CD112 Supports Lymphatic Migration of Human Dermal Dendritic Cells

Dendritic cell (DC) migration from peripheral tissues via afferent lymphatic vessels to draining lymph nodes (dLNs) is important for the organism's immune regulation and immune protection. Several lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC)-expressed adhesion molecules have thus far been found to support transmigration and movement within the lymphatic vasculature. In this study, we investigated the contribution of CD112, an adhesion molecule that we recently found to be highly expressed in murine LECs, to this process. Performing in vitro assays in the murine system, we found that transmigration of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BM-DCs) across or adhesion to murine LEC monolayers was reduced when CD112 was absent on LECs, DCs, or both cell types, suggesting the involvement of homophilic CD112-CD112 interactions. While CD112 was highly expressed in murine dermal LECs, CD112 levels were low in endogenous murine dermal DCs and BM-DCs. This might explain why we observed no defect in the in vivo lymphatic migration of adoptively transferred BM-DCs or endogenous DCs from the skin to dLNs. Compared to murine DCs, human monocyte-derived DCs expressed higher CD112 levels, and their migration across human CD112-expressing LECs was significantly reduced upon CD112 blockade. CD112 expression was also readily detected in endogenous human dermal DCs and LECs by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence. Upon incubating human skin punch biopsies in the presence of CD112-blocking antibodies, DC emigration from the tissue into the culture medium was significantly reduced, indicating impaired lymphatic migration. Overall, our data reveal a contribution of CD112 to human DC migration.

Dissection of Cancer Mutational Signatures with Individual Components of Cigarette Smoking

Tobacco smoke delivers a complex mixture of hazardous and potentially hazardous chemicals. Some of these may induce the formation of DNA mutations, which increases the risk of various cancers that display characteristic patterns of accumulated mutations arising from the causative exposures. Tracking the contributions of individual mutagens to mutational signatures present in human cancers can help understand cancer etiology and advance disease prevention strategies. To characterize the potential contributions of individual constituents of tobacco smoke to tobacco exposure-associated mutational signatures, we first assessed the toxic potential of 13 tobacco-relevant compounds by determining their impact on the viability of a human bronchial lung epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B). Experimentally derived high-resolution mutational profiles were characterized for the seven most potent compounds by sequencing the genomes of clonally expanded mutants that arose after exposure to the individual chemicals. Analogous to the classification of mutagenic processes on the basis of signatures from human cancers, we extracted mutational signatures from the mutant clones. We confirmed the formation of previously characterized benzo[a]pyrene mutational signatures. Furthermore, we discovered three novel mutational signatures. The mutational signatures arising from benzo[a]pyrene and norharmane were similar to human lung cancer signatures attributed to tobacco smoking. However, the signatures arising from N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and 4-(acetoxymethyl)nitrosamino]-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone were not directly related to known tobacco-linked mutational signatures from human cancers. This new data set expands the scope of the in vitro mutational signature catalog and advances understanding of how environmental agents mutate DNA.

Does the circadian modulation of dream recall modify with age?

STUDY OBJECTIVES

The ultradian NREM-REM sleep cycle and the circadian modulation of REM sleep sum to generate dreaming. Here we investigated age-related changes in dream recall, number of dreams, and emotional domain characteristics of dreaming during both NREM and REM sleep.

DESIGN

Analysis of dream recall and sleep EEG (NREM/REM sleep) during a 40-h multiple nap protocol (150 min of wakefulness and 75 min of sleep) under constant routine conditions.

SETTING

Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

PARTICIPANTS

Seventeen young (20-31 years) and 15 older (57-74 years) healthy volunteers

INTERVENTIONS

N/A.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

Dream recall and number of dreams varied significantly across the circadian cycle and between age groups, with older subjects exhibiting fewer dreams (P < 0.05), particularly after naps scheduled during the biological day, closely associated with the circadian rhythm of REM sleep. No significant age differences were observed for the emotional domain of dream content.

CONCLUSIONS

Since aging was associated with attenuated amplitude in the circadian modulation of REM sleep, our data suggest that the age-related decrease in dream recall can result from an attenuated circadian modulation of REM sleep.

Subjective well-being is modulated by circadian phase, sleep pressure, age, and gender

Subjective well-being largely depends on mood, which shows circadian rhythmicity and can be linked to rhythms in many physiological circadian markers, such as melatonin and cortisol. In healthy young volunteers mood is influenced by an interaction of circadian phase and the duration of time awake. The authors analyzed this interaction under differential sleep pressure conditions to investigate age and gender effects on subjective well-being. Sixteen healthy young (8 women, 8 men; 20-35 years) and 16 older volunteers (8 women, 8 men; 55-75 years) underwent a 40-h sleep deprivation (high sleep pressure) and a 40-h nap protocol (low sleep pressure) in a balanced crossover design under constant routine conditions. Mood, tension, and physical comfort were assessed by visual analogue scales during scheduled wakefulness, and their average formed a composite score of well-being. Significant variations in well-being were determined by the factors "age," "sleep pressure," and "circadian phase." Well-being was generally worse under high than low sleep pressure. Older volunteers felt significantly worse than the young under both experimental conditions. Significant interactions were found between "sleep pressure" and "age," and between "sleep pressure" and "gender." This indicated that older volunteers and women responded with a greater impairment in well-being under high compared with low sleep pressure. The time course of well-being displayed a significant circadian modulation, particularly in women under high sleep pressure conditions. The results demonstrate age- and/or gender-related modifications of well-being related to sleep deprivation and circadian phase and thus point to specific biological components of mood vulnerability.

Age‐related Changes in the Circadian and Homeostatic Regulation of Human Sleep

The reduction of electroencephalographic (EEG) slow-wave activity (SWA) (EEG power density between 0.75-4.5 Hz) and spindle frequency activity, together with an increase in involuntary awakenings during sleep, represent the hallmarks of human sleep alterations with age. It has been assumed that this decrease in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep consolidation reflects an age-related attenuation of the sleep homeostatic drive. To test this hypothesis, we measured sleep EEG characteristics (i.e., SWA, sleep spindles) in healthy older volunteers in response to high (sleep deprivation protocol) and low sleep pressure (nap protocol) conditions. Despite the fact that the older volunteers had impaired sleep consolidation and reduced SWA levels, their relative SWA response to both high and low sleep pressure conditions was similar to that of younger persons. Only in frontal brain regions did we find an age-related diminished SWA response to high sleep pressure. On the other hand, we have clear evidence that the circadian regulation of sleep during the 40 h nap protocol was changed such that the circadian arousal signal in the evening was weaker in the older study participants. More sleep occurred during the wake maintenance zone, and subjective sleepiness ratings in the late afternoon and evening were higher than in younger participants. In addition, we found a diminished melatonin secretion and a reduced circadian modulation of REM sleep and spindle frequency-the latter was phase-advanced relative to the circadian melatonin profile. Therefore, we favor the hypothesis that age-related changes in sleep are due to weaker circadian regulation of sleep and wakefulness. Our data suggest that manipulations of the circadian timing system, rather than the sleep homeostat, may offer a potential strategy to alleviate age-related decrements in sleep and daytime alertness levels.

Is homeostatic sleep regulation under low sleep pressure modified by age?

STUDY OBJECTIVES

We have previously shown that healthy older volunteers react with an attenuated frontal predominance of sleep electroen-cephalogram (EEG) delta activity in response to high sleep pressure. Here, we investigated age-related changes in homeostatic sleep regulation under low sleep pressure conditions, with respect to regional EEG differences and their dynamics.

DESIGN

Analysis of the sleep EEG during an 8-hour baseline night, during a 40-hour multiple nap protocol (150 minutes of wakefulness and 75 minutes of sleep) and during the following 8-hour recovery night under constant posture conditions.

SETTING

Centre for Chronobiology, Psychiatric University Clinics, Basel, Switzerland

PARTICIPANTS

Sixteen young (20-31 years) and 15 older (57-74 years) healthy volunteers

INTERVENTIONS

N/A.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

All-night EEG spectra revealed an increase in spindle activity (13-15.25 Hz) for both age groups, but only in the young did we find a significant decrease of delta activity (0.5-1.25 Hz) in response to low sleep pressure conditions, predominantly in occipital brain regions. However, delta activity during the first non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep episode was equally reduced in both age groups. This response lasted significantly longer in the young (across the first 2 NREM sleep episodes) than in the older participants (only the first NREM sleep episode).

CONCLUSION

The initial EEG delta response to low sleep pressure was similar in healthy older and young participants. Therefore, age-related sleep deteriorations cannot solely be attributed to alterations in the homeostatic sleep-regulatory system. It is, rather, the interplay of circadian and homeostatic factors of sleep regulation, which is changed with aging.

Circadian rhythms in cognitive performance: Methodological constraints, protocols, theoretical underpinnings

The investigation of time-of-day effects on cognitive performance began in the early days of psychophysiological performance assessments. Since then, standardised, highly controlled protocols (constant routine and forced desynchrony) and a standard performance task (psychomotor vigilance task) have been developed to quantify sleep-wake homeostatic and internal circadian time-dependent effects on human cognitive performance. However, performance assessment in this field depends on a plethora of factors. The roles of task difficulty, task duration and complexity, the performance measure per se, practice effects, inter-individual differences, and ageing are all relevant aspects. Therefore, well-defined theoretical approaches and standard procedures are needed for tasks pinpointing higher cortical functions along with more information about time-dependent changes in the neural basis of task performance. This promises a fascinating challenge for future research on sleep-wake related and circadian aspects of different cognitive domains.

Gender and age differences in psychomotor vigilance performance under differential sleep pressure conditions

The effects of sleep pressure and circadian phase on neurobehavioral function can be sensitively measured with the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). We compared PVT performance in 16 young (8 men and 8 women, 20-31 years) and 16 elderly healthy subjects (8 men and 8 women, 57-74 years) during a 40-h sleep deprivation (SD, high sleep pressure) and a 40-h multiple nap protocol (NAP, low sleep pressure) under dim light and constant posture conditions in a balanced crossover design. Independent of age and sleep pressure conditions, women exhibited significantly slower reaction times (RTs) than men. This effect became more apparent with increasing time elapsed into both the 40-h NAP and SD protocol. However, women tended to have fewer premature key presses than men. Independent of gender, the elderly showed slower RTs than the young in the NAP protocol during the biological day (8-24 h) but not during the biological night (24-8 h). In the SD protocol, they had also significantly slower RTs but only during the first 16 h under low to moderate levels of sleep pressure conditions. The relative PVT performance decline after SD was significantly less pronounced in the elderly than in the young, so that both age groups exhibited similar performance decrements after 16 h into the SD protocol. Thus, nighttime- and sleep pressure-related RT slowing in the young "makes them old", or the elderly are less susceptible to circadian and wake-dependent PVT performance decrements. We interpret the gender effect as a different strategy in women when performing the PVT, although the instructions to be 'as fast as possible' were identical. Not only sleepiness and circadian phase, but also age and gender are major factors that may contribute to attentional failures in extended work shifts and during nighttime work shifts.

Sleep loss-related decrements in planning performance in healthy elderly depend on task difficulty

Prefrontal cortex (PFC)-related functions are particularly sensitive to sleep loss. However, their repeated examination is intricate because of methodological constraints such as practice effects and loss of novelty. We investigated to what extent the circadian timing system and the sleep homeostat influence PFC-related performance in differently difficult versions of a single task. Parallel versions of a planning task combined with a control group investigation were used to control for practice effects. Thirteen healthy volunteers (five women and eight men, range 57-74 years) completed a 40-h sleep deprivation (SD) and a 40-h multiple nap protocol (NAP) under constant routine conditions. Each participant performed 11 easy and 11 difficult task versions under either SD or NAP conditions. The cognitive and motor components of performance could be distinguished and analysed separately. Only by thoroughly controlling for superimposed secondary factors such as practice or sequence effects, could a significant influence of circadian timing and sleep pressure be clearly detected in planning performance in the more difficult, but not easier maze tasks. These results indicate that sleep loss-related decrements in planning performance depend on difficulty level, and that apparently insensitive tasks can turn out to be sensitive to sleep loss and circadian variation.

Age-related changes in the circadian modulation of sleep-spindle frequency during nap sleep

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Sleep spindles exhibit a clear circadian modulation in healthy younger people. During the biological night (when melatonin is secreted), spindle density and spindle amplitude are high and spindle frequency and its variability are low, as compared with the biological day. We investigated whether this circadian modulation of spindle characteristics changes with age.

DESIGN

A 40-hour multiple-nap paradigm under constant-routine conditions

SETTING

Chronobiology Laboratory, University Psychiatric Hospitals, Basel, Switzerland

PARTICIPANTS

Seventeen younger (20-31 years) and 15 older (57-74 years) volunteers.

INTERVENTIONS

N/A.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS

Whereas the circadian modulation of spindle density, amplitude, duration, and intraspindle frequency variability was not greatly affected by age, we found significant changes in the circadian modulation of spindle frequency. The pronounced circadian modulation of spindle frequency in younger, but not older, subjects was phase locked with the circadian rhythm in melatonin secretion. In the latter, circadian modulation was attenuated and tended to be advanced with respect to the timing of melatonin secretion. There was no difference between age groups in the phase of the sleep-wake cycle or that of melatonin, nor did the phase angle between them differ. Although changes in the circadian modulation of spindle frequency in older subjects were accompanied by reduced amplitude in the sleep consolidation profile, there was no significant correlation between spindle frequency and sleep consolidation.

CONCLUSION

This multiple-nap protocol under constant-routine conditions revealed an age-dependent weaker coupling of the circadian rhythms of spindle frequency and sleep propensity to the circadian rhythm of melatonin secretion.

Age-related attenuation of the evening circadian arousal signal in humans

The human circadian pacemaker maintains timing and consolidation of sleep-wake behavior by opposing the build-up of homeostatic sleep pressure during the wake episode, particularly in the evening during the 'wake maintenance zone'. We tested whether age-related changes in sleep are a consequence of a weaker circadian arousal signal in the evening. Circadian rhythms and spectral components of the sleep EEG were investigated in 17 young (20-31 year) and 15 older (57-74 year) volunteers under constant posture conditions during a 40-h nap protocol (75/150 min sleep/wake schedule). Quantitative evidence for a weaker circadian arousal signal in aging arose from significantly more sleep occurring during the wake maintenance zone and higher subjective sleepiness ratings in the late afternoon and evening in the older group. In addition, we found a diminished melatonin secretion and a reduced circadian modulation of REM sleep together with less pronounced day-night differences in the lower alpha and spindle range of sleep EEG activity in the older group. Thus, our data indicate that age-related changes in sleep propensity are clearly related to a reduced circadian signal opposing the homeostatic drive for sleep.

Rewarding properties of visual stimuli

The behavioral functions of rewards comprise the induction of learning and approach behavior. Rewards are not only related to vegetative states of hunger, thirst and reproduction but may also consist of visual stimuli. The present experiment tested the reward potential of different types of still and moving pictures in three operant tasks involving key press, touch of computer monitor and choice behavior in a laboratory environment. We found that all tested visual stimuli induced approach behavior in all three tasks, and that action movies sustained consistently higher rates of responding compared to changing still pictures, which were more effective than constant still pictures. These results demonstrate that visual stimuli can serve as positive reinforcers for operant reactions of animals in controlled laboratory settings. In particular, the coherently animated visual stimuli of movies have considerable reward potential. These observations would allow similar forms of visual rewards to be used for neurophysiological investigations of mechanisms related to non-vegetative rewards.

The frontal predominance in human EEG delta activity after sleep loss decreases with age

Sleep loss has marked and selective effects on brain wave activity during subsequent recovery sleep. The electroencephalogram (EEG) responds to sleep deprivation with a relative increase in power density in the delta and theta range during non-rapid eye movement sleep. We investigated age-related changes of the EEG response to sleep deprivation along the antero-posterior axis (Fz, Cz, Pz, Oz) under constant routine conditions. Both healthy young (20-31 years) and older (57-74 years) participants manifested a significant relative increase in EEG power density in the delta and theta range after 40 h of sleep deprivation, indicating a sustained capacity of the sleep homeostat to respond to sleep loss in ageing. However, the increase in relative EEG delta activity (1.25-3.75 Hz) following sleep deprivation was significantly more pronounced in frontal than parietal brain regions in the young, whereas such a frontal predominance was diminished in the older volunteers. This age-related decrease of frontal delta predominance was most distinct at the beginning of the recovery sleep episode. Furthermore, the dissipation of homeostatic sleep pressure during the recovery night, as indexed by EEG delta activity, exhibited a significantly shallower decline in the older group. Activation of sleep regulatory processes in frontal brain areas by an extension of wakefulness from 16 to 40 h appears to be age-dependent. These findings provide quantitative evidence for the hypothesis that frontal brain regions are particularly vulnerable to the effects of elevated sleep pressure ('prefrontal tiredness') and ageing ('frontal ageing').