Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) carries a 50% mortality rate. The extravasated erythrocytes that surround the brain contain heme, which, when released from damaged red blood cells, functions as a potent danger molecule that induces sterile tissue injury and organ dysfunction. Free heme is metabolized by heme oxygenase (HO), resulting in the generation of carbon monoxide (CO), a bioactive gas with potent immunomodulatory capabilities. Here, using a murine model of SAH, we demonstrated that expression of the inducible HO isoform (HO-1, encoded by
Nils Schallner, Rambhau Pandit, Robert LeBlanc III, Ajith J. Thomas, Christopher S. Ogilvy, Brian S. Zuckerbraun, David Gallo, Leo E. Otterbein, Khalid A. Hanafy
The generation of potent opioid analgesics that lack the side effects of traditional opioids may be possible by targeting truncated splice variants of the μ-opioid receptor. μ-Opioids act through GPCRs that are generated from the
Zhigang Lu, Jin Xu, Grace C. Rossi, Susruta Majumdar, Gavril W. Pasternak, Ying-Xian Pan
Individuals with an inherited deficiency in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) have impaired sexual reproduction. Previous genetic linkage studies and sequencing of plausible gene candidates have identified mutations associated with inherited GnRH deficiency, but the small number of affected families and limited success in validating candidates have impeded genetic diagnoses for most patients. Using a combination of exome sequencing and computational modeling, we have identified a shared point mutation in semaphorin 3E (
Anna Cariboni, Valentina André, Sophie Chauvet, Daniele Cassatella, Kathryn Davidson, Alessia Caramello, Alessandro Fantin, Pierre Bouloux, Fanny Mann, Christiana Ruhrberg
Epidemiological studies show that patients with type-2-diabetes (T2DM) and individuals with a diabetes-independent elevation in blood glucose have an increased risk for developing dementia, specifically dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These observations suggest that abnormal glucose metabolism likely plays a role in some aspects of AD pathogenesis, leading us to investigate the link between aberrant glucose metabolism, T2DM, and AD in murine models. Here, we combined two techniques — glucose clamps and in vivo microdialysis — as a means to dynamically modulate blood glucose levels in awake, freely moving mice while measuring real-time changes in amyloid-β (Aβ), glucose, and lactate within the hippocampal interstitial fluid (ISF). In a murine model of AD, induction of acute hyperglycemia in young animals increased ISF Aβ production and ISF lactate, which serves as a marker of neuronal activity. These effects were exacerbated in aged AD mice with marked Aβ plaque pathology. Inward rectifying, ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels mediated the response to elevated glucose levels, as pharmacological manipulation of KATP channels in the hippocampus altered both ISF Aβ levels and neuronal activity. Taken together, these results suggest that KATP channel activation mediates the response of hippocampal neurons to hyperglycemia by coupling metabolism with neuronal activity and ISF Aβ levels.
Shannon L. Macauley, Molly Stanley, Emily E. Caesar, Steven A. Yamada, Marcus E. Raichle, Ronaldo Perez, Thomas E. Mahan, Courtney L. Sutphen, David M. Holtzman
Microglia contribute to development, homeostasis, and immunity of the CNS. Like other tissue-resident macrophage populations, microglia express the surface receptor triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2), which binds polyanions, such as dextran sulphate and bacterial LPS, and activates downstream signaling cascades through the adapter DAP12. Individuals homozygous for inactivating mutations in
Pietro Luigi Poliani, Yaming Wang, Elena Fontana, Michelle L. Robinette, Yoshinori Yamanishi, Susan Gilfillan, Marco Colonna
Edward J. Wild, Roberto Boggio, Douglas Langbehn, Nicola Robertson, Salman Haider, James R.C. Miller, Henrik Zetterberg, Blair R. Leavitt, Rainer Kuhn, Sarah J. Tabrizi, Douglas Macdonald, Andreas Weiss
Parkin and the glial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) receptor RET have both been independently linked to the dopaminergic neuron degeneration that underlies Parkinson’s disease (PD). In the present study, we demonstrate that there is genetic crosstalk between parkin and the receptor tyrosine kinase RET in two different mouse models of PD. Mice lacking both parkin and RET exhibited accelerated dopaminergic cell and axonal loss compared with parkin-deficient animals, which showed none, and RET-deficient mice, in which we found moderate degeneration. Transgenic expression of parkin protected the dopaminergic systems of aged RET-deficient mice. Downregulation of either parkin or RET in neuronal cells impaired mitochondrial function and morphology. Parkin expression restored mitochondrial function in GDNF/RET-deficient cells, while GDNF stimulation rescued mitochondrial defects in parkin-deficient cells. In both cases, improved mitochondrial function was the result of activation of the prosurvival NF-κB pathway, which was mediated by RET through the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. Taken together, these observations indicate that parkin and the RET signaling cascade converge to control mitochondrial integrity and thereby properly maintain substantia nigra pars compacta dopaminergic neurons and their innervation in the striatum. The demonstration of crosstalk between parkin and RET highlights the interplay in the protein network that is altered in PD and suggests potential therapeutic targets and strategies to treat PD.
Durga Praveen Meka, Anne Kathrin Müller-Rischart, Prakash Nidadavolu, Behnam Mohammadi, Elisa Motori, Srinivas Kumar Ponna, Helia Aboutalebi, Mahmoud Bassal, Anil Annamneedi, Barbara Finckh, Margit Miesbauer, Natalie Rotermund, Christian Lohr, Jörg Tatzelt, Konstanze F. Winklhofer, Edgar R. Kramer
Oxidative stress contributes to the loss of neurons in many disease conditions as well as during normal aging; however, small-molecule agents that reduce oxidation have not been successful in preventing neurodegeneration. Moreover, even if an efficacious systemic reduction of reactive oxygen and/or nitrogen species (ROS/NOS) could be achieved, detrimental side effects are likely, as these molecules regulate normal physiological processes. A more effective and targeted approach might be to augment the endogenous antioxidant defense mechanism only in the cells that suffer from oxidation. Here, we created several adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors to deliver genes that combat oxidation. These vectors encode the transcription factors NRF2 and/or PGC1a, which regulate hundreds of genes that combat oxidation and other forms of stress, or enzymes such as superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) and catalase, which directly detoxify ROS. We tested the effectiveness of this approach in 3 models of photoreceptor degeneration and in a nerve crush model. AAV-mediated delivery of NRF2 was more effective than SOD2 and catalase, while expression of PGC1a accelerated photoreceptor death. Since the NRF2-mediated neuroprotective effects extended to photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells, which are 2 very different types of neurons, these results suggest that this targeted approach may be broadly applicable to many diseases in which cells suffer from oxidative damage.
Wenjun Xiong, Alexandra E. MacColl Garfinkel, Yiqing Li, Larry I. Benowitz, Constance L. Cepko
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited photoreceptor degenerative disorder that results in blindness. The disease is often caused by mutations in genes that are specific to rod photoreceptors; however, blindness results from the secondary loss of cones by a still unknown mechanism. Here, we demonstrated that the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is required to slow the progression of cone death during disease and that constitutive activation of mTORC1 in cones is sufficient to maintain cone function and promote long-term cone survival. Activation of mTORC1 in cones enhanced glucose uptake, retention, and utilization, leading to increased levels of the key metabolite NADPH. Moreover, cone death was delayed in the absence of the NADPH-sensitive cell death protease caspase 2, supporting the contribution of reduced NADPH in promoting cone death. Constitutive activation of mTORC1 preserved cones in 2 mouse models of RP, suggesting that the secondary loss of cones is caused mainly by metabolic deficits and is independent of a specific rod-associated mutation. Together, the results of this study address a longstanding question in the field and suggest that activating mTORC1 in cones has therapeutic potential to prolong vision in RP.
Aditya Venkatesh, Shan Ma, Yun Z. Le, Michael N. Hall, Markus A. Rüegg, Claudio Punzo
Synaptic plasticity is the ability of synapses to modulate the strength of neuronal connections; however, the molecular factors that regulate this feature are incompletely understood. Here, we demonstrated that mice lacking brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor 1 (BAI1) have severe deficits in hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and memory that are accompanied by enhanced long-term potentiation (LTP), impaired long-term depression (LTD), and a thinning of the postsynaptic density (PSD) at hippocampal synapses. We showed that compared with WT animals, mice lacking
Dan Zhu, Chenchen Li, Andrew M. Swanson, Rosa M. Villalba, Jidong Guo, Zhaobin Zhang, Shannon Matheny, Tatsuro Murakami, Jason R. Stephenson, Sarah Daniel, Masaki Fukata, Randy A. Hall, Jeffrey J. Olson, Gretchen N. Neigh, Yoland Smith, Donald G. Rainnie, Erwin G. Van Meir