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Barde S, Aguila J, Zhong W, Solarz A, Mei I, Prud'homme J, Palkovits M, Turecki G, Mulder J, Uhlén M, Nagy C, Mechawar N, Hedlund E, Hökfelt T. Substance P, NPY, CCK and their receptors in five brain regions in major depressive disorder with transcriptomic analysis of locus coeruleus neurons. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2024; 78:54-63. [PMID: 37931511 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious disease and a burden to patients, families and society. Rodent experiments and human studies suggest that several neuropeptide systems are involved in mood regulation. The aim of this study is two-fold: (i) to monitor, with qPCR, transcript levels of the substance P/tachykinin (TAC), NPY and CCK systems in bulk samples from control and suicide subjects, targeting five postmortem brain regions including locus coeruleus (LC); and (ii) to analyse expression of neuropeptide family transcripts in LC neurons of 'normal' postmortem brains by using laser capture microdissection with Smart-Seq2 RNA sequencing. qPCR revealed distinct regional expression patterns in male and female controls with higher levels for the TAC system in the dorsal raphe nucleus and LC, versus higher transcripts levels of the NPY and CCK systems in prefrontal cortex. In suicide patients, TAC, TAC receptors and a few NPY family transcript levels were increased mainly in prefrontal cortex and LC. The second study on 'normal' noradrenergic LC neurons revealed expression of transcripts for GAL, NPY, TAC1, CCK, and TACR1 and many other peptides (e.g. Cerebellin4 and CARTPT) and receptors (e.g. Adcyap1R1 and GPR173). These data and our previous results on suicide brains indicates that the tachykinin and galanin systems may be valid targets for developing antidepressant medicines. Moreover, the perturbation of neuropeptide systems in MDD patients, and the detection of further neuropeptide and receptor transcripts in LC, shed new light on signalling in noradrenergic LC neurons and on mechanisms possibly associated with mood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swapnali Barde
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Julio Aguila
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Wen Zhong
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 11428, Sweden
| | - Anna Solarz
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Irene Mei
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Josee Prud'homme
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Verdun, QC, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Miklos Palkovits
- The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary and Human Brain Tissue Bank and Laboratory, Semmelweis University, H-1085, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gustavo Turecki
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Verdun, QC, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Jan Mulder
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mathias Uhlén
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 11428, Sweden
| | - Corina Nagy
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Verdun, QC, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Naguib Mechawar
- McGill Group for Suicide Studies, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Verdun, QC, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Eva Hedlund
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tomas Hökfelt
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Aguila J, Cheng S, Kee N, Cao M, Wang M, Deng Q, Hedlund E. Spatial RNA Sequencing Identifies Robust Markers of Vulnerable and Resistant Human Midbrain Dopamine Neurons and Their Expression in Parkinson's Disease. Front Mol Neurosci 2021; 14:699562. [PMID: 34305528 PMCID: PMC8297217 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2021.699562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Defining transcriptional profiles of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons is critical to understanding their differential vulnerability in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Here, we determine transcriptomes of human SNc and VTA dopamine neurons using LCM-seq on a large sample cohort. We apply a bootstrapping strategy as sample input to DESeq2 and identify 33 stably differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between these two subpopulations. We also compute a minimal sample size for identification of stable DEGs, which highlights why previous reported profiles from small sample sizes display extensive variability. Network analysis reveal gene interactions unique to each subpopulation and highlight differences in regulation of mitochondrial stability, apoptosis, neuronal survival, cytoskeleton regulation, extracellular matrix modulation as well as synapse integrity, which could explain the relative resilience of VTA dopamine neurons. Analysis of PD tissues showed that while identified stable DEGs can distinguish the subpopulations also in disease, the SNc markers SLIT1 and ATP2A3 were down-regulated and thus appears to be biomarkers of disease. In summary, our study identifies human SNc and VTA marker profiles, which will be instrumental for studies aiming to modulate dopamine neuron resilience and to validate cell identity of stem cell-derived dopamine neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julio Aguila
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Shangli Cheng
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nigel Kee
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ming Cao
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Menghan Wang
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Qiaolin Deng
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Eva Hedlund
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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Nijssen J, Aguila J, Hoogstraaten R, Kee N, Hedlund E. Axon-Seq Decodes the Motor Axon Transcriptome and Its Modulation in Response to ALS. Stem Cell Reports 2019; 11:1565-1578. [PMID: 30540963 PMCID: PMC6294264 DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2018.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Spinal motor axons traverse large distances to innervate target muscles, thus requiring local control of cellular events for proper functioning. To interrogate axon-specific processes we developed Axon-seq, a refined method incorporating microfluidics, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and bioinformatic quality control. We show that the axonal transcriptome is distinct from that of somas and contains fewer genes. We identified 3,500-5,000 transcripts in mouse and human stem cell-derived spinal motor axons, most of which are required for oxidative energy production and ribogenesis. Axons contained transcription factor mRNAs, e.g., Ybx1, with implications for local functions. As motor axons degenerate in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we investigated their response to the SOD1G93A mutation, identifying 121 ALS-dysregulated transcripts. Several of these are implicated in axonal function, including Nrp1, Dbn1, and Nek1, a known ALS-causing gene. In conclusion, Axon-seq provides an improved method for RNA-seq of axons, increasing our understanding of peripheral axon biology and identifying therapeutic targets in motor neuron disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jik Nijssen
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden
| | - Julio Aguila
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden
| | - Rein Hoogstraaten
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden; Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht 3984 CG, Netherlands
| | - Nigel Kee
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden
| | - Eva Hedlund
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 171 77, Sweden.
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Nijssen J, Aguila J, Hedlund E. Axon-seq for in Depth Analysis of the RNA Content of Neuronal Processes. Bio Protoc 2019; 9:e3312. [PMID: 33654821 DOI: 10.21769/bioprotoc.3312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2019] [Revised: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuronal processes have an RNA composition that is distinct from the cell body. Therefore, to fully understand neuronal biology in health and disease we need to study both somas, dendrites and axons. Here we describe a detailed protocol of a newly refined method, Axon-seq, for RNA sequencing of axons (and dendrites) grown in isolation using single microfluidic devices. We also detail how to generate motor neurons from mouse and human pluripotent stem cells for sequencing, but Axon-seq is applicable to any neuronal cell. In Axon-seq, the axons are recruited through a growth factor gradient, lysed and directly processed to cDNA without RNA isolation. A careful bioinformatic step ensures that any soma-contaminated samples are easily identified and removed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jik Nijssen
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Julio Aguila
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Eva Hedlund
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Cordero A, Aguila J, Massalana A, Escoto V, Lopes L, Susano R. [Appropriateness admissions to the Department of Internal Medicine of the Hospital de Santa Luzia (Elvas) evaluated by the AEP (Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol)]. ACTA MEDICA PORT 2004; 17:113-8. [PMID: 15921640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The authors analyse the appropriateness admissions to the Internal Medicine ward of the Hospital de Santa Luzia (Elvas). A retrospective study was performed during 6 months of 2001, using the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP). Non-appropriateness admissions were found in 19% (CI95%: 16-22), and this group of patients had less mean age (63 + 16 vs 69 + 16; p <0.01), and less mean days of admission (7.1 + 6 vs 9.3 + 7; p <0.01) than group with appropriateness admissions. Appropriateness admissions were mainly found in patients admitted from the emergency room (86% vs 49%; p <0.001). Most of patients with non-appropriate admissions were admitted to undergo diagnostic tests (44%; CI95%: 35-53), or to be referred to other medical centres for specialized study and/or treatment (12%; CI95%: 6-18).
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Affiliation(s)
- A Cordero
- Serviço de Medicina Interna, Hospital de Santa Luzia, Elvas
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