigate the effects of age on high frequency rhythms of plasma ACTH at the time of circadian activation, integrated 2-min blood samples were collected over 4 h in 10 young and 14 old rats with simultaneous plasma volume replacement. Plasma ACTH time series were analyzed in the time and frequency domains. Relative to young rats, old rats had a significantly later onset of the diurnal surge, more spectral power (R2) at lower frequencies, a lack of correlation between the slope of the spectral background continuum and the R2 at periods less than approximately 11 min, a stretching of the time scale in the composite spectra by 18.5%, and an amplitude reduction of the major composite spectral peak by 31%. These findings support the existence of subtle, but significant, alterations in the pattern of plasma ACTH with age and a delayed response of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis to circadian activation. The differences in spectra suggest a weaker coupling with age between the high frequency signal input (that may reflect depolarization of groups of corticotrophs) and the system response, which could account for the delay in onset of the diurnal surge seen in the time domain.

Quantitative assessment of the glandular activity of endocrine cells of gastrointestinal mucosae by computer-assisted analysis of ultrastructural images: methodology

A method is described for studying the morphological features of endocrine cells of gastrointestinal mucosae in man and some animal species by semi-automatic analysis of ultrastructural images. The method enables possible ultrastructural variations in gastrointestinal endocrine glandular cells of different types to be determined with an acceptable margin of error. Various causes of error are investigated. It is found that the main cause is the choice of microscope magnification, despite the corrections made. The factor of inconsistency in the reproducibility of measurements performed by several operators is also calculated.