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Pisa M, Watson JL, Spencer JI, Niblett G, Mahjoub Y, Lockhart A, Yates RL, Yee SA, Hadley G, Ruiz J, Esiri MM, Kessler B, Fischer R, DeLuca GC. A role for vessel-associated extracellular matrix proteins in multiple sclerosis pathology. Brain Pathol 2024:e13263. [PMID: 38659387 DOI: 10.1111/bpa.13263] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is unsurpassed for its clinical and pathological hetherogeneity, but the biological determinants of this variability are unknown. HLA-DRB1*15, the main genetic risk factor for MS, influences the severity and distribution of MS pathology. This study set out to unravel the molecular determinants of the heterogeneity of MS pathology in relation to HLA-DRB1*15 status. Shotgun proteomics from a discovery cohort of MS spinal cord samples segregated by HLA-DRB*15 status revealed overexpression of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, biglycan, decorin, and prolargin in HLA-DRB*15-positive cases, adding to established literature on a role of ECM proteins in MS pathology that has heretofore lacked systematic pathological validation. These findings informed a neuropathological characterisation of these proteins in a large autopsy cohort of 41 MS cases (18 HLA-DRB1*15-positive and 23 HLA-DRB1*15-negative), and seven non-neurological controls on motor cortical, cervical and lumbar spinal cord tissue. Biglycan and decorin demonstrate a striking perivascular expression pattern in controls that is reduced in MS (-36.5%, p = 0.036 and - 24.7%, p = 0.039; respectively) in lesional and non-lesional areas. A concomitant increase in diffuse parenchymal accumulation of biglycan and decorin is seen in MS (p = 0.015 and p = 0.001, respectively), particularly in HLA-DRB1*15-positive cases (p = 0.007 and p = 0.046, respectively). Prolargin shows a faint parenchymal pattern in controls that is markedly increased in MS cases where a perivascular deposition pattern is observed (motor cortex +97.5%, p = 0.001; cervical cord +49.1%, p = 0.016). Our findings point to ECM proteins and the vascular interface playing a central role in MS pathology within and outside the plaque area. As ECM proteins are known potent pro-inflammatory molecules, their parenchymal accumulation may contribute to disease severity. This study brings to light novel factors that may contribute to the heterogeneity of the topographical variation of MS pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Pisa
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Jonathan I Spencer
- Centre for Cardiovascular Medicine and Devices, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Guy Niblett
- Oxford Medical School, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Yasamin Mahjoub
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Andrew Lockhart
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Richard L Yates
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Sydney A Yee
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Gina Hadley
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jennifer Ruiz
- Mandell MS Center, Trinity Health of New England, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
| | - Margaret M Esiri
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Benedict Kessler
- Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Target Discovery Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Roman Fischer
- Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Target Discovery Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Gabriele C DeLuca
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Yates RL, Pansieri J, Li Q, Bell JS, Yee SA, Palace J, Esiri MM, DeLuca GC. The influence of HLA-DRB1*15 on the relationship between microglia and neurons in multiple sclerosis normal appearing cortical grey matter. Brain Pathol 2021; 32:e13041. [PMID: 34904300 PMCID: PMC9245937 DOI: 10.1111/bpa.13041] [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] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 11/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Cortical tissue injury is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and associates with disability progression. We have previously shown that HLA‐DRB1*15 genotype status associates with the extent of cortical inflammatory pathology. In the current study, we sought to examine the influence of HLA‐DRB1*15 on relationships between inflammation and neurodegeneration in MS. Human post‐mortem MS cases (n = 47) and controls (n = 10) were used. Adjacent sections of motor cortex were stained for microglia (Iba1+, CD68+, TMEM119+), lymphocytes (CD3+, CD8+), GFAP+ astrocytes, and neurons (NeuN+). A subset of MS cases (n = 20) and controls (n = 7) were double‐labeled for neurofilament and glutamic acid decarboxylase 65/67 (GAD+) to assess the extent of the inhibitory synaptic loss. In MS cases, microglial protein expression positively correlated with neuron density (Iba1+: r = 0.548, p < 0.001, CD68+: r = 0.498, p = 0.001, TMEM119+ r = 0.437, p = 0.003). This finding was restricted to MS cases not carrying HLA‐DRB1*15. Evidence of a 14% reduction in inhibitory synapses in MS was detected (MS: 0.299 ± 0.006 synapses/μm2 neuronal membrane versus control: 0.348 ± 0.009 synapses/μm2 neuronal membrane, p = 0.005). Neurons expressing inhibitory synapses were 24% smaller in MS cases compared to the control (MS: 403 ± 15 μm2 versus control: 531 ± 29 μm2, p = 0.001), a finding driven by HLA‐DRB1*15+ cases (15+: 376 ± 21 μm2 vs. 15−: 432 ± 22 μm2, p = 0.018). Taken together, our results demonstrate that HLA‐DRB1*15 modulates the relationship between microglial inflammation, inhibitory synapses, and neuronal density in the MS cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard L Yates
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jonathan Pansieri
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Qizhu Li
- Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jack S Bell
- Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Salford, UK
| | - Sydney A Yee
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jacqueline Palace
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Margaret M Esiri
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Gabriele C DeLuca
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Geraldes R, Esiri MM, Perera R, Yee SA, Jenkins D, Palace J, DeLuca GC. Vascular disease and multiple sclerosis: a post-mortem study exploring their relationships. Brain 2021; 143:2998-3012. [PMID: 32875311 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awaa255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [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: 02/16/2020] [Revised: 05/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Vascular comorbidities have a deleterious impact on multiple sclerosis clinical outcomes but it is unclear whether this is mediated by an excess of extracranial vascular disease (i.e. atherosclerosis) and/or of cerebral small vessel disease or worse multiple sclerosis pathology. To address these questions, a study using a unique post-mortem cohort wherein whole body autopsy reports and brain tissue were available for interrogation was established. Whole body autopsy reports were used to develop a global score of systemic vascular disease that included aorta and coronary artery atheroma, cardiac hypertensive disease, myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke. The score was applied to 85 multiple sclerosis cases (46 females, age range 39 to 84 years, median 62.0 years) and 68 control cases. Post-mortem brain material from a subset of the multiple sclerosis (n = 42; age range 39-84 years, median 61.5 years) and control (n = 39) cases was selected for detailed neuropathological study. For each case, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue from the frontal and occipital white matter, basal ganglia and pons was used to obtain a global cerebral small vessel disease score that captured the presence and/or severity of arteriolosclerosis, periarteriolar space dilatation, haemosiderin leakage, microinfarcts, and microbleeds. The extent of multiple sclerosis-related pathology (focal demyelination and inflammation) was characterized in the multiple sclerosis cases. Regression models were used to investigate the influence of disease status on systemic vascular disease and cerebral small vessel disease scores and, in the multiple sclerosis group, the relationship between multiple sclerosis-related pathology and both vascular scores. We show that: (i) systemic cardiovascular burden, and specifically atherosclerosis, is lower and cerebral small vessel disease is higher in multiple sclerosis cases that die at younger ages compared with control subjects; (ii) the association between systemic vascular disease and cerebral small vessel disease is stronger in patients with multiple sclerosis compared with control subjects; and (iii) periarteriolar changes, including periarteriolar space dilatation, haemosiderin deposition and inflammation, are key features of multiple sclerosis pathology outside the classic demyelinating lesion. Our data argue against a common primary trigger for atherosclerosis and multiple sclerosis but suggest that an excess burden of cerebral small vessel disease in multiple sclerosis may explain the link between vascular comorbidity and accelerated irreversibility disability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Geraldes
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Margaret M Esiri
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Rafael Perera
- Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Oxford, UK
| | - Sydney A Yee
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Damian Jenkins
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jacqueline Palace
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Gabriele C DeLuca
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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