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Hsiao-Nakamoto J, Chiu CL, VandeVrede L, Ravi R, Vandenberg B, De Groot J, Tsogtbaatar B, Fang M, Auger P, Gould NS, Marchioni F, Powers CA, Davis SS, Suh JH, Alkabsh J, Heuer HW, Lago AL, Scearce-Levie K, Seeley WW, Boeve BF, Rosen HJ, Berger A, Tsai R, Di Paolo G, Boxer AL, Bhalla A, Huang F. Alterations in Lysosomal, Glial and Neurodegenerative Biomarkers in Patients with Sporadic and Genetic Forms of Frontotemporal Dementia. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.09.579529. [PMID: 38405775 PMCID: PMC10888909 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.09.579529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Background Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the most common cause of early-onset dementia with 10-20% of cases caused by mutations in one of three genes: GRN, C9orf72, or MAPT. To effectively develop therapeutics for FTD, the identification and characterization of biomarkers to understand disease pathogenesis and evaluate the impact of specific therapeutic strategies on the target biology as well as the underlying disease pathology are essential. Moreover, tracking the longitudinal changes of these biomarkers throughout disease progression is crucial to discern their correlation with clinical manifestations for potential prognostic usage. Methods We conducted a comprehensive investigation of biomarkers indicative of lysosomal biology, glial cell activation, synaptic and neuronal health in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma from non-carrier controls, sporadic FTD (symptomatic non-carriers) and symptomatic carriers of mutations in GRN, C9orf72, or MAPT, as well as asymptomatic GRN mutation carriers. We also assessed the longitudinal changes of biomarkers in GRN mutation carriers. Furthermore, we examined biomarker levels in disease impacted brain regions including middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and disease-unaffected inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) from sporadic FTD and symptomatic GRN carriers. Results We confirmed glucosylsphingosine (GlcSph), a lysosomal biomarker regulated by progranulin, was elevated in the plasma from GRN mutation carriers, both symptomatic and asymptomatic. GlcSph and other lysosomal biomarkers such as ganglioside GM2 and globoside GB3 were increased in the disease affected SFG and MTG regions from sporadic FTD and symptomatic GRN mutation carriers, but not in the IOG, compared to the same brain regions from controls. The glial biomarkers GFAP in plasma and YKL40 in CSF were elevated in asymptomatic GRN carriers, and all symptomatic groups, except the symptomatic C9orf72 mutation group. YKL40 was also increased in SFG and MTG regions from sporadic FTD and symptomatic GRN mutation carriers. Neuronal injury and degeneration biomarkers NfL in CSF and plasma, and UCHL1 in CSF were elevated in patients with all forms of FTD. Synaptic biomarkers NPTXR, NPTX1/2, and VGF were reduced in CSF from patients with all forms of FTD, with the most pronounced reductions observed in symptomatic MAPT mutation carriers. Furthermore, we demonstrated plasma NfL was significantly positively correlated with disease severity as measured by CDR+NACC FTLD SB in genetic forms of FTD and CSF NPTXR was significantly negatively correlated with CDR+NACC FTLD SB in symptomatic GRN and MAPT mutation carriers. Conclusions In conclusion, our comprehensive investigation replicated alterations in biofluid biomarkers indicative of lysosomal function, glial activation, synaptic and neuronal health across sporadic and genetic forms of FTD and unveiled novel insights into the dysregulation of these biomarkers within brain tissues from patients with GRN mutations. The observed correlations between biomarkers and disease severity open promising avenues for prognostic applications and for indicators of drug efficacy in clinical trials. Our data also implicated a complicated relationship between biofluid and tissue biomarker changes and future investigations should delve into the mechanistic underpinnings of these biomarkers, which will serve as a foundation for the development of targeted therapeutics for FTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Hsiao-Nakamoto
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Chi-Lu Chiu
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Lawren VandeVrede
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Ritesh Ravi
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Brittany Vandenberg
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- Present address: Brittany Vandenberg, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
| | - Jack De Groot
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- Present address: Jack DeGroot: Prime Medicine Inc., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | | | - Meng Fang
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Paul Auger
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- Present address: Paul Auger: Nurix Therapeutics, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Neal S Gould
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Filippo Marchioni
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Casey A Powers
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- Present address: Casey A. Powers: Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Sonnet S Davis
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Jung H Suh
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Jamal Alkabsh
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Hilary W Heuer
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Argentina Lario Lago
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Kimberly Scearce-Levie
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- Present address: Kimberly Scearce-Levie: Cajal Neuroscience, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - William W Seeley
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Bradley F Boeve
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Howard J Rosen
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
| | - Amy Berger
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Richard Tsai
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Gilbert Di Paolo
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Adam L Boxer
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Akhil Bhalla
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Fen Huang
- Denali Therapeutics Inc., 161 Oyster Point, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
- These authors contributed equally
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Ozcan KA, Ghaffari LT, Haeusler AR. The effects of molecular crowding and CpG hypermethylation on DNA G-quadruplexes formed by the C9orf72 nucleotide repeat expansion. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23213. [PMID: 34853325 PMCID: PMC8636472 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02041-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
A nucleotide repeat expansion (NRE), (G4C2)n, located in a classically noncoding region of C9orf72 (C9), is the most common genetic mutation associated with ALS/FTD. There is increasing evidence that nucleic acid structures formed by the C9-NRE may both contribute to ALS/FTD, and serve as therapeutic targets, but there is limited characterization of these nucleic acid structures under physiologically and disease relevant conditions. Here we show in vitro that the C9-NRE DNA can form both parallel and antiparallel DNA G-quadruplex (GQ) topological structures and that the structural preference of these DNA GQs can be dependent on the molecular crowding conditions. Additionally, 5-methylcytosine DNA hypermethylation, which is observed in the C9-NRE locus in some patients, has minimal effects on GQ topological preferences. Finally, molecular dynamic simulations of methylated and nonmethylated GQ structures support in vitro data showing that DNA GQ structures formed by the C9-NRE DNA are stable, with structural fluctuations limited to the cytosine-containing loop regions. These findings provide new insight into the structural polymorphic preferences and stability of DNA GQs formed by the C9-NRE in both the methylated and nonmethylated states, as well as reveal important features to guide the development of upstream therapeutic approaches to potentially attenuate C9-NRE-linked diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kadir A Ozcan
- Department of Neuroscience, Jefferson Weinberg ALS Center, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Layla T Ghaffari
- Department of Neuroscience, Jefferson Weinberg ALS Center, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Aaron R Haeusler
- Department of Neuroscience, Jefferson Weinberg ALS Center, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. .,Department of Neuroscience, Jefferson Weinberg ALS Center, Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Thomas Jefferson University, 900 Walnut Street, JHN suite 410, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA.
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