1
|
Ye C, Ho R, Moberg KH, Zheng JQ. Sexual Dimorphism in Age-Dependent Neurodegeneration After Mild Head Trauma in Drosophila : Unveiling the Adverse Impact of Female Reproductive Signaling. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.06.583747. [PMID: 38496515 PMCID: PMC10942469 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.06.583747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Environmental insults, including mild head trauma, significantly increase the risk of neurodegeneration. However, it remains challenging to establish a causative connection between early-life exposure to mild head trauma and late-life emergence of neurodegenerative deficits, nor do we know how sex and age compound the outcome. Using a Drosophila model, we demonstrate that exposure to mild head trauma causes neurodegenerative conditions that emerge late in life and disproportionately affect females. Increasing age-at-injury further exacerbates this effect in a sexually dimorphic manner. We further identify Sex Peptide (SP) signaling as a key factor in female susceptibility to post-injury brain deficits. RNA sequencing highlights a reduction in innate immune defense transcripts specifically in mated females during late life. Our findings establish a causal relationship between early head trauma and late-life neurodegeneration, emphasizing sex differences in injury response and the impact of age-at-injury. Finally, our findings reveal that reproductive signaling adversely impacts female response to mild head insults and elevates vulnerability to late-life neurodegeneration.
Collapse
|
2
|
Yang Y, Lu D, Wang M, Liu G, Feng Y, Ren Y, Sun X, Chen Z, Wang Z. Endoplasmic reticulum stress and the unfolded protein response: emerging regulators in progression of traumatic brain injury. Cell Death Dis 2024; 15:156. [PMID: 38378666 PMCID: PMC10879178 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-024-06515-x] [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: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common trauma with high mortality and disability rates worldwide. However, the current management of this disease is still unsatisfactory. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of TBI in depth to improve the treatment options. In recent decades, abundant evidence has highlighted the significance of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) in advancing central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including TBI. ERS following TBI leads to the accumulation of unfolded proteins, initiating the unfolded protein response (UPR). Protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK), inositol-requiring protein 1 (IRE1), and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) are the three major pathways of UPR initiation that determine whether a cell survives or dies. This review focuses on the dual effects of ERS on TBI and discusses the underlying mechanisms. It is suggested that ERS may crosstalk with a series of molecular cascade responses, such as mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, autophagy, and cell death, and is thus involved in the progression of secondary injury after TBI. Hence, ERS is a promising candidate for the management of TBI.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yayi Yang
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China
- Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Dengfeng Lu
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Menghan Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China
- Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Guangjie Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Yun Feng
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China
- Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Yubo Ren
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China
| | - Xiaoou Sun
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China.
| | - Zhouqing Chen
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China.
| | - Zhong Wang
- Department of Neurosurgery & Brain and Nerve Research Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 188Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, Jiangsu Province, China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Jones TB, Mackey T, Juba AN, Amin K, Atyam A, McDole M, Yancy J, Thomas TC, Buhlman LM. Mild traumatic brain injury in Drosophila melanogaster alters reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in a sex-dependent manner. Exp Neurol 2024; 372:114621. [PMID: 38029809 PMCID: PMC10872660 DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2023.114621] [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: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an outside force causing a modification in brain function and/or structural brain pathology that upregulates brain inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), instigating increased levels of nitric oxide activity which is implicated in secondary pathology leading to behavioral deficits (Hall et al., 2012; Garry et al., 2015; Kozlov et al., 2017). In mammals, TBI-induced NO production activates an immune response and potentiates metabolic crisis through mitochondrial dysfunction coupled with vascular dysregulation; however, the direct influence on pathology is complicated by the activation of numerous secondary cascades and activation of other reactive oxygen species. Drosophila TBI models have demonstrated key features of mammalian TBI, including temporary incapacitation, disorientation, motor deficits, activation of innate immunity (inflammation), and autophagy responses observed immediately after injury (Katzenberger et al., 2013; Barekat et al., 2016; Simon et al., 2017; Anderson et al., 2018; Buhlman et al., 2021b). We hypothesized that acute behavioral phenotypes would be associated with deficits in climbing behavior and increased oxidative stress. Because flies lack mammalian-like cardiovascular and adaptive immune systems, we were able to make our observations in the absence of vascular disruption and adaptive immune system interference in a system where highly targeted interventions can be rapidly evaluated. To demonstrate the induction of injury, ten-day-old transgenic flies received an injury of increasing angles from a modified high impact trauma (HIT) device where angle-dependent increases occurred for acute neurological behavior assessments and twenty-four-hour mortality, and survival was significantly decreased. Injury caused sex-dependent effects on climbing activity and measures of oxidative stress. Specifically, after a single 60-degree HIT, female flies exhibited significant impairments in climbing activity beyond that observed in male flies. We also found that several measures of oxidative stress, including Drosophila NOS (dNOS) expression, protein nitration, and hydrogen peroxide production were significantly decreased in female flies. Interestingly, protein nitration was also decreased in males, but surpassed sham levels with a more severe injury. We also observed decreased autophagy demand in vulnerable dopaminergic neurons in female, but not male flies. In addition, mitophagy initiation was decreased in females. Collectively, our data suggest that TBI in flies induces acute behavioral phenotypes and climbing deficits that are analogous to mammalian TBI. We also observed that various indices of oxidative stress, including dNOS expression, protein tyrosine nitration, and hydrogen peroxide levels, as well as basal levels of autophagy, are altered in response to injury, an effect that is more pronounced in female flies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- T Bucky Jones
- College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Tracy Mackey
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Amber N Juba
- College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Kush Amin
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Amruth Atyam
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Madison McDole
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Jarod Yancy
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Theresa Currier Thomas
- Department of Child Health, University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix VA Health Care System, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
| | - Lori M Buhlman
- College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Freeman-Jones E, Miller WH, Work LM, Fullerton JL. Polypathologies and Animal Models of Traumatic Brain Injury. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1709. [PMID: 38137157 PMCID: PMC10741988 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121709] [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: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important health issue for the worldwide population, as it causes long-term pathological consequences for a diverse group of individuals. We are yet to fully elucidate the significance of TBI polypathologies, such as neuroinflammation and tau hyperphosphorylation, and their contribution to the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and other neurological conditions. To advance our understanding of TBI, it is necessary to replicate TBI in preclinical models. Commonly used animal models include the weight drop model; these methods model human TBI in various ways and in different animal species. However, animal models have not demonstrated their clinical utility for identifying therapeutic interventions. Many interventions that were successful in improving outcomes for animal models did not translate into clinical benefit for patients. It is important to review current animal models and discuss their strengths and limitations within a TBI context. Modelling human TBI in animals encounters numerous challenges, yet despite these barriers, the TBI research community is working to overcome these difficulties. Developments include advances in biomarkers, standardising, and refining existing models. This progress will improve our ability to model TBI in animals and, therefore, enhance our understanding of TBI and, potentially, how to treat it.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Erin Freeman-Jones
- School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK; (E.F.-J.); (W.H.M.)
| | - William H. Miller
- School of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK; (E.F.-J.); (W.H.M.)
| | - Lorraine M. Work
- School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK;
| | - Josie L. Fullerton
- School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK;
| |
Collapse
|