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Bregalda A, Carducci C, Pascucci T, Ambrogini P, Sartini S, Pierigè F, di Carlo E, Fiori E, Ielpo D, Pagliarini M, Leuzzi V, Magnani M, Rossi L. New findings about neuropathological outcomes in the PKU mouse throughout lifespan. Mol Genet Metab 2024; 143:108543. [PMID: 39047302 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2024.108543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2024] [Revised: 07/17/2024] [Accepted: 07/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
Phenylketonuria (PKU, OMIM 261600) is a genetic disorder caused by a deficiency of the hepatic enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH). If left untreated, PKU leads to systemic phenylalanine (Phe) accumulation, which can result in irreversible brain damage and intellectual disabilities. In the last 60 years, early and strict dietary restriction of phenylalanine (Phe) intake proved to prevent the severe clinical phenotype of untreated PKU. While the specific mechanisms through which phenylalanine causes brain damage are still poorly understood, preclinical models have been deeply explored to characterize the neurotoxic effect of Phe on neurodevelopmental processes. At the same time, that on the aging brain still needs to be explored. In the brain of untreated PAHEnu2(-/-) mouse, we previously reported a reduction of myelin basic protein (MBP) during postnatal development up to 60 PND. Later in the diseased mouse's life, a spontaneous and persistent restoration of MBP was detected. In this present longitudinal study, ranging from 14 to 540 post-natal days (PND) of untreated PAHEnu2(-/-) mice, we further investigated: a) the long-life consistency of two Phe-related brain metabolic alterations, such as large neutral amino acids (LNAA) and biogenic amine neurotransmitters' depletion; b) the outcome of locomotor functions during the same life span; c) the integrity of myelin as assessed ex vivo by central (hippocampus) and peripheral (extensor digitorum longus-sciatic nerve) action potential conduction velocities. In contrast with the results of other studies, brain Leu, Ile, and Val concentrations were not significantly altered in the brain PAHEnu2(-/-) mouse. On the other hand, 3-O-Methyldopa (3-OMD, a biomarker of L-DOPA), serotonin, and its associated metabolites were reduced throughout most of the considered time points, with consistent reductions observed prevalently from 14 to 60 PND. Normal saltatory conduction was restored after 60 PND and remained normal at the last examination at 360 PND, resulting nonetheless in a persistent locomotor impairment throughout a lifetime. These new findings contribute to laying the foundations for the preclinical characterization of aging in PKU, confirming neurotransmitter defects as consistent metabolic traits. LNAAs have a minor role, if any, in brain damage pathogenesis. Transient myelin synthesis failure may impact brain connectivity during postnatal development but not nervous signal conduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Bregalda
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy; Pathology Unit, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (C.R.O.) IRCCS, via Franco Gallini 2, 33081 Aviano (PN), Italy.
| | - Claudia Carducci
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Tiziana Pascucci
- Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, via Del Fosso di Fiorano, 64, 00143 Rome, Italy; Department of Psychology and Centro "Daniel Bovet", Sapienza University, via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizia Ambrogini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Stefano Sartini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Francesca Pierigè
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Emanuele di Carlo
- Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, viale del Policlinico 155, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Elena Fiori
- Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, via Del Fosso di Fiorano, 64, 00143 Rome, Italy; Technopole Foundation, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Donald Ielpo
- Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, via Del Fosso di Fiorano, 64, 00143 Rome, Italy; Department of Psychology and Centro "Daniel Bovet", Sapienza University, via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Marica Pagliarini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy
| | - Vincenzo Leuzzi
- Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University, via dei Sabelli 108, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Mauro Magnani
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy; EryDel SpA, via Antonio Meucci 3, 20091 Bresso (MI), Italy
| | - Luigia Rossi
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", via Ca' Le Suore 2, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy; EryDel SpA, via Antonio Meucci 3, 20091 Bresso (MI), Italy
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Martínez-Pizarro A, Picó S, López-Márquez A, Rodriguez-López C, Montalvo E, Alvarez M, Castro M, Ramón-Maiques S, Pérez B, Lucas JJ, Richard E, Desviat LR. PAH deficient pathology in humanized c.1066-11G>A phenylketonuria mice. Hum Mol Genet 2024; 33:1074-1089. [PMID: 38520741 PMCID: PMC11153335 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddae051] [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: 12/26/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024] Open
Abstract
We have generated using CRISPR/Cas9 technology a partially humanized mouse model of the neurometabolic disease phenylketonuria (PKU), carrying the highly prevalent PAH variant c.1066-11G>A. This variant creates an alternative 3' splice site, leading to the inclusion of 9 nucleotides coding for 3 extra amino acids between Q355 and Y356 of the protein. Homozygous Pah c.1066-11A mice, with a partially humanized intron 10 sequence with the variant, accurately recapitulate the splicing defect and present almost undetectable hepatic PAH activity. They exhibit fur hypopigmentation, lower brain and body weight and reduced survival. Blood and brain phenylalanine levels are elevated, along with decreased tyrosine, tryptophan and monoamine neurotransmitter levels. They present behavioral deficits, mainly hypoactivity and diminished social interaction, locomotor deficiencies and an abnormal hind-limb clasping reflex. Changes in the morphology of glial cells, increased GFAP and Iba1 staining signals and decreased myelinization are observed. Hepatic tissue exhibits nearly absent PAH protein, reduced levels of chaperones DNAJC12 and HSP70 and increased autophagy markers LAMP1 and LC3BII, suggesting possible coaggregation of mutant PAH with chaperones and subsequent autophagy processing. This PKU mouse model with a prevalent human variant represents a useful tool for pathophysiology research and for novel therapies development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ainhoa Martínez-Pizarro
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular, UAM, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5. 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital La Paz (IdiPaz), Pedro Rico, 6, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Sara Picó
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Arístides López-Márquez
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular, UAM, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Claudia Rodriguez-López
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Elena Montalvo
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular, UAM, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Mar Alvarez
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Margarita Castro
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5. 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital La Paz (IdiPaz), Pedro Rico, 6, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Moleculares (CEDEM), Francisco Tomás y Valiente 7, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Santiago Ramón-Maiques
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5. 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV-CSIC), Jaume Roig, 11, 46010 València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Belén Pérez
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular, UAM, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5. 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital La Paz (IdiPaz), Pedro Rico, 6, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Moleculares (CEDEM), Francisco Tomás y Valiente 7, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - José J Lucas
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Eva Richard
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular, UAM, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5. 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital La Paz (IdiPaz), Pedro Rico, 6, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Lourdes R Desviat
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa UAM-CSIC, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Universitario de Biología Molecular, UAM, Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), ISCIII, Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5. 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Hospital La Paz (IdiPaz), Pedro Rico, 6, 28029 Madrid, Spain
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Chen T, Yang J, Tang Y, Fan X, Zhou W, Jiang B, Wang D. Label-free and highly sensitive detection of microRNA from cancer cells via target-induced cascade amplification generation of lighting-up RNA aptamers. Anal Chim Acta 2024; 1289:342187. [PMID: 38245202 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.342187] [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: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 12/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
The abnormal expression levels of miRNAs have been proven to be highly related to the generation of various diseases and are also closely associated with the stages and types of disease development. The novel RNA aptamers-based homogenous fluorescent methods were simple, with low background signal and high signal-to-noise ratio, but lacked effective signal amplification technology to achieve sensitive detection of trace miRNA markers. There is an urgent need for combining effective nucleic acid amplification technology with RNA aptamer to achieve highly sensitive and accurate detection of miRNA. For this purpose, a new DNA multi-arm nanostructure-based dual rolling circle transcription machinery for the generation of lighting-up MG RNA aptamers is constructed for label-free and highly sensitive sensing of miRNA-21. In this system, the target miRNA-21 induces a structural transformation of the DNA multi-arm nanostructure probe to recycle miRNA-21 and trigger two independent rolling circle transcription reactions to generate two long RNAs, which can partially hybridize with each other to generate large amounts of complete MG RNA aptamers. These RNA aptamers can associate with organic MG dye to produce significantly enhanced fluorescence signals to accomplish ultrasensitive miRNA-21 detection down to 0.9 fM. In addition, this method exhibits high selectivity to distinguish miRNA-21 even with single nucleotide mismatch, and also has potential application capability to monitor different expression levels of miRNA-21 from different cancer cells. The effective collaboration between MG RNA aptamer and rolling circle transcription reaction makes this fluorescent method show the significant advantages of low background signal, high signal-to-noise ratio and high detection sensitivity. It has great potential to be a promising means to achieve label-free and highly sensitive monitoring of other trace biological markers via a simple change of target sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiantian Chen
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, PR China
| | - Jirong Yang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, PR China
| | - Yaqin Tang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, PR China
| | - Xiaocheng Fan
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, PR China
| | - Wenjiao Zhou
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, PR China.
| | - Bingying Jiang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, PR China
| | - Ding Wang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, PR China
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De Giorgi A, Nardecchia F, Manti F, Campistol J, Leuzzi V. Neuroimaging in early-treated phenylketonuria patients and clinical outcome: A systematic review. Mol Genet Metab 2023; 139:107588. [PMID: 37149991 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2023.107588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Lacking direct neuropathological data, neuroimaging exploration has become the most powerful tool to give insight into pathophysiological alterations of early-treated PKU (ETPKU) patients. We conducted a systematic review of neuroimaging studies in ETPKU patients to explore 1) the occurrence of consistent neuroimaging alterations; 2) the relationship between them and neurological and cognitive disorders; 3) the contribution of neuroimaging in the insight of neuropathological background of ETPKU subjects; 4) whether brain neuroimaging may provide additional information in the monitoring of the disease course. Thirty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria for the full-text review, including morphological T1/T2 sequences, diffusion brain imaging (DWI/DTI) studies, brain MRI volumetric, functional neuroimaging studies, neurotransmission and brain energetic imaging studies. Non-progressive brain white matter changes were the most frequent and precocious alterations. As confirmed in hundreds of young adults with ETPKU, they affect over 90% of ETPKU patients. Consistent correlations are emerging between microstructural alteration (as detected by DWI/DTI) and metabolic control, which have also been confirmed in a few interventional trials. Volumetric studies detected later and less consistent cortical and subcortical grey matter alterations, which seem to be influenced by the patient's age and metabolic control. The few functional neuroimaging studies so far showed preliminary but interesting data about cortical activation patterns, skill performance, and brain connectivity. Further research is mandatory in these more complex areas. Recurrent methodological limitations include restricted sample sizes concerning the clinical variability of the disease, large age-range, variable measures of metabolic control, and prevalence of cross-sectional rather than longitudinal interventional studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnese De Giorgi
- Division of Child Neurology and Infantile Psychiatry, Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Nardecchia
- Division of Child Neurology and Infantile Psychiatry, Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Filippo Manti
- Division of Child Neurology and Infantile Psychiatry, Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Jaume Campistol
- Neuropaediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Vincenzo Leuzzi
- Division of Child Neurology and Infantile Psychiatry, Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
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