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Kuo CC, McCall JG. Neural circuit-selective, multiplexed pharmacological targeting of prefrontal cortex-projecting locus coeruleus neurons drives antinociception. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.08.598059. [PMID: 38895281 PMCID: PMC11185789 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.08.598059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Selective manipulation of neural circuits using optogenetics and chemogenetics holds great translational potential but requires genetic access to neurons. Here, we demonstrate a general framework for identifying genetic tool-independent, pharmacological strategies for neural circuit-selective modulation. We developed an economically accessible calcium imaging-based approach for large-scale pharmacological scans of endogenous receptor-mediated neural activity. As a testbed for this approach, we used the mouse locus coeruleus due to the combination of its widespread, modular efferent neural circuitry and its wide variety of endogenously expressed GPCRs. Using machine learning-based action potential deconvolution and retrograde tracing, we identified an agonist cocktail that selectively inhibits medial prefrontal cortex-projecting locus coeruleus neurons. In vivo , this cocktail produces synergistic antinociception, consistent with selective pharmacological blunting of this neural circuit. This framework has broad utility for selective targeting of other neural circuits under different physiological and pathological states, facilitating non-genetic translational applications arising from cell type-selective discoveries.
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Jiang Y, Shen L, Wang B. Non-electrophysiological techniques targeting transient receptor potential (TRP) gene of gastrointestinal tract. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 262:129551. [PMID: 38367416 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.129551] [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: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024]
Abstract
Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are cation channels related to a wide range of physical and chemical stimuli, they are expressed all along the gastrointestinal system, and a myriad of diseases are often associated with aberrant expression or mutation of the TRP gene, suggesting that TRPs are promising targets for drug therapy. Therefore, a better understanding of the information of TRPs in health and disease could facilitate the development of effective drugs for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases like IBD. But there are very few generalizations about the experimental techniques studied in this field. In view of the promise of TRP as a therapeutic target, we discuss experimental methods that can be used for TRPs including their distribution, function and interaction with other proteins, as well as some promising emerging technologies to provide experimental methods for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuting Jiang
- School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China; Center for Pharmaceutics Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Lan Shen
- School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
| | - Bing Wang
- School of Pharmacy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China; Center for Pharmaceutics Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.
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Greco F, Cosentino M, Marino F. The Italian breakthrough in CRISPR trials for rare diseases: a focus on beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease treatment. Front Med (Lausanne) 2024; 11:1356578. [PMID: 38426160 PMCID: PMC10902426 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1356578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The development of gene therapy and the current advantageous method of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) has allowed the implementation of several clinical trials aimed at studying the possible efficacy of gene therapy for rare diseases. Rare diseases pose a global challenge, in that their collective impact on health systems is considerable, whereas their individually rare occurrence hinders research and development of efficient therapies. Despite the low prevalence of individual rare diseases, there are more than 7,000 defined rare diseases affecting 3.5–5.9% of the global population. Rare diseases are mostly chronic and approximately 80% are caused by genetic mutation with an early-life onset. In Italy, in 2021 were recorded more than 400,000 people with rare disease. Because of its location and history, Italy has an unfortunate statistic regarding the presence and prevalence of two rare genetic diseases, namely beta-thalassemia, of which there are about 90 million carriers worldwide, 400,000 of whom are actually affected, and sickle cell disease, with about 300 million carriers and 6.5 million people affected worldwide. Advancements in genomic studies allowed Italy to join clinical trials to study effective and resolving gene therapies for BT and SCD. This study reports on the impact of rare diseases in Italy, ongoing studies, and recent achievements in BT and SCD trials using the CRISPR method and remaining hurdles in the application of CRISPR technology to rare diseases, also taking a glimpse at the newest challenges and future opportunities in the genetic treatment for rare diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Greco
- Center for Research in Medical Pharmacology, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
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Bell V, Varzakas T, Psaltopoulou T, Fernandes T. Sickle Cell Disease Update: New Treatments and Challenging Nutritional Interventions. Nutrients 2024; 16:258. [PMID: 38257151 PMCID: PMC10820494 DOI: 10.3390/nu16020258] [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: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Sickle cell disease (SCD), a distinctive and often overlooked illness in the 21st century, is a congenital blood disorder characterized by considerable phenotypic diversity. It comprises a group of disorders, with sickle cell anemia (SCA) being the most prevalent and serious genotype. Although there have been some systematic reviews of global data, worldwide statistics regarding SCD prevalence, morbidity, and mortality remain scarce. In developed countries with a lower number of sickle cell patients, cutting-edge technologies have led to the development of new treatments. However, in developing settings where sickle cell disease (SCD) is more prevalent, medical management, rather than a cure, still relies on the use of hydroxyurea, blood transfusions, and analgesics. This is a disease that affects red blood cells, consequently affecting most organs in diverse manners. We discuss its etiology and the advent of new technologies, but the aim of this study is to understand the various types of nutrition-related studies involving individuals suffering from SCD, particularly in Africa. The interplay of the environment, food, gut microbiota, along with their respective genomes collectively known as the gut microbiome, and host metabolism is responsible for mediating host metabolic phenotypes and modulating gut microbiota. In addition, it serves the purpose of providing essential nutrients. Moreover, it engages in direct interactions with host homeostasis and the immune system, as well as indirect interactions via metabolites. Nutrition interventions and nutritional care are mechanisms for addressing increased nutrient expenditures and are important aspects of supportive management for patients with SCD. Underprivileged areas in Sub-Saharan Africa should be accompanied by efforts to define and promote of the nutritional aspects of SCD. Their importance is key to maintaining well-being and quality of life, especially because new technologies and products remain limited, while the use of native medicinal plant resources is acknowledged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Bell
- Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal;
| | - Theodoros Varzakas
- Department of Food Science and Technology, University of the Peloponnese, 24100 Kalamata, Greece
| | - Theodora Psaltopoulou
- Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece;
| | - Tito Fernandes
- CIISA, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal
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Raynaud CM, Ahmed EI, Jabeen A, Sanchez A, Sherif S, Carneiro-Lobo TC, Awad A, Awartani D, Naik A, Thomas R, Decock J, Zoppoli G, Bedongnetti D, Hendrickx WRL. Modulation of SLFN11 induces changes in DNA Damage response in breast cancer. Cancer Cell Int 2023; 23:291. [PMID: 38001424 PMCID: PMC10668346 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-023-03144-w] [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: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lack of Schlafen family member 11 (SLFN11) expression has been recently identified as a dominant genomic determinant of response to DNA damaging agents in numerous cancer types. Thus, several strategies aimed at increasing SLFN11 are explored to restore chemosensitivity of refractory cancers. In this study, we examined various approaches to elevate SLFN11 expression in breast cancer cellular models and confirmed a corresponding increase in chemosensitivity with using the most successful efficient one. As oncogenic transcriptomic downregulation is often driven by methylation of the promotor region, we explore the demethylation effect of 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (decitabine), on the SLFN11 gene. Since SLFN11 has been reported as an interferon inducible gene, and interferon is secreted during an active anti-tumor immune response, we investigated the in vitro effect of IFN-γ on SLFN11 expression in breast cancer cell lines. As a secondary approach to pick up cross talk between immune cells and SLFN11 expression we used indirect co-culture of breast cancer cells with activated PBMCs and evaluated if this can drive SLFN11 upregulation. Finally, as a definitive and specific way to modulate SLFN11 expression we implemented SLFN11 dCas9 (dead CRISPR associated protein 9) systems to specifically increase or decrease SLFN11 expression. RESULTS After confirming the previously reported correlation between methylation of SLFN11 promoter and its expression across multiple cell lines, we showed in-vitro that decitabine and IFN-γ could increase moderately the expression of SLFN11 in both BT-549 and T47D cell lines. The use of a CRISPR-dCas9 UNISAM and KRAB system could increase or decrease SLFN11 expression significantly (up to fivefold), stably and specifically in BT-549 and T47D cancer cell lines. We then used the modified cell lines to quantify the alteration in chemo sensitivity of those cells to treatment with DNA Damaging Agents (DDAs) such as Cisplatin and Epirubicin or DNA Damage Response (DDRs) drugs like Olaparib. RNAseq was used to elucidate the mechanisms of action affected by the alteration in SLFN11 expression. In cell lines with robust SLFN11 promoter methylation such as MDA-MB-231, no SLFN11 expression could be induced by any approach. CONCLUSION To our knowledge this is the first report of the stable non-lethal increase of SLFN11 expression in a cancer cell line. Our results show that induction of SLFN11 expression can enhance DDA and DDR sensitivity in breast cancer cells and dCas9 systems may represent a novel approach to increase SLFN11 and achieve higher sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents, improving outcome or decreasing required drug concentrations. SLFN11-targeting therapies might be explored pre-clinically to develop personalized approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Eiman I Ahmed
- Tumor Biology and Immunology Lab, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
| | - Ayesha Jabeen
- Tumor Biology and Immunology Lab, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Apryl Sanchez
- Tumor Biology and Immunology Lab, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Shimaa Sherif
- Tumor Biology and Immunology Lab, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | | | - Amany Awad
- Tumor Biology and Immunology Lab, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Dina Awartani
- Tumor Biology and Immunology Lab, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
| | - Adviti Naik
- Translational Cancer and Immunity Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Remy Thomas
- Translational Cancer and Immunity Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Center, Doha, Qatar
| | - Julie Decock
- Translational Cancer and Immunity Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Center, Doha, Qatar
- College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Doha, Qatar
| | - Gabriele Zoppoli
- Department of Internal Medicine (DiMI), University of Genoa and Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
- Ospedale Policlinico San Martino IRCCS per l'Oncologia, Genoa, Italy
| | - Davide Bedongnetti
- Tumor Biology and Immunology Lab, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar
- Department of Internal Medicine (DiMI), University of Genoa and Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
- Clinical and Experimental Oncology and Hematology, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy
| | - Wouter R L Hendrickx
- Tumor Biology and Immunology Lab, Research Branch, Sidra Medicine, Doha, Qatar.
- College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Doha, Qatar.
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Ansori ANM, Antonius Y, Susilo RJK, Hayaza S, Kharisma VD, Parikesit AA, Zainul R, Jakhmola V, Saklani T, Rebezov M, Ullah ME, Maksimiuk N, Derkho M, Burkov P. Application of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology in various fields: A review. NARRA J 2023; 3:e184. [PMID: 38450259 PMCID: PMC10916045 DOI: 10.52225/narra.v3i2.184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas9 has emerged as a revolutionary tool that enables precise and efficient modifications of the genetic material. This review provides a comprehensive overview of CRISPR-Cas9 technology and its applications in genome editing. We begin by describing the fundamental principles of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, explaining how the system utilizes a single guide RNA (sgRNA) to direct the Cas9 nuclease to specific DNA sequences in the genome, resulting in targeted double-stranded breaks. In this review, we provide in-depth explorations of CRISPR-Cas9 technology and its applications in agriculture, medicine, environmental sciences, fisheries, nanotechnology, bioinformatics, and biotechnology. We also highlight its potential, ongoing research, and the ethical considerations and controversies surrounding its use. This review might contribute to the understanding of CRISPR-Cas9 technology and its implications in various fields, paving the way for future developments and responsible applications of this transformative technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arif NM. Ansori
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
- Uttaranchal Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun, India
- European Virus Bioinformatics Center, Jena, Germany
| | - Yulanda Antonius
- Faculty of Biotechnology, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia
| | - Raden JK. Susilo
- Nanotechology Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
| | - Suhailah Hayaza
- Nanotechology Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
| | - Viol D. Kharisma
- Doctoral Program of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
- Generasi Biologi Indonesia Foundation, Gresik, Indonesia
| | - Arli A. Parikesit
- Department of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences (i3L), Jakarta,Indonesia
| | - Rahadian Zainul
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia
| | - Vikash Jakhmola
- Uttaranchal Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun, India
| | - Taru Saklani
- Uttaranchal Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun, India
| | - Maksim Rebezov
- Department of Scientific Research, V. M. Gorbatov Federal Research Center for Food Systems, Moscow, Russian Federation
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Ural State Agrarian University, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation
| | - Md. Emdad Ullah
- Department of Chemistry, Mississippi State University, Mississippi, United States
| | - Nikolai Maksimiuk
- Institute of Medical Education, Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, Velikiy Novgorod, Russian Federation
| | - Marina Derkho
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine, South Ural State Agrarian University, Troitsk, Russian Federation
| | - Pavel Burkov
- Institute of Veterinary Medicine, South Ural State Agrarian University, Troitsk, Russian Federation
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