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Sonti S, Littleton SH, Pahl MC, Zimmerman AJ, Chesi A, Palermo J, Lasconi C, Brown EB, Pippin JA, Wells AD, Doldur-Balli F, Pack AI, Gehrman PR, Keene AC, Grant SFA. Perturbation of the insomnia WDR90 GWAS locus pinpoints rs3752495 as a causal variant influencing distal expression of neighboring gene, PIG-Q. Sleep 2024:zsae085. [PMID: 38571402 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsae085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Although genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified loci for sleep-related traits, they do not directly uncover the underlying causal variants and corresponding effector genes. The majority of such variants reside in non-coding regions and are therefore presumed to impact cis-regulatory elements. Our previously reported 'variant-to-gene mapping' effort in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs), combined with validation in both Drosophila and zebrafish, implicated PIG-Q as a functionally relevant gene at the insomnia 'WDR90' GWAS locus. However, importantly that effort did not characterize the corresponding underlying causal variant. Specifically, our previous 3D genomic datasets nominated a shortlist of three neighboring single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in strong linkage disequilibrium within an intronic enhancer region of WDR90 that contacted the open PIG-Q promoter. We sought to investigate the influence of these SNPs collectively and then individually on PIG-Q modulation to pinpoint the causal "regulatory" variant. Starting with gross level perturbation, deletion of the entire region in NPCs via CRISPR-Cas9 editing and subsequent RNA sequencing revealed expression changes in specific PIG-Q transcripts. Results from individual luciferase reporter assays for each SNP in iPSCs revealed that the region with the rs3752495 risk allele induced a ~2.5-fold increase in luciferase expression. Importantly, rs3752495 also exhibited an allele specific effect, with the risk allele increasing the luciferase expression by ~2-fold versus the non-risk allele. In conclusion, our variant-to-function approach and in vitro validation implicates rs3752495 as a causal insomnia variant embedded within WDR90 while modulating the expression of the distally located PIG-Q.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Sonti
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Sheridan H Littleton
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Matthew C Pahl
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Amber J Zimmerman
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Alessandra Chesi
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Philadelphia PA USA
| | - Justin Palermo
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Chiara Lasconi
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Elizabeth B Brown
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - James A Pippin
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Andrew D Wells
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Fusun Doldur-Balli
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Allan I Pack
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Phillip R Gehrman
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Alex C Keene
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Struan F A Grant
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Division of Human Genetics and Endocrinology & Diabetes, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
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2
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Sonti S, Littleton SH, Pahl MC, Zimmerman AJ, Chesi A, Palermo J, Lasconi C, Brown EB, Pippin JA, Wells AD, Doldur-Balli F, Pack AI, Gehrman PR, Keene AC, Grant SFA. Perturbation of the insomnia WDR90 GWAS locus pinpoints rs3752495 as a causal variant influencing distal expression of neighboring gene, PIG-Q. bioRxiv 2023:2023.08.17.553739. [PMID: 37645863 PMCID: PMC10462147 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.17.553739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Although genome wide association studies (GWAS) have been crucial for the identification of loci associated with sleep traits and disorders, the method itself does not directly uncover the underlying causal variants and corresponding effector genes. The overwhelming majority of such variants reside in non-coding regions and are therefore presumed to impact the activity of cis-regulatory elements, such as enhancers. Our previously reported 'variant-to-gene mapping' effort in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs), combined with validation in both Drosophila and zebrafish, implicated PIG-Q as a functionally relevant gene at the insomnia 'WDR90' locus. However, importantly that effort did not characterize the corresponding underlying causal variant at this GWAS signal. Specifically, our genome-wide ATAC-seq and high-resolution promoter-focused Capture C datasets generated in this cell setting brought our attention to a shortlist of three tightly neighboring single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in strong linkage disequilibrium in a candidate intronic enhancer region of WDR90 that contacted the open PIG-Q promoter. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the proxy SNPs collectively and then individually on PIG-Q modulation and to pinpoint the causal "regulatory" variant among the three SNPs. Starting at a gross level perturbation, deletion of the entire region harboring all three SNPs in human iPSC-derived neural progenitor cells via CRISPR-Cas9 editing and subsequent RNA sequencing revealed expression changes in specific PIG-Q transcripts. Results from more refined individual luciferase reporter assays for each of the three SNPs in iPSCs revealed that the intronic region with the rs3752495 risk allele induced a ~2.5-fold increase in luciferase expression (n=10). Importantly, rs3752495 also exhibited an allele specific effect, with the risk allele increasing the luciferase expression by ~2-fold compared to the non-risk allele. In conclusion, our variant-to-function approach and subsequent in vitro validation implicates rs3752495 as a causal insomnia risk variant embedded at the WDR90-PIG-Q locus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Sonti
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Sheridan H Littleton
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Matthew C Pahl
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Amber J Zimmerman
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Alessandra Chesi
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Philadelphia PA USA
| | - Justin Palermo
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Chiara Lasconi
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Elizabeth B Brown
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - James A Pippin
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Andrew D Wells
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Fusun Doldur-Balli
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Allan I Pack
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Phillip R Gehrman
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Alex C Keene
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - S F A Grant
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Divisions of Human Genetics and Endocrinology & Diabetes, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
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Palermo J, Chesi A, Zimmerman A, Sonti S, Pahl MC, Lasconi C, Brown EB, Pippin JA, Wells AD, Doldur-Balli F, Mazzotti DR, Pack AI, Gehrman PR, Grant SF, Keene AC. Variant-to-gene mapping followed by cross-species genetic screening identifies GPI-anchor biosynthesis as a regulator of sleep. Sci Adv 2023; 9:eabq0844. [PMID: 36608130 PMCID: PMC9821868 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq0844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in humans have identified loci robustly associated with several heritable diseases or traits, yet little is known about the functional roles of the underlying causal variants in regulating sleep duration or quality. We applied an ATAC-seq/promoter focused Capture C strategy in human iPSC-derived neural progenitors to carry out a "variant-to-gene" mapping campaign that identified 88 candidate sleep effector genes connected to relevant GWAS signals. To functionally validate the role of the implicated effector genes in sleep regulation, we performed a neuron-specific RNA interference screen in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, followed by validation in zebrafish. This approach identified a number of genes that regulate sleep including a critical role for glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor biosynthesis. These results provide the first physical variant-to-gene mapping of human sleep genes followed by a model organism-based prioritization, revealing a conserved role for GPI-anchor biosynthesis in sleep regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Palermo
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Alessandra Chesi
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Amber Zimmerman
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
| | - Shilpa Sonti
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Matthew C. Pahl
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Chiara Lasconi
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Elizabeth B. Brown
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - James A. Pippin
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Andrew D. Wells
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
| | - Fusun Doldur-Balli
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
| | - Diego R. Mazzotti
- Division of Medical Informatics, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66103, USA
- Division of Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66103, USA
| | - Allan I. Pack
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
| | - Phillip R. Gehrman
- Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
| | - Struan F.A. Grant
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Divisions of Human Genetics and Endocrinology and Diabetes, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Alex C. Keene
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
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Sonti S, Grant SFA. Leveraging genetic discoveries for sleep to determine causal relationships with common complex traits. Sleep 2022; 45:6652497. [PMID: 35908176 PMCID: PMC9548675 DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsac180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Revised: 07/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Sleep occurs universally and is a biological necessity for human functioning. The consequences of diminished sleep quality impact physical and physiological systems such as neurological, cardiovascular, and metabolic processes. In fact, people impacted by common complex diseases experience a wide range of sleep disturbances. It is challenging to uncover the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for decreased sleep quality in many disease systems owing to the lack of suitable sleep biomarkers. However, the discovery of a genetic component to sleep patterns has opened a new opportunity to examine and understand the involvement of sleep in many disease states. It is now possible to use major genomic resources and technologies to uncover genetic contributions to many common diseases. Large scale prospective studies such as the genome wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully revealed many robust genetic signals associated with sleep-related traits. With the discovery of these genetic variants, a major objective of the community has been to investigate whether sleep-related traits are associated with disease pathogenesis and other health complications. Mendelian Randomization (MR) represents an analytical method that leverages genetic loci as proxy indicators to establish causal effect between sleep traits and disease outcomes. Given such variants are randomly inherited at birth, confounding bias is eliminated with MR analysis, thus demonstrating evidence of causal relationships that can be used for drug development and to prioritize clinical trials. In this review, we outline the results of MR analyses performed to date on sleep traits in relation to a multitude of common complex diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Sonti
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia , Philadelphia, PA , USA
| | - Struan F A Grant
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia , Philadelphia, PA , USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, PA , USA
- Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia, PA , USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine , Philadelphia, PA , USA
- Division of Human Genetics and Endocrinology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia , Philadelphia, PA , USA
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5
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Zimmerman A, Palermo J, Chesi A, Sonti S, Lasconi C, Brown E, Pippin J, Wells A, Doldur-Balli F, Mazzotti D, Pack A, Gehrman P, Keene A, Grant S. 0029 Developing a pipeline for translating genome-wide association signals to behavioral correlates of sleep dysfunction. Sleep 2022. [DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsac079.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Introduction
Insomnia is a pervasive sleep disorder affecting up to one-third of the adult U.S. population. An extensive amount of genetic association data from genome wide association studies (GWAS) has uncovered hundreds of loci associated with insomnia and other sleep traits, yet few of these targets have undergone full characterization and their contribution to sleep traits remain poorly understood. Additionally, GWAS does not necessarily determine the true effector gene(s) at a given locus, leading to frequent mischaracterization and misinterpretation of genotype-phenotype interactions.
Methods
Our group has developed a variant-to-gene mapping approach that integrates existing insomnia GWAS loci with a combination of ATAC-seq and promoter-focused Capture C-derived data in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells. We identified candidate genes with accessible promoter regions that were contacted at high resolution by insomnia-associated SNPs residing in open chromatin. Target genes with known orthologs and available Drosophila RNAi lines were then subjected to deep phenotyping of sleep traits. Candidate genes producing greater than 20 percent change in sleep duration in Drosophila were then screened in a vertebrate zebrafish model using CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis in F0 larvae.
Results
This pipeline revealed fifteen genes producing robust sleep phenotypes with more than a 20 percent change in sleep duration in Drosophila. Of the candidate genes screened thus far in zebrafish, we found that disruption of pigq expression significantly (p<0.05) increased sleep duration in both zebrafish and Drosophila through regulation of sleep bout length and frequency, revealing a conserved, yet novel regulator of sleep duration. Additionally, CRISPR mutations in cbx1b and meis1b in zebrafish resulted in reduced sleep duration similar to results in Drosophila.
Conclusion
This pipeline uses cutting-edge genomic and behavioral approaches to perform high-throughput screening of existing GWAS-identified insomnia loci. This genotype-to-phenotype approach emphasizes the importance of behavioral validation following large cohort studies and narrowed the candidate gene list from more than 200 to fewer than 20 providing a more tractable set of gene targets for further molecular characterization. Cross-species validation also improves our understanding of the conservation of sleep characteristics throughout evolution.
Support (If Any)
NIH grants R01 HL143790, P01 HL094307, T32 HL07953
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Alessandra Chesi
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
| | - Shilpa Sonti
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
| | - Chiara Lasconi
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
| | | | - James Pippin
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
| | - Andrew Wells
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
| | | | | | - Allan Pack
- University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
| | | | | | - Struan Grant
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
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Sonti S, Tyagi K, Pande A, Daniel R, Sharma AL, Tyagi M. Crossroads of Drug Abuse and HIV Infection: Neurotoxicity and CNS Reservoir. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10020202. [PMID: 35214661 PMCID: PMC8875185 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10020202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Drug abuse is a common comorbidity in people infected with HIV. HIV-infected individuals who abuse drugs are a key population who frequently experience suboptimal outcomes along the HIV continuum of care. A modest proportion of HIV-infected individuals develop HIV-associated neurocognitive issues, the severity of which further increases with drug abuse. Moreover, the tendency of the virus to go into latency in certain cellular reservoirs again complicates the elimination of HIV and HIV-associated illnesses. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) successfully decreased the overall viral load in infected people, yet it does not effectively eliminate the virus from all latent reservoirs. Although ART increased the life expectancy of infected individuals, it showed inconsistent improvement in CNS functioning, thus decreasing the quality of life. Research efforts have been dedicated to identifying common mechanisms through which HIV and drug abuse lead to neurotoxicity and CNS dysfunction. Therefore, in order to develop an effective treatment regimen to treat neurocognitive and related symptoms in HIV-infected patients, it is crucial to understand the involved mechanisms of neurotoxicity. Eventually, those mechanisms could lead the way to design and develop novel therapeutic strategies addressing both CNS HIV reservoir and illicit drug use by HIV patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Sonti
- Center for Translational Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; (S.S.); (A.L.S.)
| | - Kratika Tyagi
- Department of Biotechnology, Banasthali Vidyapith, Vanasthali, Jaipur 304022, Rajasthan, India;
| | - Amit Pande
- Cell Culture Laboratory, ICAR-Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research, Bhimtal, Nainital 263136, Uttarakhand, India;
| | - Rene Daniel
- Farber Hospitalist Service, Department of Neurological Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA;
| | - Adhikarimayum Lakhikumar Sharma
- Center for Translational Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; (S.S.); (A.L.S.)
| | - Mudit Tyagi
- Center for Translational Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; (S.S.); (A.L.S.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-215-503-5157 or +1-703-909-9420
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Sonti S, Sharma AL, Tyagi M. HIV-1 persistence in the CNS: Mechanisms of latency, pathogenesis and an update on eradication strategies. Virus Res 2021; 303:198523. [PMID: 34314771 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2021.198523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Despite four decades of research into the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), a successful strategy to eradicate the virus post-infection is lacking. The major reason for this is the persistence of the virus in certain anatomical reservoirs where it can become latent and remain quiescent for as long as the cellular reservoir is alive. The Central Nervous System (CNS), in particular, is an intriguing anatomical compartment that is tightly regulated by the blood-brain barrier. Targeting the CNS viral reservoir is a major challenge owing to the decreased permeability of drugs into the CNS and the cellular microenvironment that facilitates the compartmentalization and evolution of the virus. Therefore, despite effective antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, virus persists in the CNS, and leads to neurological and neurocognitive deficits. To date, viral eradication strategies fail to eliminate the virus from the CNS. To facilitate the improvement of the existing elimination strategies, as well as the development of potential therapeutic targets, the aim of this review is to provide an in-depth understanding of HIV latency in CNS and the onset of HIV-1 associated neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Sonti
- Center for Translational Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | | | - Mudit Tyagi
- Center for Translational Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
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Odgerel Z, Sonti S, Hernandez N, Park J, Ottman R, Louis ED, Clark LN. Whole genome sequencing and rare variant analysis in essential tremor families. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0220512. [PMID: 31404076 PMCID: PMC6690583 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Essential tremor (ET) is one of the most common movement disorders. The etiology of ET remains largely unexplained. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is likely to be of value in understanding a large proportion of ET with Mendelian and complex disease inheritance patterns. In ET families with Mendelian inheritance patterns, WGS may lead to gene identification where WES analysis failed to identify the causative single nucleotide variant (SNV) or indel due to incomplete coverage of the entire coding region of the genome, in addition to accurate detection of larger structural variants (SVs) and copy number variants (CNVs). Alternatively, in ET families with complex disease inheritance patterns with gene x gene and gene x environment interactions enrichment of functional rare coding and non-coding variants may explain the heritability of ET. We performed WGS in eight ET families (n = 40 individuals) enrolled in the Family Study of Essential Tremor. The analysis included filtering WGS data based on allele frequency in population databases, rare SNV and indel classification and association testing using the Mixed-Model Kernel Based Adaptive Cluster (MM-KBAC) test. A separate analysis of rare SV and CNVs segregating within ET families was also performed. Prioritization of candidate genes identified within families was performed using phenolyzer. WGS analysis identified candidate genes for ET in 5/8 (62.5%) of the families analyzed. WES analysis in a subset of these families in our previously published study failed to identify candidate genes. In one family, we identified a deleterious and damaging variant (c.1367G>A, p.(Arg456Gln)) in the candidate gene, CACNA1G, which encodes the pore forming subunit of T-type Ca(2+) channels, CaV3.1, and is expressed in various motor pathways and has been previously implicated in neuronal autorhythmicity and ET. Other candidate genes identified include SLIT3 which encodes an axon guidance molecule and in three families, phenolyzer prioritized genes that are associated with hereditary neuropathies (family A, KARS, family B, KIF5A and family F, NTRK1). Functional studies of CACNA1G and SLIT3 suggest a role for these genes in ET disease pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zagaa Odgerel
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Shilpa Sonti
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Nora Hernandez
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America
| | - Jemin Park
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America
| | - Ruth Ottman
- G.H Sergievsky Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States of America
- Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University New York, NY, United States of America
- Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, NY, United States of America
- Division of Epidemiology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Elan D. Louis
- Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America
- Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States of America
| | - Lorraine N. Clark
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States of America
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Sonti S, Tolia M, Duclos RI, Loring RH, Gatley SJ. Metabolic studies of synaptamide in an immortalized dopaminergic cell line. Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat 2019; 141:25-33. [PMID: 30763677 DOI: 10.1016/j.prostaglandins.2019.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Revised: 01/30/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Synaptamide, the N-acylethanolamine of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is structurally similar to the endocannabinoid N-arachidonoylethanolamine, anandamide. It is an endogenous ligand at the orphan G-protein coupled receptor 110 (GPR110; ADGRF1), and induces neuritogenesis and synaptogenesis in hippocampal and cortical neurons, as well as neuronal differentiation in neural stem cells. PURPOSE Our goal was to characterize the metabolic fate (synthesis and metabolism) of synaptamide in a dopaminergic cell line using immortalized fetal mesencephalic cells (N27 cells). Both undifferentiated and differentiating N27 cells were used in this study in an effort to understand synaptamide synthesis and metabolism in developing and adult cells. METHODS Radiotracer uptake and hydrolysis assays were conducted in N27 cells incubated with [1-14C]DHA or with one of two radioisotopomers of synaptamide: [α,β-14C2]synaptamide and [1-14C-DHA]synaptamide. RESULTS Neither differentiated nor undifferentiated N27 cells synthesized synaptamide from radioactive DHA, but both rapidly incorporated radioactivity from exogenous synaptamide into membrane phospholipids, regardless of which isotopomer was used. Pharmacological inhibition of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) reduced formation of labeled phospholipids in undifferentiated but not differentiated cells. CONCLUSIONS In undifferentiated cells, synaptamide uptake and metabolism is driven by its enzymatic hydrolysis (fatty acid amide hydrolase; FAAH), but in differentiating cells, the process seems to be FAAH independent. We conclude that differentiated and undifferentiated N27 cells utilize synaptamide via different mechanisms. This observation could be extrapolated to how different mechanisms may be in place for synaptamide uptake and metabolism in developing and adult dopaminergic cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Sonti
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
| | - Mansi Tolia
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Richard I Duclos
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Ralph H Loring
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Samuel J Gatley
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
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Sonti S, Duclos RI, Tolia M, Gatley SJ. N-Docosahexaenoylethanolamine (synaptamide): Carbon-14 radiolabeling and metabolic studies. Chem Phys Lipids 2017; 210:90-97. [PMID: 29126855 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2017.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2017] [Revised: 10/13/2017] [Accepted: 11/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
N-Docosahexaenoylethanolamine (synaptamide) is structurally similar to the endocannabinoid N-arachidonoylethanolamine (anandamide), but incorporates the omega-3 22:6 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in place of the omega-6 20:4 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA). Some brain membrane lipid effects may be mediated via synaptamide. In competition experiments with mouse brain homogenate in vitro, we found that synaptamide was an order-of-magnitude poorer inhibitor of radioactive anandamide hydrolysis than was anandamide itself. Also, enzyme-mediated hydrolysis of synaptamide was observed to occur at a slower rate than for anandamide. We have synthesized synaptamide radiolabeled with carbon-14 in both the ethanolamine ([α,β-14C2]synaptamide) and in the DHA ([1-14C]synaptamide) moieties. The brain penetration, distribution, and metabolism of radiolabeled synaptamide were studied in mice in vivo relative to anandamide, DHA, and AA. Brain uptake of labeled synaptamide was greater than for labeled DHA, consistent with previous studies of labeled anandamide and AA in our laboratory. After administering either isotopomer of radiolabeled synaptamide, radiolabeled phospholipids were found in mouse brain. Pretreatment of mice with PF3845, a potent, specific inhibitor of fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), eliminated formation of labeled phospholipids measured after 15min, suggesting that synaptamide is hydrolyzed nearly exclusively by FAAH, though it is a poorer substrate for FAAH than anandamide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Sonti
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Richard I Duclos
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Mansi Tolia
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Samuel J Gatley
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
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Bedard M, Leming R, Jain P, Santos L, Sonti S. 525 Use of in vitro methodologies for selection and optimization of topical formulations. J Invest Dermatol 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2016.02.563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Sonti S, Duclos R, Loring R, Gatley S. POSSIBLE MECHANISM FOR SYNAPTAMIDE INDUCED NEURITOGENESIS. FASEB J 2015. [DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.817.9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Sonti
- Pharmaceutical Science Northeastern UniversityBostonMassachusettsUnited States
| | - Richard Duclos
- Pharmaceutical Science Northeastern UniversityBostonMassachusettsUnited States
| | - Ralph Loring
- Pharmaceutical Science Northeastern UniversityBostonMassachusettsUnited States
| | - Samuel Gatley
- Pharmaceutical Science Northeastern UniversityBostonMassachusettsUnited States
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Sonti S, Makino ET, Garruto JA, Gruber JV, Rao S, Mehta RC. Efficacy of a novel treatment serum in the improvement of photodamaged skin. Int J Cosmet Sci 2012; 35:156-62. [PMID: 23075252 PMCID: PMC3617458 DOI: 10.1111/ics.12018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2012] [Accepted: 10/08/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Synopsis A novel treatment serum formulated to target multiple pathways in the anti-ageing cascade was tested both in vitro and in clinical settings. In vitro testing was performed to assess the ability to stimulate key proteins and genes fundamental to the anti-ageing cascade. The antioxidant potential of the formulation was studied in a UV-irradiation clinical study. A 12-week, open-label, single-centre study was conducted to determine whether this uniquely formulated topical treatment serum could improve visible signs of facial photodamage. Clinical evaluations showed statistically significant reductions in fine wrinkles and coarse wrinkles and improvements in skin texture, tone and radiance starting at week 4 with continued improvements at weeks 8 and 12. Subject self-assessments confirmed that the beneficial effects of the treatment serum were readily observed by the users. The treatment serum was well tolerated with no treatment-related adverse events reported during the 12-week study. Use of this novel treatment serum produced significant improvements in the visible signs of facial photodamage. Résumé Un nouveau sérum de traitement conçu pour cibler de multiples voies dans la cascade anti-âge a été testé à la fois in vitro et dans les conditions cliniques. Les tests in vitro ont été réalisés afin d'évaluer la capacité de stimuler les protéines et les gènes clés fondamentales de la cascade anti-vieillissement. Le potentiel antioxydant de la formulation a été étudié dans une étude clinique utilisant le rayonnement UV. Une étude de douze semaines, en mode ouvert, monocentrique a été menée afin de déterminer si ce sérum spécialement formulé pour le traitement topique peut améliorer les signes visibles du photo-vieillissement du visage. Des évaluations cliniques ont montré une réduction statistiquement significative des rides et des ridules secondaires et l'amélioration de la texture de la peau, du tonus et d'éclat à partir de la semaine 4 avec des améliorations continues aux semaines 8 et 12. Les autoévaluations par les sujets ont confirmé que les effets bénéfiques du sérum de traitement étaient facilement observés par les utilisateurs. Le sérum de traitement a été bien toléré avec aucun événement indésirable rapporté au cours de l'étude de 12 semaines. L'utilisation de ce nouveau sérum de traitement produit des améliorations significatives dans les signes visibles du photovieillissement du visage.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Sonti
- SkinMedica, Inc., 5909 Sea Lion Place, Suite H, Carlsbad, CA 92010, USA
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