1
|
Sciarretta F, Zaccaria F, Ninni A, Ceci V, Turchi R, Apolloni S, Milani M, Della Valle I, Tiberi M, Chiurchiù V, D'Ambrosi N, Pedretti S, Mitro N, Volontè C, Amadio S, Aquilano K, Lettieri-Barbato D. Frataxin deficiency shifts metabolism to promote reactive microglia via glucose catabolism. Life Sci Alliance 2024; 7:e202402609. [PMID: 38631900 PMCID: PMC11024345 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202402609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Immunometabolism investigates the intricate relationship between the immune system and cellular metabolism. This study delves into the consequences of mitochondrial frataxin (FXN) depletion, the primary cause of Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), a debilitating neurodegenerative condition characterized by impaired coordination and muscle control. By using single-cell RNA sequencing, we have identified distinct cellular clusters within the cerebellum of an FRDA mouse model, emphasizing a significant loss in the homeostatic response of microglial cells lacking FXN. Remarkably, these microglia deficient in FXN display heightened reactive responses to inflammatory stimuli. Furthermore, our metabolomic analyses reveal a shift towards glycolysis and itaconate production in these cells. Remarkably, treatment with butyrate counteracts these immunometabolic changes, triggering an antioxidant response via the itaconate-Nrf2-GSH pathways and suppressing the expression of inflammatory genes. Furthermore, we identify Hcar2 (GPR109A) as a mediator involved in restoring the homeostasis of microglia without FXN. Motor function tests conducted on FRDA mice underscore the neuroprotective attributes of butyrate supplementation, enhancing neuromotor performance. In conclusion, our findings elucidate the role of disrupted homeostatic function in cerebellar microglia in the pathogenesis of FRDA. Moreover, they underscore the potential of butyrate to mitigate inflammatory gene expression, correct metabolic imbalances, and improve neuromotor capabilities in FRDA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Sciarretta
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Bietti, Rome, Italy
| | - Fabio Zaccaria
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Bietti, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Ninni
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Bietti, Rome, Italy
| | - Veronica Ceci
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Riccardo Turchi
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Savina Apolloni
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Milani
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- PhD Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Della Valle
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- PhD Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Marta Tiberi
- Laboratory of Resolution of Neuroinflammation, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
| | - Valerio Chiurchiù
- Laboratory of Resolution of Neuroinflammation, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Institute of Translational Pharmacology, IFT-CNR, Rome, Italy
| | - Nadia D'Ambrosi
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Pedretti
- DiSFeB, Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari "Rodolfo Paoletti", Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Nico Mitro
- DiSFeB, Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari "Rodolfo Paoletti", Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
- Department of Experimental Oncology, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy
| | - Cinzia Volontè
- https://ror.org/04zaypm56 National Research Council, Institute for Systems Analysis and Computer Science "A. Ruberti", Rome, Italy
- Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Experimental Neuroscience and Neurological Disease Models, Rome, Italy
| | - Susanna Amadio
- Santa Lucia Foundation IRCCS, Experimental Neuroscience and Neurological Disease Models, Rome, Italy
| | - Katia Aquilano
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Daniele Lettieri-Barbato
- Department Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- IRCCS Fondazione Bietti, Rome, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ahmad I, Kapoor H, Srivastava AK, Faruq M. Generation of two human induced pluripotent stem cell lines, IGIBi012-A and IGIBi013-A from Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) patients with homozygous GAA repeat expansion in FXN gene. Stem Cell Res 2024; 76:103340. [PMID: 38367363 DOI: 10.1016/j.scr.2024.103340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 12/28/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by the hyper expansion of (GAA-TTC)n triplet repeats in the first intron of the FXN gene. Here, we generated iPSC lines from two individuals with FRDA, both of whom have homozygous GAA repeat expansion in the first intron of FXN gene. Both iPSC lines demonstrated characteristics of pluripotency, including expression of pluripotency markers, stable karyotypes and ability to develop into all three germ layers, and presence of GAA repeat expansion with reduced FXN mRNA expression. These iPSC lines will serve as invaluable tools for investigating the pathophysiology and phenotypes of FRDA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Istaq Ahmad
- Genomics and Molecular Medicine Division, CSIR - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi 110007, India; Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India
| | - Himanshi Kapoor
- Genomics and Molecular Medicine Division, CSIR - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi 110007, India
| | - Achal Kumar Srivastava
- Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India
| | - Mohammed Faruq
- Genomics and Molecular Medicine Division, CSIR - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi 110007, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India; Division of Investigations of Human Pathology by Application Genomics and Stem Cells (iHPSCs-AG), India.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Doni D, Cavallari E, Noguera ME, Gentili HG, Cavion F, Parisi G, Fornasari MS, Sartori G, Santos J, Bellanda M, Carbonera D, Costantini P, Bortolus M. Searching for Frataxin Function: Exploring the Analogy with Nqo15, the Frataxin-like Protein of Respiratory Complex I from Thermus thermophilus. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:1912. [PMID: 38339189 PMCID: PMC10855754 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25031912] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Nqo15 is a subunit of respiratory complex I of the bacterium Thermus thermophilus, with strong structural similarity to human frataxin (FXN), a protein involved in the mitochondrial disease Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). Recently, we showed that the expression of recombinant Nqo15 can ameliorate the respiratory phenotype of FRDA patients' cells, and this prompted us to further characterize both the Nqo15 solution's behavior and its potential functional overlap with FXN, using a combination of in silico and in vitro techniques. We studied the analogy of Nqo15 and FXN by performing extensive database searches based on sequence and structure. Nqo15's folding and flexibility were investigated by combining nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), circular dichroism, and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. Nqo15's iron-binding properties were studied using NMR, fluorescence, and specific assays and its desulfurase activation by biochemical assays. We found that the recombinant Nqo15 isolated from complex I is monomeric, stable, folded in solution, and highly dynamic. Nqo15 does not share the iron-binding properties of FXN or its desulfurase activation function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Davide Doni
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy; (D.D.); (F.C.)
| | - Eva Cavallari
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy; (D.D.); (F.C.)
- Grenoble Alpes University, CNRS, CEA, INRAE, IRIG-LPCV, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Martin Ezequiel Noguera
- Department of Physiology and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Institute of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Translational Biology (iB3), Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Buenos Aires C1428EG, Argentina; (M.E.N.); (H.G.G.); (J.S.)
- Institute of Biological Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, Dr Alejandro Paladini (UBA-CONICET), University of Buenos Aires, Junín 956, Buenos Aires 1113AAD, Argentina
- Department of Science and Technology, National University of Quilmes, Roque Saenz Peña 352, Bernal B1876BXD, Argentina; (G.P.); (M.S.F.)
| | - Hernan Gustavo Gentili
- Department of Physiology and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Institute of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Translational Biology (iB3), Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Buenos Aires C1428EG, Argentina; (M.E.N.); (H.G.G.); (J.S.)
| | - Federica Cavion
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy; (D.D.); (F.C.)
| | - Gustavo Parisi
- Department of Science and Technology, National University of Quilmes, Roque Saenz Peña 352, Bernal B1876BXD, Argentina; (G.P.); (M.S.F.)
| | - Maria Silvina Fornasari
- Department of Science and Technology, National University of Quilmes, Roque Saenz Peña 352, Bernal B1876BXD, Argentina; (G.P.); (M.S.F.)
| | - Geppo Sartori
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy;
| | - Javier Santos
- Department of Physiology and Molecular and Cellular Biology, Institute of Biosciences, Biotechnology and Translational Biology (iB3), Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Intendente Güiraldes 2160, Buenos Aires C1428EG, Argentina; (M.E.N.); (H.G.G.); (J.S.)
| | - Massimo Bellanda
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (M.B.); (D.C.)
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Donatella Carbonera
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (M.B.); (D.C.)
| | - Paola Costantini
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy; (D.D.); (F.C.)
| | - Marco Bortolus
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (M.B.); (D.C.)
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ahmad I, Kapoor H, Kumar Srivastava A, Faruq M. Generation and characterization of two human iPSC lines, IGIBi014-A and IGIBi015-A, from Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) patients with pathogenic (GAA/TTC)n repeat expansion in first intron of the Frataxin (FXN) gene. Stem Cell Res 2024; 74:103289. [PMID: 38141359 DOI: 10.1016/j.scr.2023.103289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a rare neurodegenerativedisorder caused by over expansion of GAA repeats in thefirstintron ofFXN gene. Here, we generated two iPSC lines from FRDA patients with biallelic expansion of GAA repeats in the first intron ofFXNgene.IGIBi014-A and IGIBi015-Aboth iPSC lines demonstrated characteristics of pluripotency, normal karyotypes (46, XY),the capacity to differentiate into all three germ layers, and the ability to sustain the GAA repeat expansion with decreased FXN mRNA expression. These cell lines will be utilized to comprehend the pathophysiology of the illness and the FRDA's predictive phenotypes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Istaq Ahmad
- Genomics and Molecular Medicine Division, CSIR - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi 110007, India; Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India
| | - Himanshi Kapoor
- Genomics and Molecular Medicine Division, CSIR - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi 110007, India
| | - Achal Kumar Srivastava
- Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India
| | - Mohammed Faruq
- Genomics and Molecular Medicine Division, CSIR - Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi 110007, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India; Division of Investigations of Human Pathology by Application Genomics and Stem Cells (iHPSCs-AG), India.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Perfitt TL, Huichalaf C, Gooch R, Kuperman A, Ahn Y, Chen X, Ullas S, Hirenallur-Shanthappa D, Zhan Y, Otis D, Whiteley LO, Bulawa C, Martelli A. A modified mouse model of Friedreich's ataxia with conditional Fxn allele homozygosity delays onset of cardiomyopathy. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2024; 326:H357-H369. [PMID: 38038720 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00496.2023] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by a deficiency in frataxin (FXN), a mitochondrial protein that plays a critical role in the synthesis of iron-sulfur clusters (Fe-S), vital inorganic cofactors necessary for numerous cellular processes. FA is characterized by progressive ataxia and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, with cardiac dysfunction as the most common cause of mortality in patients. Commonly used cardiac-specific mouse models of FA use the muscle creatine kinase (MCK) promoter to express Cre recombinase in cardiomyocytes and striated muscle cells in mice with one conditional Fxn allele and one floxed-out/null allele. These mice quickly develop cardiomyopathy that becomes fatal by 9-11 wk of age. Here, we generated a cardiac-specific model with floxed Fxn allele homozygosity (MCK-Fxnflox/flox). MCK-Fxnflox/flox mice were phenotypically normal at 9 wk of age, despite no detectable FXN protein expression. Between 13 and 15 wk of age, these mice began to display progressive cardiomyopathy, including decreased ejection fraction and fractional shortening and increased left ventricular mass. MCK-Fxnflox/flox mice began to lose weight around 16 wk of age, characteristically associated with heart failure in other cardiac-specific FA models. By 18 wk of age, MCK-Fxnflox/flox mice displayed elevated markers of Fe-S deficiency, cardiac stress and injury, and cardiac fibrosis. This modified model reproduced important pathophysiological and biochemical features of FA over a longer timescale than previous cardiac-specific mouse models, offering a larger window for studying potential therapeutics.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Previous cardiac-specific frataxin knockout models exhibit rapid and fatal cardiomyopathy by 9 wk of age. This severe phenotype poses challenges for the design and execution of intervention studies. We introduce an alternative cardiac-specific model, MCK-Fxnflox/flox, with increased longevity and delayed onset of all major phenotypes. These phenotypes develop to the same severity as previous models. Thus, this new model provides the same cardiomyopathy-associated mortality with a larger window for potential studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tyler L Perfitt
- Rare Disease Research Unit, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Claudia Huichalaf
- Rare Disease Research Unit, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Renea Gooch
- Rare Disease Research Unit, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Anna Kuperman
- Rare Disease Research Unit, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Youngwook Ahn
- Target Sciences, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Xian Chen
- Comparative Medicine, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Soumya Ullas
- Comparative Medicine, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Dinesh Hirenallur-Shanthappa
- Comparative Medicine, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Yutian Zhan
- Drug Safety Research and Development, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Diana Otis
- Drug Safety Research and Development, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Laurence O Whiteley
- Drug Safety Research and Development, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Christine Bulawa
- Rare Disease Research Unit, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Alain Martelli
- Rare Disease Research Unit, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer, Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Pilotto F, Chellapandi DM, Puccio H. Omaveloxolone: a groundbreaking milestone as the first FDA-approved drug for Friedreich ataxia. Trends Mol Med 2024; 30:117-125. [PMID: 38272714 DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2023.12.002] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia (FA) is an inherited autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease (NDD) characterized primarily by progressive sensory and spinocerebellar ataxia associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. FA is due to an intronic GAA repeat expansion within the frataxin gene (FXN) leading to reduced levels of frataxin (FXN) which causes mitochondrial dysfunction, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and altered iron metabolism. To date there is no resolutive cure for FA; however, the FDA has recently approved omaveloxolone - a potent activator of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) - as the first treatment for FA. We discuss herein the urgency to find a resolutive cure for NDDs that will most probably be achieved via combinatorial therapy targeting multiple disease pathways, and how omavaloxolone serves as an example for future treatments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Federica Pilotto
- Institut NeuroMyoGène (INMG), Unité Physiopathologie et Génétique du Neurone et du Muscle, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 CNRS UMR 5261, Inserm U1315, Lyon, France
| | - Deepika M Chellapandi
- Institut NeuroMyoGène (INMG), Unité Physiopathologie et Génétique du Neurone et du Muscle, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 CNRS UMR 5261, Inserm U1315, Lyon, France
| | - Hélène Puccio
- Institut NeuroMyoGène (INMG), Unité Physiopathologie et Génétique du Neurone et du Muscle, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 CNRS UMR 5261, Inserm U1315, Lyon, France.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Ast T, Itoh Y, Sadre S, McCoy JG, Namkoong G, Wengrod JC, Chicherin I, Joshi PR, Kamenski P, Suess DLM, Amunts A, Mootha VK. METTL17 is an Fe-S cluster checkpoint for mitochondrial translation. Mol Cell 2024; 84:359-374.e8. [PMID: 38199006 PMCID: PMC11046306 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.12.016] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 08/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is a debilitating, multisystemic disease caused by the depletion of frataxin (FXN), a mitochondrial iron-sulfur (Fe-S) cluster biogenesis factor. To understand the cellular pathogenesis of FA, we performed quantitative proteomics in FXN-deficient human cells. Nearly every annotated Fe-S cluster-containing protein was depleted, indicating that as a rule, cluster binding confers stability to Fe-S proteins. We also observed depletion of a small mitoribosomal assembly factor METTL17 and evidence of impaired mitochondrial translation. Using comparative sequence analysis, mutagenesis, biochemistry, and cryoelectron microscopy, we show that METTL17 binds to the mitoribosomal small subunit during late assembly and harbors a previously unrecognized [Fe4S4]2+ cluster required for its stability. METTL17 overexpression rescued the mitochondrial translation and bioenergetic defects, but not the cellular growth, of FXN-depleted cells. These findings suggest that METTL17 acts as an Fe-S cluster checkpoint, promoting translation of Fe-S cluster-rich oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) proteins only when Fe-S cofactors are replete.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tslil Ast
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Yuzuru Itoh
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Solna, Sweden
| | - Shayan Sadre
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jason G McCoy
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Gil Namkoong
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Jordan C Wengrod
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ivan Chicherin
- Department of Biology, M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119234, Russia
| | - Pallavi R Joshi
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Piotr Kamenski
- Department of Biology, M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119234, Russia
| | - Daniel L M Suess
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Alexey Amunts
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Solna, Sweden
| | - Vamsi K Mootha
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Koeppen AH. Tissue Iron in Friedreich Ataxia. J Integr Neurosci 2024; 23:4. [PMID: 38287850 DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2301004] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 08/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Heart, dentate nucleus, and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) are targets of tissue damage in Friedreich ataxia (FA). This report summarizes the histology and histopathology of iron in the main tissues affected by FA. None of the affected anatomical sites reveals an elevation of total iron levels. In the myocardium, a small percentage of fibers shows iron-reactive granular inclusions. The accumulation of larger iron aggregates and fiber invasion cause necrosis and damage to the contractile apparatus. In the dentate nucleus, the principal FA-caused tissue injury is neuronal atrophy and grumose reaction. X-ray fluorescence mapping of iron in the dentate nucleus in FA shows retention of the metal in the center of the collapsed structure. Immunohistochemistry of ferritin, a surrogate marker of tissue iron, confirms strong expression in oligodendrocytes of the efferent white matter of the dentate nucleus and abundance of ferritin-positive microglia in the atrophic gray matter. Iron dysmetabolism in DRG is complex and consists of prominent expression of ferritin in hyperplastic satellite cells and residual nodules, also a loss of the iron export protein ferroportin from the cytoplasm of the remaining DRG nerve cells.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Arnulf H Koeppen
- Research Service (151), VA Medical Center, Albany, NY 12208, USA
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Doni D, Cavion F, Bortolus M, Baschiera E, Muccioli S, Tombesi G, d'Ettorre F, Ottaviani D, Marchesan E, Leanza L, Greggio E, Ziviani E, Russo A, Bellin M, Sartori G, Carbonera D, Salviati L, Costantini P. Human frataxin, the Friedreich ataxia deficient protein, interacts with mitochondrial respiratory chain. Cell Death Dis 2023; 14:805. [PMID: 38062036 PMCID: PMC10703789 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-06320-y] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023]
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a rare, inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded GAA repeat in the first intron of the FXN gene, leading to transcriptional silencing and reduced expression of frataxin. Frataxin participates in the mitochondrial assembly of FeS clusters, redox cofactors of the respiratory complexes I, II and III. To date it is still unclear how frataxin deficiency culminates in the decrease of bioenergetics efficiency in FRDA patients' cells. We previously demonstrated that in healthy cells frataxin is closely attached to the mitochondrial cristae, which contain both the FeS cluster assembly machinery and the respiratory chain complexes, whereas in FRDA patients' cells with impaired respiration the residual frataxin is largely displaced in the matrix. To gain novel insights into the function of frataxin in the mitochondrial pathophysiology, and in the upstream metabolic defects leading to FRDA disease onset and progression, here we explored the potential interaction of frataxin with the FeS cluster-containing respiratory complexes I, II and III. Using healthy cells and different FRDA cellular models we found that frataxin interacts with these three respiratory complexes. Furthermore, by EPR spectroscopy, we observed that in mitochondria from FRDA patients' cells the decreased level of frataxin specifically affects the FeS cluster content of complex I. Remarkably, we also found that the frataxin-like protein Nqo15 from T. thermophilus complex I ameliorates the mitochondrial respiratory phenotype when expressed in FRDA patient's cells. Our data point to a structural and functional interaction of frataxin with complex I and open a perspective to explore therapeutic rationales for FRDA targeted to this respiratory complex.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Davide Doni
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Federica Cavion
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Marco Bortolus
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Elisa Baschiera
- Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Women's and Children Health, University of Padova, 35128, Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP) Città della Speranza, 35127, Padova, Italy
| | - Silvia Muccioli
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Giulia Tombesi
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | | | | | - Elena Marchesan
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Luigi Leanza
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Elisa Greggio
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
- Centro Studi per la Neurodegenerazione (CESNE), University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Elena Ziviani
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonella Russo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | - Milena Bellin
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
- Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine, 35129, Padova, Italy
- Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333, ZA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Geppo Sartori
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Leonardo Salviati
- Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Women's and Children Health, University of Padova, 35128, Padova, Italy.
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP) Città della Speranza, 35127, Padova, Italy.
| | - Paola Costantini
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, 35121, Padova, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Aguilera C, Esteve-Garcia A, Casasnovas C, Vélez-Santamaria V, Rausell L, Gargallo P, Garcia-Planells J, Alía P, Llecha N, Padró-Miquel A. Novel intragenic deletion within the FXN gene in a patient with typical phenotype of Friedreich ataxia: may be more prevalent than we think? BMC Med Genomics 2023; 16:312. [PMID: 38041144 PMCID: PMC10693098 DOI: 10.1186/s12920-023-01743-0] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Friedreich ataxia is the most common inherited ataxia in Europe and is mainly caused by biallelic pathogenic expansions of the GAA trinucleotide repeat in intron 1 of the FXN gene that lead to a decrease in frataxin protein levels. Rarely, affected individuals carry either a large intragenic deletion or whole-gene deletion of FXN on one allele and a full-penetrance expanded GAA repeat on the other allele. CASE PRESENTATION We report here a patient that presented the typical clinical features of FRDA and genetic analysis of FXN intron 1 led to the assumption that the patient carried the common biallelic expansion. Subsequently, parental sample testing led to the identification of a novel intragenic deletion involving the 5'UTR upstream region and exons 1 and 2 of the FXN gene by MLPA. CONCLUSIONS With this case, we want to raise awareness about the potentially higher prevalence of intragenic deletions and underline the essential role of parental sample testing in providing accurate genetic counselling.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cinthia Aguilera
- Genetics Laboratory, Laboratori Clínic Territorial Metropolitana Sud. Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
| | - Anna Esteve-Garcia
- Clinical Genetics Unit, Laboratori Clínic Territorial Metropolitana Sud. Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
| | - Carlos Casasnovas
- Neuromuscular Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
- Neurometabolic Diseases Group, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
- Biomedical Research Network Centre in Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Madrid, Spain
| | - Valentina Vélez-Santamaria
- Neuromuscular Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Pedro Alía
- Genetics Laboratory, Laboratori Clínic Territorial Metropolitana Sud. Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
| | - Núria Llecha
- Genetics Laboratory, Laboratori Clínic Territorial Metropolitana Sud. Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
- Clinical Genetics Unit, Laboratori Clínic Territorial Metropolitana Sud. Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
| | - Ariadna Padró-Miquel
- Genetics Laboratory, Laboratori Clínic Territorial Metropolitana Sud. Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Rojsajjakul T, Hordeaux JJ, Choudhury GR, Hinderer CJ, Mesaros C, Wilson JM, Blair IA. Quantification of human mature frataxin protein expression in nonhuman primate hearts after gene therapy. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1093. [PMID: 37891254 PMCID: PMC10611776 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05472-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Deficiency in human mature frataxin (hFXN-M) protein is responsible for the devastating neurodegenerative and cardiodegenerative disease of Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). It results primarily through epigenetic silencing of the FXN gene by GAA triplet repeats on intron 1 of both alleles. GAA repeat lengths are most commonly between 600 and 1200 but can reach 1700. A subset of approximately 3% of FRDA patients have GAA repeats on one allele and a mutation on the other. FRDA patients die most commonly in their 30s from heart disease. Therefore, increasing expression of heart hFXN-M using gene therapy offers a way to prevent early mortality in FRDA. We used rhesus macaque monkeys to test the pharmacology of an adeno-associated virus (AAV)hu68.CB7.hFXN therapy. The advantage of using non-human primates for hFXN-M gene therapy studies is that hFXN-M and monkey FXN-M (mFXN-M) are 98.5% identical, which limits potential immunologic side-effects. However, this presented a formidable bioanalytical challenge in quantification of proteins with almost identical sequences. This could be overcome by the development of a species-specific quantitative mass spectrometry-based method, which has revealed for the first time, robust transgene-specific human protein expression in monkey heart tissue. The dose response is non-linear resulting in a ten-fold increase in monkey heart hFXN-M protein expression with only a three-fold increase in dose of the vector.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Teerapat Rojsajjakul
- Penn/CHOP Friedreich's Ataxia Center of Excellence and Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Juliette J Hordeaux
- Gene Therapy Program, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Gourav R Choudhury
- Gene Therapy Program, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Christian J Hinderer
- Gene Therapy Program, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Clementina Mesaros
- Penn/CHOP Friedreich's Ataxia Center of Excellence and Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - James M Wilson
- Gene Therapy Program, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Ian A Blair
- Penn/CHOP Friedreich's Ataxia Center of Excellence and Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Sayles NM, Napierala JS, Anrather J, Diedhiou N, Li J, Napierala M, Puccio H, Manfredi G. Comparative multi-omic analyses of cardiac mitochondrial stress in three mouse models of frataxin deficiency. Dis Model Mech 2023; 16:dmm050114. [PMID: 37691621 PMCID: PMC10581388 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.050114] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Cardiomyopathy is often fatal in Friedreich ataxia (FA). However, FA hearts maintain adequate function until advanced disease stages, suggesting initial adaptation to the loss of frataxin (FXN). Conditional cardiac knockout mouse models of FXN show transcriptional and metabolic profiles of the mitochondrial integrated stress response (ISRmt), which could play an adaptive role. However, the ISRmt has not been investigated in models with disease-relevant, partial decrease in FXN. We characterized the heart transcriptomes and metabolomes of three mouse models with varying degrees of FXN depletion: YG8-800, KIKO-700 and FXNG127V. Few metabolites were changed in YG8-800 mice, which did not provide a signature of cardiomyopathy or ISRmt; several metabolites were altered in FXNG127V and KIKO-700 hearts. Transcriptional changes were found in all models, but differentially expressed genes consistent with cardiomyopathy and ISRmt were only identified in FXNG127V hearts. However, these changes were surprisingly mild even at advanced age (18 months), despite a severe decrease in FXN levels to 1% of those of wild type. These findings indicate that the mouse heart has low reliance on FXN, highlighting the difficulty in modeling genetically relevant FA cardiomyopathy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicole M. Sayles
- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, 407 East 61st Street, New York, NY 10065, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Will Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 1300 York Ave, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Jill S. Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Josef Anrather
- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, 407 East 61st Street, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Nadège Diedhiou
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/Université de Strasbourg UMR7104, Inserm U1258, B. P. 163, 67404 Illkirch, France
| | - Jixue Li
- Department of Neurology, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Hélène Puccio
- Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC), CNRS/Université de Strasbourg UMR7104, Inserm U1258, B. P. 163, 67404 Illkirch, France
| | - Giovanni Manfredi
- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, 407 East 61st Street, New York, NY 10065, USA
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Cengiz Winter N, Karakaya M, Mosen P, Brusius I, Anlar B, Haliloglu G, Winter D, Wirth B. Proteomic Investigation of Differential Interactomes of Glypican 1 and a Putative Disease-Modifying Variant of Ataxia. J Proteome Res 2023; 22:3081-3095. [PMID: 37585105 PMCID: PMC10476613 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.3c00402] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023]
Abstract
In a currently 13-year-old girl of consanguineous Turkish parents, who developed unsteady gait and polyneuropathy at the ages of 3 and 6 years, respectively, we performed whole genome sequencing and identified a biallelic missense variant c.424C>T, p.R142W in glypican 1 (GPC1) as a putative disease-associated variant. Up to date, GPC1 has not been associated with a neuromuscular disorder, and we hypothesized that this variant, predicted as deleterious, may be causative for the disease. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics, we investigated the interactome of GPC1 WT and the missense variant. We identified 198 proteins interacting with GPC1, of which 16 were altered for the missense variant. This included CANX as well as vacuolar ATPase (V-ATPase) and the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) complex members, whose dysregulation could have a potential impact on disease severity in the patient. Importantly, these proteins are novel interaction partners of GPC1. At 10.5 years, the patient developed dilated cardiomyopathy and kyphoscoliosis, and Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) was suspected. Given the unusually severe phenotype in a patient with FRDA carrying only 104 biallelic GAA repeat expansions in FXN, we currently speculate that disturbed GPC1 function may have exacerbated the disease phenotype. LC-MS/MS data are accessible in the ProteomeXchange Consortium (PXD040023).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nur Cengiz Winter
- Institute
of Human Genetics, University Hospital Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- Center
for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University
of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Mert Karakaya
- Institute
of Human Genetics, University Hospital Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- Center
for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University
of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- Center
for Rare Diseases Cologne, University Hospital
of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Peter Mosen
- Institute
for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Isabell Brusius
- Institute
of Human Genetics, University Hospital Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Banu Anlar
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, 06230 Ankara, Turkey
| | - Goknur Haliloglu
- Department
of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, 06230 Ankara, Turkey
| | - Dominic Winter
- Institute
for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Medical Faculty, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Brunhilde Wirth
- Institute
of Human Genetics, University Hospital Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- Center
for Molecular Medicine Cologne, University
of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
- Center
for Rare Diseases Cologne, University Hospital
of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Yaméogo P, Gérard C, Majeau N, Tremblay JP. Removal of the GAA repeat in the heart of a Friedreich's ataxia mouse model using CjCas9. Gene Ther 2023; 30:612-619. [PMID: 36781946 DOI: 10.1038/s41434-023-00387-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023]
Abstract
Most Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) cases are caused by the elongation of the GAA repeat (GAAr) sequence in the first intron of the FXN gene, leading to a decrease of the frataxin protein expression. Deletion of this GAAr with CRISPR/Cas9 technology leads to an increase in frataxin expression in vitro. We are therefore aiming to develop FRDA treatment based on the deletion of GAAr with CRISPR/Cas9 technology using a single AAV expressing a small Cas9 (CjCas9) and two single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) targeting the FXN gene. This AAV was intraperitoneally administrated to YG8sR (250-300 GAAr) and to YG8-800 (800 GAAr) mice. DNA and RNA were extracted from different organs a month later. PCR amplification of part of intron 1 of the FXN gene detected some GAAr deletion in some cells in heart and liver of both mouse models, but the editing rate was not sufficient to cause an increase in frataxin mRNA in the heart. However, the correlation observed between the editing rate and the distribution of AAV suggests a possible therapy based on the removal of the GAAr with a better delivery tool of the CRISPR/Cas9 system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pouiré Yaméogo
- Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec city, QC, Canada
- Département de Médecine Moléculaire, Université Laval, Québec city, QC, Canada
| | - Catherine Gérard
- Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec city, QC, Canada
- Département de Médecine Moléculaire, Université Laval, Québec city, QC, Canada
| | - Nathalie Majeau
- Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec city, QC, Canada
- Département de Médecine Moléculaire, Université Laval, Québec city, QC, Canada
| | - Jacques P Tremblay
- Centre de Recherche du CHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec city, QC, Canada.
- Département de Médecine Moléculaire, Université Laval, Québec city, QC, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Cotticelli MG, Xia S, Truitt R, Doliba NM, Rozo AV, Tobias JW, Lee T, Chen J, Napierala JS, Napierala M, Yang W, Wilson RB. Acute frataxin knockdown in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes activates a type I interferon response. Dis Model Mech 2023; 16:276639. [PMID: 36107856 PMCID: PMC9637271 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.049497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia, the most common hereditary ataxia, is a neuro- and cardio-degenerative disorder caused, in most cases, by decreased expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin. Cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of premature death. Frataxin functions in the biogenesis of iron-sulfur clusters, which are prosthetic groups that are found in proteins involved in many biological processes. To study the changes associated with decreased frataxin in human cardiomyocytes, we developed a novel isogenic model by acutely knocking down frataxin, post-differentiation, in cardiomyocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Transcriptome analysis of four biological replicates identified severe mitochondrial dysfunction and a type I interferon response as the pathways most affected by frataxin knockdown. We confirmed that, in iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, loss of frataxin leads to mitochondrial dysfunction. The type I interferon response was activated in multiple cell types following acute frataxin knockdown and was caused, at least in part, by release of mitochondrial DNA into the cytosol, activating the cGAS-STING sensor pathway.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M. Grazia Cotticelli
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Shujuan Xia
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Rachel Truitt
- Department of Medicine, Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Nicolai M. Doliba
- Institute of Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Andrea V. Rozo
- Institute of Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - John W. Tobias
- Department of Genetics, Penn Genomics Analysis Core, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Taehee Lee
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Justin Chen
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jill S. Napierala
- Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - Wenli Yang
- Department of Medicine, Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Robert B. Wilson
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Author for correspondence ()
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Fil D, Conley RL, Zuberi AR, Lutz CM, Gemelli T, Napierala M, Napierala JS. Neurobehavioral deficits of mice expressing a low level of G127V mutant frataxin. Neurobiol Dis 2023; 177:105996. [PMID: 36638893 PMCID: PMC9901512 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.105996] [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] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by reduced expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin (FXN). Most FRDA patients are homozygous for large expansions of GAA repeats in intron 1 of FXN, while some are compound heterozygotes with an expanded GAA tract in one allele and a missense or nonsense mutation in the other. A missense mutation, changing a glycine to valine at position 130 (G130V), is prevalent among the clinical variants. We and others have demonstrated that levels of mature FXN protein in FRDA G130V samples are reduced below those detected in samples harboring homozygous repeat expansions. Little is known regarding expression and function of endogenous FXN-G130V protein due to lack of reagents and models that can distinguish the mutant FXN protein from the wild-type FXN produced from the GAA-expanded allele. We aimed to determine the effect of the G130V (murine G127V) mutation on Fxn expression and to define its multi-system impact in vivo. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to introduce the G127V missense mutation in the Fxn coding sequence and generated homozygous mice (FxnG127V/G127V). We also introduced the G127V mutation into a GAA repeat expansion FRDA mouse model (FxnGAA230/KO; KIKO) to generate a compound heterozygous strain (FxnG127V/GAA230). We performed neurobehavioral tests on cohorts of WT and Fxn mutant animals at three-month intervals for one year, and collected tissue samples to analyze molecular changes during that time. The endogenous Fxn G127V protein is detected at much lower levels in all tissues analyzed from FxnG127V/G127V mice compared to age and sex-matched WT mice without differences in Fxn transcript levels. FxnG127V/G127V mice are significantly smaller than WT counterparts, but perform similarly in most neurobehavioral tasks. RNA sequencing analysis revealed reduced expression of genes in oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis, underscoring the metabolic consequences in our mouse model expressing extremely low levels of Fxn. Results of these studies provide insight into the unique pathogenic mechanism of the FXN G130V mechanism and the tolerable limit of Fxn/FXN expression in vivo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Fil
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Robbie L Conley
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Aamir R Zuberi
- Technology Evaluation and Development, JAX Center for Precision Genetics, Rare Disease Translational Center, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
| | - Cathleen M Lutz
- The Rare and Orphan Disease Center, JAX Center for Precision Genetics, Rare Disease Translational Center, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
| | - Terry Gemelli
- Department of Neurology, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jill S Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Alves R, Pazos-Gil M, Medina-Carbonero M, Sanz-Alcázar A, Delaspre F, Tamarit J. Evolution of an Iron-Detoxifying Protein: Eukaryotic and Rickettsia Frataxins Contain a Conserved Site Which Is Not Present in Their Bacterial Homologues. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:13151. [PMID: 36361939 PMCID: PMC9658677 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232113151] [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] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia is a neurodegenerative disease caused by mutations in the frataxin gene. Frataxin homologues, including bacterial CyaY proteins, can be found in most species and play a fundamental role in mitochondrial iron homeostasis, either promoting iron assembly into metaloproteins or contributing to iron detoxification. While several lines of evidence suggest that eukaryotic frataxins are more effective than bacterial ones in iron detoxification, the residues involved in this gain of function are unknown. In this work, we analyze conservation of amino acid sequence and protein structure among frataxins and CyaY proteins to identify four highly conserved residue clusters and group them into potential functional clusters. Clusters 1, 2, and 4 are present in eukaryotic frataxins and bacterial CyaY proteins. Cluster 3, containing two serines, a tyrosine, and a glutamate, is only present in eukaryotic frataxins and on CyaY proteins from the Rickettsia genus. Residues from cluster 3 are blocking a small cavity of about 40 Å present in E. coli's CyaY. The function of this cluster is unknown, but we hypothesize that its tyrosine may contribute to prevent formation of reactive oxygen species during iron detoxification. This cluster provides an example of gain of function during evolution in a protein involved in iron homeostasis, as our results suggests that Cluster 3 was present in the endosymbiont ancestor of mitochondria and was conserved in eukaryotic frataxins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Jordi Tamarit
- Departament de Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Facultat de Medicina, IRBLleida, Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Li Y, Li J, Wang J, Zhang S, Giles K, Prakash TP, Rigo F, Napierala JS, Napierala M. Premature transcription termination at the expanded GAA repeats and aberrant alternative polyadenylation contributes to the Frataxin transcriptional deficit in Friedreich's ataxia. Hum Mol Genet 2022; 31:3539-3557. [PMID: 35708503 PMCID: PMC9558844 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddac134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [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: 04/14/2022] [Revised: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 06/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Frataxin deficiency in Friedreich's ataxia results from transcriptional downregulation of the FXN gene caused by expansion of the intronic trinucleotide guanine-adenine-adenine (GAA) repeats. We used multiple transcriptomic approaches to determine the molecular mechanism of transcription inhibition caused by long GAAs. We uncovered that transcription of FXN in patient cells is prematurely terminated upstream of the expanded repeats leading to the formation of a novel, truncated and stable RNA. This FXN early terminated transcript (FXN-ett) undergoes alternative, non-productive splicing and does not contribute to the synthesis of functional frataxin. The level the FXN-ett RNA directly correlates with the length of the longer of the two expanded GAA tracts. Targeting GAAs with antisense oligonucleotides or excision of the repeats eliminates the transcription impediment, diminishes expression of the aberrant FXN-ett, while increasing levels of FXN mRNA and frataxin. Non-productive transcription may represent a common phenomenon and attractive therapeutic target in diseases caused by repeat-mediated transcription aberrations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yanjie Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jixue Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jun Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Siyuan Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Keith Giles
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Thazha P Prakash
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., 2855 Gazelle Court, Carlsbad, CA 92010, USA
| | - Frank Rigo
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., 2855 Gazelle Court, Carlsbad, CA 92010, USA
| | - Jill S Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
O'Connell TM, Logsdon DL, Payne RM. Metabolomics analysis reveals dysregulation in one carbon metabolism in Friedreich Ataxia. Mol Genet Metab 2022; 136:306-314. [PMID: 35798654 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2022.06.002] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Revised: 05/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Friedreich Ataxia (FA) is a rare and often fatal autosomal recessive disease in which a mitochondrial protein, frataxin (FXN), is severely reduced in all tissues. With loss of FXN, mitochondrial metabolism is severely disrupted. Multiple therapeutic approaches are in development, but a key limitation is the lack of biomarkers reflecting the activity of FXN in a timely fashion. We predicted this dysregulated metabolism would present a unique metabolite profile in blood of FA patients versus Controls (Con). Plasma from 10 FA and 11 age and sex matched Con subjects was analyzed by targeted mass spectrometry and untargeted NMR. This combined approach yielded quantitative measurements for 540 metabolites and found 59 unique metabolites (55 from MS and 4 from NMR) that were significantly different between cohorts. Correlation-based network analysis revealed several clusters of pathway related metabolites including a cluster associated with one‑carbon (1C) metabolism composed of formate, sarcosine, hypoxanthine, and homocysteine. Receiver operator characteristics analyses demonstrated an excellent ability to discriminate between Con and FA with AUC values >0.95. These results are the first reported metabolomic analyses of human patients with FA. The metabolic perturbations, especially those related to 1C metabolism, may serve as a valuable biomarker panel of disease progression and response to therapy. The identification of dysregulated 1C metabolism may also inform the search for new therapeutic targets related to this pathway.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas M O'Connell
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America; Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America; Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America.
| | - David L Logsdon
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America; Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America
| | - R Mark Payne
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Cardiology, and Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Hackett PT, Jia X, Li L, Ward DM. Posttranslational regulation of mitochondrial frataxin and identification of compounds that increase frataxin levels in Friedreich's ataxia. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:101982. [PMID: 35472330 PMCID: PMC9127368 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.101982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2021] [Revised: 04/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a degenerative disease caused by a decrease in the mitochondrial protein frataxin (Fxn), which is involved in iron-sulfur cluster (ISC) synthesis. Diminutions in Fxn result in decreased ISC synthesis, increased mitochondrial iron accumulation, and impaired mitochondrial function. Here, we show that conditions that result in increased mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in yeast or mammalian cell culture give rise to increased turnover of Fxn but not of other ISC synthesis proteins. We demonstrate that the mitochondrial Lon protease is involved in Fxn degradation and that iron export through the mitochondrial metal transporter Mmt1 protects yeast Fxn from degradation. We also determined that when FRDA fibroblasts were grown in media containing elevated iron, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species increased and Fxn decreased compared to WT fibroblasts. Furthermore, we screened a library of FDA-approved compounds and identified 38 compounds that increased yeast Fxn levels, including the azole bifonazole, antiparasitic fipronil, antitumor compound dibenzoylmethane, antihypertensive 4-hydroxychalcone, and a nonspecific anion channel inhibitor 4,4-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2-sulfonic acid. We show that top hits 4-hydroxychalcone and dibenzoylmethane increased mRNA levels of transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 in FRDA patient-derived fibroblasts, as well as downstream antioxidant targets thioredoxin, glutathione reductase, and superoxide dismutase 2. Taken together, these findings reveal that FRDA progression may be in part due to oxidant-mediated decreases in Fxn and that some approved compounds may be effective in increasing mitochondrial Fxn in FRDA, delaying disease progression.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter T Hackett
- Department of Pathology, Division of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Xuan Jia
- Department of Pathology, Division of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Liangtao Li
- Department of Pathology, Division of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Diane M Ward
- Department of Pathology, Division of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Vásquez-Trincado C, Dunn J, Han JI, Hymms B, Tamaroff J, Patel M, Nguyen S, Dedio A, Wade K, Enigwe C, Nichtova Z, Lynch DR, Csordas G, McCormack SE, Seifert EL. Frataxin deficiency lowers lean mass and triggers the integrated stress response in skeletal muscle. JCI Insight 2022; 7:e155201. [PMID: 35531957 PMCID: PMC9090249 DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.155201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an inherited disorder caused by reduced levels of frataxin (FXN), which is required for iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis. Neurological and cardiac comorbidities are prominent and have been a major focus of study. Skeletal muscle has received less attention despite indications that FXN loss affects it. Here, we show that lean mass is lower, whereas body mass index is unaltered, in separate cohorts of adults and children with FRDA. In adults, lower lean mass correlated with disease severity. To further investigate FXN loss in skeletal muscle, we used a transgenic mouse model of whole-body inducible and progressive FXN depletion. There was little impact of FXN loss when FXN was approximately 20% of control levels. When residual FXN was approximately 5% of control levels, muscle mass was lower along with absolute grip strength. When we examined mechanisms that can affect muscle mass, only global protein translation was lower, accompanied by integrated stress response (ISR) activation. Also in mice, aerobic exercise training, initiated prior to the muscle mass difference, improved running capacity, yet, muscle mass and the ISR remained as in untrained mice. Thus, FXN loss can lead to lower lean mass, with ISR activation, both of which are insensitive to exercise training.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- César Vásquez-Trincado
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College and
- MitoCare Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Julia Dunn
- Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes and
| | - Ji In Han
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College and
- MitoCare Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Briyanna Hymms
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College and
- MitoCare Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | | | - Monika Patel
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College and
- MitoCare Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | | | - Anna Dedio
- Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes and
| | | | | | - Zuzana Nichtova
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College and
- MitoCare Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - David R. Lynch
- Division of Neurology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Neurology and
| | - Gyorgy Csordas
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College and
- MitoCare Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Shana E. McCormack
- Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes and
- Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Erin L. Seifert
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College and
- MitoCare Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Botticelli S, La Penna G, Nobili G, Rossi G, Stellato F, Morante S. Modelling Protein Plasticity: The Example of Frataxin and Its Variants. Molecules 2022; 27:1955. [PMID: 35335316 PMCID: PMC8950120 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27061955] [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] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Frataxin (FXN) is a protein involved in storage and delivery of iron in the mitochondria. Single-point mutations in the FXN gene lead to reduced production of functional frataxin, with the consequent dyshomeostasis of iron. FXN variants are at the basis of neurological impairment (the Friedreich's ataxia) and several types of cancer. By using altruistic metadynamics in conjunction with the maximal constrained entropy principle, we estimate the change of free energy in the protein unfolding of frataxin and of some of its pathological mutants. The sampled configurations highlight differences between the wild-type and mutated sequences in the stability of the folded state. In partial agreement with thermodynamic experiments, where most of the analyzed variants are characterized by lower thermal stability compared to wild type, the D104G variant is found with a stability comparable to the wild-type sequence and a lower water-accessible surface area. These observations, obtained with the new approach we propose in our work, point to a functional switch, affected by single-point mutations, of frataxin from iron storage to iron release. The method is suitable to investigate wide structural changes in proteins in general, after a proper tuning of the chosen collective variable used to perform the transition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simone Botticelli
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Giovanni La Penna
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Madonna del Piano 10, I-50019 Firenze, Italy
| | - Germano Nobili
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Giancarlo Rossi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
- Centro Fermi—Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, I-00184 Roma, Italy
| | - Francesco Stellato
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
- Centro Fermi—Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi, I-00184 Roma, Italy
| | - Silvia Morante
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata and Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, INFN, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Roma, Italy; (S.B.); (G.N.); (G.R.); (F.S.); (S.M.)
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Xu L, Sun Z, Xing Z, Liu Y, Zhao H, Tang Z, Luo Y, Hao S, Li K. Cur@SF NPs alleviate Friedreich's ataxia in a mouse model through synergistic iron chelation and antioxidation. J Nanobiotechnology 2022; 20:118. [PMID: 35264205 PMCID: PMC8905737 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-022-01333-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Abnormal iron metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction and the derived oxidative damage are the main pathogeneses of Friedrich's ataxia (FRDA), a single-gene inherited recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cerebellar and sensory ataxia. This disease is caused by frataxin (FXN) mutation, which reduces FXN expression and impairs iron sulfur cluster biogenesis. To date, there is no effective therapy to treat this condition. Curcumin is proposed harboring excellent ability to resist oxidative stress through Nrf2 activation and its newly found ability to chelate iron. However, its limitation is its poor water solubility and permeability. Here, we synthesized slow-release nanoparticles (NPs) by loading curcumin (Cur) into silk fibroin (SF) to form NPs with an average size of 150 nm (Cur@SF NPs), which exhibited satisfactory therapeutic effects on the improvement of FRDA manifestation in lymphoblasts (1 μM) derived from FRDA patients and in YG8R mice (150 mg/kg/5 days). Cur@SF NPs not only removed iron from the heart and diminished oxidative stress in general but also potentiate iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis, which compensates FXN deficiency to improve the morphology and function of mitochondria. Cur@SF NPs showed a significant advantage in neuron and myocardial function, thereby improving FRDA mouse behavior scores. These data encourage us to propose that Cur@SF NPs are a promising therapeutic compound in the application of FRDA disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Li Xu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Division of Iron Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Zichen Sun
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Division of Iron Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Zhiyao Xing
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Division of Iron Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Yutong Liu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Division of Iron Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Hongting Zhao
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Division of Iron Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China
| | - Zhongmin Tang
- Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, China
| | - Yu Luo
- Shanghai Engineering Technology Research Center for Pharmaceutical Intelligent Equipment, Shanghai Frontiers Science Research Center for Druggability of Cardiovascular Noncoding RNA, Institute for Frontier Medical Technology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Shuangying Hao
- School of Medicine, Henan Polytechnic University, Jiaozuo, 454003, Henan, China.
| | - Kuanyu Li
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Division of Iron Metabolism and Mitochondrial Function, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China.
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Kilikevicius A, Wang J, Shen X, Rigo F, Prakash TP, Napierala M, Corey DR. Difficulties translating antisense-mediated activation of Frataxin expression from cell culture to mice. RNA Biol 2021; 19:364-372. [PMID: 35289725 PMCID: PMC8928816 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2022.2043650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by decreased expression of frataxin (FXN) protein. Previous studies have shown that antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and single-stranded silencing RNAs can be used to increase expression of frataxin in cultured patient-derived cells. In this study, we investigate the potential for oligonucleotides to increase frataxin expression in a mouse model for FA. After confirming successful in vivo delivery of oligonucleotides using a benchmark gapmer targeting the nuclear noncoding RNA Malat1, we tested anti-FXN oligonucleotides designed to function by various mechanisms. None of these strategies yielded enhanced expression of FXN in the model mice. Our inability to translate activation of FXN expression from cell culture to mice may be due to inadequate potency of our compounds or differences in the molecular mechanisms governing FXN gene repression and activation in FA model mice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Audrius Kilikevicius
- Department of Pharmacology and Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States
| | - Jun Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Xiulong Shen
- Department of Pharmacology and Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States
| | - Frank Rigo
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemistry and Antisense Research, Carlsbad, California, USA
| | - Thahza P. Prakash
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemistry and Antisense Research, Carlsbad, California, USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Blvd, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
- Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - David R. Corey
- Department of Pharmacology and Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Culley MK, Zhao J, Tai YY, Tang Y, Perk D, Negi V, Yu Q, Woodcock CSC, Handen A, Speyer G, Kim S, Lai YC, Satoh T, Watson AM, Aaraj YA, Sembrat J, Rojas M, Goncharov D, Goncharova EA, Khan OF, Anderson DG, Dahlman JE, Gurkar AU, Lafyatis R, Fayyaz AU, Redfield MM, Gladwin MT, Rabinovitch M, Gu M, Bertero T, Chan SY. Frataxin deficiency promotes endothelial senescence in pulmonary hypertension. J Clin Invest 2021; 131:136459. [PMID: 33905372 PMCID: PMC8159699 DOI: 10.1172/jci136459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The dynamic regulation of endothelial pathophenotypes in pulmonary hypertension (PH) remains undefined. Cellular senescence is linked to PH with intracardiac shunts; however, its regulation across PH subtypes is unknown. Since endothelial deficiency of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters is pathogenic in PH, we hypothesized that a Fe-S biogenesis protein, frataxin (FXN), controls endothelial senescence. An endothelial subpopulation in rodent and patient lungs across PH subtypes exhibited reduced FXN and elevated senescence. In vitro, hypoxic and inflammatory FXN deficiency abrogated activity of endothelial Fe-S-containing polymerases, promoting replication stress, DNA damage response, and senescence. This was also observed in stem cell-derived endothelial cells from Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), a genetic disease of FXN deficiency, ataxia, and cardiomyopathy, often with PH. In vivo, FXN deficiency-dependent senescence drove vessel inflammation, remodeling, and PH, whereas pharmacologic removal of senescent cells in Fxn-deficient rodents ameliorated PH. These data offer a model of endothelial biology in PH, where FXN deficiency generates a senescent endothelial subpopulation, promoting vascular inflammatory and proliferative signals in other cells to drive disease. These findings also establish an endothelial etiology for PH in FRDA and left heart disease and support therapeutic development of senolytic drugs, reversing effects of Fe-S deficiency across PH subtypes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miranda K. Culley
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jingsi Zhao
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Yi Yin Tai
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Ying Tang
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Dror Perk
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Vinny Negi
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Qiujun Yu
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Chen-Shan C. Woodcock
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Adam Handen
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Gil Speyer
- Research Computing, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Seungchan Kim
- Center for Computational Systems Biology, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas, USA
| | - Yen-Chun Lai
- Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Occupational Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | - Taijyu Satoh
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Annie M.M. Watson
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Yassmin Al Aaraj
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - John Sembrat
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Mauricio Rojas
- Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Dmitry Goncharov
- Lung Center, Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Davis, California, USA
| | - Elena A. Goncharova
- Lung Center, Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Davis, California, USA
| | - Omar F. Khan
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Daniel G. Anderson
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Medical Engineering and Science, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - James E. Dahlman
- Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Aditi U. Gurkar
- Aging Institute, Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, GRECC VA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Robert Lafyatis
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Ahmed U. Fayyaz
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and
- Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesotta, USA
| | | | - Mark T. Gladwin
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Marlene Rabinovitch
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Mingxia Gu
- Perinatal Institute, Division of Pulmonary Biology Center for Stem Cell and Organoid Medicine, CuSTOM, Division of Developmental Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Thomas Bertero
- Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, UMR7275, IPMC, Valbonne, France
| | - Stephen Y. Chan
- Center for Pulmonary Vascular Biology and Medicine, Pittsburgh Heart, Lung, Blood Vascular Medicine Institute, Divisions of Cardiology, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Napierala JS, Rajapakshe K, Clark A, Chen YY, Huang S, Mesaros C, Xu P, Blair IA, Hauser LA, Farmer J, Lynch DR, Edwards DP, Coarfa C, Napierala M. Reverse Phase Protein Array Reveals Correlation of Retinoic Acid Metabolism With Cardiomyopathy in Friedreich's Ataxia. Mol Cell Proteomics 2021; 20:100094. [PMID: 33991687 PMCID: PMC8214145 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2021.100094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying biomarkers is important for assessment of disease progression, prediction of symptom development, and determination of treatment effectiveness. While unbiased analyses of differential gene expression using next-generation sequencing methods are now routinely conducted, proteomics studies are more challenging because of traditional methods predominantly being low throughput and offering a limited dynamic range for simultaneous detection of hundreds of proteins that drastically differ in their intracellular abundance. We utilized a sensitive and high-throughput proteomic technique, reverse phase protein array (RPPA), to attain protein expression profiles of primary fibroblasts obtained from patients with Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) and unaffected controls (CTRLs). The RPPA was designed to detect 217 proteins or phosphorylated proteins by individual antibody, and the specificity of each antibody was validated prior to the experiment. Among 62 fibroblast samples (44 FRDA and 18 CTRLs) analyzed, 30 proteins/phosphoproteins were significantly changed in FRDA fibroblasts compared with CTRL cells (p < 0.05), mostly representing signaling molecules and metabolic enzymes. As expected, frataxin was significantly downregulated in FRDA samples, thus serving as an internal CTRL for assay integrity. Extensive bioinformatics analyses were conducted to correlate differentially expressed proteins with critical disease parameters (e.g., selected symptoms, age of onset, guanine-adenine-adenine sizes, frataxin levels, and Functional Assessment Rating Scale scores). Members of the integrin family of proteins specifically associated with hearing loss in FRDA. Also, RPPA data, combined with results of transcriptome profiling, uncovered defects in the retinoic acid metabolism pathway in FRDA samples. Moreover, expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase family 1 member A3 differed significantly between cardiomyopathy-positive and cardiomyopathy-negative FRDA cohorts, demonstrating that metabolites such as retinol, retinal, or retinoic acid could become potential predictive biomarkers of cardiac presentation in FRDA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jill S Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
| | - Kimal Rajapakshe
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Amanda Clark
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Yu-Yun Chen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Shixia Huang
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Clementina Mesaros
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Peining Xu
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Ian A Blair
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Lauren A Hauser
- Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jennifer Farmer
- Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - David R Lynch
- Division of Neurology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Dean P Edwards
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Cristian Coarfa
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Johnson J, Mercado‐Ayón E, Clark E, Lynch D, Lin H. Drp1-dependent peptide reverse mitochondrial fragmentation, a homeostatic response in Friedreich ataxia. Pharmacol Res Perspect 2021; 9:e00755. [PMID: 33951329 PMCID: PMC8099044 DOI: 10.1002/prp2.755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia is an autosomal recessive, neurodegenerative disease characterized by the deficiency of the iron-sulfur cluster assembly protein frataxin. Loss of this protein impairs mitochondrial function. Mitochondria alter their morphology in response to various stresses; however, such alterations to morphology may be homeostatic or maladaptive depending upon the tissue and disease state. Numerous neurodegenerative diseases exhibit excessive mitochondrial fragmentation, and reversing this phenotype improves bioenergetics for diseases in which mitochondrial dysfunction is a secondary feature of the disease. This paper demonstrates that frataxin deficiency causes excessive mitochondrial fragmentation that is dependent upon Drp1 activity in Friedreich ataxia cellular models. Drp1 inhibition by the small peptide TAT-P110 reverses mitochondrial fragmentation but also decreases ATP levels in frataxin-knockdown fibroblasts and FRDA patient fibroblasts, suggesting that fragmentation may provide a homeostatic pathway for maintaining cellular ATP levels. The cardiolipin-stabilizing compound SS-31 similarly reverses fragmentation through a Drp1-dependent mechanism, but it does not affect ATP levels. The combination of TAT-P110 and SS-31 does not affect FRDA patient fibroblasts differently from SS-31 alone, suggesting that the two drugs act through the same pathway but differ in their ability to alter mitochondrial homeostasis. In approaching potential therapeutic strategies for FRDA, an important criterion for compounds that improve bioenergetics should be to do so without impairing the homeostatic response of mitochondrial fragmentation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Johnson
- Department of Pediatrics and NeurologyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | | | - Elisia Clark
- Department of Pediatrics and NeurologyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - David Lynch
- Department of Pediatrics and NeurologyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPAUSA
- Children’s Hospital of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Hong Lin
- Department of Pediatrics and NeurologyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPAUSA
- Children’s Hospital of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Tamarit J, Britti E, Delaspre F, Medina-Carbonero M, Sanz-Alcázar A, Cabiscol E, Ros J. Mitochondrial iron and calcium homeostasis in Friedreich ataxia. IUBMB Life 2021; 73:543-553. [PMID: 33675183 DOI: 10.1002/iub.2457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Revised: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Friedreich Ataxia is a neuro-cardiodegenerative disease caused by the deficiency of frataxin, a mitochondrial protein. Many evidences indicate that frataxin deficiency causes an unbalance of iron homeostasis. Nevertheless, in the last decade many results also highlighted the importance of calcium unbalance in the deleterious downstream effects caused by frataxin deficiency. In this review, the role of these two metals has been gathered to give a whole view of how iron and calcium dyshomeostasys impacts on cellular functions and, as a result, which strategies can be followed to find an effective therapy for the disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Tamarit
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Elena Britti
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Fabien Delaspre
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, Lleida, Spain
| | | | - Arabela Sanz-Alcázar
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Elisa Cabiscol
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Joaquim Ros
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, Lleida, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Moreno-Lorite J, Pérez-Luz S, Katsu-Jiménez Y, Oberdoerfer D, Díaz-Nido J. DNA repair pathways are altered in neural cell models of frataxin deficiency. Mol Cell Neurosci 2021; 111:103587. [PMID: 33418083 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2020.103587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2020] [Revised: 12/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a hereditary and predominantly neurodegenerative disease caused by a deficiency of the protein frataxin (FXN). As part of the overall efforts to understand the molecular basis of neurodegeneration in FRDA, a new human neural cell line with doxycycline-induced FXN knockdown was established. This cell line, hereafter referred to as iFKD-SY, is derived from the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y and retains the ability to differentiate into mature neuron-like cells. In both proliferating and differentiated iFKD-SY cells, the induction of FXN deficiency is accompanied by increases in oxidative stress and DNA damage, reduced aconitase enzyme activity, higher levels of p53 and p21, activation of caspase-3, and subsequent apoptosis. More interestingly, FXN-deficient iFKD-SY cells exhibit an important transcriptional deregulation in many of the genes implicated in DNA repair pathways. The levels of some crucial proteins involved in DNA repair appear notably diminished. Furthermore, similar changes are found in two additional neural cell models of FXN deficit: primary cultures of FXN-deficient mouse neurons and human olfactory mucosa stem cells obtained from biopsies of FRDA patients. These results suggest that the deficiency of FXN leads to a down-regulation of DNA repair pathways that synergizes with oxidative stress to provoke DNA damage, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of FRDA. Thus, a failure in DNA repair may be considered a shared common molecular mechanism contributing to neurodegeneration in a number of hereditary ataxias including FRDA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jara Moreno-Lorite
- Departamento Biología Molecular and Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (UAM-CSIC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Puerta de Hierro-Majadahonda (IDIPHIM), Spain
| | - Sara Pérez-Luz
- Departamento Biología Molecular and Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (UAM-CSIC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Puerta de Hierro-Majadahonda (IDIPHIM), Spain; Molecular Genetics Unit, Institute of Rare Diseases Research, Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo Km2.200, 28220 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Yurika Katsu-Jiménez
- Departamento Biología Molecular and Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (UAM-CSIC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Puerta de Hierro-Majadahonda (IDIPHIM), Spain
| | - Daniel Oberdoerfer
- Departamento Biología Molecular and Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (UAM-CSIC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Puerta de Hierro-Majadahonda (IDIPHIM), Spain
| | - Javier Díaz-Nido
- Departamento Biología Molecular and Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa" (UAM-CSIC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Puerta de Hierro-Majadahonda (IDIPHIM), Spain
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Doni D, Rigoni G, Palumbo E, Baschiera E, Peruzzo R, De Rosa E, Caicci F, Passerini L, Bettio D, Russo A, Szabò I, Soriano ME, Salviati L, Costantini P. The displacement of frataxin from the mitochondrial cristae correlates with abnormal respiratory supercomplexes formation and bioenergetic defects in cells of Friedreich ataxia patients. FASEB J 2021; 35:e21362. [PMID: 33629768 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202000524rr] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 12/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a neurodegenerative disease resulting from a severe decrease of frataxin (FXN). Most patients carry a GAA repeat expansion in both alleles of the FXN gene, whereas a small fraction of them are compound heterozygous for the expansion and a point mutation in the other allele. FXN is involved in the mitochondrial biogenesis of the FeS-clusters. Distinctive feature of FRDA patient cells is an impaired cellular respiration, likely due to a deficit of key redox cofactors working as electrons shuttles through the respiratory chain. However, a definite relationship between FXN levels, FeS-clusters assembly dysregulation and bioenergetics failure has not been established. In this work, we performed a comparative analysis of the mitochondrial phenotype of cell lines from FRDA patients, either homozygous for the expansion or compound heterozygotes for the G130V mutation. We found that, in healthy cells, FXN and two key proteins of the FeS-cluster assembly machinery are enriched in mitochondrial cristae, the dynamic subcompartment housing the respiratory chain. On the contrary, FXN widely redistributes to the matrix in FRDA cells with defects in respiratory supercomplexes assembly and altered respiratory function. We propose that this could be relevant for the early mitochondrial defects afflicting FRDA cells and that perturbation of mitochondrial morphodynamics could in turn be critical in terms of disease mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Davide Doni
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Elisa Palumbo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Elisa Baschiera
- Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP) Città della Speranza, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Edith De Rosa
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | | | - Daniela Bettio
- Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP) Città della Speranza, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonella Russo
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Ildiko Szabò
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | | - Leonardo Salviati
- Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP) Città della Speranza, Padova, Italy
- Myology Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | | |
Collapse
|
31
|
Ocana-Santero G, Díaz-Nido J, Herranz-Martín S. Future Prospects of Gene Therapy for Friedreich's Ataxia. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:1815. [PMID: 33670433 PMCID: PMC7918362 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22041815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Revised: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia is an autosomal recessive neurogenetic disease that is mainly associated with atrophy of the spinal cord and progressive neurodegeneration in the cerebellum. The disease is caused by a GAA-expansion in the first intron of the frataxin gene leading to a decreased level of frataxin protein, which results in mitochondrial dysfunction. Currently, there is no effective treatment to delay neurodegeneration in Friedreich's ataxia. A plausible therapeutic approach is gene therapy. Indeed, Friedreich's ataxia mouse models have been treated with viral vectors en-coding for either FXN or neurotrophins, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor showing promising results. Thus, gene therapy is increasingly consolidating as one of the most promising therapies. However, several hurdles have to be overcome, including immunotoxicity and pheno-toxicity. We review the state of the art of gene therapy in Friedreich's ataxia, addressing the main challenges and the most feasible solutions for them.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Ocana-Santero
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain; (G.O.-S.); (J.D.-N.)
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Sherrington Building, Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PT, UK
| | - Javier Díaz-Nido
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain; (G.O.-S.); (J.D.-N.)
| | - Saúl Herranz-Martín
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain; (G.O.-S.); (J.D.-N.)
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Lynch DR, Chin MP, Delatycki MB, Subramony SH, Corti M, Hoyle JC, Boesch S, Nachbauer W, Mariotti C, Mathews KD, Giunti P, Wilmot G, Zesiewicz T, Perlman S, Goldsberry A, O'Grady M, Meyer CJ. Safety and Efficacy of Omaveloxolone in Friedreich Ataxia (MOXIe Study). Ann Neurol 2021; 89:212-225. [PMID: 33068037 PMCID: PMC7894504 DOI: 10.1002/ana.25934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Friedreich ataxia (FA) is a progressive genetic neurodegenerative disorder with no approved treatment. Omaveloxolone, an Nrf2 activator, improves mitochondrial function, restores redox balance, and reduces inflammation in models of FA. We investigated the safety and efficacy of omaveloxolone in patients with FA. METHODS We conducted an international, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, registrational phase 2 trial at 11 institutions in the United States, Europe, and Australia (NCT02255435, EudraCT2015-002762-23). Eligible patients, 16 to 40 years of age with genetically confirmed FA and baseline modified Friedreich's Ataxia Rating Scale (mFARS) scores between 20 and 80, were randomized 1:1 to placebo or 150mg per day of omaveloxolone. The primary outcome was change from baseline in the mFARS score in those treated with omaveloxolone compared with those on placebo at 48 weeks. RESULTS One hundred fifty-five patients were screened, and 103 were randomly assigned to receive omaveloxolone (n = 51) or placebo (n = 52), with 40 omaveloxolone patients and 42 placebo patients analyzed in the full analysis set. Changes from baseline in mFARS scores in omaveloxolone (-1.55 ± 0.69) and placebo (0.85 ± 0.64) patients showed a difference between treatment groups of -2.40 ± 0.96 (p = 0.014). Transient reversible increases in aminotransferase levels were observed with omaveloxolone without increases in total bilirubin or other signs of liver injury. Headache, nausea, and fatigue were also more common among patients receiving omaveloxolone. INTERPRETATION In the MOXIe trial, omaveloxolone significantly improved neurological function compared to placebo and was generally safe and well tolerated. It represents a potential therapeutic agent in FA. ANN NEUROL 2021;89:212-225.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David R. Lynch
- Division of NeurologyChildren's Hospital of PhiladelphiaPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | | | - Martin B. Delatycki
- Victorian Clinical Genetics Services, Murdoch Children's Research InstituteParkvilleVictoriaAustralia
| | - S. H. Subramony
- Department of NeurologyMcKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida Health SystemGainesvilleFLUSA
| | - Manuela Corti
- Department of PediatricsUniversity of Florida Health SystemGainesvilleFLUSA
| | - J. Chad Hoyle
- Department of NeurologyOhio State University College of MedicineColumbusOHUSA
| | - Sylvia Boesch
- Department of NeurologyMedical University InnsbruckInnsbruckAustria
| | | | - Caterina Mariotti
- Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico–Carlo Besta Neurological InstituteMilanItaly
| | - Katherine D. Mathews
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Iowa Carver College of MedicineIowa CityIAUSA
| | - Paola Giunti
- University College London HospitalLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - George Wilmot
- Department of NeurologyEmory University School of MedicineAtlantaGAUSA
| | - Theresa Zesiewicz
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of South Florida Ataxia Research CenterTampaFLUSA
| | - Susan Perlman
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of California, Los AngelesLos AngelesCAUSA
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
33
|
Britti E, Delaspre F, Sanz-Alcázar A, Medina-Carbonero M, Llovera M, Purroy R, Mincheva-Tasheva S, Tamarit J, Ros J. Calcitriol increases frataxin levels and restores mitochondrial function in cell models of Friedreich Ataxia. Biochem J 2021; 478:1-20. [PMID: 33305808 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20200331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia (FA) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the deficiency of frataxin, a mitochondrial protein. In primary cultures of dorsal root ganglia neurons, we showed that frataxin depletion resulted in decreased levels of the mitochondrial calcium exchanger NCLX, neurite degeneration and apoptotic cell death. Here, we describe that frataxin-deficient dorsal root ganglia neurons display low levels of ferredoxin 1 (FDX1), a mitochondrial Fe/S cluster-containing protein that interacts with frataxin and, interestingly, is essential for the synthesis of calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D. We provide data that calcitriol supplementation, used at nanomolar concentrations, is able to reverse the molecular and cellular markers altered in DRG neurons. Calcitriol is able to recover both FDX1 and NCLX levels and restores mitochondrial membrane potential indicating an overall mitochondrial function improvement. Accordingly, reduction in apoptotic markers and neurite degeneration was observed and, as a result, cell survival was also recovered. All these beneficial effects would be explained by the finding that calcitriol is able to increase the mature frataxin levels in both, frataxin-deficient DRG neurons and cardiomyocytes; remarkably, this increase also occurs in lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from FA patients. In conclusion, these results provide molecular bases to consider calcitriol for an easy and affordable therapeutic approach for FA patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elena Britti
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Fabien Delaspre
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - A Sanz-Alcázar
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Marta Medina-Carbonero
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Marta Llovera
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Rosa Purroy
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Stefka Mincheva-Tasheva
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Jordi Tamarit
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Joaquim Ros
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Universitat de Lleida, IRBLleida, AV. Rovira Roure 80, 25198 Lleida, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Rodríguez-Pascau L, Britti E, Calap-Quintana P, Dong YN, Vergara C, Delaspre F, Medina-Carbonero M, Tamarit J, Pallardó FV, Gonzalez-Cabo P, Ros J, Lynch DR, Martinell M, Pizcueta P. PPAR gamma agonist leriglitazone improves frataxin-loss impairments in cellular and animal models of Friedreich Ataxia. Neurobiol Dis 2021; 148:105162. [PMID: 33171227 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2020.105162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Revised: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia (FRDA), the most common autosomal recessive ataxia, is characterized by degeneration of the large sensory neurons and spinocerebellar tracts, cardiomyopathy, and increased incidence in diabetes. The underlying pathophysiological mechanism of FRDA, driven by a significantly decreased expression of frataxin (FXN), involves increased oxidative stress, reduced activity of enzymes containing iron‑sulfur clusters (ISC), defective energy production, calcium dyshomeostasis, and impaired mitochondrial biogenesis, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a ligand-activated transcriptional factor playing a key role in mitochondrial function and biogenesis, fatty acid storage, energy metabolism, and antioxidant defence. It has been previously shown that the PPARγ/PPARγ coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) pathway is dysregulated when there is frataxin deficiency, thus contributing to FRDA pathogenesis and supporting the PPARγ pathway as a potential therapeutic target. Here we assess whether MIN-102 (INN: leriglitazone), a novel brain penetrant and orally bioavailable PPARγ agonist with an improved profile for central nervous system (CNS) diseases, rescues phenotypic features in cellular and animal models of FRDA. In frataxin-deficient dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons, leriglitazone increased frataxin protein levels, reduced neurite degeneration and α-fodrin cleavage mediated by calpain and caspase 3, and increased survival. Leriglitazone also restored mitochondrial membrane potential and partially reversed decreased levels of mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCLX), resulting in an improvement of mitochondrial functions and calcium homeostasis. In frataxin-deficient primary neonatal cardiomyocytes, leriglitazone prevented lipid droplet accumulation without increases in frataxin levels. Furthermore, leriglitazone improved motor function deficit in YG8sR mice, a FRDA mouse model. In agreement with the role of PPARγ in mitochondrial biogenesis, leriglitazone significantly increased markers of mitochondrial biogenesis in FRDA patient cells. Overall, these results suggest that targeting the PPARγ pathway by leriglitazone may provide an efficacious therapy for FRDA increasing the mitochondrial function and biogenesis that could increase frataxin levels in compromised frataxin-deficient DRG neurons. Alternately, leriglitazone improved the energy metabolism by increasing the fatty acid β-oxidation in frataxin-deficient cardiomyocytes without elevation of frataxin levels. This could be linked to a lack of significant mitochondrial biogenesis and cardiac hypertrophy. The results reinforced the different tissue requirement in FRDA and the pleiotropic effects of leriglitazone that could be a promising therapy for FRDA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Elena Britti
- Departament de Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, IRBLleida. Universitat de Lleida, Lleida 25198, Spain
| | - Pablo Calap-Quintana
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia 46010, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
| | - Yi Na Dong
- Department of Pediatrics and Neurology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - Fabien Delaspre
- Departament de Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, IRBLleida. Universitat de Lleida, Lleida 25198, Spain
| | - Marta Medina-Carbonero
- Departament de Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, IRBLleida. Universitat de Lleida, Lleida 25198, Spain
| | - Jordi Tamarit
- Departament de Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, IRBLleida. Universitat de Lleida, Lleida 25198, Spain
| | - Federico V Pallardó
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia 46010, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
| | - Pilar Gonzalez-Cabo
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia 46010, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
| | - Joaquim Ros
- Departament de Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, IRBLleida. Universitat de Lleida, Lleida 25198, Spain
| | - David R Lynch
- Department of Pediatrics and Neurology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Marc Martinell
- Minoryx Therapeutics SL., Mataró 08302, Barcelona, Spain; Minoryx Therapeutics BE., Gosselies 6041, Charleroi, Belgium
| | - Pilar Pizcueta
- Minoryx Therapeutics SL., Mataró 08302, Barcelona, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Vilema-Enríquez G, Quinlan R, Kilfeather P, Mazzone R, Saqlain S, Del Molino Del Barrio I, Donato A, Corda G, Li F, Vedadi M, Németh AH, Brennan PE, Wade-Martins R. Inhibition of the SUV4-20 H1 histone methyltransferase increases frataxin expression in Friedreich's ataxia patient cells. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:17973-17985. [PMID: 33028632 PMCID: PMC7939392 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra120.015533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The molecular mechanisms of reduced frataxin (FXN) expression in Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) are linked to epigenetic modification of the FXN locus caused by the disease-associated GAA expansion. Here, we identify that SUV4-20 histone methyltransferases, specifically SUV4-20 H1, play an important role in the regulation of FXN expression and represent a novel therapeutic target. Using a human FXN-GAA-Luciferase repeat expansion genomic DNA reporter model of FRDA, we screened the Structural Genomics Consortium epigenetic probe collection. We found that pharmacological inhibition of the SUV4-20 methyltransferases by the tool compound A-196 increased the expression of FXN by ∼1.5-fold in the reporter cell line. In several FRDA cell lines and patient-derived primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells, A-196 increased FXN expression by up to 2-fold, an effect not seen in WT cells. SUV4-20 inhibition was accompanied by a reduction in H4K20me2 and H4K20me3 and an increase in H4K20me1, but only modest (1.4-7.8%) perturbation in genome-wide expression was observed. Finally, based on the structural activity relationship and crystal structure of A-196, novel small molecule A-196 analogs were synthesized and shown to give a 20-fold increase in potency for increasing FXN expression. Overall, our results suggest that histone methylation is important in the regulation of FXN expression and highlight SUV4-20 H1 as a potential novel therapeutic target for FRDA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Robert Quinlan
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Alzheimer's Research UK Oxford Drug Discovery Institute, Target Discovery Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Kilfeather
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Roberta Mazzone
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Alzheimer's Research UK Oxford Drug Discovery Institute, Target Discovery Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Saba Saqlain
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Annalidia Donato
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriele Corda
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Fengling Li
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Masoud Vedadi
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrea H Németh
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Oxford Centre for Genomic Medicine, Oxford University Hospitals National Health Service Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Paul E Brennan
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Alzheimer's Research UK Oxford Drug Discovery Institute, Target Discovery Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Wade-Martins
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
La Rosa P, Petrillo S, Fiorenza MT, Bertini ES, Piemonte F. Ferroptosis in Friedreich's Ataxia: A Metal-Induced Neurodegenerative Disease. Biomolecules 2020; 10:biom10111551. [PMID: 33202971 PMCID: PMC7696618 DOI: 10.3390/biom10111551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death, arising from the accumulation of lipid-based reactive oxygen species when glutathione-dependent repair systems are compromised. Lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial impairment and iron dyshomeostasis are the hallmark of ferroptosis, which is emerging as a crucial player in neurodegeneration. This review provides an analysis of the most recent advances in ferroptosis, with a special focus on Friedreich's Ataxia (FA), the most common autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease, caused by reduced levels of frataxin, a mitochondrial protein involved in iron-sulfur cluster synthesis and antioxidant defenses. The hypothesis is that the iron-induced oxidative damage accumulates over time in FA, lowering the ferroptosis threshold and leading to neuronal cell death and, at last, to cardiac failure. The use of anti-ferroptosis drugs combined with treatments able to activate the antioxidant response will be of paramount importance in FA therapy, such as in many other neurodegenerative diseases triggered by oxidative stress.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Piergiorgio La Rosa
- Department of Psychology, Division of Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (P.L.R.); (M.T.F.)
| | - Sara Petrillo
- Unit of Muscular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00146 Rome, Italy; (S.P.); (E.S.B.)
| | - Maria Teresa Fiorenza
- Department of Psychology, Division of Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy; (P.L.R.); (M.T.F.)
| | - Enrico Silvio Bertini
- Unit of Muscular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00146 Rome, Italy; (S.P.); (E.S.B.)
| | - Fiorella Piemonte
- Unit of Muscular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, 00146 Rome, Italy; (S.P.); (E.S.B.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-06-6859-2102
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Agrò M, Díaz-Nido J. Effect of Mitochondrial and Cytosolic FXN Isoform Expression on Mitochondrial Dynamics and Metabolism. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:E8251. [PMID: 33158039 PMCID: PMC7662637 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21218251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by recessive mutations in the frataxin gene that lead to a deficiency of the mitochondrial frataxin (FXN) protein. Alternative forms of frataxin have been described, with different cellular localization and tissue distribution, including a cerebellum-specific cytosolic isoform called FXN II. Here, we explored the functional roles of FXN II in comparison to the mitochondrial FXN I isoform, highlighting the existence of potential cross-talk between cellular compartments. To achieve this, we transduced two human cell lines of patient and healthy subjects with lentiviral vectors overexpressing the mitochondrial or the cytosolic FXN isoforms and studied their effect on the mitochondrial network and metabolism. We confirmed the cytosolic localization of FXN isoform II in our in vitro models. Interestingly, both cytosolic and mitochondrial isoforms have an effect on mitochondrial dynamics, affecting different parameters. Accordingly, increases of mitochondrial respiration were detected after transduction with FXN I or FXN II in both cellular models. Together, these results point to the existence of a potential cross-talk mechanism between the cytosol and mitochondria, mediated by FXN isoforms. A more thorough knowledge of the mechanisms of action behind the extra-mitochondrial FXN II isoform could prove useful in unraveling FRDA physiopathology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Javier Díaz-Nido
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM) and Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain;
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Rodríguez LR, Calap-Quintana P, Lapeña-Luzón T, Pallardó FV, Schneuwly S, Navarro JA, Gonzalez-Cabo P. Oxidative stress modulates rearrangement of endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria contacts and calcium dysregulation in a Friedreich's ataxia model. Redox Biol 2020; 37:101762. [PMID: 33128998 PMCID: PMC7585950 DOI: 10.1016/j.redox.2020.101762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2020] [Revised: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by neuromuscular and neurological manifestations. It is caused by mutations in the FXN gene, which results in loss of the mitochondrial protein frataxin. Endoplasmic Reticulum-mitochondria associated membranes (MAMs) are inter-organelle structures involved in the regulation of essential cellular processes, including lipid metabolism and calcium signaling. In the present study, we have analyzed in both, unicellular and multicellular models of FRDA, calcium management and integrity of MAMs. We observed that function of MAMs is compromised in our cellular model of FRDA, which was improved upon treatment with antioxidants. In agreement, promoting mitochondrial calcium uptake was sufficient to restore several defects caused by frataxin deficiency in Drosophila Melanogaster. Remarkably, our findings describe for the first time frataxin as a member of the protein network of MAMs, where interacts with two of the main proteins implicated in endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria communication. These results suggest a new role of frataxin, indicate that FRDA goes beyond mitochondrial defects and highlight MAMs as novel therapeutic candidates to improve patient's conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura R Rodríguez
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain; Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain
| | - Pablo Calap-Quintana
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain; Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
| | - Tamara Lapeña-Luzón
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain; Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
| | - Federico V Pallardó
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain; Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
| | - Stephan Schneuwly
- Institute of Zoology, Universitaetsstrasse 31, University of Regensburg, 93040, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Juan A Navarro
- Institute of Zoology, Universitaetsstrasse 31, University of Regensburg, 93040, Regensburg, Germany; INCLIVA Biomedial Research Institute, Valencia, Spain
| | - Pilar Gonzalez-Cabo
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain; Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain; CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Weng L, Laboureur L, Wang Q, Guo L, Xu P, Gottlieb L, Lynch DR, Mesaros C, Blair IA. Extra-mitochondrial mouse frataxin and its implications for mouse models of Friedreich's ataxia. Sci Rep 2020; 10:15788. [PMID: 32978498 PMCID: PMC7519113 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-72884-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Mature frataxin is essential for the assembly of iron-sulfur cluster proteins including a number of mitochondrial enzymes. Reduced levels of mature frataxin (81-20) in human subjects caused by the genetic disease Friedreich's ataxia results in decreased mitochondrial function, neurodegeneration, and cardiomyopathy. Numerous studies of mitochondrial dysfunction have been conducted using mouse models of frataxin deficiency. However, mouse frataxin that is reduced in these models, is assumed to be mature frataxin (78-207) by analogy with human mature frataxin (81-210). Using immunoaffinity purification coupled with liquid chromatography-high resolution tandem mass spectrometry, we have discovered that mature frataxin in mouse heart (77%), brain (86%), and liver (47%) is predominantly a 129-amino acid truncated mature frataxin (79-207) in which the N-terminal lysine residue has been lost. Mature mouse frataxin (78-207) only contributes 7-15% to the total frataxin protein present in mouse tissues. We have also found that truncated mature frataxin (79-207) is present primarily in the cytosol of mouse liver; whereas, frataxin (78-207) is primarily present in the mitochondria. These findings, which provide support for the role of extra-mitochondrial frataxin in the etiology of Friedreich's ataxia, also have important implications for studies of mitochondrial dysfunction conducted in mouse models of frataxin deficiency.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liwei Weng
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Laurent Laboureur
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Qingqing Wang
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Lili Guo
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Peining Xu
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Leah Gottlieb
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - David R Lynch
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Clementina Mesaros
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Ian A Blair
- Penn Medicine/CHOP Center of Excellence in Friedreich's Ataxia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Pérez-Luz S, Loria F, Katsu-Jiménez Y, Oberdoerfer D, Yang OL, Lim F, Muñoz-Blanco JL, Díaz-Nido J. Altered Secretome and ROS Production in Olfactory Mucosa Stem Cells Derived from Friedreich's Ataxia Patients. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21186662. [PMID: 32933002 PMCID: PMC7555998 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21186662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich’s ataxia is the most common hereditary ataxia for which there is no cure or approved treatment at present. However, therapeutic developments based on the understanding of pathological mechanisms underlying the disease have advanced considerably, with the implementation of cellular models that mimic the disease playing a crucial role. Human olfactory ecto-mesenchymal stem cells represent a novel model that could prove useful due to their accessibility and neurogenic capacity. Here, we isolated and cultured these stem cells from Friedreich´s ataxia patients and healthy donors, characterizing their phenotype and describing disease-specific features such as reduced cell viability, impaired aconitase activity, increased ROS production and the release of cytokines involved in neuroinflammation. Importantly, we observed a positive effect on patient-derived cells, when frataxin levels were restored, confirming the utility of this in vitro model to study the disease. This model will improve our understanding of Friedreich´s ataxia pathogenesis and will help in developing rationally designed therapeutic strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Pérez-Luz
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM) and Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain; (S.P.-L.); (D.O.); (O.-L.Y.); (J.D.-N.)
- Molecular Genetics Unit, Institute of Rare Diseases Research, Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo Km 2,200, 28220 Madrid, Spain
| | - Frida Loria
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM) and Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain; (S.P.-L.); (D.O.); (O.-L.Y.); (J.D.-N.)
- Laboratorio de Apoyo a la Investigación, Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón, Calle Budapest 1, 28922 Madrid, Spain
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-911-964-594
| | - Yurika Katsu-Jiménez
- Karolinska Institutet, Department of Microbiology Tumor and Cell Biology, Solnaväjen 1, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden;
| | - Daniel Oberdoerfer
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM) and Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain; (S.P.-L.); (D.O.); (O.-L.Y.); (J.D.-N.)
| | - Oscar-Li Yang
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM) and Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain; (S.P.-L.); (D.O.); (O.-L.Y.); (J.D.-N.)
| | - Filip Lim
- Department of Molecular Biology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Francisco Tomás y Valiente 7, 28049 Madrid, Spain;
| | - José Luis Muñoz-Blanco
- Department of Neurology, Hospital Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Dr. Esquerdo 46, 28007 Madrid, Spain;
| | - Javier Díaz-Nido
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM) and Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain; (S.P.-L.); (D.O.); (O.-L.Y.); (J.D.-N.)
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Bizzoca A, Caracciolo M, Corsi P, Magrone T, Jirillo E, Gennarini G. Molecular and Cellular Substrates for the Friedreich Ataxia. Significance of Contactin Expression and of Antioxidant Administration. Molecules 2020; 25:E4085. [PMID: 32906751 PMCID: PMC7570916 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25184085] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, the neural phenotype is explored in rodent models of the spinocerebellar disorder known as the Friedreich Ataxia (FA), which results from mutations within the gene encoding the Frataxin mitochondrial protein. For this, the M12 line, bearing a targeted mutation, which disrupts the Frataxin gene exon 4 was used, together with the M02 line, which, in addition, is hemizygous for the human Frataxin gene mutation (Pook transgene), implying the occurrence of 82-190 GAA repeats within its first intron. The mutant mice phenotype was compared to the one of wild type littermates in regions undergoing differential profiles of neurogenesis, including the cerebellar cortex and the spinal cord by using neuronal (β-tubulin) and glial (Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein) markers as well as the Contactin 1 axonal glycoprotein, involved in neurite growth control. Morphological/morphometric analyses revealed that while in Frataxin mutant mice the neuronal phenotype was significantly counteracted, a glial upregulation occurred at the same time. Furthermore, Contactin 1 downregulation suggested that changes in the underlying gene contributed to the disorder pathogenesis. Therefore, the FA phenotype implies an alteration of the developmental profile of neuronal and glial precursors. Finally, epigallocatechin gallate polyphenol administration counteracted the disorder, indicating protective effects of antioxidant administration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Gianfranco Gennarini
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neurosciences and Sensory Organs, Medical School, University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11. I-70124 Bari, Italy; (A.B.); (M.C.); (P.C.); (T.M.); (E.J.)
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Li J, Li Y, Wang J, Gonzalez TJ, Asokan A, Napierala JS, Napierala M. Defining Transcription Regulatory Elements in the Human Frataxin Gene: Implications for Gene Therapy. Hum Gene Ther 2020; 31:839-851. [PMID: 32527155 PMCID: PMC7462031 DOI: 10.1089/hum.2020.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is the most common inherited form of ataxia in humans. It is caused by severe downregulation of frataxin (FXN) expression instigated by hyperexpansion of the GAA repeats located in intron 1 of the FXN gene. Despite numerous studies focused on identifying compounds capable of stimulating FXN expression, current knowledge regarding cis-regulatory elements involved in FXN gene expression is lacking. Using a combination of episomal and genome-integrated constructs, we defined a minimal endogenous promoter sequence required to efficiently drive FXN expression in human cells. We generated 19 constructs varying in length of the DNA sequences upstream and downstream of the ATG start codon. Using transient transfection, we evaluated the capability of these constructs to drive FXN expression. These analyses allowed us to identify a region of the gene indispensable for FXN expression. Subsequently, selected constructs containing the FXN expression control regions of varying lengths were site specifically integrated into the genome of HEK293T and human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). FXN expression was detected in iPSCs and persisted after differentiation to neuronal and cardiac cells, indicating lineage independent function of defined regulatory DNA sequences. Finally, based on these results, we generated AAV encoding miniFXN genes and demonstrated in vivo FXN expression in mice. Results of these studies identified FXN sequences necessary to express FXN in human and mouse cells and provided rationale for potential use of endogenous FXN sequence in gene therapy strategies for FRDA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jixue Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Yanjie Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Jun Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Trevor J. Gonzalez
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Aravind Asokan
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Jill S. Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Fil D, Chacko BK, Conley R, Ouyang X, Zhang J, Darley-Usmar VM, Zuberi AR, Lutz CM, Napierala M, Napierala JS. Mitochondrial damage and senescence phenotype of cells derived from a novel frataxin G127V point mutation mouse model of Friedreich's ataxia. Dis Model Mech 2020; 13:dmm045229. [PMID: 32586831 PMCID: PMC7406325 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.045229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by reduced expression of the mitochondrial protein frataxin (FXN). Most FRDA patients are homozygous for large expansions of GAA repeat sequences in intron 1 of FXN, whereas a fraction of patients are compound heterozygotes, with a missense or nonsense mutation in one FXN allele and expanded GAAs in the other. A prevalent missense mutation among FRDA patients changes a glycine at position 130 to valine (G130V). Herein, we report generation of the first mouse model harboring an Fxn point mutation. Changing the evolutionarily conserved glycine 127 in mouse Fxn to valine results in a failure-to-thrive phenotype in homozygous animals and a substantially reduced number of offspring. Like G130V in FRDA, the G127V mutation results in a dramatic decrease of Fxn protein without affecting transcript synthesis or splicing. FxnG127V mouse embryonic fibroblasts exhibit significantly reduced proliferation and increased cell senescence. These defects are evident in early passage cells and are exacerbated at later passages. Furthermore, increased frequency of mitochondrial DNA lesions and fragmentation are accompanied by marked amplification of mitochondrial DNA in FxnG127V cells. Bioenergetics analyses demonstrate higher sensitivity and reduced cellular respiration of FxnG127V cells upon alteration of fatty acid availability. Importantly, substitution of FxnWT with FxnG127V is compatible with life, and cellular proliferation defects can be rescued by mitigation of oxidative stress via hypoxia or induction of the NRF2 pathway. We propose FxnG127V cells as a simple and robust model for testing therapeutic approaches for FRDA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Fil
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Balu K Chacko
- Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 901 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Mitochondrial Medicine Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Robbie Conley
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Xiaosen Ouyang
- Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 901 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Mitochondrial Medicine Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jianhua Zhang
- Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 901 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Mitochondrial Medicine Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Victor M Darley-Usmar
- Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 901 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Mitochondrial Medicine Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Aamir R Zuberi
- The Rare and Orphan Disease Center, JAX Center for Precision Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
| | - Cathleen M Lutz
- The Rare and Orphan Disease Center, JAX Center for Precision Genetics, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jill S Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1825 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Abstract
Mitochondria are essential in most eukaryotes and are involved in numerous biological functions including ATP production, cofactor biosyntheses, apoptosis, lipid synthesis, and steroid metabolism. Work over the past two decades has uncovered the biogenesis of cellular iron-sulfur (Fe/S) proteins as the essential and minimal function of mitochondria. This process is catalyzed by the bacteria-derived iron-sulfur cluster assembly (ISC) machinery and has been dissected into three major steps: de novo synthesis of a [2Fe-2S] cluster on a scaffold protein; Hsp70 chaperone-mediated trafficking of the cluster and insertion into [2Fe-2S] target apoproteins; and catalytic conversion of the [2Fe-2S] into a [4Fe-4S] cluster and subsequent insertion into recipient apoproteins. ISC components of the first two steps are also required for biogenesis of numerous essential cytosolic and nuclear Fe/S proteins, explaining the essentiality of mitochondria. This review summarizes the molecular mechanisms underlying the ISC protein-mediated maturation of mitochondrial Fe/S proteins and the importance for human disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roland Lill
- Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany;
- SYNMIKRO Zentrum für synthetische Mikrobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
| | - Sven-A Freibert
- Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35032 Marburg, Germany;
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Misiorek JO, Schreiber AM, Urbanek-Trzeciak MO, Jazurek-Ciesiołka M, Hauser LA, Lynch DR, Napierala JS, Napierala M. A Comprehensive Transcriptome Analysis Identifies FXN and BDNF as Novel Targets of miRNAs in Friedreich's Ataxia Patients. Mol Neurobiol 2020; 57:2639-2653. [PMID: 32291635 PMCID: PMC7253519 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-020-01899-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Accepted: 03/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a genetic neurodegenerative disease that is caused by guanine-adenine-adenine (GAA) nucleotide repeat expansions in the first intron of the frataxin (FXN) gene. Although present in the intron, this mutation leads to a substantial decrease in protein expression. Currently, no effective treatment is available for FRDA, and, in addition to FXN, other targets with therapeutic potential are continuously sought. As miRNAs can regulate the expression of a broad spectrum of genes, are used as biomarkers, and can serve as therapeutic tools, we decided to identify and characterize differentially expressed miRNAs and their targets in FRDA cells compared to unaffected control (CTRL) cells. In this study, we performed an integrated miRNAseq and RNAseq analysis using the same cohort of primary FRDA and CTRL cells. The results of the transcriptome studies were supported by bioinformatic analyses and validated by qRT-PCR. miRNA interactions with target genes were assessed by luciferase assays, qRT-PCR, and immunoblotting. In silico analysis identified the FXN transcript as a target of five miRNAs upregulated in FRDA cells. Further studies confirmed that miRNA-224-5p indeed targets FXN, resulting in decreases in mRNA and protein levels. We also validated the ability of miRNA-10a-5p to bind and regulate the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), an important modulator of neuronal growth. We observed a significant decrease in the levels of miRNA-10a-5p and increase in the levels of BDNF upon correction of FRDA cells via zinc-finger nuclease (ZFN)-mediated excision of expanded GAA repeats. Our comprehensive transcriptome analyses identified miRNA-224-5p and miRNA-10a-5p as negative regulators of the FXN and BDNF expression, respectively. These results emphasize not only the importance of miRNAs in the pathogenesis of FRDA but also their potential as therapeutic targets for this disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Julia O. Misiorek
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Anna M. Schreiber
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, UAB Stem Cell Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL USA
| | | | | | - Lauren A. Hauser
- Department of Pediatrics and Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | - David R. Lynch
- Department of Pediatrics and Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | - Jill S. Napierala
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, UAB Stem Cell Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL USA
| | - Marek Napierala
- Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, Poland
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, UAB Stem Cell Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL USA
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Shen X, Wong J, Prakash TP, Rigo F, Li Y, Napierala M, Corey DR. Progress towards drug discovery for Friedreich's Ataxia: Identifying synthetic oligonucleotides that more potently activate expression of human frataxin protein. Bioorg Med Chem 2020; 28:115472. [PMID: 32279920 PMCID: PMC7217746 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2020.115472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Revised: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Friedreich's Ataxia (FRDA) is an incurable genetic disease caused by an expanded trinucleotide AAG repeat within intronic RNA of the frataxin (FXN) gene. We have previously demonstrated that synthetic antisense oligonucleotides or duplex RNAs that are complementary to the expanded repeat can activate expression of FXN and return levels of FXN protein to near normal. The potency of these compounds, however, was too low to encourage vigorous pre-clinical development. We now report testing of "gapmer" oligonucleotides consisting of a central DNA portion flanked by chemically modified RNA that increases binding affinity. We find that gapmer antisense oligonucleotides are several fold more potent activators of FXN expression relative to previously tested compounds. The potency of FXN activation is similar to a potent benchmark gapmer targeting the nuclear noncoding RNA MALAT-1, suggesting that our approach has potential for developing more effective compounds to regulate FXN expression in vivo.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiulong Shen
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Pharmacology, 6001 Forest Park Road, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
| | - Johnathan Wong
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Pharmacology, 6001 Forest Park Road, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
| | | | - Frank Rigo
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA 92010, United States
| | - Yanjie Li
- University of Alabama, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States
| | - Marek Napierala
- University of Alabama, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States
| | - David R Corey
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Pharmacology, 6001 Forest Park Road, Dallas, TX 75390, United States.
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Chiabrando D, Bertino F, Tolosano E. Hereditary Ataxia: A Focus on Heme Metabolism and Fe-S Cluster Biogenesis. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21113760. [PMID: 32466579 PMCID: PMC7312568 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21113760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 05/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Heme and Fe-S clusters regulate a plethora of essential biological processes ranging from cellular respiration and cell metabolism to the maintenance of genome integrity. Mutations in genes involved in heme metabolism and Fe-S cluster biogenesis cause different forms of ataxia, like posterior column ataxia and retinitis pigmentosa (PCARP), Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) and X-linked sideroblastic anemia with ataxia (XLSA/A). Despite great efforts in the elucidation of the molecular pathogenesis of these disorders several important questions still remain to be addressed. Starting with an overview of the biology of heme metabolism and Fe-S cluster biogenesis, the review discusses recent progress in the understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of PCARP, FRDA and XLSA/A, and highlights future line of research in the field. A better comprehension of the mechanisms leading to the degeneration of neural circuity responsible for balance and coordinated movement will be crucial for the therapeutic management of these patients.
Collapse
|
48
|
Purroy R, Medina-Carbonero M, Ros J, Tamarit J. Frataxin-deficient cardiomyocytes present an altered thiol-redox state which targets actin and pyruvate dehydrogenase. Redox Biol 2020; 32:101520. [PMID: 32279039 PMCID: PMC7152683 DOI: 10.1016/j.redox.2020.101520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Friedreich ataxia (FA) is a cardioneurodegenerative disease caused by deficient frataxin expression. This mitochondrial protein has been related to iron homeostasis, energy metabolism, and oxidative stress. Previously, we set up a cardiac cellular model of FA based on neonatal rat cardiac myocytes (NRVM) and lentivirus-mediated frataxin RNA interference. These frataxin-deficient NRVMs presented lipid droplet accumulation, mitochondrial swelling and signs of oxidative stress. Therefore, we decided to explore the presence of protein thiol modifications in this model. With this purpose, reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were measured and the presence of glutathionylated proteins was analyzed. We observed decreased GSH content and increased presence of glutahionylated actin in frataxin-deficient NRVMs. Moreover, the presence of oxidized cysteine residues was investigated using the thiol-reactive fluorescent probe iodoacetamide-Bodipy and 2D-gel electrophoresis. With this approach, we identified two proteins with altered redox status in frataxin-deficient NRVMs: electron transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase and dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (DLDH). As DLDH is involved in protein-bound lipoic acid redox cycling, we analyzed the redox state of this cofactor and we observed that lipoic acid from pyruvate dehydrogenase was more oxidized in frataxin-deficient cells. Also, by targeted proteomics, we observed a decreased content on the PDH A1 subunit from pyruvate dehydrogenase. Finally, we analyzed the consequences of supplementing frataxin-deficient NRVMs with the PDH cofactors thiamine and lipoic acid, the PDH activator dichloroacetate and the antioxidants N-acetyl cysteine and Tiron. Both dichloroacetate and Tiron were able to partially prevent lipid droplet accumulation in these cells. Overall, these results indicate that frataxin-deficient NRVMs present an altered thiol-redox state which could contribute to the cardiac pathology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Purroy
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Fac. Medicina, IRBLLeida, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Marta Medina-Carbonero
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Fac. Medicina, IRBLLeida, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Joaquim Ros
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Fac. Medicina, IRBLLeida, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Jordi Tamarit
- Dept. Ciències Mèdiques Bàsiques, Fac. Medicina, IRBLLeida, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Chiang S, Kalinowski DS, Dharmasivam M, Braidy N, Richardson DR, Huang MLH. The potential of the novel NAD + supplementing agent, SNH6, as a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of Friedreich's ataxia. Pharmacol Res 2020; 155:104680. [PMID: 32032665 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 02/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is due to deficiency of the mitochondrial protein, frataxin, which results in multiple pathologies including a deadly, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Frataxin loss leads to deleterious accumulations of redox-active, mitochondrial iron, and suppressed mitochondrial bioenergetics. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop innovative pharmaceuticals. Herein, the activity of the novel compound, 6-methoxy-2-salicylaldehyde nicotinoyl hydrazone (SNH6), was assessed in vivo using the well-characterized muscle creatine kinase (MCK) conditional frataxin knockout (KO) mouse model of FA. The design of SNH6 incorporated a dual-mechanism mediating: (1) NAD+-supplementation to restore cardiac bioenergetics; and (2) iron chelation to remove toxic mitochondrial iron. In these studies, MCK wild-type (WT) and KO mice were treated for 4-weeks from the asymptomatic age of 4.5-weeks to 8.5-weeks of age, where the mouse displays an overt cardiomyopathy. SNH6-treatment significantly elevated NAD+ and markedly increased NAD+ consumption in WT and KO hearts. In SNH6-treated KO mice, nuclear Sirt1 activity was also significantly increased together with the NAD+-metabolic product, nicotinamide (NAM). Therefore, NAD+-supplementation by SNH6 aided mitochondrial function and cardiac bioenergetics. SNH6 also chelated iron in cultured cardiac cells and also removed iron-loading in vivo from the MCK KO heart. Despite its dual beneficial properties of supplementing NAD+ and chelating iron, SNH6 did not mitigate cardiomyopathy development in the MCK KO mouse. Collectively, SNH6 is an innovative therapeutic with marked pharmacological efficacy, which successfully enhanced cardiac NAD+ and nuclear Sirt1 activity and reduced cardiac iron-loading in MCK KO mice. No other pharmaceutical yet designed exhibits both these effective pharmacological properties.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shannon Chiang
- Molecular Pharmacology and Pathology Program, Department of Pathology and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Danuta S Kalinowski
- Molecular Pharmacology and Pathology Program, Department of Pathology and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Mahendiran Dharmasivam
- Molecular Pharmacology and Pathology Program, Department of Pathology and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Nady Braidy
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, 2052, Australia
| | - Des R Richardson
- Molecular Pharmacology and Pathology Program, Department of Pathology and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia; Department of Pathology and Biological Responses, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, 466-8550, Japan.
| | - Michael L H Huang
- Molecular Pharmacology and Pathology Program, Department of Pathology and Bosch Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Muñoz-Lasso DC, Mollá B, Calap-Quintana P, García-Giménez JL, Pallardo FV, Palau F, Gonzalez-Cabo P. Cofilin dysregulation alters actin turnover in frataxin-deficient neurons. Sci Rep 2020; 10:5207. [PMID: 32251310 PMCID: PMC7090085 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62050-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Abnormalities in actin cytoskeleton have been linked to Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), an inherited peripheral neuropathy characterised by an early loss of neurons in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) among other clinical symptoms. Despite all efforts to date, we still do not fully understand the molecular events that contribute to the lack of sensory neurons in FRDA. We studied the adult neuronal growth cone (GC) at the cellular and molecular level to decipher the connection between frataxin and actin cytoskeleton in DRG neurons of the well-characterised YG8R Friedreich's ataxia mouse model. Immunofluorescence studies in primary cultures of DRG from YG8R mice showed neurons with fewer and smaller GCs than controls, associated with an inhibition of neurite growth. In frataxin-deficient neurons, we also observed an increase in the filamentous (F)-actin/monomeric (G)-actin ratio (F/G-actin ratio) in axons and GCs linked to dysregulation of two crucial modulators of filamentous actin turnover, cofilin-1 and the actin-related protein (ARP) 2/3 complex. We show how the activation of cofilin is due to the increase in chronophin (CIN), a cofilin-activating phosphatase. Thus cofilin emerges, for the first time, as a link between frataxin deficiency and actin cytoskeleton alterations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Diana C Muñoz-Lasso
- CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain
- Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain
| | - Belén Mollá
- CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV), CSIC, Valencia, 46010, Spain
| | - Pablo Calap-Quintana
- CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain
- Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain
| | - José Luis García-Giménez
- CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain
- Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain
| | - Federico V Pallardo
- CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain
- Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain
| | - Francesc Palau
- CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu and Department of Genetic & Molecular Medicine and IPER, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, 08950, Spain
- Hospital Clínic and Division of Pediatrics, University of Barcelona School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pilar Gonzalez-Cabo
- CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Valencia, Spain.
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. University of Valencia-INCLIVA, Valencia, 46010, Spain.
- Associated Unit for Rare Diseases INCLIVA-CIPF, Valencia, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|