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Chiereghin C, Robusto M, Lewis MA, Caetano S, Massa V, Castorina P, Ambrosetti U, Steel KP, Duga S, Asselta R, Soldà G. In-depth genetic and molecular characterization of diaphanous related formin 2 (DIAPH2) and its role in the inner ear. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0273586. [PMID: 36689403 PMCID: PMC9870134 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Diaphanous related formins are regulatory cytoskeletal protein involved in actin elongation and microtubule stabilization. In humans, defects in two of the three diaphanous genes (DIAPH1 and DIAPH3) have been associated with different types of hearing loss. Here, we investigate the role of the third member of the family, DIAPH2, in nonsyndromic hearing loss, prompted by the identification, by exome sequencing, of a predicted pathogenic missense variant in DIAPH2. This variant occurs at a conserved site and segregated with nonsyndromic X-linked hearing loss in an Italian family. Our immunohistochemical studies indicated that the mouse ortholog protein Diaph2 is expressed during development in the cochlea, specifically in the actin-rich stereocilia of the sensory outer hair cells. In-vitro studies showed a functional impairment of the mutant DIAPH2 protein upon RhoA-dependent activation. Finally, Diaph2 knock-out and knock-in mice were generated by CRISPR/Cas9 technology and auditory brainstem response measurements performed at 4, 8 and 14 weeks. However, no hearing impairment was detected. Our findings indicate that DIAPH2 may play a role in the inner ear; further studies are however needed to clarify the contribution of DIAPH2 to deafness.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michela Robusto
- Experimental Therapeutics Program, IFOM ETS -The AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Milan, Italy
| | - Morag A. Lewis
- Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Susana Caetano
- Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Valentina Massa
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | | | - Umberto Ambrosetti
- Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e di Comunità, Università degli Studi di Milano and Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, UO Audiologia, Milano, Italy
| | - Karen P. Steel
- Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Stefano Duga
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
- Humanitas University, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy
| | - Rosanna Asselta
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
- Humanitas University, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy
| | - Giulia Soldà
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
- Humanitas University, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy
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Grazioli P, Parodi C, Mariani M, Bottai D, Di Fede E, Zulueta A, Avagliano L, Cereda A, Tenconi R, Wierzba J, Adami R, Iascone M, Ajmone PF, Vaccari T, Gervasini C, Selicorni A, Massa V. Lithium as a possible therapeutic strategy for Cornelia de Lange syndrome. Cell Death Dis 2021; 7:34. [PMID: 33597506 PMCID: PMC7889653 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-021-00414-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) is a rare developmental disorder affecting a multitude of organs including the central nervous system, inducing a variable neurodevelopmental delay. CdLS malformations derive from the deregulation of developmental pathways, inclusive of the canonical WNT pathway. We have evaluated MRI anomalies and behavioral and neurological clinical manifestations in CdLS patients. Importantly, we observed in our cohort a significant association between behavioral disturbance and structural abnormalities in brain structures of hindbrain embryonic origin. Considering the cumulative evidence on the cohesin-WNT-hindbrain shaping cascade, we have explored possible ameliorative effects of chemical activation of the canonical WNT pathway with lithium chloride in different models: (I) Drosophila melanogaster CdLS model showing a significant rescue of mushroom bodies morphology in the adult flies; (II) mouse neural stem cells restoring physiological levels in proliferation rate and differentiation capabilities toward the neuronal lineage; (III) lymphoblastoid cell lines from CdLS patients and healthy donors restoring cellular proliferation rate and inducing the expression of CyclinD1. This work supports a role for WNT-pathway regulation of CdLS brain and behavioral abnormalities and a consistent phenotype rescue by lithium in experimental models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Grazioli
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Chiara Parodi
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Daniele Bottai
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy ,grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822“Aldo Ravelli” Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Di Fede
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Aida Zulueta
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Avagliano
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Cereda
- Department of Pediatrics-ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy
| | - Romano Tenconi
- grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Department of Pediatrics, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Jolanta Wierzba
- grid.11451.300000 0001 0531 3426Department of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine Nursing, Department of Rare Disorders, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Raffaella Adami
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Iascone
- Department of Pediatrics-ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy
| | - Paola Francesca Ajmone
- grid.414818.00000 0004 1757 8749Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Thomas Vaccari
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Biosciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Cristina Gervasini
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy ,grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822“Aldo Ravelli” Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Valentina Massa
- grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy ,grid.4708.b0000 0004 1757 2822“Aldo Ravelli” Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
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3
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Bottai D, Spreafico M, Pistocchi A, Fazio G, Adami R, Grazioli P, Canu A, Bragato C, Rigamonti S, Parodi C, Cazzaniga G, Biondi A, Cotelli F, Selicorni A, Massa V. Modeling Cornelia de Lange syndrome in vitro and in vivo reveals a role for cohesin complex in neuronal survival and differentiation. Hum Mol Genet 2019; 28:64-73. [PMID: 30239720 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddy329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Accepted: 09/12/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS), which is reported to affect ∼1 in 10 000 to 30 000 newborns, is a multisystem organ developmental disorder with relatively mild to severe effects. Among others, intellectual disability represents an important feature of this condition. CdLS can result from mutations in at least five genes: nipped-B-like protein, structural maintenance of chromosomes 1A, structural maintenance of chromosomes 3, RAD21 cohesin complex component and histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8). It is believed that mutations in these genes cause CdLS by impairing the function of the cohesin complex (to which all the aforementioned genes contribute to the structure or function), disrupting gene regulation during critical stages of early development. Since intellectual disorder might result from alterations in neural development, in this work, we studied the role of Hdac8 gene in mouse neural stem cells (NSCs) and in vertebrate (Danio rerio) brain development by knockdown and chemical inhibition experiments. Underlying features of Hdac8 deficiency is an increased cell death in the developing neural tissues, either in mouse NSCs or in zebrafish embryos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Bottai
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Spreafico
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Pistocchi
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Grazia Fazio
- Centro Ricerca Tettamanti, Clinica Pediatrica, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Fondazione MBBM/Ospedale S. Gerardo, Monza, Italy
| | - Raffaella Adami
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Grazioli
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Adriana Canu
- Dipartimento di Biotecnologie Mediche e Medicina Traslazionale, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Cinzia Bragato
- Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico C. Besta, Milano, Italy
- PhD program in Neuroscience, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Silvia Rigamonti
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
- Centro Ricerca Tettamanti, Clinica Pediatrica, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Fondazione MBBM/Ospedale S. Gerardo, Monza, Italy
| | - Chiara Parodi
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Gianni Cazzaniga
- Centro Ricerca Tettamanti, Clinica Pediatrica, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Fondazione MBBM/Ospedale S. Gerardo, Monza, Italy
| | - Andrea Biondi
- Clinica Pediatrica, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Fondazione MBBM/Ospedale S. Gerardo, Monza, Italy
| | - Franco Cotelli
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Valentina Massa
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
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