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Artimagnella O, Mazzon E, Salamone S, Pollastro F, Gugliandolo A, Chiricosta L. Cannabinerol (CBNR) Influences Synaptic Genes Associated with Cytoskeleton and Ion Channels in NSC-34 Cell Line: A Transcriptomic Study. Biomedicines 2024; 12:189. [PMID: 38255294 PMCID: PMC10813620 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12010189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Cannabinoids are receiving great attention as a novel approach in the treatment of cognitive and motor disabilities, which characterize neurological disorders. To date, over 100 phytocannabinoids have been extracted from Cannabis sativa, and some of them have shown neuroprotective properties and the capacity to influence synaptic transmission. In this study, we investigated the effects of a less-known phytocannabinoid, cannabinerol (CBNR), on neuronal physiology. Using the NSC-34 motor-neuron-like cell line and next-generation sequencing analysis, we discovered that CBNR influences synaptic genes associated with synapse organization and specialization, including genes related to the cytoskeleton and ion channels. Specifically, the calcium, sodium, and potassium channel subunits (Cacna1b, Cacna1c, Cacnb1, Grin1, Scn8a, Kcnc1, Kcnj9) were upregulated, along with genes related to NMDAR (Agap3, Syngap1) and calcium (Cabp1, Camkv) signaling. Moreover, cytoskeletal and cytoskeleton-associated genes (Actn2, Ina, Trio, Marcks, Bsn, Rtn4, Dgkz, Htt) were also regulated by CBNR. These findings highlight the important role played by CBNR in the regulation of synaptogenesis and synaptic transmission, suggesting the need for further studies to evaluate the neuroprotective role of CBNR in the treatment of synaptic dysfunctions that characterize motor disabilities in many neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Osvaldo Artimagnella
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi “Bonino-Pulejo”, Via Provinciale Palermo, Contrada Casazza, 98124 Messina, Italy (E.M.)
| | - Emanuela Mazzon
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi “Bonino-Pulejo”, Via Provinciale Palermo, Contrada Casazza, 98124 Messina, Italy (E.M.)
| | - Stefano Salamone
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Eastern Piedmont, Largo Donegani 2, 28100 Novara, Italy; (S.S.); (F.P.)
| | - Federica Pollastro
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Eastern Piedmont, Largo Donegani 2, 28100 Novara, Italy; (S.S.); (F.P.)
| | - Agnese Gugliandolo
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi “Bonino-Pulejo”, Via Provinciale Palermo, Contrada Casazza, 98124 Messina, Italy (E.M.)
| | - Luigi Chiricosta
- IRCCS Centro Neurolesi “Bonino-Pulejo”, Via Provinciale Palermo, Contrada Casazza, 98124 Messina, Italy (E.M.)
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2
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White A, McGlone A, Gomez-Pastor R. Protein Kinase CK2 and Its Potential Role as a Therapeutic Target in Huntington's Disease. Biomedicines 2022; 10:1979. [PMID: 36009526 PMCID: PMC9406209 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10081979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's Disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the HTT gene, for which no disease modifying therapies are currently available. Much of the recent research has focused on developing therapies to directly lower HTT expression, and while promising, these therapies have presented several challenges regarding administration and efficacy. Another promising therapeutic approach is the modulation of HTT post-translational modifications (PTMs) that are dysregulated in disease and have shown to play a key role in HTT toxicity. Among all PTMs, modulation of HTT phosphorylation has been proposed as an attractive therapeutic option due to the possibility of orally administering specific kinase effectors. One of the kinases described to participate in HTT phosphorylation is Protein Kinase CK2. CK2 has recently emerged as a target for the treatment of several neurological and psychiatric disorders, although its role in HD remains controversial. While pharmacological studies in vitro inhibiting CK2 resulted in reduced HTT phosphorylation and increased toxicity, genetic approaches in mouse models of HD have provided beneficial effects. In this review we discuss potential therapeutic approaches related to the manipulation of HTT-PTMs with special emphasis on the role of CK2 as a therapeutic target in HD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Rocio Gomez-Pastor
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
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3
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Petersen MH, Willert CW, Andersen JV, Madsen M, Waagepetersen HS, Skotte NH, Nørremølle A. Progressive Mitochondrial Dysfunction of Striatal Synapses in R6/2 Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease. J Huntingtons Dis 2022; 11:121-140. [PMID: 35311711 DOI: 10.3233/jhd-210518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by synaptic dysfunction and loss of white matter volume especially in the striatum of the basal ganglia and to a lesser extent in the cerebral cortex. Studies investigating heterogeneity between synaptic and non-synaptic mitochondria have revealed a pronounced vulnerability of synaptic mitochondria, which may lead to synaptic dysfunction and loss. OBJECTIVE As mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of HD pathogenesis, we investigated synaptic mitochondrial function from striatum and cortex of the transgenic R6/2 mouse model of HD. METHODS We assessed mitochondrial volume, ROS production, and antioxidant levels as well as mitochondrial respiration at different pathological stages. RESULTS Our results reveal that striatal synaptic mitochondria are more severely affected by HD pathology than those of the cortex. Striatal synaptosomes of R6/2 mice displayed a reduction in mitochondrial mass coinciding with increased ROS production and antioxidants levels indicating prolonged oxidative stress. Furthermore, synaptosomal oxygen consumption rates were significantly increased during depolarizing conditions, which was accompanied by a marked increase in mitochondrial proton leak of the striatal synaptosomes, indicating synaptic mitochondrial stress. CONCLUSION Overall, our study provides new insight into the gradual changes of synaptic mitochondrial function in HD and suggests compensatory mitochondrial actions to maintain energy production in the HD brain, thereby supporting that mitochondrial dysfunction do indeed play a central role in early disease progression of HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Hvidberg Petersen
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Jens Velde Andersen
- Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mette Madsen
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Niels Henning Skotte
- Proteomics Program, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Protein Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anne Nørremølle
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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4
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Barron JC, Hurley EP, Parsons MP. Huntingtin and the Synapse. Front Cell Neurosci 2021; 15:689332. [PMID: 34211373 PMCID: PMC8239291 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2021.689332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington disease (HD) is a monogenic disease that results in a combination of motor, psychiatric and cognitive symptoms. HD is caused by a CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene, which results in the production of a pathogenic mutant HTT protein (mHTT). Although there is no cure at present for HD, a number of RNA-targeting therapies have recently entered clinical trials which aim to lower mHTT production through the use of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and RNAi. However, many of these treatment strategies are non-selective in that they cannot differentiate between non-pathogenic wild type HTT (wtHTT) and the mHTT variant. As HD patients are already born with decreased levels of wtHTT, these genetic therapies may result in critically low levels of wtHTT. The consequence of wtHTT reduction in the adult brain is currently under debate, and here we argue that wtHTT loss is not well-tolerated at the synaptic level. Synaptic dysfunction is an extremely sensitive measure of subsequent cell death, and is known to precede neurodegeneration in numerous brain diseases including HD. The present review focuses on the prominent role of wtHTT at the synapse and considers the consequences of wtHTT loss on both pre- and postsynaptic function. We discuss how wtHTT is implicated in virtually all major facets of synaptic neurotransmission including anterograde and retrograde transport of proteins to/from terminal buttons and dendrites, neurotransmitter release, endocytic vesicle recycling, and postsynaptic receptor localization and recycling. We conclude that wtHTT presence is essential for proper synaptic function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica C Barron
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Emily P Hurley
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Matthew P Parsons
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University, St. John's, NL, Canada
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5
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Abstract
Mass spectrometry (MS) is a physical technique used to identify specific chemicals and molecules by precise analysis of their mass and charge; this technology has been adapted for biological sciences applications. Investigators have used MS to identify differential expressions of proteins in Huntington’s disease (HD), to discover Huntingtin (HTT) interacting proteins and to analyze HTT proteoforms. Using systems biology and computational approaches, data from MS screens have been leveraged to find differentially expressed pathways. This review summarizes the data from most of the MS studies done in the HD field in the last 20 years and compares it to the protein data reported before the use of MS technology. The MS results validate early findings in the field such as differential expression of PDE10a and DARPP-32 and identify new changes. We offer a perspective on the MS approach in HD, particularly for identification of disease pathways, the challenges in interpreting data across different studies, and its application to protein studies moving forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Connor Seeley
- Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - Kimberly B Kegel-Gleason
- Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
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6
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Iuliano M, Seeley C, Sapp E, Jones EL, Martin C, Li X, DiFiglia M, Kegel-Gleason KB. Disposition of Proteins and Lipids in Synaptic Membrane Compartments Is Altered in Q175/Q7 Huntington's Disease Mouse Striatum. Front Synaptic Neurosci 2021; 13:618391. [PMID: 33815086 PMCID: PMC8013775 DOI: 10.3389/fnsyn.2021.618391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Dysfunction at synapses is thought to be an early change contributing to cognitive, psychiatric and motor disturbances in Huntington's disease (HD). In neurons, mutant Huntingtin collects in aggregates and distributes to the same sites as wild-type Huntingtin including on membranes and in synapses. In this study, we investigated the biochemical integrity of synapses in HD mouse striatum. We performed subcellular fractionation of striatal tissue from 2 and 6-month old knock-in Q175/Q7 HD and Q7/Q7 mice. Compared to striata of Q7/Q7 mice, proteins including GLUT3, Na+/K+ ATPase, NMDAR 2b, PSD95, and VGLUT1 had altered distribution in Q175/Q7 HD striata of 6-month old mice but not 2-month old mice. These proteins are found on plasma membranes and pre- and postsynaptic membranes supporting hypotheses that functional changes at synapses contribute to cognitive and behavioral symptoms of HD. Lipidomic analysis of mouse fractions indicated that compared to those of wild-type, fractions 1 and 2 of 6 months Q175/Q7 HD had altered levels of two species of PIP2, a phospholipid involved in synaptic signaling, increased levels of cholesterol ester and decreased cardiolipin species. At 2 months, increased levels of species of acylcarnitine, phosphatidic acid and sphingomyelin were measured. EM analysis showed that the contents of fractions 1 and 2 of Q7/Q7 and Q175/Q7 HD striata had a mix of isolated synaptic vesicles, vesicle filled axon terminals singly or in clusters, and ER and endosome-like membranes. However, those of Q175/Q7 striata contained significantly fewer and larger clumps of particles compared to those of Q7/Q7. Human HD postmortem putamen showed differences from control putamen in subcellular distribution of two proteins (Calnexin and GLUT3). Our biochemical, lipidomic and EM analysis show that the presence of the HD mutation conferred age dependent disruption of localization of synaptic proteins and lipids important for synaptic function. Our data demonstrate concrete biochemical changes suggesting altered integrity of synaptic compartments in HD mice that may mirror changes in HD patients and presage cognitive and psychiatric changes that occur in premanifest HD.
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Overhoff M, De Bruyckere E, Kononenko NL. Mechanisms of neuronal survival safeguarded by endocytosis and autophagy. J Neurochem 2020; 157:263-296. [PMID: 32964462 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 08/21/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Multiple aspects of neuronal physiology crucially depend on two cellular pathways, autophagy and endocytosis. During endocytosis, extracellular components either unbound or recognized by membrane-localized receptors (termed "cargo") become internalized into plasma membrane-derived vesicles. These can serve to either recycle the material back to the plasma membrane or send it for degradation to lysosomes. Autophagy also uses lysosomes as a terminal degradation point, although instead of degrading the plasma membrane-derived cargo, autophagy eliminates detrimental cytosolic material and intracellular organelles, which are transported to lysosomes by means of double-membrane vesicles, referred to as autophagosomes. Neurons, like all non-neuronal cells, capitalize on autophagy and endocytosis to communicate with the environment and maintain protein and organelle homeostasis. Additionally, the highly polarized, post-mitotic nature of neurons made them adopt these two pathways for cell-specific functions. These include the maintenance of the synaptic vesicle pool in the pre-synaptic terminal and the long-distance transport of signaling molecules. Originally discovered independently from each other, it is now clear that autophagy and endocytosis are closely interconnected and share several common participating molecules. Considering the crucial role of autophagy and endocytosis in cell type-specific functions in neurons, it is not surprising that defects in both pathways have been linked to the pathology of numerous neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we highlight the recent knowledge of the role of endocytosis and autophagy in neurons with a special focus on synaptic physiology and discuss how impairments in genes coding for autophagy and endocytosis proteins can cause neurodegeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melina Overhoff
- CECAD Cluster of Excellence, Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Elodie De Bruyckere
- CECAD Cluster of Excellence, Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Natalia L Kononenko
- CECAD Cluster of Excellence, Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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8
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Huang TT, Smith R, Bacos K, Song DY, Faull RM, Waldvogel HJ, Li JY. No symphony without bassoon and piccolo: changes in synaptic active zone proteins in Huntington's disease. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2020; 8:77. [PMID: 32493491 PMCID: PMC7268643 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-020-00949-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Prominent features of HD neuropathology are the intranuclear and cytoplasmic inclusions of huntingtin and striatal and cortical neuronal cell death. Recently, synaptic defects have been reported on HD-related studies, including impairment of neurotransmitter release and alterations of synaptic components. However, the definite characteristics of synapse dysfunction and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. We studied the gene expression levels and patterns of a number of proteins forming the cytoskeletal matrix of the presynaptic active zones in HD transgenic mice (R6/1), in hippocampal neuronal cultures overexpressing mutant huntingtin and in postmortem brain tissues of HD patients. To investigate the interactions between huntingtin and active proteins, we performed confocal microscopic imaging and immunoprecipitation in mouse and HEK 293 cell line models. The mRNA and protein levels of Bassoon were reduced in mouse and cell culture models of HD and in brain tissues of patients with HD. Moreover, a striking re-distribution of a complex of proteins including Bassoon, Piccolo and Munc 13-1 from the cytoplasm and synapses into intranuclear huntingtin aggregates with loss of active zone proteins and dendritic spines. This re-localization was age-dependent and coincided with the formation of huntingtin aggregates. Using co-immunoprecipitation, we demonstrated that huntingtin interacts with Bassoon, and that this interaction is likely mediated by a third linking protein. Three structural proteins involved in neurotransmitter release in the presynaptic active zones of neurons are altered in expression and that the proteins are redistributed from their normal functional site into mutant huntingtin aggregates.
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9
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Protein changes in synaptosomes of Huntington's disease knock-in mice are dependent on age and brain region. Neurobiol Dis 2020; 141:104950. [PMID: 32439598 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2020.104950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Revised: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Molecular changes at synapses are thought to underly the deficits in motor and cognitive dysfunction seen in Huntington's disease (HD). Previously we showed in synaptosome preparations age dependent changes in levels of selected proteins examined by western blot assay in the striatum of Q140/Q140 HD mice. To assess if CAG repeat length influenced protein changes at the synapse, we examined synaptosomes from 6-month old heterozygote HD mice with CAG repeat lengths ranging from 50 to 175. Analysis of 19 selected proteins showed that increasing CAG repeat length in huntingtin (HTT) increased the number of affected proteins in HD striatal synaptosomes. Moreover, SDS-soluble total HTT (WT plus mutant HTT) and pThr3 HTT were reduced with increasing CAG repeat length, and there was no pSer421 mutant HTT detected in any HD mice. A LC-MS/MS and bioinfomatics study of synaptosomes from 2 and 6-month old striatum and cortex of Q140/Q7 HD mice showed enrichment of synaptic proteins and an influence of age, gender and brain region on the number of protein changes. HD striatum at 6 months had the most protein changes that included many HTT protein interactors, followed by 2-month old HD striatum, 2-month old HD cortex and 6-month HD cortex. SDS-insoluble mutant HTT was detected in HD striatal synaptosomes consistent with the presence of aggregates. Proteins changed in cortex differed from those in striatum. Pathways affected in HD striatal synaptosomes that were not identified in whole striatal lysates of the same HD mouse model included axon guidance, focal adhesion, neurotrophin signaling, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, endocytosis, and synaptic vesicle cycle. Results suggest that synaptosomes prepared from HD mice are highly informative for monitoring protein changes at the synapse and may be preferred for assessing the effects of experimental therapies on synaptic function in HD.
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10
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Loss of huntingtin function slows synaptic vesicle endocytosis in striatal neurons from the httQ140/Q140 mouse model of Huntington's disease. Neurobiol Dis 2020; 134:104637. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2019.104637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2018] [Revised: 08/23/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
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11
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Kovalenko M, Milnerwood A, Giordano J, St Claire J, Guide JR, Stromberg M, Gillis T, Sapp E, DiFiglia M, MacDonald ME, Carroll JB, Lee JM, Tappan S, Raymond L, Wheeler VC. HttQ111/+ Huntington's Disease Knock-in Mice Exhibit Brain Region-Specific Morphological Changes and Synaptic Dysfunction. J Huntingtons Dis 2019; 7:17-33. [PMID: 29480209 PMCID: PMC5869998 DOI: 10.3233/jhd-170282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Background: Successful disease-modifying therapy for Huntington’s disease (HD) will require therapeutic intervention early in the pathogenic process. Achieving this goal requires identifying phenotypes that are proximal to the HTT CAG repeat expansion. Objective: To use Htt CAG knock-in mice, precise genetic replicas of the HTT mutation in patients, as models to study proximal disease events. Methods: Using cohorts of B6J.HttQ111/+ mice from 2 to 18 months of age, we analyzed pathological markers, including immunohistochemistry, brain regional volumes and cortical thickness, CAG instability, electron microscopy of striatal synapses, and acute slice electrophysiology to record glutamatergic transmission at striatal synapses. We also incorporated a diet perturbation paradigm for some of these analyses. Results: B6J.HttQ111/+ mice did not exhibit significant neurodegeneration or gliosis but revealed decreased striatal DARPP-32 as well as subtle but regional-specific changes in brain volumes and cortical thickness that parallel those in HD patients. Ultrastructural analyses of the striatum showed reduced synapse density, increased postsynaptic density thickness and increased synaptic cleft width. Acute slice electrophysiology showed alterations in spontaneous AMPA receptor-mediated postsynaptic currents, evoked NMDA receptor-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents, and elevated extrasynaptic NMDA currents. Diet influenced cortical thickness, but did not impact somatic CAG expansion, nor did it show any significant interaction with genotype on immunohistochemical, brain volume or cortical thickness measures. Conclusions: These data show that a single HttQ111 allele is sufficient to elicit brain region-specific morphological changes and early neuronal dysfunction, highlighting an insidious disease process already apparent in the first few months of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Kovalenko
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Austen Milnerwood
- Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - James Giordano
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jason St Claire
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jolene R Guide
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mary Stromberg
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tammy Gillis
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ellen Sapp
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marian DiFiglia
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marcy E MacDonald
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jeffrey B Carroll
- Department of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, USA
| | - Jong-Min Lee
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Lynn Raymond
- Department of Psychiatry, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Vanessa C Wheeler
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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12
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Abstract
Huntingtin (HTT) is an essential protein during early embryogenesis and the development of the central nervous system (CNS). Conditional knock-out of mouse Huntingtin (Htt) expression in the CNS beginning during neural development, as well as reducing Htt expression only during embryonic and early postnatal stages, results in neurodegeneration in the adult brain. These findings suggest that HTT is important for the development and/or maintenance of the CNS, but they do not address the question of whether HTT is required specifically in the adult CNS for its normal functions and/or homeostasis. Recently, it was reported that although removing Htt expression in young adult mice causes lethality due to acute pancreatitis, loss of Htt expression in the adult brain is well tolerated and does not result in either motor deficits or neurodegeneration for up to 7 months after Htt inactivation. However, recent studies have also demonstrated that HTT participates in several cellular functions that are important for neuronal homeostasis and survival including sensing reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA damage repair, and stress responses, in addition to its role in selective macroautophagy. In this review, HTT's functions in development and in the adult CNS will be discussed in the context of these recent discoveries, together with a discussion of their potential impact on the design of therapeutic strategies for Huntington's disease (HD) aimed at lowering total HTT expression.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Scott O. Zeitlin
- Correspondence to: Scott O. Zeitlin, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia School of Medicine, 409 Lane Rd., Box 801392, MR4-5022, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. Tel.: +1 434 924 5011; Fax: +1 434 982 4380; E-mail:
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13
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Wang JKT, Langfelder P, Horvath S, Palazzolo MJ. Exosomes and Homeostatic Synaptic Plasticity Are Linked to Each other and to Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases by Database-Enabled Analyses of Comprehensively Curated Datasets. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:149. [PMID: 28611571 PMCID: PMC5374209 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2016] [Accepted: 03/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive and autosomal dominant neurodegeneration caused by CAG expansion in the huntingtin gene (HTT), but the pathophysiological mechanism of mutant HTT (mHTT) remains unclear. To study HD using systems biological methodologies on all published data, we undertook the first comprehensive curation of two key PubMed HD datasets: perturbation genes that impact mHTT-driven endpoints and therefore are putatively linked causally to pathogenic mechanisms, and the protein interactome of HTT that reflects its biology. We perused PubMed articles containing co-citation of gene IDs and MeSH terms of interest to generate mechanistic gene sets for iterative enrichment analyses and rank ordering. The HD Perturbation database of 1,218 genes highly overlaps the HTT Interactome of 1,619 genes, suggesting links between normal HTT biology and mHTT pathology. These two HD datasets are enriched for protein networks of key genes underlying two mechanisms not previously implicated in HD nor in each other: exosome synaptic functions and homeostatic synaptic plasticity. Moreover, proteins, possibly including HTT, and miRNA detected in exosomes from a wide variety of sources also highly overlap the HD datasets, suggesting both mechanistic and biomarker links. Finally, the HTT Interactome highly intersects protein networks of pathogenic genes underlying Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and eight non-HD polyglutamine diseases, ALS, and spinal muscular atrophy. These protein networks in turn highly overlap the exosome and homeostatic synaptic plasticity gene sets. Thus, we hypothesize that HTT and other neurodegeneration pathogenic genes form a large interlocking protein network involved in exosome and homeostatic synaptic functions, particularly where the two mechanisms intersect. Mutant pathogenic proteins cause dysfunctions at distinct points in this network, each altering the two mechanisms in specific fashion that contributes to distinct disease pathologies, depending on the gene mutation and the cellular and biological context. This protein network is rich with drug targets, and exosomes may provide disease biomarkers, thus enabling drug discovery. All the curated datasets are made available for other investigators. Elucidating the roles of pathogenic neurodegeneration genes in exosome and homeostatic synaptic functions may provide a unifying framework for the age-dependent, progressive and tissue selective nature of multiple neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Peter Langfelder
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Steve Horvath
- Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Michael J Palazzolo
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA, USA
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14
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de Aragão BC, Rodrigues HA, Valadão PAC, Camargo W, Naves LA, Ribeiro FM, Guatimosim C. Changes in structure and function of diaphragm neuromuscular junctions from BACHD mouse model for Huntington's disease. Neurochem Int 2016; 93:64-72. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2015.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2015] [Revised: 12/17/2015] [Accepted: 12/28/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Wear MP, Kryndushkin D, O’Meally R, Sonnenberg JL, Cole RN, Shewmaker FP. Proteins with Intrinsically Disordered Domains Are Preferentially Recruited to Polyglutamine Aggregates. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0136362. [PMID: 26317359 PMCID: PMC4552826 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 07/31/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Intracellular protein aggregation is the hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases. Aggregates formed by polyglutamine (polyQ)-expanded proteins, such as Huntingtin, adopt amyloid-like structures that are resistant to denaturation. We used a novel purification strategy to isolate aggregates formed by human Huntingtin N-terminal fragments with expanded polyQ tracts from both yeast and mammalian (PC-12) cells. Using mass spectrometry we identified the protein species that are trapped within these polyQ aggregates. We found that proteins with very long intrinsically-disordered (ID) domains (≥100 amino acids) and RNA-binding proteins were disproportionately recruited into aggregates. The removal of the ID domains from selected proteins was sufficient to eliminate their recruitment into polyQ aggregates. We also observed that several neurodegenerative disease-linked proteins were reproducibly trapped within the polyQ aggregates purified from mammalian cells. Many of these proteins have large ID domains and are found in neuronal inclusions in their respective diseases. Our study indicates that neurodegenerative disease-associated proteins are particularly vulnerable to recruitment into polyQ aggregates via their ID domains. Also, the high frequency of ID domains in RNA-binding proteins may explain why RNA-binding proteins are frequently found in pathological inclusions in various neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maggie P. Wear
- Department of Pharmacology, Uniformed Services University of the Heath Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, 20814, United States of America
| | - Dmitry Kryndushkin
- Department of Pharmacology, Uniformed Services University of the Heath Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, 20814, United States of America
| | - Robert O’Meally
- Johns Hopkins Mass Spectrometry and Proteomic Facility, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, United States of America
| | - Jason L. Sonnenberg
- Chemistry department, School of Sciences, Stevenson University, Stevenson, Maryland, 21153, United States of America
| | - Robert N. Cole
- Johns Hopkins Mass Spectrometry and Proteomic Facility, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21218, United States of America
| | - Frank P. Shewmaker
- Department of Pharmacology, Uniformed Services University of the Heath Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, 20814, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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