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Iacovitti L. On the Road from Phenotypic Plasticity to Stem Cell Therapy. J Neurosci 2021; 41:5331-5337. [PMID: 33958488 PMCID: PMC8221603 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0340-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Revised: 04/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In 1981, I published a paper in the first issue of The Journal of Neuroscience with my postdoctoral mentor, Richard Bunge. At that time, the long-standing belief that each neuron expressed only one neurotransmitter, known as Dale's Principle (Dale, 1935), was being hotly debated following a report by French embryologist Nicole Le Douarin showing that neural crest cells destined for one transmitter phenotype could express characteristics of another if transplanted to alternate sites in the developing embryo (Le Douarin, 1980). In the Bunge laboratory, we were able to more directly test the question of phenotypic plasticity in the controlled environment of the tissue culture dish. Thus, in our paper, we grew autonomic catecholaminergic neurons in culture under conditions which promoted the acquisition of cholinergic traits and showed that cells did not abandon their inherited phenotype to adopt a new one but instead were capable of dual transmitter expression. In this Progressions article, I detail the path that led to these findings and how this study impacted the direction I followed for the next 40 years. This is my journey from phenotypic plasticity to the promise of a stem cell therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorraine Iacovitti
- Department of Neuroscience, Director, Jefferson Stem Cell and Regenerative Neuroscience Center, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107
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Persistent peripheral presence of Staphylococcus aureus promotes histone H3 hypoacetylation and decreases tyrosine hydroxylase protein level in rat brain tissues. Neuroreport 2019; 30:1087-1094. [PMID: 31503205 DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0000000000001322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Growing evidences suggest systemic pathogen-induced neuroimmune interaction is a major risk factor for several neurological disorders. Our goal was to investigate whether asymptomatic peripheral carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, a widespread opportunistic pathogen, could modulate selective molecular features in brain tissues. METHODS To address this, a peripheral infection model was developed by challenging Wistar rats repeatedly with a clinical strain of S. aureus. Animals infected with S. aureus (10 CFU for three times in 10 days) showed significant changes in acetylation profile of selective lysine (K) residues K9 (H3K9), K14 (H3K14) and K27 (H3K27) of histone H3 in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC). RESULTS Although S. aureus was restricted peripherally, the infection induced hypoacetylation of H3K9, H3K14 and H3K27 in the hippocampus and H3K27 in the PFC. Histone H3 hypoacetylation in the hippocampus and PFC was also detected when rats were challenged with an engineered invasive strain of E. coli K12, SK3842. This confirmed that modulation of epigenetic landscape in distal brain tissues may not be specific to S. aureus. Moreover, the tyrosine hydroxylase protein, the rate limiting enzyme in dopamine synthesis pathway whose gene-expression is regulated by H3 acetylation at the promoter, was remarkably reduced in the brain tissues of the infected hosts. CONCLUSION The results indicate that commensals like S. aureus, in spite of being largely restricted to the peripheral tissues, could modulate the homeostasis of molecular features in brain tissues whose maintenance is critical for preserving normal neurological functions.
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Kumar AS, Jagadeeshan S, Subramanian A, Chidambaram SB, Surabhi RP, Singhal M, Bhoopalan H, Sekar S, Pitani RS, Duvuru P, Venkatraman G, Rayala SK. Molecular Mechanism of Regulation of MTA1 Expression by Granulocyte Colony-stimulating Factor. J Biol Chem 2016; 291:12310-21. [PMID: 27044752 PMCID: PMC4933278 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m115.707224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2016] [Revised: 03/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with loss of dopaminergic neurons of the brain, which results in insufficient synthesis and action of dopamine. Metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) is an upstream modulator of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine synthesis, and hence MTA1 plays a significant role in PD pathogenesis. To impart functional and clinical significance to MTA1, we analyzed MTA1 and TH levels in the substantia nigra region of a large cohort of human brain tissue samples by Western blotting, quantitative PCR, and immunohistochemistry. Our results showed that MTA1 and TH levels were significantly down-regulated in PD samples as compared with normal brain tissue. Correspondingly, immunohistochemistry analysis for MTA1 in substantia nigra sections revealed that 74.1% of the samples had a staining intensity of <6 in the PD samples as compared with controls, 25.9%, with an odds ratio of 8.54. Because of the clinical importance of MTA1 established in PD, we looked at agents to modulate MTA1 expression in neuronal cells, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) was chosen, due to its clinically proven neurogenic effects. Treatment of the human neuronal cell line KELLY and acute 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine mouse model with G-CSF showed significant induction of MTA1 and TH with rescue of phenotype in the mouse model. Interestingly, the observed induction of TH was compromised on silencing of MTA1. The underlying molecular mechanism of MTA1 induction by G-CSF was proved to be through induction of c-Fos and its recruitment to the MTA1 promoter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arathy S Kumar
- From the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Chennai 600 036 and
| | - Sankar Jagadeeshan
- From the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Chennai 600 036 and
| | - Anirudh Subramanian
- From the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Chennai 600 036 and
| | | | | | - Mahak Singhal
- From the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Chennai 600 036 and
| | | | - Sathiya Sekar
- the Centre for Toxicology and Developmental Research (CEFT)
| | | | - Prathiba Duvuru
- Pathology, Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, Chennai 600 116, India
| | | | - Suresh K Rayala
- From the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Chennai 600 036 and
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Dynamic Trk and G Protein Signalings Regulate Dopaminergic Neurodifferentiation in Human Trophoblast Stem Cells. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0143852. [PMID: 26606046 PMCID: PMC4659658 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2015] [Accepted: 11/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms in the generation of neural stem cells from pluripotent stem cells is a fundamental step towards successful management of neurodegenerative diseases in translational medicine. Albeit all-trans retinoic acid (RA) has been associated with axon outgrowth and nerve regeneration, the maintenance of differentiated neurons, the association with degenerative disease like Parkinson's disease, and its regulatory molecular mechanism from pluripotent stem cells to neural stem cells remain fragmented. We have previously reported that RA is capable of differentiation of human trophoblast stem cells to dopamine (DA) committed progenitor cells. Intracranial implantation of such neural progenitor cells into the 6-OHDA-lesioned substantia nigra pars compacta successfully regenerates dopaminergic neurons and integrity of the nigrostriatal pathway, ameliorating the behavioral deficits in the Parkinson’s disease rat model. Here, we demonstrated a dynamic molecular network in systematic analysis by addressing spatiotemporal molecular expression, intracellular protein-protein interaction and inhibition, imaging study, and genetic expression to explore the regulatory mechanisms of RA induction in the differentiation of human trophoblast stem cells to DA committed progenitor cells. We focused on the tyrosine receptor kinase (Trk), G proteins, canonical Wnt2B/β-catenin, genomic and non-genomic RA signaling transductions with Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene expression as the differentiation endpoint. We found that at the early stage, integration of TrkA and G protein signalings aims for axonogenesis and morphogenesis, involving the novel RXRα/Gαq/11 and RARβ/Gβ signaling pathways. While at the later stage, five distinct signaling pathways together with epigenetic histone modifications emerged to regulate expression of TH, a precursor of dopamine. RA induction generated DA committed progenitor cells in one day. Our results provided substantial mechanistic evidence that human trophoblast stem cell-derived neural stem cells can potentially be used for neurobiological study, drug discovery, and as an alternative source of cell-based therapy in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease.
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Complex molecular regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2014; 121:1451-81. [PMID: 24866693 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-014-1238-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2014] [Accepted: 05/04/2014] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in catecholamine biosynthesis, is strictly controlled by several interrelated regulatory mechanisms. Enzyme synthesis is controlled by epigenetic factors, transcription factors, and mRNA levels. Enzyme activity is regulated by end-product feedback inhibition. Phosphorylation of the enzyme is catalyzed by several protein kinases and dephosphorylation is mediated by two protein phosphatases that establish a sensitive process for regulating enzyme activity on a minute-to-minute basis. Interactions between tyrosine hydroxylase and other proteins introduce additional layers to the already tightly controlled production of catecholamines. Tyrosine hydroxylase degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome coupled pathway represents yet another mechanism of regulation. Here, we revisit the myriad mechanisms that regulate tyrosine hydroxylase expression and activity and highlight their physiological importance in the control of catecholamine biosynthesis.
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Busceti CL, Bucci D, Molinaro G, Di Pietro P, Zangrandi L, Gradini R, Moratalla R, Battaglia G, Bruno V, Nicoletti F, Fornai F. Lack or inhibition of dopaminergic stimulation induces a development increase of striatal tyrosine hydroxylase-positive interneurons. PLoS One 2012; 7:e44025. [PMID: 23028485 PMCID: PMC3445593 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2012] [Accepted: 08/01/2012] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
We examined the role of endogenous dopamine (DA) in regulating the number of intrinsic tyrosine hydroxylase-positive (TH(+)) striatal neurons using mice at postnatal day (PND) 4 to 8, a period that corresponds to the developmental peak in the number of these neurons. We adopted the strategy of depleting endogenous DA by a 2-day treatment with α-methyl-p-tyrosine (αMpT, 150 mg/kg, i.p.). This treatment markedly increased the number of striatal TH(+) neurons, assessed by stereological counting, and the increase was highly correlated to the extent of DA loss. Interestingly, TH(+) neurons were found closer to the clusters of DA fibers after DA depletion, indicating that the concentration gradient of extracellular DA critically regulates the distribution of striatal TH(+) neurons. A single i.p. injection of the D1 receptor antagonist, SCH23390 (0.1 mg/kg), the D2/D3 receptor antagonist, raclopride (0.1 mg/kg), or the D4 receptor antagonist, L-745,870 (5 mg/kg) in mice at PND4 also increased the number of TH(+) neurons after 4 days. Treatment with the D1-like receptor agonist SKF38393 (10 mg/kg) or with the D2-like receptor agonist, quinpirole (1 mg/kg) did not change the number of TH(+) neurons. At least the effects of SCH23390 were prevented by a combined treatment with SKF38393. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that striatal TH(+) neurons expressed D2 and D4 receptors, but not D1 receptors. Moreover, treatment with the α4β2 receptor antagonist dihydro-β-erythroidine (DHβE) (3.2 mg/kg) also increased the number of TH(+) neurons. The evidence that DHβE mimicked the action of SCH23390 in increasing the number of TH(+) neurons supports the hypothesis that activation of D1 receptors controls the number of striatal TH(+) neurons by enhancing the release of acetylcholine. These data demonstrate for the first time that endogenous DA negatively regulates the number of striatal TH(+) neurons by direct and indirect mechanisms mediated by multiple DA receptor subtypes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Roberto Gradini
- IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University “Sapienza”, Roma, Italy
| | - Rosario Moratalla
- Department of Functional and Systems Neurobiology, Istituto Cajal CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Valeria Bruno
- IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University “Sapienza”, Roma, Italy
| | - Ferdinando Nicoletti
- IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University “Sapienza”, Roma, Italy
| | - Francesco Fornai
- IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, Italy
- Department of Human Morphology and Applied Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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Czech DP, Lee J, Sim H, Parish CL, Vilain E, Harley VR. The human testis-determining factor SRY localizes in midbrain dopamine neurons and regulates multiple components of catecholamine synthesis and metabolism. J Neurochem 2012; 122:260-71. [PMID: 22568433 DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2012.07782.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The male gender is determined by the sex-determining region on the Y chromosome (SRY) transcription factor. The unexpected action of SRY in the control of voluntary movement in male rodents suggests a role in the regulation of dopamine transmission and dopamine-related disorders with gender bias, such as Parkinson's disease. We investigated SRY expression in the human brain and function in vitro. SRY immunoreactivity was detected in the human male, but not female substantia nigra pars compacta, within a sub-population of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) positive neurons. SRY protein also co-localized with TH positive neurons in the ventral tegmental area, and with GAD-positive neurons in the substantia nigra pars reticulata. Retinoic acid-induced differentiation of human precursor NT2 cells into dopaminergic cells increased expression of TH, NURR1, D2 R and SRY. In the human neuroblastoma cell line, M17, SRY knockdown resulted in a reduction in TH, DDC, DBH and MAO-A expression; enzymes which control dopamine synthesis and metabolism. Conversely, SRY over-expression increased TH, DDC, DBH, D2 R and MAO-A levels, accompanied by increased extracellular dopamine levels. A luciferase assay demonstrated that SRY activated a 4.6 kb 5' upstream regulatory region of the human TH promoter/nigral enhancer. Combined, these results suggest that SRY plays a role as a positive regulator of catecholamine synthesis and metabolism in the human male midbrain. This ancillary genetic mechanism might contribute to gender bias in fight-flight behaviours in men or their increased susceptibility to dopamine disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel P Czech
- Molecular Genetics & Development Division, Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research, Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne, Australia
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Baron O, Förthmann B, Lee YW, Terranova C, Ratzka A, Stachowiak EK, Grothe C, Claus P, Stachowiak MK. Cooperation of nuclear fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 and Nurr1 offers new interactive mechanism in postmitotic development of mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons. J Biol Chem 2012; 287:19827-40. [PMID: 22514272 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m112.347831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Experiments in mice deficient for Nurr1 or expressing the dominant-negative FGF receptor (FGFR) identified orphan nuclear receptor Nurr1 and FGFR1 as essential factors in development of mesencephalic dopaminergic (mDA) neurons. FGFR1 affects brain cell development by two distinct mechanisms. Activation of cell surface FGFR1 by secreted FGFs stimulates proliferation of neural progenitor cells, whereas direct integrative nuclear FGFR1 signaling (INFS) is associated with an exit from the cell cycle and neuronal differentiation. Both Nurr1 and INFS activate expression of neuronal genes, such as tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), which is the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine synthesis. Here, we show that nuclear FGFR1 and Nurr1 are expressed in the nuclei of developing TH-positive cells in the embryonic ventral midbrain. Both nuclear receptors were effectively co-immunoprecipitated from the ventral midbrain of FGF-2-deficient embryonic mice, which previously showed an increase of mDA neurons and enhanced nuclear FGFR1 accumulation. Immunoprecipitation and co-localization experiments showed the presence of Nurr1 and FGFR1 in common nuclear protein complexes. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated the Nurr1-mediated shift of nuclear FGFR1-EGFP mobility toward a transcriptionally active population and that both Nurr1 and FGFR1 bind to a common region in the TH gene promoter. Furthermore, nuclear FGFR1 or its 23-kDa FGF-2 ligand (FGF-2(23)) enhances Nurr1-dependent activation of the TH gene promoter. Transcriptional cooperation of FGFR1 with Nurr1 was confirmed on isolated Nurr1-binding elements. The proposed INFS/Nurr1 nuclear partnership provides a novel mechanism for TH gene regulation in mDA neurons and a potential therapeutic target in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Baron
- Institute of Neuroanatomy, Hannover Medical School, 30625 Hannover, Germany
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Lenartowski R, Goc A. Epigenetic, transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of the tyrosine hydroxylase gene. Int J Dev Neurosci 2011; 29:873-83. [PMID: 21803145 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2011.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2011] [Accepted: 07/14/2011] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH, EC 1.14.16.2) gene and protein determines the catecholamine level, which, in turn, is crucial for the organism homeostasis. The TH gene expression is regulated by near all possible regulatory mechanisms on epigenetic, transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. Ongoing molecular characteristic of the TH gene reveals some of the cis and trans elements necessary for its proper expression but most of them especially these responsible for tissue specific expression remain still obscure. This review will focus on some aspects of TH regulation including spatial chromatin organization of the TH locus and TH gene, regulatory elements mediating basal, induced and cell-specific activity, transcriptional elongation, alternative TH RNA processing, and the regulation of TH RNA stability in the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Lenartowski
- Nicolaus Copernicus University, Institute of General and Molecular Biology, Department of Genetics, Gagarina 9, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
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Multiple coregulatory control of tyrosine hydroxylase gene transcription. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2011; 108:4200-5. [PMID: 21368136 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1101193108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite ubiquitous expression and a high level of metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) coregulator, the physiological role of the MTA1 coactivator remains unknown. We found that MTA1 is a bona fide coactivator and stimulator of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) transcription in neuronal cells and that MTA1-null mice had lower TH expression in the striatum and substantial nigra. MTA1 physically achieves these functions by interacting directly with DJ1 (Parkinson disease 7) and in turn recruits the DJ1/MTA1/RNA polymerase II complex to the bicoid binding element (BBE) in the TH promoter. Furthermore, we found that the MTA1/DJ1 complex is required for optimum stimulation of the TH expression by paired like homeodomain transcription factor (Pitx3) homeodomain transcription factor and that the MTA1/DJ1 complex is recruited to the TH gene chromatin via the direct interaction of MTA1 with Pitx3. These findings reveal a role for MTA1 as an upstream coactivator of TH and advance the notion of polygenic regulation of a disease-causing gene by coordinated interactions of three regulatory proteins.
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