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Moroncini G, Svegliati S, Grieco A, Cuccioloni M, Mozzicafreddo M, Paolini C, Agarbati S, Spadoni T, Amoresano A, Pinto G, Chen Q, Benfaremo D, Tonnini C, Senzacqua M, Alizzi S, Nieto K, Finke D, Viola N, Amico D, Galgani M, Gasparini S, Zuccatosta L, Menzo S, Müller M, Kleinschmidt J, Funaro A, Giordano A, La Cava A, Dorfmüller P, Amoroso A, Pucci P, Pezone A, Avvedimento EV, Gabrielli A. Adeno-Associated Virus Type 5 Infection via PDGFRα Is Associated With Interstitial Lung Disease in Systemic Sclerosis and Generates Composite Peptides and Epitopes Recognized by the Agonistic Immunoglobulins Present in Patients With Systemic Sclerosis. Arthritis Rheumatol 2024; 76:620-630. [PMID: 37975161 DOI: 10.1002/art.42746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The etiopathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc) is unknown. Platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs) are overexpressed in patients with SSc. Because PDGFRα is targeted by the adeno-associated virus type 5 (AAV5), we investigated whether AAV5 forms a complex with PDGFRα exposing epitopes that may induce the immune responses to the virus-PDGFRα complex. METHODS The binding of monomeric human PDGFRα to the AAV5 capsid was analyzed by in silico molecular docking, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and genome editing of the PDGFRα locus. AAV5 was detected in SSc lungs by in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, and molecular analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Immune responses to AAV5 and PDGFRα were evaluated by SPR using SSc monoclonal anti-PDGFRα antibodies and immunoaffinity-purified anti-PDGFRα antibodies from sera of patients with SSc. RESULTS AAV5 was detected in the BAL fluid of 41 of 66 patients with SSc with interstitial lung disease (62.1%) and in 17 of 66 controls (25.75%) (P < 0.001). In SSc lungs, AAV5 localized in type II pneumocytes and in interstitial cells. A molecular complex formed of spatially contiguous epitopes of the AAV5 capsid and of PDGFRα was identified and characterized. In silico molecular docking analysis and binding to the agonistic anti-PDGFRα antibodies identified spatially contiguous epitopes derived from PDGFRα and AAV5 that interacted with SSc agonistic antibodies to PDGFRα. These peptides were also able to bind total IgG isolated from patients with SSc, not from healthy controls. CONCLUSION These data link AVV5 with the immune reactivity to endogenous antigens in SSc and provide a novel element in the pathogenesis of SSc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianluca Moroncini
- Università Politecnica delle Marche and Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
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- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Devis Benfaremo
- Università Politecnica delle Marche and Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | | | | | - Silvia Alizzi
- Università di Torino and Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Città della Salute e della Scienza, di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Karen Nieto
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Doreen Finke
- Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Nadia Viola
- Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | | | | | - Stefano Gasparini
- Università Politecnica delle Marche and Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Lina Zuccatosta
- Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Stefano Menzo
- Università Politecnica delle Marche and Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
| | - Martin Müller
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Antonio La Cava
- Federico II University, Napoli, Italy
- University of California, Los Angeles, CA
| | | | - Antonio Amoroso
- Università di Torino and Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Città della Salute e della Scienza, di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | | | | | | | - Armando Gabrielli
- Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Ancona, Italy, and Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
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Strobl EV, Gamazon ER. Discovering Root Causal Genes with High Throughput Perturbations. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.13.574491. [PMID: 38260506 PMCID: PMC10802597 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.13.574491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Root causal gene expression levels - or root causal genes for short - correspond to the initial changes to gene expression that generate patient symptoms as a downstream effect. Identifying root causal genes is critical towards developing treatments that modify disease near its onset, but no existing algorithms attempt to identify root causal genes from data. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data introduces challenges such as measurement error, high dimensionality and non-linearity that compromise accurate estimation of root causal effects even with state-of-the-art approaches. We therefore instead leverage Perturb-seq, or high throughput perturbations with single cell RNA-seq readout, to learn the causal order between the genes. We then transfer the causal order to bulk RNA-seq and identify root causal genes specific to a given patient for the first time using a novel statistic. Experiments demonstrate large improvements in performance. Applications to macular degeneration and multiple sclerosis also reveal root causal genes that lie on known pathogenic pathways, delineate patient subgroups and implicate a newly defined omnigenic root causal model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric V Strobl
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, United States of America
| | - Eric R Gamazon
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, United States of America
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Spencer SA, Suárez-Pozos E, Verdugo JS, Wang H, Afshari FS, Li G, Manam S, Yasuda D, Ortega A, Lister JA, Ishii S, Zhang Y, Fuss B. Lysophosphatidic acid signaling via LPA 6 : A negative modulator of developmental oligodendrocyte maturation. J Neurochem 2022; 163:478-499. [PMID: 36153691 PMCID: PMC9772207 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2022] [Revised: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The developmental process of central nervous system (CNS) myelin sheath formation is characterized by well-coordinated cellular activities ultimately ensuring rapid and synchronized neural communication. During this process, myelinating CNS cells, namely oligodendrocytes (OLGs), undergo distinct steps of differentiation, whereby the progression of earlier maturation stages of OLGs represents a critical step toward the timely establishment of myelinated axonal circuits. Given the complexity of functional integration, it is not surprising that OLG maturation is controlled by a yet fully to be defined set of both negative and positive modulators. In this context, we provide here first evidence for a role of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) signaling via the G protein-coupled receptor LPA6 as a negative modulatory regulator of myelination-associated gene expression in OLGs. More specifically, the cell surface accessibility of LPA6 was found to be restricted to the earlier maturation stages of differentiating OLGs, and OLG maturation was found to occur precociously in Lpar6 knockout mice. To further substantiate these findings, a novel small molecule ligand with selectivity for preferentially LPA6 and LPA6 agonist characteristics was functionally characterized in vitro in primary cultures of rat OLGs and in vivo in the developing zebrafish. Utilizing this approach, a negative modulatory role of LPA6 signaling in OLG maturation could be corroborated. During development, such a functional role of LPA6 signaling likely serves to ensure timely coordination of circuit formation and myelination. Under pathological conditions as seen in the major human demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS), however, persistent LPA6 expression and signaling in OLGs can be seen as an inhibitor of myelin repair. Thus, it is of interest that LPA6 protein levels appear elevated in MS brain samples, thereby suggesting that LPA6 signaling may represent a potential new druggable pathway suitable to promote myelin repair in MS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha A Spencer
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Edna Suárez-Pozos
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Jazmín Soto Verdugo
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Departamento de Toxicología, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Huiqun Wang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Fatemah S Afshari
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Guo Li
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Susmita Manam
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Daisuke Yasuda
- Department of Immunology, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita, Japan
| | - Arturo Ortega
- Departamento de Toxicología, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Ciudad de México, México
| | - James A Lister
- Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Satoshi Ishii
- Department of Immunology, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita, Japan
| | - Yan Zhang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Babette Fuss
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia, USA
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Jiao Z, Feng X, Cui Y, Wang L, Gan J, Zhao Y, Meng Q. Expression characteristic, immune signature, and prognosis value of EFNA family identified by multi-omics integrative analysis in pan-cancer. BMC Cancer 2022; 22:871. [PMID: 35945523 PMCID: PMC9364540 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-022-09951-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background EphrinA (EFNA) are Eph receptor ligands that regulate various disease processes. Nonetheless, the expression characteristics of EFNAs in pan-cancer, their relationship with tumor immune microenvironment, and prognostic value landscape remain unknown. Methods A comprehensive landscape of EFNAs was created using various statistical data extracted from 33 cancers. Subsequently, we identified differential expression, genetic variations, potential function enrichment, tumor immune-related analysis, and drug sensitivity. Further, we investigated the clinical features and diagnostic prognostic value of EFNAs. RT-qPCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to validate the expression level and significant clinical value of EFNA5 in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines and tissues. Results EFNAs were highly mutated in various cancers. Genomic and epigenetic alterations of EFNAs were observed in various tumors, where an oncogenic mutation in specific cancer types potentially affected EFNA expression. Moreover, tumor-derived EFNAs were significantly related to the tumor immune microenvironment, suggesting that they are promising therapeutic targets. The majority of EFNA family genes were significantly linked to patient prognosis. Eventually, EFNA5 was an independent prognostic factor in lung adenocarcinoma. Conclusion In summary, EFNAs are crucial in tumor immune regulation, and EFNA5 is a prognostic marker in lung adenocarcinoma. Our findings provide new insights into EFNAs from a bioinformatics standpoint and highlight the significance of EFNAs in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09951-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zonglin Jiao
- Department of Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China
| | - Xiao Feng
- Department of Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China.,Department of Oncology, Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
| | - Yuqing Cui
- Department of Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China
| | - Lei Wang
- Department of Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China
| | - Junqing Gan
- Department of Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China
| | - Yanbin Zhao
- Department of Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China.
| | - Qingwei Meng
- Department of Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China.
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