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Mehmood A, Shah S, Guo RY, Haider A, Shi M, Ali H, Ali I, Ullah R, Li B. Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2 Emerges as a Central Player in Multiple Sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders. Cell Mol Neurobiol 2023; 43:4071-4101. [PMID: 37955798 DOI: 10.1007/s10571-023-01432-7] [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: 08/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
MECP2 and its product methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) are associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), which are inflammatory, autoimmune, and demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). However, the mechanisms and pathways regulated by MeCP2 in immune activation in favor of MS and NMOSD are not fully understood. We summarize findings that use the binding properties of MeCP2 to identify its targets, particularly the genes recognized by MeCP2 and associated with several neurological disorders. MeCP2 regulates gene expression in neurons, immune cells and during development by modulating various mechanisms and pathways. Dysregulation of the MeCP2 signaling pathway has been associated with several disorders, including neurological and autoimmune diseases. A thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying MeCP2 function can provide new therapeutic strategies for these conditions. The nervous system is the primary system affected in MeCP2-associated disorders, and other systems may also contribute to MeCP2 action through its target genes. MeCP2 signaling pathways provide promise as potential therapeutic targets in progressive MS and NMOSD. MeCP2 not only increases susceptibility and induces anti-inflammatory responses in immune sites but also leads to a chronic increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines gene expression (IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-1β) and downregulates the genes involved in immune regulation (IL-10, FoxP3, and CX3CR1). MeCP2 may modulate similar mechanisms in different pathologies and suggest that treatments for MS and NMOSD disorders may be effective in treating related disorders. MeCP2 regulates gene expression in MS and NMOSD. However, dysregulation of the MeCP2 signaling pathway is implicated in these disorders. MeCP2 plays a role as a therapeutic target for MS and NMOSD and provides pathways and mechanisms that are modulated by MeCP2 in the regulation of gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arshad Mehmood
- Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Neurology of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People's Republic of China
| | - Suleman Shah
- Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Ruo-Yi Guo
- Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Neurology of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People's Republic of China
| | - Arsalan Haider
- Key Lab of Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Mengya Shi
- Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Neurology of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People's Republic of China
| | - Hamid Ali
- Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Park Road Tarlai Kalan, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
| | - Ijaz Ali
- Centre for Applied Mathematics and Bioinformatics, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Hawally, 32093, Kuwait
| | - Riaz Ullah
- Medicinal Aromatic and Poisonous Plants Research Center, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Bin Li
- Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Neurology of Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei, People's Republic of China.
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Raasakka A, Kursula P. Flexible Players within the Sheaths: The Intrinsically Disordered Proteins of Myelin in Health and Disease. Cells 2020; 9:cells9020470. [PMID: 32085570 PMCID: PMC7072810 DOI: 10.3390/cells9020470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Revised: 02/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Myelin ensheathes selected axonal segments within the nervous system, resulting primarily in nerve impulse acceleration, as well as mechanical and trophic support for neurons. In the central and peripheral nervous systems, various proteins that contribute to the formation and stability of myelin are present, which also harbor pathophysiological roles in myelin disease. Many myelin proteins have common attributes, including small size, hydrophobic segments, multifunctionality, longevity, and regions of intrinsic disorder. With recent advances in protein biophysical characterization and bioinformatics, it has become evident that intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are abundant in myelin, and their flexible nature enables multifunctionality. Here, we review known myelin IDPs, their conservation, molecular characteristics and functions, and their disease relevance, along with open questions and speculations. We place emphasis on classifying the molecular details of IDPs in myelin, and we correlate these with their various functions, including susceptibility to post-translational modifications, function in protein–protein and protein–membrane interactions, as well as their role as extended entropic chains. We discuss how myelin pathology can relate to IDPs and which molecular factors are potentially involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arne Raasakka
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 91, NO-5009 Bergen, Norway;
| | - Petri Kursula
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 91, NO-5009 Bergen, Norway;
- Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine & Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Aapistie 7A, FI-90220 Oulu, Finland
- Correspondence:
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KhorshidAhmad T, Acosta C, Cortes C, Lakowski TM, Gangadaran S, Namaka M. Transcriptional Regulation of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) by Methyl CpG Binding Protein 2 (MeCP2): a Novel Mechanism for Re-Myelination and/or Myelin Repair Involved in the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Mol Neurobiol 2015; 53:1092-1107. [PMID: 25579386 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-014-9074-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2014] [Accepted: 12/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic progressive, neurological disease characterized by the targeted immune system-mediated destruction of central nervous system (CNS) myelin. Autoreactive CD4+ T helper cells have a key role in orchestrating MS-induced myelin damage. Once activated, circulating Th1-cells secrete a variety of inflammatory cytokines that foster the breakdown of blood-brain barrier (BBB) eventually infiltrating into the CNS. Inside the CNS, they become reactivated upon exposure to the myelin structural proteins and continue to produce inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) that leads to direct activation of antibodies and macrophages that are involved in the phagocytosis of myelin. Proliferating oligodendrocyte precursors (OPs) migrating to the lesion sites are capable of acute remyelination but unable to completely repair or restore the immune system-mediated myelin damage. This results in various permanent clinical neurological disabilities such as cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, bowel/bladder abnormalities, and neuropathic pain. At present, there is no cure for MS. Recent remyelination and/or myelin repair strategies have focused on the role of the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its upstream transcriptional repressor methyl CpG binding protein (MeCP2). Research in the field of epigenetic therapeutics involving histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors and lysine acetyl transferase (KAT) inhibitors is being explored to repress the detrimental effects of MeCP2. This review will address the role of MeCP2 and BDNF in remyelination and/or myelin repair and the potential of HDAC and KAT inhibitors as novel therapeutic interventions for MS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tina KhorshidAhmad
- College of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, 750 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, R3E 0T5, Manitoba, Canada.,Manitoba Multiple Sclerosis Research Network Organization (MMSRNO), Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Crystal Acosta
- College of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, 750 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, R3E 0T5, Manitoba, Canada.,Manitoba Multiple Sclerosis Research Network Organization (MMSRNO), Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Claudia Cortes
- College of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, 750 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, R3E 0T5, Manitoba, Canada.,Manitoba Multiple Sclerosis Research Network Organization (MMSRNO), Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Ted M Lakowski
- College of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, 750 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, R3E 0T5, Manitoba, Canada.,Manitoba Multiple Sclerosis Research Network Organization (MMSRNO), Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Surendiran Gangadaran
- College of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, 750 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, R3E 0T5, Manitoba, Canada.,Manitoba Multiple Sclerosis Research Network Organization (MMSRNO), Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Michael Namaka
- College of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba, 750 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, R3E 0T5, Manitoba, Canada. .,Manitoba Multiple Sclerosis Research Network Organization (MMSRNO), Winnipeg, Canada. .,College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. .,School of Medical Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
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Neuropathologic Characterization ofINF2-Related Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease: Evidence for a Schwann Cell Actinopathy. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2014; 73:223-33. [DOI: 10.1097/nen.0000000000000047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
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Gerin CG, Madueke IC, Perkins T, Hill S, Smith K, Haley B, Allen SA, Garcia RP, Paunesku T, Woloschak G. Combination strategies for repair, plasticity, and regeneration using regulation of gene expression during the chronic phase after spinal cord injury. Synapse 2011; 65:1255-81. [DOI: 10.1002/syn.20903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Piccinini M, Scandroglio F, Prioni S, Buccinnà B, Loberto N, Aureli M, Chigorno V, Lupino E, DeMarco G, Lomartire A, Rinaudo MT, Sonnino S, Prinetti A. Deregulated sphingolipid metabolism and membrane organization in neurodegenerative disorders. Mol Neurobiol 2010; 41:314-40. [PMID: 20127207 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-009-8096-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2009] [Accepted: 12/22/2009] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Sphingolipids are polar membrane lipids present as minor components in eukaryotic cell membranes. Sphingolipids are highly enriched in nervous cells, where they exert important biological functions. They deeply affect the structural and geometrical properties and the lateral order of cellular membranes, modulate the function of several membrane-associated proteins, and give rise to important intra- and extracellular lipid mediators. Sphingolipid metabolism is regulated along the differentiation and development of the nervous system, and the expression of a peculiar spatially and temporarily regulated sphingolipid pattern is essential for the maintenance of the functional integrity of the nervous system: sphingolipids in the nervous system participate to several signaling pathways controlling neuronal survival, migration, and differentiation, responsiveness to trophic factors, synaptic stability and synaptic transmission, and neuron-glia interactions, including the formation and stability of central and peripheral myelin. In several neurodegenerative diseases, sphingolipid metabolism is deeply deregulated, leading to the expression of abnormal sphingolipid patterns and altered membrane organization that participate to several events related to the pathogenesis of these diseases. The most impressive consequence of this deregulation is represented by anomalous sphingolipid-protein interactions that are at least, in part, responsible for the misfolding events that cause the fibrillogenic and amyloidogenic processing of disease-specific protein isoforms, such as amyloid beta peptide in Alzheimer's disease, huntingtin in Huntington's disease, alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's disease, and prions in transmissible encephalopathies. Targeting sphingolipid metabolism represents today an underexploited but realistic opportunity to design novel therapeutic strategies for the intervention in these diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Piccinini
- Section of Biochemistry, Department of Medicine and Experimental Oncology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
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Quarles RH. A Hypothesis About the Relationship of Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein’s Function in Myelinated Axons to its Capacity to Inhibit Neurite Outgrowth. Neurochem Res 2008; 34:79-86. [DOI: 10.1007/s11064-008-9668-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2007] [Accepted: 03/12/2008] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Cheng SM, Carr CE. Functional delay of myelination of auditory delay lines in the nucleus laminaris of the barn owl. Dev Neurobiol 2008; 67:1957-74. [PMID: 17918244 DOI: 10.1002/dneu.20541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
In the barn owl, maps of interaural time difference (ITD) are created in the nucleus laminaris (NL) by interdigitating axons that act as delay lines. Adult delay line axons are myelinated, and this myelination is timely, coinciding with the attainment of adult head size, and stable ITD cues. The proximal portions of the axons become myelinated in late embryonic life, but the delay line portions of the axon in NL remain unmyelinated until the first postnatal week. Myelination of the delay lines peaks at the third week posthatch, and myelinating oligodendrocyte density approaches adult levels by one month, when the head reaches its adult width. Migration of oligodendrocyte progenitors into NL and the subsequent onset of myelination may be restricted by a glial barrier in late embryonic stages and the first posthatch week, since the loss of tenascin-C immunoreactivity in NL is correlated with oligodendrocyte progenitor migration into NL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shih-Min Cheng
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4415, USA.
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Abstract
The myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein localized in periaxonal Schwann cell and oligodendroglial membranes of myelin sheaths where it functions in glia-axon interactions. It contains five immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domains and is in the sialic acid-binding subgroup of the Ig superfamily. It appears to function both as a ligand for an axonal receptor that is needed for the maintenance of myelinated axons and as a receptor for an axonal signal that promotes the differentiation, maintenance and survival of oligodendrocytes. Its function in the maintenance of myelinated axons may be related to its role as one of the white matter inhibitors of neurite outgrowth acting through a receptor complex involving the Nogo receptor and/or gangliosides containing 2,3-linked sialic acid. MAG is expressed as two developmentally regulated isoforms with different cytoplasmic domains that may activate different signal transduction pathways in myelin-forming cells. MAG contains a carbohydrate epitope shared with other glycoconjugates that is a target antigen in autoimmune peripheral neuropathy associated with IgM gammopathy and has been implicated in a dying back oligodendrogliopathy in multiple sclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard H Quarles
- Myelin and Brain Development Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.
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Marin-Husstege M, He Y, Li J, Kondo T, Sablitzky F, Casaccia-Bonnefil P. Multiple roles of Id4 in developmental myelination: predicted outcomes and unexpected findings. Glia 2006; 54:285-96. [PMID: 16862533 DOI: 10.1002/glia.20385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Myelination in the central nervous system is a complex process requiring the integration of oligodendrocyte progenitor differentiation and the coordinate expression of myelin genes. This study addresses the role of the helix-loop-helix protein Id4 in these two events. Overexpression of Id4 in oligodendrocyte progenitors prevents differentiation and consequently decreases the endogenous expression of all myelin genes. Conversely, progenitors lacking Id4 display precocious differentiation both in vitro and in vivo, and this phenotype is partially compensated by increased apoptosis. Besides this role, Id4 also has the ability to decrease the activity of specific myelin promoters, since Id4 overexpression decreases the activity of luciferase reporter genes driven by the ceramide galactosyltransferase (CGT) or myelin basic protein (MBP) promoter, but not by a myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) promoter. Consistent with these results, the expression levels of MBP and CGT are greater in neonatal Id4 null mice when compared with wild-type siblings and correlate with the early detection of MBP immunoreactive myelinated fibers. In contrast, the levels of other myelin proteins, such as PLP and myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG) are decreased in the Id4 null mice. MAG expression is localized to the soma rather than the fibers of immunoreactive cells in the neonatal brain and compensated at later developmental stages. These data support the role of Id4 as oligodendrocyte differentiation inhibitor with the ability to differentially regulate the expression and subcellular distribution of myelin gene products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mireya Marin-Husstege
- Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
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Lein P, Silbergeld E, Locke P, Goldberg AM. In vitro and other alternative approaches to developmental neurotoxicity testing (DNT). ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY 2005; 19:735-744. [PMID: 21783550 DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2004.12.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
To address the growing need for scientifically valid and humane alternatives to developmental neurotoxicity testing (DNT), we propose that basic research scientists in developmental neurobiology be brought together with mechanistic toxicologists and policy analysts to develop the science and policy for DNT alternatives that are based on evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of neurodevelopment. In this article we briefly review in vitro and other alternative models and present our rationale for proposing that resources be focused on adapting alternative simple organism systems for DNT. We recognize that alternatives to DNT will not completely replace a DNT paradigm that involves in vivo testing in mammals. However, we believe that alternatives will be of great value in prioritizing chemicals and in identifying mechanisms of developmental neurotoxicity, which in turn will be useful in refining and reducing in vivo mammalian tests for exposures most likely to be hazardous to the developing human nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela Lein
- Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Oregon Health and Science University, CROET/L606, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA
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