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Dulka K, Lajkó N, Nacsa K, Gulya K. Opposite and Differently Altered Postmortem Changes in H3 and H3K9me3 Patterns in the Rat Frontal Cortex and Hippocampus. Epigenomes 2024; 8:11. [PMID: 38534795 DOI: 10.3390/epigenomes8010011] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2024] [Revised: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Temporal and spatial epigenetic modifications in the brain occur during ontogenetic development, pathophysiological disorders, and aging. When epigenetic marks, such as histone methylations, in brain autopsies or biopsy samples are studied, it is critical to understand their postmortem/surgical stability. For this study, the frontal cortex and hippocampus of adult rats were removed immediately (controls) or after a postmortem delay of 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, or 150 min. The patterns of unmodified H3 and its trimethylated form H3K9me3 were analyzed in frozen samples for Western blot analysis and in formalin-fixed tissues embedded in paraffin for confocal microscopy. We found that both the unmodified H3 and H3K9me3 showed time-dependent but opposite changes and were altered differently in the frontal cortex and hippocampus with respect to postmortem delay. In the frontal cortex, the H3K9me3 marks increased approximately 450% with a slow parallel 20% decrease in the unmodified H3 histones after 150 min. In the hippocampus, the change was opposite, since H3K9me3 marks decreased steadily by approximately 65% after 150 min with a concomitant rapid increase of 20-25% in H3 histones at the same time. Confocal microscopy located H3K9me3 marks in the heterochromatic regions of the nuclei of all major cell types in the control brains: oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, neurons, and microglia. Therefore, epigenetic marks could be affected differently by postmortem delay in different parts of the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karolina Dulka
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Noémi Lajkó
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Kálmán Nacsa
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
| | - Karoly Gulya
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary
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Kiss T, Mir Y, Stefancsik G, Ganbat G, Askarova A, Monostori E, Dulka K, Szebeni GJ, Nyúl-Tóth Á, Csiszár A, Legradi A. Galectin-1 as a marker for microglia activation in the aging brain. Brain Res 2023; 1818:148517. [PMID: 37557976 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2023.148517] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
Microglia cells, the immune cells residing in the brain, express immune regulatory molecules that have a central role in the manifestation of age-related brain characteristics. Our hypothesis suggests that galectin-1, an anti-inflammatory member of the beta-galactoside-binding lectin family, regulates microglia and neuroinflammation in the aging brain. Through our in-silico analysis, we discovered a subcluster of microglia in the aged mouse brain that exhibited increased expression of galectin-1 mRNA. In our Western blotting experiments, we observed a decrease in galectin-1 protein content in our rat primary cortical cultures over time. Additionally, we found that the presence of lipopolysaccharide, an immune activator, significantly increased the expression of galectin-1 protein in microglial cells. Utilizing flow cytometry, we determined that a portion of the galectin-1 protein was localized on the surface of the microglial cells. As cultivation time increased, we observed a decrease in the expression of activation-coupled molecules in microglial cells, indicating cellular exhaustion. In our mixed rat primary cortical cell cultures, we noted a transition of amoeboid microglial cells labeled with OX42(CD11b/c) to a ramified, branched phenotype during extended cultivation, accompanied by a complete disappearance of galectin-1 expression. By analyzing the transcriptome of a distinct microglial subpopulation in an animal model of aging, we established a correlation between chronological aging and galectin-1 expression. Furthermore, our in vitro study demonstrated that galectin-1 expression is associated with the functional activation state of microglial cells exhibiting specific amoeboid morphological characteristics. Based on our findings, we identify galectin-1 as a marker for microglia activation in the context of aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamas Kiss
- Pediatric Center, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
| | - Yaqub Mir
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary; Department of Computational Sciences, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gergely Stefancsik
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Gantulga Ganbat
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Aruzhan Askarova
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Eva Monostori
- Lymphocyte Signal Transduction Laboratory, Institute of Genetics, Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Karolina Dulka
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
| | - Gabor J Szebeni
- Laboratory of Functional Genomics, Biological Research Centre, ELKH, Szeged, Hungary; Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
| | - Ádám Nyúl-Tóth
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; International Training Program in Geroscience, Doctoral School of Basic and Translational Medicine/Departments of Public Health and Translational Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre, ELKH, Szeged, Hungary.
| | - Anna Csiszár
- Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Neurodegeneration and Healthy Brain Aging Program, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary; Oklahoma Center for Geroscience and Healthy Brain Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; International Training Program in Geroscience, Doctoral School of Basic and Translational Medicine/Departments of Public Health and Translational Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; The Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
| | - Adam Legradi
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
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Szabo M, Lajkó N, Dulka K, Barczánfalvi G, Lőrinczi B, Szatmári I, Mihály A, Vécsei L, Gulya K. The kynurenic acid analog SZR104 induces cytomorphological changes associated with the anti-inflammatory phenotype in cultured microglia. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11328. [PMID: 37443330 PMCID: PMC10344911 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38107-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
We previously showed the anti-inflammatory effects of kynurenic acid (KYNA) and its brain-penetrable analog N-(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)-3-(morpholinomethyl)-4-hydroxyquinoline-2-carboxamide (SZR104) both in vivo and in vitro. Here, we identified the cytomorphological effects of KYNA and SZR104 in secondary microglial cultures established from newborn rat forebrains. We quantitatively analyzed selected morphological aspects of microglia in control (unchallenged), lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated (challenged), KYNA- or SZR104-treated, and LPS + KYNA or LPS + SZR104-treated cultures. Multicolor immunofluorescence labeling followed by morphometric analysis (area, perimeter, transformation index, lacunarity, density, span ratio, maximum span across the convex hull, hull circularity, hull area, hull perimeter, max/min radii, mean radius, diameter of bounding circle, fractal dimension, roughness, circularity) on binary (digital) silhouettes of the microglia revealed their morphological plasticity under experimental conditions. SZR104 and, to a lesser degree, KYNA inhibited proinflammatory phenotypic changes. For example, SZR104 treatment resulted in hypertrophied microglia characterized by a swollen cell body, enlarged perimeter, increased transformation index/decreased circularity, increased convex hull values (area, perimeter, mean radius, maximum span, diameter of the bounding circle and hull circularity), altered box-counting parameters (such as fractal dimension), and increased roughness/decreased density. Taken together, analysis of cytomorphological features could contribute to the characterization of the anti-inflammatory activity of SZR104 on cultured microglia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melinda Szabo
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi utca 4., 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Noémi Lajkó
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi utca 4., 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Karolina Dulka
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi utca 4., 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Gábor Barczánfalvi
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi utca 4., 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Bálint Lőrinczi
- ELKH-SZTE Stereochemistry Research Group, Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Szeged, 6720, Szeged, Hungary
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Excellence Center, University of Szeged, 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - István Szatmári
- ELKH-SZTE Stereochemistry Research Group, Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Szeged, 6720, Szeged, Hungary
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Excellence Center, University of Szeged, 6720, Szeged, Hungary
| | - András Mihály
- Department of Anatomy, University of Szeged, 6724, Szeged, Hungary
| | - László Vécsei
- Department of Neurology, University of Szeged, 6725, Szeged, Hungary
- ELKH-SZTE Neuroscience Research Group, Department of Neurology, Interdisciplinary Excellence Center, University of Szeged, 6725, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Karoly Gulya
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Somogyi utca 4., 6720, Szeged, Hungary.
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Dulka K, Szabo M, Lajkó N, Belecz I, Hoyk Z, Gulya K. Epigenetic Consequences of in Utero Exposure to Rosuvastatin: Alteration of Histone Methylation Patterns in Newborn Rat Brains. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22073412. [PMID: 33810299 PMCID: PMC8059142 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22073412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Rosuvastatin (RST) is primarily used to treat high cholesterol levels. As it has potentially harmful but not well-documented effects on embryos, RST is contraindicated during pregnancy. To demonstrate whether RST could induce molecular epigenetic events in the brains of newborn rats, pregnant mothers were treated daily with oral RST from the 11th day of pregnancy for 10 days (or until delivery). On postnatal day 1, the brains of the control and RST-treated rats were removed for Western blot or immunohistochemical analyses. Several antibodies that recognize different methylation sites for H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 histones were quantified. Analyses of cell-type-specific markers in the newborn brains demonstrated that prenatal RST administration did not affect the composition and cell type ratios as compared to the controls. Prenatal RST administration did, however, induce a general, nonsignificant increase in H2AK118me1, H2BK5me1, H3, H3K9me3, H3K27me3, H3K36me2, H4, H4K20me2, and H4K20me3 levels, compared to the controls. Moreover, significant changes were detected in the number of H3K4me1 and H3K4me3 sites (134.3% ± 19.2% and 127.8% ± 8.5% of the controls, respectively), which are generally recognized as transcriptional activators. Fluorescent/confocal immunohistochemistry for cell-type-specific markers and histone methylation marks on tissue sections indicated that most of the increase at these sites belonged to neuronal cell nuclei. Thus, prenatal RST treatment induces epigenetic changes that could affect neuronal differentiation and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karolina Dulka
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary; (K.D.); (M.S.); (N.L.)
| | - Melinda Szabo
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary; (K.D.); (M.S.); (N.L.)
| | - Noémi Lajkó
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary; (K.D.); (M.S.); (N.L.)
| | - István Belecz
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary;
| | - Zsófia Hoyk
- Biological Barriers Research Group, Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Center, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, 6726 Szeged, Hungary;
| | - Karoly Gulya
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary; (K.D.); (M.S.); (N.L.)
- Correspondence:
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Dulka K, Nacsa K, Lajkó N, Gulya K. Quantitative morphometric and cell-type-specific population analysis of microglia-enriched cultures subcloned to high purity from newborn rat brains. IBRO Neurosci Rep 2021; 10:119-129. [PMID: 33842918 PMCID: PMC8019997 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibneur.2021.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [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: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Morphological and functional characterizations of cultured microglia are essential for the improved understanding of their roles in neuronal health and disease. Although some studies (phenotype analysis, phagocytosis) can be carried out in mixed or microglia-enriched cultures, in others (gene expression) pure microglia must be used. If the use of genetically modified microglial cells is not feasible, isolation of resident microglia from nervous tissue must be carried out. In this study, mixed primary cultures were established from the forebrains of newborn rats. Secondary microglia-enriched cultures were then prepared by shaking off these cells from the primary cultures, which were subsequently used to establish tertiary cultures by further shaking off the easily detachable microglia. The composition of these cultures was quantitatively analyzed by immunocytochemistry of microglia-, astrocyte-, oligodendrocyte- and neuron-specific markers to determine yield and purity. Microglia were quantitatively characterized regarding morphological and proliferation aspects. Secondary and tertiary cultures typically exhibited 73.3% ± 17.8% and 93.1% ± 6.0% purity for microglia, respectively, although the total number of microglia in the latter was much smaller. One in seven attempts of culturing the tertiary cultures had ~99% purity for microglia. The overall yield from the number of cells plated at DIV0 to the Iba1-positive microglia in tertiary cultures was ~1%. Astrocytic and neuronal contamination progressively decreased during subcloning, while oligodendrocytes were found sporadically throughout culturing. Although the tertiary microglia cultures had a low yield, they produced consistently high purity for microglia; after validation, such cultures are suitable for purity-sensitive functional screenings (gene/protein expression).
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Key Words
- ANOVA, One-way analysis of variance
- CNPase, 2′,3′-Cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase
- CNS, Central nervous system
- Cell yield
- DIV, Day(s) in vitro
- DMEM, Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium
- Differential adherence
- FBS, Fetal bovine serum
- FITC, Fluorescein isothiocyanate
- GFAP, Glial fibrillary acidic protein
- Iba1, Ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1
- Immunocytochemistry
- Ki67, Proliferation marker antigen identified by the monoclonal antibody Ki67
- PBS, Phosphate buffered saline
- PI, Proliferation index
- PVP, Polyvinylpyrrolidone
- Proliferation
- Purity of culture
- RT, Room temperature
- Rpm, Revolutions per minute
- S.D., Standard deviation
- S1, S2, Secondary subcultures
- Secondary/tertiary culture
- T1, T2, Tertiary subcultures
- TI, Transformation index
- subDIV, Subcloned day(s) in vitro
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Affiliation(s)
- Karolina Dulka
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Kálmán Nacsa
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Noémi Lajkó
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Karoly Gulya
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
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Szabo M, Dulka K, Gulya K. Calmodulin inhibition regulates morphological and functional changes related to the actin cytoskeleton in pure microglial cells. Brain Res Bull 2015; 120:41-57. [PMID: 26551061 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2015.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2015] [Revised: 10/26/2015] [Accepted: 11/03/2015] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The roles of calmodulin (CaM), a multifunctional intracellular calcium receptor protein, as concerns selected morphological and functional characteristics of pure microglial cells derived from mixed primary cultures from embryonal forebrains of rats, were investigated through use of the CaM antagonists calmidazolium (CALMID) and trifluoperazine (TFP). The intracellular localization of the CaM protein relative to phalloidin, a bicyclic heptapeptide that binds only to filamentous actin, and the ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1), a microglia-specific actin-binding protein, was determined by immunocytochemistry, with quantitative analysis by immunoblotting. In unchallenged and untreated (control) microglia, high concentrations of CaM protein were found mainly perinuclearly in ameboid microglia, while the cell cortex had a smaller CaM content that diminished progressively deeper into the branches in the ramified microglia. The amounts and intracellular distributions of both Iba1 and CaM proteins were altered after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge in activated microglia. CALMID and TFP exerted different, sometimes opposing, effects on many morphological, cytoskeletal and functional characteristics of the microglial cells. They affected the CaM and Iba1 protein expressions and their intracellular localizations differently, inhibited cell proliferation, viability and fluid-phase phagocytosis to different degrees both in unchallenged and in LPS-treated (immunologically challenged) cells, and differentially affected the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in the microglial cell cortex, influencing lamellipodia, filopodia and podosome formation. In summary, these CaM antagonists altered different aspects of filamentous actin-based cell morphology and related functions with variable efficacy, which could be important in deciphering the roles of CaM in regulating microglial functions in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melinda Szabo
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Karolina Dulka
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Karoly Gulya
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
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