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Viana R, Rubio T, Campos-Rodríguez Á, Sanz P. Glial alterations in the glutamatergic and GABAergic signaling pathways in a mouse model of Lafora disease, a severe form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.09.13.612874. [PMID: 39314331 PMCID: PMC11419120 DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.13.612874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/25/2024]
Abstract
Lafora disease (LD; OMIM#254780) is a rare form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy characterized by the accumulation of insoluble deposits of aberrant glycogen (polyglucosans), named Lafora bodies (LBs), in the brain but also in peripheral tissues. It is assumed that the accumulation of LBs is related to the appearance of the characteristic pathological features of the disease. In mouse models of LD, we and others have reported an increase in the levels of reactive astrocytes and activated microglia, which triggers the expression of the different pro-inflammatory mediators. Recently, we have demonstrated that the TNF and IL-6 inflammatory signaling pathways are the main mediators of the neuroinflammatory phenotype associated with the disease. In this work, we present evidence that the activation of these pathways produces a dysregulation in the levels of different subunits of the excitatory ionotropic glutamatergic receptors (phopho-GluN2B, phospho-GluA2, GluK2) and also an increase in the levels of the GABA transporter GAT1 in the hippocampus of the Epm2b-/- mice. In addition, we present evidence of the presence of activated forms of the Src and Lyn protein kinases in this area. These effects may increase the excitatory glutamatergic signaling and decrease the inhibitory GABAergic tone, leading to hyper-excitability. More importantly, the enhanced production of these subunits occurs in non-neuronal cells such as activated microglia and reactive astrocytes, pointing out a key role of glia in the pathophysiology of LD.
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Akhgari A, Michel TM, Vafaee MS. Dendritic spines and their role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders. Rev Neurosci 2024; 35:489-502. [PMID: 38440811 DOI: 10.1515/revneuro-2023-0151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Since Cajal introduced dendritic spines in the 19th century, they have attained considerable attention, especially in neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders. Multiple roles of dendritic spine malfunction and pathology in the progression of various diseases have been reported. Thus, it is inevitable to consider these structures as new therapeutic targets for treating neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders such as autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, dementia, Down syndrome, etc. Therefore, we attempted to prepare a narrative review of the literature regarding the role of dendritic spines in the pathogenesis of aforementioned diseases and to shed new light on their pathophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aisan Akhgari
- Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Golgasht Street, Tabriz 5166616471, Iran
| | - Tanja Maria Michel
- Research Unit for Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, J. B. Winsløws Vej 4, Odense 5000, Denmark
- Clinical Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, Odense 5230, Denmark
| | - Manouchehr Seyedi Vafaee
- Research Unit for Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, J. B. Winsløws Vej 4, Odense 5000, Denmark
- Clinical Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, Odense 5230, Denmark
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Rubio T, Campos-Rodríguez Á, Sanz P. Beneficial Effect of Fingolimod in a Lafora Disease Mouse Model by Preventing Reactive Astrogliosis-Derived Neuroinflammation and Brain Infiltration of T-lymphocytes. Mol Neurobiol 2024; 61:3105-3120. [PMID: 37971656 PMCID: PMC11087365 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-023-03766-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Lafora disease (LD; OMIM#254780) is a rare, devastating, and fatal form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy that affects young adolescents and has no treatment yet. One of the hallmarks of the disease is the accumulation of aberrant poorly branched forms of glycogen (polyglucosans, PGs) in the brain and peripheral tissues. The current hypothesis is that this accumulation is causative of the pathophysiology of the disease. Another hallmark of LD is the presence of neuroinflammation. We have recently reported the presence of reactive glia-derived neuroinflammation in LD mouse models and defined the main inflammatory pathways that operate in these mice, mainly TNF and IL-6 signaling pathways. In addition, we described the presence of infiltration of peripheral immune cells in the brain parenchyma, which could cooperate and aggravate the neuroinflammatory landscape of LD. In this work, we have checked the beneficial effect of two compounds with the capacity to ameliorate neuroinflammation and reduce leukocyte infiltration into the brain, namely fingolimod and dimethyl fumarate. Our results indicate a beneficial effect of fingolimod in reducing reactive astrogliosis-derived neuroinflammation and T-lymphocyte infiltration, which correlated with the improved behavioral performance of the treated Epm2b-/- mice. On the contrary, dimethyl fumarate, although it was able to reduce reactive astrogliosis, was less effective in preventing neuroinflammation and T-lymphocyte infiltration and in modifying behavioral tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Rubio
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Jaime Roig 11, 46010, Valencia, Spain
| | - Ángela Campos-Rodríguez
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Jaime Roig 11, 46010, Valencia, Spain
| | - Pascual Sanz
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Jaime Roig 11, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), 46010, Valencia, Spain.
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Sun X, Wang T. Research progress on the pathogenesis of CDKL5 pathogenic variants and related encephalopathy. Eur J Pediatr 2023:10.1007/s00431-023-05006-z. [PMID: 37166538 DOI: 10.1007/s00431-023-05006-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) is a gene encoding a serine/threonine kinase that possesses an N-terminal catalytic domain and a large C-terminal domain and is located on the short arm of the X-chromosome at position 22 (Xp22). CDKL5 regulates neuronal migration, axonal growth, dendritic morphogenesis, and synaptic development and affects synaptic function. Pathogenic variants include deletions, truncations, splice variants, and missense variants. The specificity of CDKL5 is mainly determined by the shared sequence of amino acid residues, which is the phosphorylation site of the target protein with the motif Arg-Pro-X-Ser/Thr-Ala/Pro/Gly/Ser (R-P-X-[S/T]-[A/G/P/S]). Developmental encephalopathy caused by pathogenic variants of CDKL5 has a variety of nervous system symptoms, such as epilepsy, hypotonia, growth retardation, dyskinesia, cortical visual impairment, sleep disorders, and other clinical symptoms. This review summarizes the mechanism of CDKL5-induced allogeneic lesions in the nervous system and the clinical manifestations of related encephalopathy. Conclusion: This review clarifies CDKL5's participation in neurodevelopmental diseases as well as its crucial function in dividing cells, cultured neurons, knockout mice, and human iPSC-derived neurons. CDKL5 variants help identify clinical diagnostic biomarkers. Although a few direct substrates of CDKL5 have been identified, more must be found in order to fully comprehend the signaling pathways connected to CDKL5 in the brain and the mechanisms that underlie its activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuyan Sun
- Department of Neurology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Tiancheng Wang
- Department of Neurology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
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Mollá B, Heredia M, Campos Á, Sanz P. Pharmacological Modulation of Glutamatergic and Neuroinflammatory Pathways in a Lafora Disease Mouse Model. Mol Neurobiol 2022; 59:6018-6032. [PMID: 35835895 PMCID: PMC9463199 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-022-02956-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Lafora disease (LD) is a fatal rare neurodegenerative disorder that affects young adolescents and has no treatment yet. The hallmark of LD is the presence of polyglucosan inclusions (PGs), called Lafora bodies (LBs), in the brain and peripheral tissues. LD is caused by mutations in either EPM2A or EPM2B genes, which, respectively, encode laforin, a glucan phosphatase, and malin, an E3-ubiquitin ligase, with identical clinical features. LD knockout mouse models (Epm2a - / - and Epm2b - / -) recapitulate PG body accumulation, as in the human pathology, and display alterations in glutamatergic transmission and neuroinflammatory pathways in the brain. In this work, we show the results of four pre-clinical trials based on the modulation of glutamatergic transmission (riluzole and memantine) and anti-neuroinflammatory interventions (resveratrol and minocycline) as therapeutical strategies in an Epm2b - / - mouse model. Drugs were administered in mice from 3 to 5 months of age, corresponding to early stage of the disease, and we evaluated the beneficial effect of the drugs by in vivo behavioral phenotyping and ex vivo histopathological brain analyses. The behavioral assessment was based on a battery of anxiety, cognitive, and neurodegenerative tests and the histopathological analyses included a panel of markers regarding PG accumulation, astrogliosis, and microgliosis. Overall, the outcome of ameliorating the excessive glutamatergic neurotransmission present in Epm2b - / - mice by memantine displayed therapeutic effectiveness at the behavioral levels. Modulation of neuroinflammation by resveratrol and minocycline also showed beneficial effects at the behavioral level. Therefore, our study suggests that both therapeutical strategies could be beneficial for the treatment of LD patients. A mouse model of Lafora disease (Epm2b-/-) was used to check the putative beneficial effect of different drugs aimed to ameliorate the alterations in glutamatergic transmission and/or neuroinflammation present in the model. Drugs in blue gave a more positive outcome than the rest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belén Mollá
- Laboratory of Nutrient Signaling, Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (CSIC), Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Miguel Heredia
- Laboratory of Nutrient Signaling, Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (CSIC), Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Ángela Campos
- Laboratory of Nutrient Signaling, Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (CSIC), Valencia, Spain
| | - Pascual Sanz
- Laboratory of Nutrient Signaling, Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (CSIC), Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), 46010 Valencia, Spain
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Jaime Roig 11, 46010 Valencia, Spain
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Mitra S, Gumusgoz E, Minassian BA. Lafora disease: Current biology and therapeutic approaches. Rev Neurol (Paris) 2021; 178:315-325. [PMID: 34301405 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2021.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Revised: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The ubiquitin system impacts most cellular processes and is altered in numerous neurodegenerative diseases. However, little is known about its role in neurodegenerative diseases due to disturbances of glycogen metabolism such as Lafora disease (LD). In LD, insufficiently branched and long-chained glycogen forms and precipitates into insoluble polyglucosan bodies (Lafora bodies), which drive neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and epilepsy. LD is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the glycogen phosphatase laforin or the gene coding for the laforin interacting partner ubiquitin E3 ligase malin. The role of the malin-laforin complex in regulating glycogen structure remains with full of gaps. In this review we bring together the disparate body of data on these two proteins and propose a mechanistic hypothesis of the disease in which malin-laforin's role to monitor and prevent over-elongation of glycogen branch chains, which drive glycogen molecules to precipitate and accumulate into Lafora bodies. We also review proposed connections between Lafora bodies and the ensuing neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and intractable epilepsy. Finally, we review the exciting activities in developing therapies for Lafora disease based on replacing the missing genes, slowing the enzyme - glycogen synthase - that over-elongates glycogen branches, and introducing enzymes that can digest Lafora bodies. Much more work is needed to fill the gaps in glycogen metabolism in which laforin and malin operate. However, knowledge appears already adequate to advance disease course altering therapies for this catastrophic fatal disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Mitra
- Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - E Gumusgoz
- Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - B A Minassian
- Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
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Mollá B, Heredia M, Sanz P. Modulators of Neuroinflammation Have a Beneficial Effect in a Lafora Disease Mouse Model. Mol Neurobiol 2021; 58:2508-2522. [PMID: 33447969 PMCID: PMC8167455 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-021-02285-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Lafora disease (LD; OMIM#274780) is a fatal rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by generalized epileptic seizures and the presence of polyglucosan inclusions (PGs), called Lafora bodies (LBs), typically in the brain. LD is caused by mutations in two genes EPM2A or EPM2B, which encode respectively laforin, a glucan phosphatase, and malin, an E3-ubiquitin ligase. Much remains unknown about the molecular bases of LD and, unfortunately, appropriate treatment is still missing; therefore patients die within 10 years from the onset of the disease. Recently, we have identified neuroinflammation as one of the initial determinants in LD. In this work, we have investigated anti-inflammatory treatments as potential therapies in LD. With this aim, we have performed a preclinical study in an Epm2b-/- mouse model with propranolol, a β-adrenergic antagonist, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an antioxidant from green tea extract, both of which displaying additional anti-inflammatory properties. In vivo motor and cognitive behavioral tests and ex vivo histopathological brain analyses were used as parameters to assess the therapeutic potential of propranolol and EGCG. After 2 months of treatment, we observed an improvement not only in attention defects but also in neuronal disorganization, astrogliosis, and microgliosis present in the hippocampus of Epm2b-/- mice. In general, propranolol intervention was more effective than EGCG in preventing the appearance of astrocyte and microglia reactivity. In summary, our results confirm the potential therapeutic effectiveness of the modulators of inflammation as novel treatments in Lafora disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Belén Mollá
- Laboratory of Nutrient Signaling, Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (CSIC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Jaime Roig 11, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), 46010, Valencia, Spain.
| | - Miguel Heredia
- Laboratory of Nutrient Signaling, Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (CSIC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Jaime Roig 11, 46010, Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), 46010, Valencia, Spain
| | - Pascual Sanz
- Laboratory of Nutrient Signaling, Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia (CSIC), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Jaime Roig 11, 46010, Valencia, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), 46010, Valencia, Spain
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