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Millet A, Ledo JH, Tavazoie SF. An exhausted-like microglial population accumulates in aged and APOE4 genotype Alzheimer's brains. Immunity 2024; 57:153-170.e6. [PMID: 38159571 PMCID: PMC10805152 DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.12.001] [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: 02/23/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
The dominant risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) are advanced age and the APOE4 genetic variant. To examine how these factors alter neuroimmune function, we generated an integrative, longitudinal single-cell atlas of brain immune cells in AD model mice bearing the three common human APOE alleles. Transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility analyses identified a reactive microglial population defined by the concomitant expression of inflammatory signals and cell-intrinsic stress markers whose frequency increased with age and APOE4 burden. An analogous population was detectable in the brains of human AD patients, including in the cortical tissue, using multiplexed spatial transcriptomics. This population, which we designate as terminally inflammatory microglia (TIM), exhibited defects in amyloid-β clearance and altered cell-cell communication during aducanumab treatment. TIM may represent an exhausted-like state for inflammatory microglia in the AD milieu that contributes to AD risk and pathology in APOE4 carriers and the elderly, thus presenting a potential therapeutic target for AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alon Millet
- Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Jose Henrique Ledo
- Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory of Medicine, Department of Neuroscience, South Carolina Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
| | - Sohail F Tavazoie
- Laboratory of Systems Cancer Biology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
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Unlu G, Prizer B, Erdal R, Yeh HW, Bayraktar EC, Birsoy K. Metabolic-scale gene activation screens identify SLCO2B1 as a heme transporter that enhances cellular iron availability. Mol Cell 2022; 82:2832-2843.e7. [PMID: 35714613 PMCID: PMC9356996 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2022.05.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Iron is the most abundant transition metal essential for numerous cellular processes. Although most mammalian cells acquire iron through transferrin receptors, molecular players of iron utilization under iron restriction are incompletely understood. To address this, we performed metabolism-focused CRISPRa gain-of-function screens, which revealed metabolic limitations under stress conditions. Iron restriction screens identified not only expected members of iron utilization pathways but also SLCO2B1, a poorly characterized membrane carrier. SLCO2B1 expression is sufficient to increase intracellular iron, bypass the essentiality of the transferrin receptor, and enable proliferation under iron restriction. Mechanistically, SLCO2B1 mediates heme analog import in cellular assays. Heme uptake by SLCO2B1 provides sufficient iron for proliferation through heme oxygenases. Notably, SLCO2B1 is predominantly expressed in microglia in the brain, and primary Slco2b1-/- mouse microglia exhibit strong defects in heme analog import. Altogether, our work identifies SLCO2B1 as a microglia-enriched plasma membrane heme importer and provides a genetic platform to identify metabolic limitations under stress conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gokhan Unlu
- Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Benjamin Prizer
- Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Ranya Erdal
- Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA; Medical Scientist Training Program, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara 06230, Turkey
| | - Hsi-Wen Yeh
- Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Erol C Bayraktar
- Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Kıvanç Birsoy
- Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
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Mitroi DN, Tian M, Kawaguchi R, Lowry WE, Carmichael ST. Single-nucleus transcriptome analysis reveals disease- and regeneration-associated endothelial cells in white matter vascular dementia. J Cell Mol Med 2022; 26:3183-3195. [PMID: 35543222 PMCID: PMC9170821 DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.17315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2021] [Revised: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Vascular dementia (VaD) is the accumulation of vascular lesions in the subcortical white matter of the brain. These lesions progress and there is no direct medical therapy. AIMS To determine the specific cellular responses in VaD so as to provide molecular targets for therapeutic development. MATERIALS AND METHODS Single-nucleus transcriptome analysis was performed in human periventricular white matter (PVWM) samples of VaD and normal control (NC) subjects. RESULTS Differential analysis shows that cell type-specific transcriptomic changes in VaD are associated with the disruption of specific biological processes, including angiogenesis, immune activation, axonal injury and myelination. Each cell type in the neurovascular unit within white matter has a specific alteration in gene expression in VaD. In a central cell type for this disease, subcluster analysis of endothelial cells (EC) indicates that VaD contains a disease-associated EC subcluster that expresses genes associated with programmed cell death and a response to protein folding. Two other subpopulations of EC in VaD express molecular systems associated with regenerative processes in angiogenesis, and in axonal sprouting and oligodendrocyte progenitor cell maturation. CONCLUSION This comprehensive molecular profiling of brain samples from patients with VaD reveals previously unknown molecular changes in cells of the neurovascular niche, and an attempt at regeneration in injured white matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel N. Mitroi
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral SciencesDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLALos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Min Tian
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral SciencesDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLALos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Riki Kawaguchi
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral SciencesDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLALos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - William E. Lowry
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental BiologyUCLALos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - S. Thomas Carmichael
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral SciencesDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLALos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
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Van Acker ZP, Perdok A, Bretou M, Annaert W. The microglial lysosomal system in Alzheimer's disease: Guardian against proteinopathy. Ageing Res Rev 2021; 71:101444. [PMID: 34391945 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2021.101444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 08/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Microglia, the brain-resident immune cells, play an essential role in the upkeep of brain homeostasis. They actively adapt into specific activation states based on cues from the microenvironment. One of these encompasses the activated response microglia (ARMs) phenotype. It arises along a healthy aging process and in a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). As the phenotype is characterized by an increased lipid metabolism, phagocytosis rate, lysosomal protease content and secretion of neuroprotective agents, it leaves to reason that the phenotype is adapted in an attempt to restore homeostasis. This is important to the conundrum of inflammatory processes. Inflammation per se may not be deleterious; it is only when microglial reactions become chronic or the microglial subtype is made dysfunctional by (multiple) risk proteins with single-nucleotide polymorphisms that microglial involvement becomes deleterious instead of beneficial. Interestingly, the ARMs up- and downregulate many late-onset AD-associated risk factor genes, the products of which are particularly active in the endolysosomal system. Hence, in this review, we focus on how the endolysosomal system is placed at the crossroad of inflammation and microglial capacity to keep pace with degradation.
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Abstract
Interpreting the effects of genetic variants is key to understanding individual susceptibility to disease and designing personalized therapeutic approaches. Modern experimental technologies are enabling the generation of massive compendia of human genome sequence data and associated molecular and phenotypic traits, together with genome-scale expression, epigenomics and other functional genomic data. Integrative computational models can leverage these data to understand variant impact, elucidate the effect of dysregulated genes on biological pathways in specific disease and tissue contexts, and interpret disease risk beyond what is feasible with experiments alone. In this Review, we discuss recent developments in machine learning algorithms for genome interpretation and for integrative molecular-level modelling of cells, tissues and organs relevant to disease. More specifically, we highlight existing methods and key challenges and opportunities in identifying specific disease-causing genetic variants and linking them to molecular pathways and, ultimately, to disease phenotypes.
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Soto-Ospina A, Araque Marín P, Bedoya G, Sepulveda-Falla D, Villegas Lanau A. Protein Predictive Modeling and Simulation of Mutations of Presenilin-1 Familial Alzheimer's Disease on the Orthosteric Site. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:649990. [PMID: 34150846 PMCID: PMC8206637 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.649990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease pathology is characterized by β-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid precursor protein is processed by β and γ secretase, resulting in the production of β-amyloid peptides with a length ranging from 38 to 43 amino acids. Presenilin 1 (PS1) is the catalytic unit of γ-secretase, and more than 200 PS1 pathogenic mutations have been identified as causative for Alzheimer's disease. A complete monocrystal structure of PS1 has not been determined so far due to the presence of two flexible domains. We have developed a complete structural model of PS1 using a computational approach with structure prediction software. Missing fragments Met1-Glut72 and Ser290-Glu375 were modeled and validated by their energetic and stereochemical characteristics. Then, with the complete structure of PS1, we defined that these fragments do not have a direct effect in the structure of the pore. Next, we used our hypothetical model for the analysis of the functional effects of PS1 mutations Ala246GLu, Leu248Pro, Leu248Arg, Leu250Val, Tyr256Ser, Ala260Val, and Val261Phe, localized in the catalytic pore. For this, we used a quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) hybrid method, evaluating modifications in the topology, potential surface density, and electrostatic potential map of mutated PS1 proteins. We found that each mutation exerts changes resulting in structural modifications of the active site and in the shape of the pore. We suggest this as a valid approach for functional studies of PS1 in view of the possible impact in substrate processing and for the design of targeted therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Soto-Ospina
- Faculty of Medicine, Group Molecular Genetics, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
- Faculty of Medicine, Group Neuroscience of Antioquia, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Pedronel Araque Marín
- School of Life Sciences, Research and Innovation in Chemistry Formulations Group, EIA University, Envigado, Colombia
| | - Gabriel Bedoya
- Faculty of Medicine, Group Molecular Genetics, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Diego Sepulveda-Falla
- Faculty of Medicine, Group Neuroscience of Antioquia, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
- Molecular Neuropathology of Alzheimer’s Disease, Institute of Neuropathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andrés Villegas Lanau
- Faculty of Medicine, Group Molecular Genetics, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
- Faculty of Medicine, Group Neuroscience of Antioquia, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
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Ledo JH, Zhang R, Mesin L, Mourão-Sá D, Azevedo EP, Silva HM, Troyanskaya OG, Bustos V, Greengard P. Correction: Lack of a site-specific phosphorylation of Presenilin 1 disrupts microglial gene networks and progenitors during development. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0247680. [PMID: 33606833 PMCID: PMC7894834 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Paul Greengard: A persistent desire to comprehend the brain, and also to fix it. ADVANCES IN PHARMACOLOGY 2020; 90:1-18. [PMID: 33706929 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apha.2020.09.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Paul Greengard's name is and will remain profoundly associated with Neuroscience, with brain signaling and chemical transmission, with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, with fundamental discoveries and solving paradoxes, but much less perhaps with drug discovery. This should not be mistaken as disdain. Paul in fact did contemplate developing therapeutic avenues to actually treat brain diseases much more than it is known, perhaps during his entire career, and certainly over the last two decades. As a matter of fact, he did more than contemplate it, he directly and indirectly contributed in the development of treatments for neurological diseases and disorders. Paul's impact on fundamental aspects of the brain has been so gargantuan that any other aspect of Paul's life will have difficulty to shine. It is precisely this less known aspect of Paul's career that will be covered in this review. We will discover how Paul very early on moved away from biophysics to avoid working on nuclear weapons and instead started his career in the pharmacological spheres of a large pharmaceutical company.
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Roussarie JP, Rodriguez-Rodriguez P. Deciphering cell-type specific signal transduction in the brain: Challenges and promises. ADVANCES IN PHARMACOLOGY 2020; 90:145-171. [PMID: 33706931 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apha.2020.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/29/2023]
Abstract
Signal transduction designates the set of molecular events that take place within a cell upon extracellular stimulation to mediate a functional outcome. Decades after the discovery that dopamine triggers opposing signaling pathways in D1- and D2-expressing medium spiny neurons, it is now clear that there are as many different flavors of signaling pathways in the brain as there are neuron types. One of the biggest challenges in molecular neuroscience is to elucidate cell-type specific signaling, in order to understand neurological diseases with regional vulnerability, but also to identify targets for precision drugs devoid of off-target effects. Here, we make a case for the importance of the study of neuron-type specific molecular characteristics. We then review the technologies that exist to study neurons in their full diversity and highlight their disease-relevant idiosyncrasies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Pierre Roussarie
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, United States.
| | - Patricia Rodriguez-Rodriguez
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, United States; Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden
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