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Hu W, Hsiao YC, Morrison-Welch N, Lamberti S, Liu CW, Lin W, Engel SM, Lu K, Zylka MJ. Co-detection of azoxystrobin and thiabendazole fungicides in mold and mildew resistant wallboards and in children. Heliyon 2024; 10:e27980. [PMID: 38509915 PMCID: PMC10951607 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27980] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2023] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The study measured the levels of azoxystrobin (AZ) and thiabendazole (TBZ) in wallboards and metabolite levels of these fungicides in children. The paper covering of wallboard samples contained a higher concentration of AZ and TBZ than the gypsum core, and similar amounts (w/w) of these two fungicides were present in the samples. These data suggest that commercial products containing a 1:1 (w/w) amount of AZ and TBZ, such as Sporgard® WB or Azo Tech™, were applied to the wallboard paper. This is the first detection of TBZ in mold-and-mildew resistant wallboards. The TBZ metabolite, 5OH-TBZ, was detected in 48% of urine samples collected from children aged 40-84 months, and was co-detected with AZ-acid, a common AZ metabolite, in 37.5% of the urine samples. The detection frequency of 5OH-TBZ was positively associated with the detection frequency of AZ-acid. These findings suggest that certain types of wallboards used in homes and commercial buildings may be a potential source of co-exposure to AZ and TBZ in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenxin Hu
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Yun-Chung Hsiao
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Nikolas Morrison-Welch
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Sophia Lamberti
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Chih-Wei Liu
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Weili Lin
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center and Department of Radiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Stephanie M. Engel
- Department of Epidemiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Kun Lu
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
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Zhao HN, Thomas SP, Zylka MJ, Dorrestein PC, Hu W. Urine Excretion, Organ Distribution, and Placental Transfer of 6PPD and 6PPD-Quinone in Mice and Potential Developmental Toxicity through Nuclear Receptor Pathways. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:13429-13438. [PMID: 37642336 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c05026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
The rubber antioxidant 6PPD has gained significant attention due to its highly toxic transformation product, 6PPD-quinone (6PPDQ). Despite their detection in urines of pregnant women, the placental transfer and developmental toxicity of 6PPD and 6PPDQ are unknown. Here, we treated C57Bl/6 mice with 4 mg/kg 6PPD or 6PPDQ to investigate their urine excretion and placental transfer. Female and male mice exhibited sex difference in excretion profiles of 6PPD and 6PPDQ. Urine concentrations of 6PPDQ were one order of magnitude lower than those of 6PPD, suggesting lower excretion and higher bioaccumulation of 6PPDQ. In pregnant mice treated with 6PPD or 6PPDQ from embryonic day 11.5 to 15.5, 6PPDQ showed ∼1.5-8 times higher concentrations than 6PPD in placenta, embryo body, and embryo brain, suggesting higher placental transfer of 6PPDQ. Using in vitro dual-luciferase reporter assays, we revealed that 6PPDQ activated the human retinoic acid receptor α (RARα) and retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) at concentrations as low as 0.3 μM, which was ∼10-fold higher than the concentrations detected in human urines. 6PPD activated the RXRα at concentrations as low as 1.2 μM. These results demonstrate the exposure risks of 6PPD and 6PPDQ during pregnancy and emphasize the need for further toxicological and epidemiological investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haoqi Nina Zhao
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Sydney P Thomas
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Mark J Zylka
- University of North Carolina Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Pieter C Dorrestein
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Department of Pharmacology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Wenxin Hu
- University of North Carolina Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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Xing L, Simon JM, Ptacek TS, Yi JJ, Loo L, Mao H, Wolter JM, McCoy ES, Paranjape SR, Taylor-Blake B, Zylka MJ. Autism-linked UBE3A gain-of-function mutation causes interneuron and behavioral phenotypes when inherited maternally or paternally in mice. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112706. [PMID: 37389991 PMCID: PMC10530456 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112706] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Revised: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The E3 ubiquitin ligase Ube3a is biallelically expressed in neural progenitors and glial cells, suggesting that UBE3A gain-of-function mutations might cause neurodevelopmental disorders irrespective of parent of origin. Here, we engineered a mouse line that harbors an autism-linked UBE3AT485A (T503A in mouse) gain-of-function mutation and evaluated phenotypes in animals that inherited the mutant allele paternally, maternally, or from both parents. We find that paternally and maternally expressed UBE3AT503A results in elevated UBE3A activity in neural progenitors and glial cells. Expression of UBE3AT503A from the maternal allele, but not the paternal one, leads to a persistent elevation of UBE3A activity in neurons. Mutant mice display behavioral phenotypes that differ by parent of origin. Expression of UBE3AT503A, irrespective of its parent of origin, promotes transient embryonic expansion of Zcchc12 lineage interneurons. Phenotypes of Ube3aT503A mice are distinct from Angelman syndrome model mice. Our study has clinical implications for a growing number of disease-linked UBE3A gain-of-function mutations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Xing
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jeremy M Simon
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7255, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7264, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Travis S Ptacek
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7255, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jason J Yi
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7255, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Lipin Loo
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Hanqian Mao
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7255, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Justin M Wolter
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7255, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7264, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Eric S McCoy
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Smita R Paranjape
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Bonnie Taylor-Blake
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7255, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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Matoba N, Le BD, Valone JM, Wolter JM, Mory J, Liang D, Aygün N, Broadaway KA, Bond ML, Mohlke KL, Zylka MJ, Love MI, Stein JL. Wnt activity reveals context-specific genetic effects on gene regulation in neural progenitors. bioRxiv 2023:2023.02.07.527357. [PMID: 36798360 PMCID: PMC9934631 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.07.527357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
Gene regulatory effects in bulk-post mortem brain tissues are undetected at many non-coding brain trait-associated loci. We hypothesized that context-specific genetic variant function during stimulation of a developmental signaling pathway would explain additional regulatory mechanisms. We measured chromatin accessibility and gene expression following activation of the canonical Wnt pathway in primary human neural progenitors from 82 donors. TCF/LEF motifs, brain structure-, and neuropsychiatric disorder-associated variants were enriched within Wnt-responsive regulatory elements (REs). Genetically influenced REs were enriched in genomic regions under positive selection along the human lineage. Stimulation of the Wnt pathway increased the detection of genetically influenced REs/genes by 66.2%/52.7%, and led to the identification of 397 REs primed for effects on gene expression. Context-specific molecular quantitative trait loci increased brain-trait colocalizations by up to 70%, suggesting that genetic variant effects during early neurodevelopmental patterning lead to differences in adult brain and behavioral traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nana Matoba
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Brandon D Le
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jordan M Valone
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Justin M Wolter
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities; Carrboro, NC, USA
| | - Jessica Mory
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Dan Liang
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Nil Aygün
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - K Alaine Broadaway
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Marielle L Bond
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Karen L Mohlke
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities; Carrboro, NC, USA
| | - Michael I Love
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jason L Stein
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities; Carrboro, NC, USA
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5
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Wolter JM, Le BD, Matoba N, Lafferty MJ, Aygün N, Liang D, Courtney K, Song J, Piven J, Zylka MJ, Stein JL. Cellular Genome-wide Association Study Identifies Common Genetic Variation Influencing Lithium-Induced Neural Progenitor Proliferation. Biol Psychiatry 2023; 93:8-17. [PMID: 36307327 PMCID: PMC9982734 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2022] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bipolar disorder is a highly heritable neuropsychiatric condition affecting more than 1% of the human population. Lithium salts are commonly prescribed as a mood stabilizer for individuals with bipolar disorder. Lithium is clinically effective in approximately half of treated individuals, and their genetic backgrounds are known to influence treatment outcomes. While the mechanism of lithium's therapeutic action is unclear, it stimulates adult neural progenitor cell proliferation, similar to some antidepressant drugs. METHODS To identify common genetic variants that modulate lithium-induced proliferation, we conducted an EdU incorporation assay in a library of 80 genotyped human neural progenitor cells treated with lithium. These data were used to perform a genome-wide association study to identify common genetic variants that influence lithium-induced neural progenitor cell proliferation. We manipulated the expression of a putatively causal gene using CRISPRi/a (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats interference/activation) constructs to experimentally verify lithium-induced proliferation effects. RESULTS We identified a locus on chr3p21.1 associated with lithium-induced proliferation. This locus is also associated with bipolar disorder risk, schizophrenia risk, and interindividual differences in intelligence. We identified a single gene, GNL3, whose expression temporally increased in an allele-specific fashion following lithium treatment. Experimentally increasing the expression of GNL3 led to increased proliferation under baseline conditions, while experimentally decreasing GNL3 expression suppressed lithium-induced proliferation. CONCLUSIONS Our experiments reveal that common genetic variation modulates lithium-induced neural progenitor proliferation and that GNL3 expression is necessary for the full proliferation-stimulating effects of lithium. These results suggest that performing genome-wide associations in genetically diverse human cell lines is a useful approach to discover context-specific pharmacogenomic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin M Wolter
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Brandon D Le
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Nana Matoba
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Michael J Lafferty
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Nil Aygün
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Dan Liang
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Kenan Courtney
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Juan Song
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Joseph Piven
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Jason L Stein
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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Lai Y, Dhingra R, Zhang Z, Ball LM, Zylka MJ, Lu K. Toward Elucidating the Human Gut Microbiota-Brain Axis: Molecules, Biochemistry, and Implications for Health and Diseases. Biochemistry 2022; 61:2806-2821. [PMID: 34910469 PMCID: PMC10857864 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, a substantial amount of data have supported an active role of gut microbiota in mediating mammalian brain function and health. Mining gut microbiota and their metabolites for neuroprotection is enticing but requires that the fundamental biochemical details underlying such microbiota-brain crosstalk be deciphered. While a neuronal gut-brain axis (through the vagus nerve) is not disputable, accumulating studies also point to a humoral route (via blood/lymphatic circulation) by which innumerable microbial molecular cues translocate from local gut epithelia to circulation with potentials to further cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain. In this Perspective, we review a realm of gut microbial molecules to evaluate their fate, function, and neuroactivities in vivo as mediated by microbiota. We turn to seminal studies of neurophysiology and neurologic disease models for the elucidation of biochemical pathways that link microbiota to gut-brain signaling. In addition, we discuss opportunities and challenges for advancing the microbiota-brain axis field while calling for high-throughput discovery of microbial molecules and studies for resolving the interspecies, interorgan, and interclass interaction among these neuroactive microbial molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunjia Lai
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Radhika Dhingra
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
- Institute of Environmental Health Solutions, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Zhenfa Zhang
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Louise M Ball
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carrboro, North Carolina 27510, United States
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Kun Lu
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
- Curriculum in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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Wolter JM, Jimenez JA, Stein JL, Zylka MJ. ToxCast chemical library Wnt screen identifies diethanolamine as an activator of neural progenitor proliferation. FASEB Bioadv 2022; 4:441-453. [PMID: 35812078 PMCID: PMC9254222 DOI: 10.1096/fba.2021-00163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk genes are associated with Wnt signaling, suggesting that brain development may be especially sensitive to genetic perturbation of this pathway. Additionally, valproic acid, which modulates Wnt signaling, increases risk for ASD when taken during pregnancy. We previously found that an autism-linked gain-of-function UBE3A T485A mutant construct hyperactivated canonical Wnt signaling, providing a genetic means to elevate Wnt signaling above baseline levels. To identify environmental use chemicals that enhance or suppress Wnt signaling, we screened the ToxCast Phase I and II libraries in cells expressing this autism-linked UBE3A T485A gain-of-function mutant construct. Using structural comparisons, we identify classes of chemicals that stimulated Wnt signaling, including ethanolamines, as well as chemicals that inhibited Wnt signaling, such as agricultural pesticides, and synthetic hormone analogs. To prioritize chemicals for follow-up, we leveraged predicted human exposure data, and identified diethanolamine (DEA) as a chemical that stimulates Wnt signaling in UBE3A T485A -transfected cells, and has a high potential for prenatal exposure in humans. DEA enhanced proliferation in primary human neural progenitor cell lines (phNPC), but did not affect expression of canonical Wnt target genes in NPCs or primary mouse neuron cultures. Instead, we found DEA increased expression of the H3K9 methylation sensitive gene CALB1, consistent with competitive inhibition of the methyl donor enzymatic pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin M. Wolter
- UNC Neuroscience CenterThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
- Department of Cell Biology and PhysiologyThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental DisabilitiesThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Jessica A. Jimenez
- Curriculum in Toxicology & Environmental MedicineThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Jason L. Stein
- UNC Neuroscience CenterThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
- Department of GeneticsThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience CenterThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
- Department of Cell Biology and PhysiologyThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental DisabilitiesThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNorth CarolinaUSA
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8
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Hu W, Liu CW, Jiménez JA, McCoy ES, Hsiao YC, Lin W, Engel SM, Lu K, Zylka MJ. Detection of Azoxystrobin Fungicide and Metabolite Azoxystrobin-Acid in Pregnant Women and Children, Estimation of Daily Intake, and Evaluation of Placental and Lactational Transfer in Mice. Environ Health Perspect 2022; 130:27013. [PMID: 35200037 PMCID: PMC8869102 DOI: 10.1289/ehp9808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Revised: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Azoxystrobin (AZ) is a broad-spectrum strobilurin fungicide that is used in agriculture and was recently added to mold- and mildew-resistant wallboards. AZ was found to have toxic effects in animals at embryonic stages and was listed as a frontline target for biomonitoring in children. OBJECTIVES This study investigated exposure to AZ in pregnant women and young children, whether AZ could be transferred from an exposed mother to offspring, and whether AZ or one of its primary metabolites, AZ-acid, was neurotoxic in vitro. METHODS We quantified AZ-acid, a sensitive indicator of AZ exposure, in urine samples collected from 8 pregnant women (12 urine samples) and 67 children (40-84 months old; 96 urine samples) with high-resolution mass spectrometry. Gestational and lactational transfer was assessed in C57Bl/6 mice. Neurotoxicity of AZ and AZ-acid was investigated in vitro with mouse cortical neuron cultures. RESULTS AZ-acid was present above the limit of quantification (0.01 ng/mL) in 100% of the urine samples from pregnant women and in 70% of the urine samples from children, with median concentration of 0.10 and 0.07 ng/mL, and maximal concentration of 2.70 and 6.32 ng/mL, respectively. Studies in mice revealed that AZ transferred from the mother to offspring during gestation by crossing the placenta and entered the developing brain. AZ was also transferred to offspring via lactation. High levels of cytotoxicity were observed in embryonic mouse cortical neurons at concentrations that modeled environmentally relevant exposures. DISCUSSION Our study suggested that pregnant women and children were exposed to AZ, and at least 10% of the children (2 out of 20 that were evaluated at two ages) showed evidence of chronic exposure. Future studies are warranted to evaluate whether chronic AZ exposure affects human health and development. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9808.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenxin Hu
- Univerity of North Carolina Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Chih-Wei Liu
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Jessica A. Jiménez
- Curriculum in Toxicology & Environmental Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Eric S. McCoy
- Univerity of North Carolina Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Yun-Chung Hsiao
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Weili Lin
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center and Department of Radiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Stephanie M. Engel
- Department of Epidemiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kun Lu
- Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- Univerity of North Carolina Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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9
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J Zylka
- From the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill
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10
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Krupa O, Fragola G, Hadden-Ford E, Mory JT, Liu T, Humphrey Z, Rees BW, Krishnamurthy A, Snider WD, Zylka MJ, Wu G, Xing L, Stein JL. NuMorph: Tools for cortical cellular phenotyping in tissue-cleared whole-brain images. Cell Rep 2021; 37:109802. [PMID: 34644582 PMCID: PMC8530274 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Tissue-clearing methods allow every cell in the mouse brain to be imaged without physical sectioning. However, the computational tools currently available for cell quantification in cleared tissue images have been limited to counting sparse cell populations in stereotypical mice. Here, we introduce NuMorph, a group of analysis tools to quantify all nuclei and nuclear markers within the mouse cortex after clearing and imaging by light-sheet microscopy. We apply NuMorph to investigate two distinct mouse models: a Topoisomerase 1 (Top1) model with severe neurodegenerative deficits and a Neurofibromin 1 (Nf1) model with a more subtle brain overgrowth phenotype. In each case, we identify differential effects of gene deletion on individual cell-type counts and distribution across cortical regions that manifest as alterations of gross brain morphology. These results underline the value of whole-brain imaging approaches, and the tools are widely applicable for studying brain structure phenotypes at cellular resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oleh Krupa
- Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA; UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Giulia Fragola
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Ellie Hadden-Ford
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jessica T Mory
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Tianyi Liu
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Zachary Humphrey
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Benjamin W Rees
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Ashok Krishnamurthy
- Renaissance Computing Institute, Chapel Hill, NC 27517, USA; Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - William D Snider
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Guorong Wu
- Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Lei Xing
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
| | - Jason L Stein
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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11
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Niehaus JK, Taylor-Blake B, Loo L, Simon JM, Zylka MJ. Spinal macrophages resolve nociceptive hypersensitivity after peripheral injury. Neuron 2021; 109:1274-1282.e6. [PMID: 33667343 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.02.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [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: 07/08/2019] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Peripheral nerve injury induces long-term pro-inflammatory responses in spinal cord glial cells that facilitate neuropathic pain, but the identity of endogenous cells that resolve spinal inflammation has not been determined. Guided by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we found that MRC1+ spinal cord macrophages proliferated and upregulated the anti-inflammatory mediator Cd163 in mice following superficial injury (SI; nerve intact), but this response was blunted in nerve-injured animals. Depleting spinal macrophages in SI animals promoted microgliosis and caused mechanical hypersensitivity to persist. Conversely, expressing Cd163 in spinal macrophages increased Interleukin 10 expression, attenuated micro- and astrogliosis, and enduringly alleviated mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity in nerve-injured animals. Our data indicate that MRC1+ spinal macrophages actively restrain glia to limit neuroinflammation and resolve mechanical pain following a superficial injury. Moreover, we show that spinal macrophages from nerve-injured animals mount a dampened anti-inflammatory response but can be therapeutically coaxed to promote long-lasting recovery of neuropathic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse K Niehaus
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Neuroscience Curriculum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Bonnie Taylor-Blake
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Lipin Loo
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jeremy M Simon
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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12
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Jiménez JA, Zylka MJ. Controlling litter effects to enhance rigor and reproducibility with rodent models of neurodevelopmental disorders. J Neurodev Disord 2021; 13:2. [PMID: 33397279 PMCID: PMC7780384 DOI: 10.1186/s11689-020-09353-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Research with rodents is crucial for expanding our understanding of genetic and environmental risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). However, there is growing concern about the number of animal studies that are difficult to replicate, potentially undermining the validity of results. These concerns have prompted funding agencies and academic journals to implement more rigorous standards in an effort to increase reproducibility in research. However, these standards fail to address a major source of variability in rodent research brought on by the “litter effect,” the fact that rodents from the same litter are phenotypically more similar to one other than rodents from different litters of the same strain. We show that the litter effect accounts for 30–60% of the variability associated with commonly studied phenotypes, including brain, placenta, and body weight. Moreover, we show how failure to control for litter-to-litter variation can mask a phenotype in Chd8V986*/+ mice that model haploinsufficiency of CHD8, a high-confidence autism gene. Thus, if not properly controlled, the litter effect has the potential to negatively influence rigor and reproducibility of NDD research. While efforts have been made to educate scientists on the importance of controlling for litter effects in previous publications, our analysis of the recent literature (2015–2020) shows that the vast majority of NDD studies focused on genetic risks, including mutant mouse studies, and environmental risks, such as air pollution and valproic acid exposure, do not correct for litter effects or report information on the number of litters used. We outline best practices to help scientists minimize the impact of litter-to-litter variability and to enhance rigor and reproducibility in future NDD studies using rodent models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Jiménez
- Curriculum in Toxicology & Environmental Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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13
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Sigmon JS, Blanchard MW, Baric RS, Bell TA, Brennan J, Brockmann GA, Burks AW, Calabrese JM, Caron KM, Cheney RE, Ciavatta D, Conlon F, Darr DB, Faber J, Franklin C, Gershon TR, Gralinski L, Gu B, Gaines CH, Hagan RS, Heimsath EG, Heise MT, Hock P, Ideraabdullah F, Jennette JC, Kafri T, Kashfeen A, Kulis M, Kumar V, Linnertz C, Livraghi-Butrico A, Lloyd KCK, Lutz C, Lynch RM, Magnuson T, Matsushima GK, McMullan R, Miller DR, Mohlke KL, Moy SS, Murphy CEY, Najarian M, O'Brien L, Palmer AA, Philpot BD, Randell SH, Reinholdt L, Ren Y, Rockwood S, Rogala AR, Saraswatula A, Sassetti CM, Schisler JC, Schoenrock SA, Shaw GD, Shorter JR, Smith CM, St Pierre CL, Tarantino LM, Threadgill DW, Valdar W, Vilen BJ, Wardwell K, Whitmire JK, Williams L, Zylka MJ, Ferris MT, McMillan L, Manuel de Villena FP. Content and Performance of the MiniMUGA Genotyping Array: A New Tool To Improve Rigor and Reproducibility in Mouse Research. Genetics 2020; 216:905-930. [PMID: 33067325 PMCID: PMC7768238 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.120.303596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The laboratory mouse is the most widely used animal model for biomedical research, due in part to its well-annotated genome, wealth of genetic resources, and the ability to precisely manipulate its genome. Despite the importance of genetics for mouse research, genetic quality control (QC) is not standardized, in part due to the lack of cost-effective, informative, and robust platforms. Genotyping arrays are standard tools for mouse research and remain an attractive alternative even in the era of high-throughput whole-genome sequencing. Here, we describe the content and performance of a new iteration of the Mouse Universal Genotyping Array (MUGA), MiniMUGA, an array-based genetic QC platform with over 11,000 probes. In addition to robust discrimination between most classical and wild-derived laboratory strains, MiniMUGA was designed to contain features not available in other platforms: (1) chromosomal sex determination, (2) discrimination between substrains from multiple commercial vendors, (3) diagnostic SNPs for popular laboratory strains, (4) detection of constructs used in genetically engineered mice, and (5) an easy-to-interpret report summarizing these results. In-depth annotation of all probes should facilitate custom analyses by individual researchers. To determine the performance of MiniMUGA, we genotyped 6899 samples from a wide variety of genetic backgrounds. The performance of MiniMUGA compares favorably with three previous iterations of the MUGA family of arrays, both in discrimination capabilities and robustness. We have generated publicly available consensus genotypes for 241 inbred strains including classical, wild-derived, and recombinant inbred lines. Here, we also report the detection of a substantial number of XO and XXY individuals across a variety of sample types, new markers that expand the utility of reduced complexity crosses to genetic backgrounds other than C57BL/6, and the robust detection of 17 genetic constructs. We provide preliminary evidence that the array can be used to identify both partial sex chromosome duplication and mosaicism, and that diagnostic SNPs can be used to determine how long inbred mice have been bred independently from the relevant main stock. We conclude that MiniMUGA is a valuable platform for genetic QC, and an important new tool to increase the rigor and reproducibility of mouse research.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Sebastian Sigmon
- Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Matthew W Blanchard
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Ralph S Baric
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Timothy A Bell
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Jennifer Brennan
- Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | | | - A Wesley Burks
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - J Mauro Calabrese
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Kathleen M Caron
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Richard E Cheney
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Dominic Ciavatta
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Frank Conlon
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - David B Darr
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - James Faber
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Craig Franklin
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211
| | - Timothy R Gershon
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Lisa Gralinski
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Bin Gu
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Christiann H Gaines
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Robert S Hagan
- Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Ernest G Heimsath
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Mark T Heise
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Pablo Hock
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Folami Ideraabdullah
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - J Charles Jennette
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Tal Kafri
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Gene Therapy Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Anwica Kashfeen
- Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Mike Kulis
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Vivek Kumar
- The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609
| | - Colton Linnertz
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Alessandra Livraghi-Butrico
- Marsico Lung Institute/UNC Cystic Fibrosis Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - K C Kent Lloyd
- Department of Surgery, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616
- School of Medicine, University of California Davis, California 95616
- Mouse Biology Program, University of California Davis, California 95616
| | | | - Rachel M Lynch
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Terry Magnuson
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Glenn K Matsushima
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Rachel McMullan
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Darla R Miller
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Karen L Mohlke
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Sheryl S Moy
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Caroline E Y Murphy
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Maya Najarian
- Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Lori O'Brien
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | | | - Benjamin D Philpot
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Marsico Lung Institute/UNC Cystic Fibrosis Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Scott H Randell
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | | | - Yuyu Ren
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
| | | | - Allison R Rogala
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Division of Comparative Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Avani Saraswatula
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Christopher M Sassetti
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655
| | - Jonathan C Schisler
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Sarah A Schoenrock
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Ginger D Shaw
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - John R Shorter
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Clare M Smith
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655
| | | | - Lisa M Tarantino
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - David W Threadgill
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, Texas 77843
| | - William Valdar
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Barbara J Vilen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | | | - Jason K Whitmire
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Lucy Williams
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Martin T Ferris
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Leonard McMillan
- Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Fernando Pardo Manuel de Villena
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
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14
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Wolter JM, Mao H, Fragola G, Simon JM, Krantz JL, Bazick HO, Oztemiz B, Stein JL, Zylka MJ. Cas9 gene therapy for Angelman syndrome traps Ube3a-ATS long non-coding RNA. Nature 2020; 587:281-284. [PMID: 33087932 PMCID: PMC8020672 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2835-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Angelman syndrome (AS) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a mutation or deletion of the maternally inherited UBE3A allele. In neurons, the paternally inherited UBE3A allele is silenced in cis by a long non-coding RNA called UBE3A-ATS. Here, as part of a systematic screen, we found that Cas9 can be used to activate ('unsilence') paternal Ube3a in cultured mouse and human neurons when targeted to Snord115 genes, which are small nucleolar RNAs that are clustered in the 3' region of Ube3a-ATS. A short Cas9 variant and guide RNA that target about 75 Snord115 genes were packaged into an adeno-associated virus and administered to a mouse model of AS during the embryonic and early postnatal stages, when the therapeutic benefit of restoring Ube3a is predicted to be greatest1,2. This early treatment unsilenced paternal Ube3a throughout the brain for at least 17 months and rescued anatomical and behavioural phenotypes in AS mice. Genomic integration of the adeno-associated virus vector into Cas9 target sites caused premature termination of Ube3a-ATS at the vector-derived polyA cassette, or when integrated in the reverse orientation, by transcriptional collision with the vector-derived Cas9 transcript. Our study shows that targeted genomic integration of a gene therapy vector can restore the function of paternally inherited UBE3A throughout life, providing a path towards a disease-modifying treatment for a syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin M Wolter
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Hanqian Mao
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Giulia Fragola
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jeremy M Simon
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - James L Krantz
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Hannah O Bazick
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Baris Oztemiz
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jason L Stein
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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15
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Jiménez JA, Ptacek TS, Tuttle AH, Schmid RS, Moy SS, Simon JM, Zylka MJ. Chd8 haploinsufficiency impairs early brain development and protein homeostasis later in life. Mol Autism 2020; 11:74. [PMID: 33023670 PMCID: PMC7537101 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-020-00369-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [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: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 8 (Chd8) is a high-confidence risk gene for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, how Chd8 haploinsufficiency impairs gene expression in the brain and impacts behavior at different stages of life is unknown. Methods We generated a mutant mouse line with an ASD-linked loss-of-function mutation in Chd8 (V986*; stop codon mutation). We examined the behavior of Chd8 mutant mice along with transcriptional changes in the cerebral cortex as a function of age, with a focus on one embryonic (E14.5) and three postnatal ages (1, 6, and 12 months). Results Chd8V986*/+ mutant mice displayed macrocephaly, reduced rearing responses and reduced center time in the open field, and enhanced social novelty preference. Behavioral phenotypes were more evident in Chd8V986*/+ mutant mice at 1 year of age. Pup survival was reduced in wild-type x Chd8V986*/+ crosses when the mutant parent was female. Transcriptomic analyses indicated that pathways associated with synaptic and neuronal projections and sodium channel activity were reduced in the cortex of embryonic Chd8V986*/+ mice and then equalized relative to wild-type mice in the postnatal period. At 12 months of age, expression of genes associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, chaperone-mediated protein folding, and the unfolded protein response (UPR) were reduced in Chd8V986*/+ mice, whereas genes associated with the c-MET signaling pathway were increased in expression. Limitations It is unclear whether the transcriptional changes observed with age in Chd8V986*/+ mice reflect a direct effect of CHD8-regulated gene expression, or if CHD8 indirectly affects the expression of UPR/ER stress genes in adult mice as a consequence of neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Conclusions Collectively, these data suggest that UPR/ER stress pathways are reduced in the cerebral cortex of aged Chd8V986*/+ mice. Our study uncovers neurodevelopmental and age-related phenotypes in Chd8V986*/+ mice and highlights the importance of controlling for age when studying Chd8 haploinsufficient mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Jiménez
- Curriculum in Toxicology & Environmental Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Travis S Ptacek
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Alex H Tuttle
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Ralf S Schmid
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Sheryl S Moy
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Jeremy M Simon
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box #7264, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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16
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Fried NT, Chamessian A, Zylka MJ, Abdus-Saboor I. Improving pain assessment in mice and rats with advanced videography and computational approaches. Pain 2020; 161:1420-1424. [PMID: 32102021 PMCID: PMC7302333 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2019] [Revised: 01/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nathan T. Fried
- Department of Biology, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, NJ, United States
| | - Alexander Chamessian
- Departments of Neurology and
- Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
- Washington University Pain Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Ishmail Abdus-Saboor
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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17
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Fragola G, Mabb AM, Taylor-Blake B, Niehaus JK, Chronister WD, Mao H, Simon JM, Yuan H, Li Z, McConnell MJ, Zylka MJ. Deletion of Topoisomerase 1 in excitatory neurons causes genomic instability and early onset neurodegeneration. Nat Commun 2020; 11:1962. [PMID: 32327659 PMCID: PMC7181881 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15794-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 03/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) relieves torsional stress in DNA during transcription and facilitates the expression of long (>100 kb) genes, many of which are important for neuronal functions. To evaluate how loss of Top1 affected neurons in vivo, we conditionally deleted (cKO) Top1 in postmitotic excitatory neurons in the mouse cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Top1 cKO neurons develop properly, but then show biased transcriptional downregulation of long genes, signs of DNA damage, neuroinflammation, increased poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1) activity, single-cell somatic mutations, and ultimately degeneration. Supplementation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) with nicotinamide riboside partially blocked neurodegeneration, and increased the lifespan of Top1 cKO mice by 30%. A reduction of p53 also partially rescued cortical neuron loss. While neurodegeneration was partially rescued, behavioral decline was not prevented. These data indicate that reducing neuronal loss is not sufficient to limit behavioral decline when TOP1 function is disrupted. Topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) relieves DNA torsional stress during transcription and facilitates the expression of long neuronal genes. Here we show that deletion of Top1 in excitatory neurons leads to early onset neurodegeneration that is partially dependent on p53/PARP1 activation and NAD+ depletion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Fragola
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Angela M Mabb
- Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA
| | - Bonnie Taylor-Blake
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Jesse K Niehaus
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - William D Chronister
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA
| | - Hanqian Mao
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Jeremy M Simon
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Hong Yuan
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Biomedical Imaging Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Zibo Li
- Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Biomedical Imaging Research Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Michael J McConnell
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA.,Center for Brain Immunology and Glia, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA.,Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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18
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Cooper EM, Rushing R, Hoffman K, Phillips AL, Hammel SC, Zylka MJ, Stapleton HM. Strobilurin fungicides in house dust: is wallboard a source? J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2020; 30:247-252. [PMID: 31636368 PMCID: PMC7044059 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-019-0180-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Revised: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/15/2019] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Strobilurin fungicides are used primarily in fruits and vegetables, but recently, a patent was issued for one strobilurin fungicide, azoxystrobin, in mold-resistant wallboard. This raises concerns about the potential presence of these chemicals in house dust and potential exposure indoors, particularly in young children. Furthermore, recent toxicological studies have suggested that strobilurins may cause neurotoxicity. Currently, it is not clear whether or not azoxystrobin applications in wallboard lead to exposures in the indoor environments. The purpose of this study was to determine if azoxystrobin, and related strobilurins, could be detected in house dust. We also sought to characterize the concentrations of azoxystrobin in new wallboard samples. To support this study, we collected and analyzed 16 new dry wall samples intentionally marketed for use in bathrooms to inhibit mold. We then analyzed 188 house dust samples collected from North Carolina homes in 2014-2016 for azoxystrobin and related strobilurins, including pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin, and fluoxastrobin using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Detection frequencies for azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin, and fluoxastrobin ranged from 34-87%, with azoxystrobin being detected most frequently and at the highest concentrations (geometric mean = 3.5 ng/g; maximum = 10,590 ng/g). Azoxystrobin was also detected in mold-resistant wallboard samples, primarily in the paper covering where it was found at concentrations up to 88.5 µg/g. Cumulatively, these results suggest that fungicides present in wallboard may be migrating to the indoor environment, leading to exposure in the residences that would constitute a separate exposure pathway independent of dietary exposures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen M Cooper
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 9 Circuit Drive, Box 90328, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | | | - Kate Hoffman
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 9 Circuit Drive, Box 90328, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Allison L Phillips
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 9 Circuit Drive, Box 90328, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Stephanie C Hammel
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 9 Circuit Drive, Box 90328, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Heather M Stapleton
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 9 Circuit Drive, Box 90328, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
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19
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Bartsch VB, Lord JS, Diering GH, Zylka MJ. Mania- and anxiety-like behavior and impaired maternal care in female diacylglycerol kinase eta and iota double knockout mice. Genes Brain Behav 2020; 19:e12570. [PMID: 30985063 PMCID: PMC6800745 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2018] [Revised: 02/18/2019] [Accepted: 03/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies linked diacylglycerol kinase eta and iota to mood disorders, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and both genes are expressed throughout the brain. Here, we generated and behaviorally characterized female mice lacking Dgkh alone, Dgki alone, and double Dgkh/Dgki-knockout (dKO) mice. We found that fewer than 30% of newborn pups raised by dKO females survived to weaning, while over 85% of pups survived to weaning when raised by wild-type (WT) females. Poor survival under the care of dKO mothers was unrelated to pup genotype. Moreover, pups from dKO dams survived when fostered by WT dams, suggesting the poor survival rate of dKO-raised litters was related to impaired maternal care by dKO dams. Nest building was similar between WT and dKO dams; however, some dKO females failed to retrieve any pups in a retrieval assay. Pups raised by dKO dams had smaller or absent milk spots and reduced weight, indicative of impaired nursing. Unlike WT females, postpartum dKO females showed erratic, panicked responses to cage disturbances. Virgin dKO females showed behavioral signs of anxiety and mania, which were not seen in mice lacking either Dgkh or Dgki alone. Our research indicates that combined deletion of Dgkh and Dgki impairs maternal behavior in the early postpartum period, and suggests female dKO mice model symptoms of mania and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria B. Bartsch
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Julia S. Lord
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina,UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Graham H. Diering
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina,UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina,UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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20
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Ocasio J, Babcock B, Malawsky D, Weir SJ, Loo L, Simon JM, Zylka MJ, Hwang D, Dismuke T, Sokolsky M, Rosen EP, Vibhakar R, Zhang J, Saulnier O, Vladoiu M, El-Hamamy I, Stein LD, Taylor MD, Smith KS, Northcott PA, Colaneri A, Wilhelmsen K, Gershon TR. scRNA-seq in medulloblastoma shows cellular heterogeneity and lineage expansion support resistance to SHH inhibitor therapy. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5829. [PMID: 31863004 PMCID: PMC6925218 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13657-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Targeting oncogenic pathways holds promise for brain tumor treatment, but inhibition of Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling has failed in SHH-driven medulloblastoma. Cellular diversity within tumors and reduced lineage commitment can undermine targeted therapy by increasing the probability of treatment-resistant populations. Using single-cell RNA-seq and lineage tracing, we analyzed cellular diversity in medulloblastomas in transgenic, medulloblastoma-prone mice, and responses to the SHH-pathway inhibitor vismodegib. In untreated tumors, we find expected stromal cells and tumor-derived cells showing either a spectrum of neural progenitor-differentiation states or glial and stem cell markers. Vismodegib reduces the proliferative population and increases differentiation. However, specific cell types in vismodegib-treated tumors remain proliferative, showing either persistent SHH-pathway activation or stem cell characteristics. Our data show that even in tumors with a single pathway-activating mutation, diverse mechanisms drive tumor growth. This diversity confers early resistance to targeted inhibitor therapy, demonstrating the need to target multiple pathways simultaneously. Although the hedgehog (HH) pathway is known to be deregulated in medulloblastoma, inhibitors of the pathway have shown disappointing clinical benefit. Using single-cell sequencing in a mouse model of the disease, the authors show that the response to the HH pathway inhibitor vismodegib is cell-type specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Ocasio
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Benjamin Babcock
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Daniel Malawsky
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Seth J Weir
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Lipin Loo
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Jeremy M Simon
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Duhyeong Hwang
- UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Taylor Dismuke
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Marina Sokolsky
- UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Elias P Rosen
- UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Rajeev Vibhakar
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.,Morgan Adams Foundation Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Jiao Zhang
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada
| | - Olivier Saulnier
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada
| | - Maria Vladoiu
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada
| | - Ibrahim El-Hamamy
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Program in Computational Biology, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A3, Canada
| | - Lincoln D Stein
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Program in Computational Biology, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A3, Canada
| | - Michael D Taylor
- Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A4, Canada.,The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada.,Division of Neurosurgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, M5S 3E1, Canada
| | - Kyle S Smith
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Paul A Northcott
- Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Alejandro Colaneri
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.,Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Kirk Wilhelmsen
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,Renaissance Computing Institute at UNC (RENCI), Chapel Hill, NC, 27517, USA.
| | - Timothy R Gershon
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. .,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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21
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Zylka MJ. Prenatal treatment path for angelman syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Autism Res 2019; 13:11-17. [PMID: 31490639 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [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: 07/25/2019] [Revised: 08/18/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Angelman syndrome (AS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutation or deletion of the maternally inherited UBE3A allele. These pathogenic mutations lead to loss of maternal UBE3A expression in neurons. Antisense oligonucleotides and gene therapies are in development, which activate the intact but epigenetically silenced paternal UBE3A allele. Preclinical studies indicate that treating during the prenatal period could greatly reduce the severity of symptoms or prevent AS from developing. Genetic tests can detect the chromosome 15q11-q13 deletion that is the most common cause of AS. New, highly sensitive noninvasive prenatal tests that take advantage of single-cell genome sequencing technologies are expected to enter the clinic in the coming years and make early genetic diagnosis of AS more common. Efforts are needed to identify fetuses and newborns with maternal 15q11-q13 deletions and to phenotype these babies relative to neurotypical controls. Clinical and parent observations suggest AS symptoms are detectable in infants, including reports of problems with feeding and motor function. Quantitative phenotypes in the 0- to 1-year age range will permit a more rapid assessment of efficacy when future treatments are administered prenatally or shortly after birth. Although prenatal therapies are currently not available for AS, prenatal testing combined with prenatal treatment has the potential to revolutionize how clinicians detect and treat babies before they are symptomatic. This pioneering prenatal treatment path for AS will lay the foundation for treating other syndromic neurodevelopmental disorders. Autism Res 2020, 13: 11-17. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Prenatal treatment could benefit expectant parents whose babies test positive for the chromosome microdeletion that causes Angelman syndrome (AS). Prenatal treatment is predicted to have better outcomes than treating after symptoms develop and may even prevent AS altogether. This approach could generally be applied to the treatment of other syndromic neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J Zylka
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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22
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Schertzer MD, Braceros KC, Starmer J, Cherney RE, Lee DM, Salazar G, Justice M, Bischoff SR, Cowley DO, Ariel P, Zylka MJ, Dowen JM, Magnuson T, Calabrese JM. lncRNA-Induced Spread of Polycomb Controlled by Genome Architecture, RNA Abundance, and CpG Island DNA. Mol Cell 2019; 75:523-537.e10. [PMID: 31256989 PMCID: PMC6688959 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2019.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [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: 08/16/2018] [Revised: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 05/17/2019] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) cause Polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs) to spread over broad regions of the mammalian genome. We report that in mouse trophoblast stem cells, the Airn and Kcnq1ot1 lncRNAs induce PRC-dependent chromatin modifications over multi-megabase domains. Throughout the Airn-targeted domain, the extent of PRC-dependent modification correlated with intra-nuclear distance to the Airn locus, preexisting genome architecture, and the abundance of Airn itself. Specific CpG islands (CGIs) displayed characteristics indicating that they nucleate the spread of PRCs upon exposure to Airn. Chromatin environments surrounding Xist, Airn, and Kcnq1ot1 suggest common mechanisms of PRC engagement and spreading. Our data indicate that lncRNA potency can be tightly linked to lncRNA abundance and that within lncRNA-targeted domains, PRCs are recruited to CGIs via lncRNA-independent mechanisms. We propose that CGIs that autonomously recruit PRCs interact with lncRNAs and their associated proteins through three-dimensional space to nucleate the spread of PRCs in lncRNA-targeted domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan D. Schertzer
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Keean C.A. Braceros
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Curriculum in Mechanistic, Interdisciplinary Studies of Biological Systems, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Joshua Starmer
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Rachel E. Cherney
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - David M. Lee
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Gabriela Salazar
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Megan Justice
- Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Steven R. Bischoff
- Animal Models Core, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Dale O. Cowley
- Animal Models Core, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Pablo Ariel
- Microscopy Services Laboratory and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Jill M. Dowen
- Curriculum in Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - Terry Magnuson
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599
| | - J. Mauro Calabrese
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599,Lead contact.,Correspondence:
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23
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Bartsch VB, Niehaus JK, Taylor-Blake B, Zylka MJ. Enhanced histamine-induced itch in diacylglycerol kinase iota knockout mice. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0217819. [PMID: 31167004 PMCID: PMC6550402 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 05/21/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Subsets of small-diameter dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons detect pruritogenic (itch-causing) and algogenic (pain-causing) stimuli and can be activated or sensitized by chemical mediators. Many of these chemical mediators activate receptors that are coupled to lipid hydrolysis and diacylglycerol (DAG) production. Diacylglycerol kinase iota (DGKI) can phosphorylate DAG and is expressed at high levels in small-diameter mouse DRG neurons. Given the importance of these neurons in sensing pruritogenic and algogenic chemicals, we sought to determine if loss of DGKI impaired responses to itch- or pain-producing stimuli. Using male and female Dgki-knockout mice, we found that in vivo sensitivity to histamine—but not other pruritogens—was enhanced. In contrast, baseline pain sensitivity and pain sensitization following inflammatory or neuropathic injury were equivalent between wild type and Dgki-/- mice. In vitro calcium responses in DRG neurons to histamine was enhanced, while responses to algogenic ligands were unaffected by Dgki deletion. These data suggest Dgki regulates sensory neuron and behavioral responses to histamine, without affecting responses to other pruritogenic or algogenic agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Brings Bartsch
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Jesse K. Niehaus
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Bonnie Taylor-Blake
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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24
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Simon JM, Paranjape SR, Wolter JM, Salazar G, Zylka MJ. High-throughput screening and classification of chemicals and their effects on neuronal gene expression using RASL-seq. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4529. [PMID: 30872602 PMCID: PMC6418307 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-39016-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 01/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
We previously used RNA-seq to identify chemicals whose effects on neuronal gene expression mimicked transcriptional signatures of autism, aging, and neurodegeneration. However, this approach was costly and time consuming, which limited our study to testing a single chemical concentration on mixed sex cortical neuron cultures. Here, we adapted a targeted transcriptomic method (RASL-seq, similar to TempO-seq) to interrogate changes in expression of a set of 56 signature genes in response to a library of 350 chemicals and chemical mixtures at four concentrations in male and female mouse neuronal cultures. This enabled us to replicate and expand our previous classifications, and show that transcriptional responses were largely equivalent between sexes. Overall, we found that RASL-seq can be used to accelerate the pace at which chemicals and mixtures that transcriptionally mimic autism and other neuropsychiatric diseases can be identified, and provides a cost-effective way to quantify gene expression with a panel of marker genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy M Simon
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Department of Genetics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Smita R Paranjape
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Justin M Wolter
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Gabriela Salazar
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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25
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Tuttle AH, Salazar G, Cooper EM, Stapleton HM, Zylka MJ. Choice of vehicle affects pyraclostrobin toxicity in mice. Chemosphere 2019; 218:501-506. [PMID: 30497033 PMCID: PMC6338344 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.11.126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2018] [Revised: 11/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Pyraclostrobin is a strobilurin fungicide that inhibits mitochondrial complex III of fungal and mammalian cells. In toxicity studies that were used to estimate the safety factor, pyraclostrobin was added to animal feed or to aqueous vehicles. However, foods containing residues of pyraclostrobin and other strobilurin fungicides (azoxystrobin, trifloxystrobin, fluoxastrobin) are frequently prepared in vegetable oil prior to human consumption. The primary objective of this study was to determine if pyraclostrobin dissolved in an oil-based vehicle had adverse health outcomes in mice when compared to aqueous-based vehicles. We found that pyraclostrobin does not fully dissolve in aqueous methyl cellulose (MC) or carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), two vehicles used in industry-sponsored toxicity studies, but does fully dissolve in corn oil. Moreover, C57BL/6 mice receiving pyraclostrobin in corn oil displayed adverse health outcomes, including loss of body weight, hypothermia and diarrhea at lower doses than when added to feed or to aqueous vehicles. Our data suggest that previous studies underestimated the true toxicity of pyraclostrobin in mammals. Additional toxicity tests using oil-based vehicles are recommended to verify current safety recommendations for strobilurin fungicides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander H Tuttle
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Gabriela Salazar
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Ellen M Cooper
- Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | | | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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26
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Tuttle AH, Molinaro MJ, Jethwa JF, Sotocinal SG, Prieto JC, Styner MA, Mogil JS, Zylka MJ. A deep neural network to assess spontaneous pain from mouse facial expressions. Mol Pain 2018; 14:1744806918763658. [PMID: 29546805 PMCID: PMC5858615 DOI: 10.1177/1744806918763658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [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] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Grimace scales quantify characteristic facial expressions associated with spontaneous pain in rodents and other mammals. However, these scales have not been widely adopted largely because of the time and effort required for highly trained humans to manually score the images. Convoluted neural networks were recently developed that distinguish individual humans and objects in images. Here, we trained one of these networks, the InceptionV3 convolutional neural net, with a large set of human-scored mouse images. Output consists of a binary pain/no-pain assessment and a confidence score. Our automated Mouse Grimace Scale integrates these two outputs and is highly accurate (94%) at assessing the presence of pain in mice across different experimental assays. In addition, we used a novel set of “pain” and “no pain” images to show that automated Mouse Grimace Scale scores are highly correlated with human scores (Pearson’s r = 0.75). Moreover, the automated Mouse Grimace Scale classified a greater proportion of images as “pain” following laparotomy surgery when compared to animals receiving a sham surgery or a post-surgical analgesic. Together, these findings suggest that the automated Mouse Grimace Scale can eliminate the need for tedious human scoring of images and provide an objective and rapid way to quantify spontaneous pain and pain relief in mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander H Tuttle
- 1 Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Mark J Molinaro
- 1 Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jasmine F Jethwa
- 1 Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Susana G Sotocinal
- 2 Department of Psychology, Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Juan C Prieto
- 3 Department of Psychiatry, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Martin A Styner
- 3 Department of Psychiatry, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Mogil
- 2 Department of Psychology, Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Mark J Zylka
- 1 Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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27
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Abstract
This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/mp.2017.131.
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28
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Piven J, Elison JT, Zylka MJ. Toward a conceptual framework for early brain and behavior development in autism. Mol Psychiatry 2017; 22:1385-1394. [PMID: 28937691 PMCID: PMC5621737 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2017.131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2017] [Revised: 04/19/2017] [Accepted: 04/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Studies of infant siblings of older autistic probands, who are at elevated risk for autism, have demonstrated that the defining features of autism are not present in the first year of life but emerge late in the first and into the second year. A recent longitudinal neuroimaging study of high-risk siblings revealed a specific pattern of brain development in infants later diagnosed with autism, characterized by cortical surface area hyper-expansion in the first year followed by brain volume overgrowth in the second year that is associated with the emergence of autistic social deficits. Together with new observations from genetically defined autism risk alleles and rodent model, these findings suggest a conceptual framework for the early, post-natal development of autism. This framework postulates that an increase in the proliferation of neural progenitor cells and hyper-expansion of cortical surface area in the first year, occurring during a pre-symptomatic period characterized by disrupted sensorimotor and attentional experience, leads to altered experience-dependent neuronal development and decreased elimination of neuronal processes. This process is linked to brain volume overgrowth and disruption of the refinement of neural circuit connections and is associated with the emergence of autistic social deficits in the second year of life. A better understanding of the timing of developmental brain and behavior mechanisms in autism during infancy, a period which precedes the emergence of the defining features of this disorder, will likely have important implications for designing rational approaches to early intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Piven
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Department of Psychiatry, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Campus Box 7255, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7255, USA. E-mail:
| | - J T Elison
- Institute of Child Development and Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - M J Zylka
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA,Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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29
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Yi JJ, Paranjape SR, Walker MP, Choudhury R, Wolter JM, Fragola G, Emanuele MJ, Major MB, Zylka MJ. The autism-linked UBE3A T485A mutant E3 ubiquitin ligase activates the Wnt/β-catenin pathway by inhibiting the proteasome. J Biol Chem 2017; 292:12503-12515. [PMID: 28559284 PMCID: PMC5535025 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m117.788448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [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: 03/27/2017] [Revised: 05/23/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
UBE3A is a HECT domain E3 ubiquitin ligase whose dysfunction is linked to autism, Angelman syndrome, and cancer. Recently, we characterized a de novo autism-linked UBE3A mutant (UBE3AT485A) that disrupts phosphorylation control of UBE3A activity. Through quantitative proteomics and reporter assays, we found that the UBE3AT485A protein ubiquitinates multiple proteasome subunits, reduces proteasome subunit abundance and activity, stabilizes nuclear β-catenin, and stimulates canonical Wnt signaling more effectively than wild-type UBE3A. We also found that UBE3AT485A activates Wnt signaling to a greater extent in cells with low levels of ongoing Wnt signaling, suggesting that cells with low basal Wnt activity are particularly vulnerable to UBE3AT485A mutation. Ligase-dead UBE3A did not stimulate Wnt pathway activation. Overexpression of several proteasome subunits reversed the effect of UBE3AT485A on Wnt signaling. We also observed that subunits that interact with UBE3A and affect Wnt signaling are located along one side of the 19S regulatory particle, indicating a previously unrecognized spatial organization to the proteasome. Altogether, our findings indicate that UBE3A regulates Wnt signaling in a cell context-dependent manner and that an autism-linked mutation exacerbates these signaling effects. Our study has broad implications for human disorders associated with UBE3A gain or loss of function and suggests that dysfunctional UBE3A might affect additional proteins and pathways that are sensitive to proteasome activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason J Yi
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110
| | - Smita R Paranjape
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Matthew P Walker
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Rajarshi Choudhury
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Justin M Wolter
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Giulia Fragola
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Michael J Emanuele
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Michael B Major
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599.
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30
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Abstract
A study finds that deficits in touch-sensing somatosensory neurons contribute to social interaction and anxiety phenotypes in mouse models of autism and Rett syndrome. These findings suggest that some core symptoms of autism might originate from aberrant development or function of the peripheral nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander H Tuttle
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Victoria B Bartsch
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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31
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Mabb AM, Simon JM, King IF, Lee HM, An LK, Philpot BD, Zylka MJ. Topoisomerase 1 Regulates Gene Expression in Neurons through Cleavage Complex-Dependent and -Independent Mechanisms. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0156439. [PMID: 27231886 PMCID: PMC4883752 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2016] [Accepted: 05/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) inhibitors, including camptothecin and topotecan, covalently trap TOP1 on DNA, creating cleavage complexes (cc's) that must be resolved before gene transcription and DNA replication can proceed. We previously found that topotecan reduces the expression of long (>100 kb) genes and unsilences the paternal allele of Ube3a in neurons. Here, we sought to evaluate overlap between TOP1cc-dependent and -independent gene regulation in neurons. To do this, we utilized Top1 conditional knockout mice, Top1 knockdown, the CRISPR-Cas9 system to delete Top1, TOP1 catalytic inhibitors that do not generate TOP1cc's, and a TOP1 mutation (T718A) that stabilizes TOP1cc's. We found that topotecan treatment significantly alters the expression of many more genes, including long neuronal genes, immediate early genes, and paternal Ube3a, when compared to Top1 deletion. Our data show that topotecan has a stronger effect on neuronal transcription than Top1 deletion, and identifies TOP1cc-dependent and -independent contributions to gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela M. Mabb
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Jeremy M. Simon
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Ian F. King
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Hyeong-Min Lee
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Lin-Kun An
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Benjamin D. Philpot
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail: (BDP); (MJK)
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail: (BDP); (MJK)
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32
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Pearson BL, Simon JM, McCoy ES, Salazar G, Fragola G, Zylka MJ. Identification of chemicals that mimic transcriptional changes associated with autism, brain aging and neurodegeneration. Nat Commun 2016; 7:11173. [PMID: 27029645 PMCID: PMC4821887 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2015] [Accepted: 02/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental factors, including pesticides, have been linked to autism and neurodegeneration risk using retrospective epidemiological studies. Here we sought to prospectively identify chemicals that share transcriptomic signatures with neurological disorders, by exposing mouse cortical neuron-enriched cultures to hundreds of chemicals commonly found in the environment and on food. We find that rotenone, a pesticide associated with Parkinson's disease risk, and certain fungicides, including pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin, famoxadone and fenamidone, produce transcriptional changes in vitro that are similar to those seen in brain samples from humans with autism, advanced age and neurodegeneration (Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease). These chemicals stimulate free radical production and disrupt microtubules in neurons, effects that can be reduced by pretreating with a microtubule stabilizer, an antioxidant, or with sulforaphane. Our study provides an approach to prospectively identify environmental chemicals that transcriptionally mimic autism and other brain disorders. This study presents gene expression responses of cultured brain cells to hundreds of chemicals found in the environment and in food. The authors identified chemicals that induce transcriptomic profiles that overlap those seen in human brains affected with autism, aging, and neurodegeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon L Pearson
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 111 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7545, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7255, USA
| | - Jeremy M Simon
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 111 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7545, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7255, USA
| | - Eric S McCoy
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 111 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7545, USA
| | - Gabriela Salazar
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 111 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7545, USA
| | - Giulia Fragola
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 111 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7545, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 111 Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7545, USA.,Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7255, USA
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33
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Judson MC, Wallace ML, Sidorov MS, Burette AC, Gu B, van Woerden GM, King IF, Han JE, Zylka MJ, Elgersma Y, Weinberg RJ, Philpot BD. GABAergic Neuron-Specific Loss of Ube3a Causes Angelman Syndrome-Like EEG Abnormalities and Enhances Seizure Susceptibility. Neuron 2016; 90:56-69. [PMID: 27021170 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.02.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2015] [Revised: 01/17/2016] [Accepted: 02/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Loss of maternal UBE3A causes Angelman syndrome (AS), a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with severe epilepsy. We previously implicated GABAergic deficits onto layer (L) 2/3 pyramidal neurons in the pathogenesis of neocortical hyperexcitability, and perhaps epilepsy, in AS model mice. Here we investigate consequences of selective Ube3a loss from either GABAergic or glutamatergic neurons, focusing on the development of hyperexcitability within L2/3 neocortex and in broader circuit and behavioral contexts. We find that GABAergic Ube3a loss causes AS-like increases in neocortical EEG delta power, enhances seizure susceptibility, and leads to presynaptic accumulation of clathrin-coated vesicles (CCVs)-all without decreasing GABAergic inhibition onto L2/3 pyramidal neurons. Conversely, glutamatergic Ube3a loss fails to yield EEG abnormalities, seizures, or associated CCV phenotypes, despite impairing tonic inhibition onto L2/3 pyramidal neurons. These results substantiate GABAergic Ube3a loss as the principal cause of circuit hyperexcitability in AS mice, lending insight into ictogenic mechanisms in AS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew C Judson
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Michael L Wallace
- Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Michael S Sidorov
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Alain C Burette
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Bin Gu
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Geeske M van Woerden
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN Rotterdam, the Netherlands; ENCORE Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Erasmus Medical Center, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ian F King
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Ji Eun Han
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Ype Elgersma
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN Rotterdam, the Netherlands; ENCORE Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Erasmus Medical Center, Wytemaweg 80, 3015 CN Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Richard J Weinberg
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Benjamin D Philpot
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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34
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria E Brings
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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35
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Yi JJ, Berrios J, Newbern JM, Snider WD, Philpot BD, Hahn KM, Zylka MJ. An Autism-Linked Mutation Disables Phosphorylation Control of UBE3A. Cell 2015; 162:795-807. [PMID: 26255772 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.06.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2014] [Revised: 03/06/2015] [Accepted: 06/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Deletion of UBE3A causes the neurodevelopmental disorder Angelman syndrome (AS), while duplication or triplication of UBE3A is linked to autism. These genetic findings suggest that the ubiquitin ligase activity of UBE3A must be tightly maintained to promote normal brain development. Here, we found that protein kinase A (PKA) phosphorylates UBE3A in a region outside of the catalytic domain at residue T485 and inhibits UBE3A activity toward itself and other substrates. A de novo autism-linked missense mutation disrupts this phosphorylation site, causing enhanced UBE3A activity in vitro, enhanced substrate turnover in patient-derived cells, and excessive dendritic spine development in the brain. Our study identifies PKA as an upstream regulator of UBE3A activity and shows that an autism-linked mutation disrupts this phosphorylation control. Moreover, our findings implicate excessive UBE3A activity and the resulting synaptic dysfunction to autism pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason J Yi
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Pharmacology, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Janet Berrios
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jason M Newbern
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - William D Snider
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Benjamin D Philpot
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Klaus M Hahn
- Department of Pharmacology, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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Wright BD, Simpson C, Stashko M, Kireev D, Hull-Ryde EA, Zylka MJ, Janzen WP. Development of a High-Throughput Screening Assay to Identify Inhibitors of the Lipid Kinase PIP5K1C. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 20:655-62. [PMID: 25534829 DOI: 10.1177/1087057114564057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [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: 08/20/2014] [Accepted: 11/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinases (PIP5Ks) regulate a variety of cellular processes, including signaling through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), endocytosis, exocytosis, and cell migration. These lipid kinases synthesize phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) from phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate [PI(4)P]. Because small-molecule inhibitors of these lipid kinases did not exist, molecular and genetic approaches were predominantly used to study PIP5K1 regulation of these cellular processes. Moreover, standard radioisotope-based lipid kinase assays cannot be easily adapted for high-throughput screening. Here, we report a novel, high-throughput, microfluidic mobility shift assay to identify inhibitors of PIP5K1C. This assay uses fluorescently labeled phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate as the substrate and recombinant human PIP5K1C. Our assay exhibited high reproducibility, had a calculated adenosine triphosphate Michaelis constant (Km) of 15 µM, performed with z' values >0.7, and was used to screen a kinase-focused library of ~4700 compounds. From this screen, we identified several potent inhibitors of PIP5K1C, including UNC3230, a compound that we recently found can reduce nociceptive sensitization in animal models of chronic pain. This novel assay will allow continued drug discovery efforts for PIP5K1C and can be adapted easily to screen additional lipid kinases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brittany D Wright
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA National Center for Advancing Translational Science, Rockville, MD 20850
| | - Catherine Simpson
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Michael Stashko
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Dmitri Kireev
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Emily A Hull-Ryde
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - William P Janzen
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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McCoy ES, Zylka MJ. Enhanced behavioral responses to cold stimuli following CGRPα sensory neuron ablation are dependent on TRPM8. Mol Pain 2014; 10:69. [PMID: 25406633 PMCID: PMC4247560 DOI: 10.1186/1744-8069-10-69] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2014] [Accepted: 11/04/2014] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Calcitonin gene-related peptide-α (CGRPα) is a classic marker of peptidergic nociceptive neurons and is expressed in myelinated and unmyelinated dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. Recently, we found that ablation of Cgrpα-expressing sensory neurons reduced noxious heat sensitivity and enhanced sensitivity to cold stimuli in mice. These studies suggested that the enhanced cold responses were due to disinhibition of spinal neurons that receive inputs from cold-sensing/TRPM8 primary afferents; although a direct role for TRPM8 was not examined at the time. Results Here, we ablated Cgrpα-expressing sensory neurons in mice lacking functional TRPM8 and evaluated sensory responses to noxious heat, cold temperatures, and cold mimetics (acetone evaporative cooling and icilin). We also evaluated thermoregulation in these mice following an evaporative cold challenge. We found that ablation of Cgrpα-expressing sensory neurons in a Trpm8-/- background reduced sensitivity to noxious heat but did not enhance sensitivity to cold stimuli. Thermoregulation following the evaporative cold challenge was not affected by deletion of Trpm8 in control or Cgrpα-expressing sensory neuron-ablated mice. Conclusions Our data indicate that the enhanced behavioral responses to cold stimuli in CGRPα sensory neuron-ablated mice are dependent on functional TRPM8, whereas the other sensory and thermoregulatory phenotypes caused by CGRPα sensory neuron ablation are independent of TRPM8. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1744-8069-10-69) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina, CB #7545, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J Zylka
- 1] Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA [2] Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA [3] UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA
| | - Ben D Philpot
- 1] Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA [2] Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA [3] UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA
| | - Ian F King
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA
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Wright BD, Loo L, Street SE, Ma A, Taylor-Blake B, Stashko MA, Jin J, Janzen WP, Frye SV, Zylka MJ. The lipid kinase PIP5K1C regulates pain signaling and sensitization. Neuron 2014; 82:836-47. [PMID: 24853942 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2014.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/24/2014] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Numerous pain-producing (pronociceptive) receptors signal via phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) hydrolysis. However, it is currently unknown which lipid kinases generate PIP2 in nociceptive dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons and if these kinases regulate pronociceptive receptor signaling. Here, we found that phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5 kinase type 1C (PIP5K1C) is expressed at higher levels than any other PIP5K and, based on experiments with Pip5k1c(+/-) mice, generates at least half of all PIP2 in DRG neurons. Additionally, Pip5k1c haploinsufficiency reduces pronociceptive receptor signaling and TRPV1 sensitization in DRG neurons as well as thermal and mechanical hypersensitivity in mouse models of chronic pain. We identified a small molecule inhibitor of PIP5K1C (UNC3230) in a high-throughput screen. UNC3230 lowered PIP2 levels in DRG neurons and attenuated hypersensitivity when administered intrathecally or into the hindpaw. Our studies reveal that PIP5K1C regulates PIP2-dependent nociceptive signaling and suggest that PIP5K1C is a therapeutic target for chronic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brittany D Wright
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Lipin Loo
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Sarah E Street
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Anqi Ma
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Bonnie Taylor-Blake
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Michael A Stashko
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Jian Jin
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - William P Janzen
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Stephen V Frye
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Mark J Zylka
- Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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Huang HS, Yoon BJ, Brooks S, Bakal R, Berrios J, Larsen RS, Wallace ML, Han JE, Chung EH, Zylka MJ, Philpot BD. Snx14 regulates neuronal excitability, promotes synaptic transmission, and is imprinted in the brain of mice. PLoS One 2014; 9:e98383. [PMID: 24859318 PMCID: PMC4032282 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0098383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2014] [Accepted: 05/02/2014] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Genomic imprinting describes an epigenetic process through which genes can be expressed in a parent-of-origin-specific manner. The monoallelic expression of imprinted genes renders them particularly susceptible to disease causing mutations. A large proportion of imprinted genes are expressed in the brain, but little is known about their functions. Indeed, it has proven difficult to identify cell type-specific imprinted genes due to the heterogeneity of cell types within the brain. Here we used laser capture microdissection of visual cortical neurons and found evidence that sorting nexin 14 (Snx14) is a neuronally imprinted gene in mice. SNX14 protein levels are high in the brain and progressively increase during neuronal development and maturation. Snx14 knockdown reduces intrinsic excitability and severely impairs both excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission. These data reveal a role for monoallelic Snx14 expression in maintaining normal neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsien-Sung Huang
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Bong-June Yoon
- Division of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Sherian Brooks
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Robert Bakal
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Janet Berrios
- Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Unites States of America
| | - Rylan S. Larsen
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Michael L. Wallace
- Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Unites States of America
| | - Ji Eun Han
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Eui Hwan Chung
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Unites States of America
- Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Benjamin D. Philpot
- Department of Cell Biology & Physiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Unites States of America
- Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Rittiner JE, Brings VE, Zylka MJ. Overexpression of diacylglycerol kinase η enhances Gαq-coupled G protein-coupled receptor signaling. Mol Pharmacol 2014; 85:800-10. [PMID: 24608858 DOI: 10.1124/mol.113.091280] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple genome-wide association studies have linked diacylglycerol kinase η (DGKη) to bipolar disorder (BPD). Moreover, DGKη expression is increased in tissue from patients with BPD. How increased levels of this lipid kinase might affect cellular functions is currently unclear. Here, we overexpressed mouse DGKη in human embryonic kidney 293 cells to examine substrate specificity and signaling downstream of endogenous G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). We found that DGKη can phosphorylate diacylglycerol (DAG) with different acyl side chains (8:0, 12:0, 18:1). In addition, overexpression of DGKη enhanced calcium mobilization after stimulating muscarinic receptors with carbachol and after stimulating purinergic receptors with ATP. This effect required DGKη catalytic activity, as assessed using a kinase-dead (G389D) mutant and multiple truncation constructs. DGKη was localized throughout the cytosol and did not translocate to the plasma membrane after stimulation with carbachol. Since protein kinase C (PKC) can be activated by DAG and promotes receptor desensitization, we also examined functional interactions between PKC and DGKη. We found that acute activation of PKC with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate shortened carbachol-evoked calcium responses and occluded the effect of overexpressed DGKη. Moreover, inhibition of PKC activity with bisindolylmaleimide I (BIM I) produced the same enhancing effect on carbachol-evoked calcium mobilization as overexpressed DGKη, and overexpression of DGKη produced no additional effect on calcium mobilization in the presence of BIM I. Taken together, our data suggest that DGKη enhances GPCR signaling by reducing PKC activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph E Rittiner
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of North Carolina Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Coutinho-Budd JC, Snider SB, Fitzpatrick BJ, Rittiner JE, Zylka MJ. Biological constraints limit the use of rapamycin-inducible FKBP12-Inp54p for depleting PIP2 in dorsal root ganglia neurons. J Negat Results Biomed 2013; 12:13. [PMID: 24010830 PMCID: PMC3844522 DOI: 10.1186/1477-5751-12-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2013] [Accepted: 09/05/2013] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rapamycin-induced translocation systems can be used to manipulate biological processes with precise temporal control. These systems are based on rapamycin-induced dimerization of FK506 Binding Protein 12 (FKBP12) with the FKBP Rapamycin Binding (FRB) domain of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Here, we sought to adapt a rapamycin-inducible phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2)-specific phosphatase (Inp54p) system to deplete PIP2 in nociceptive dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. RESULTS We genetically targeted membrane-tethered CFP-FRBPLF (a destabilized FRB mutant) to the ubiquitously expressed Rosa26 locus, generating a Rosa26-FRBPLF knockin mouse. In a second knockin mouse line, we targeted Venus-FKBP12-Inp54p to the Calcitonin gene-related peptide-alpha (CGRPα) locus. We hypothesized that after intercrossing these mice, rapamycin treatment would induce translocation of Venus-FKBP12-Inp54p to the plasma membrane in CGRP+ DRG neurons. In control experiments with cell lines, rapamycin induced translocation of Venus-FKBP12-Inp54p to the plasma membrane, and subsequent depletion of PIP2, as measured with a PIP2 biosensor. However, rapamycin did not induce translocation of Venus-FKBP12-Inp54p to the plasma membrane in FRBPLF-expressing DRG neurons (in vitro or in vivo). Moreover, rapamycin treatment did not alter PIP2-dependent thermosensation in vivo. Instead, rapamycin treatment stabilized FRBPLF in cultured DRG neurons, suggesting that rapamycin promoted dimerization of FRBPLF with endogenous FKBP12. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, our data indicate that these knockin mice cannot be used to inducibly deplete PIP2 in DRG neurons. Moreover, our data suggest that high levels of endogenous FKBP12 could compete for binding to FRBPLF, hence limiting the use of rapamycin-inducible systems to cells with low levels of endogenous FKBP12.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaeda C Coutinho-Budd
- Curriculum in Neurobiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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King IF, Yandava CN, Mabb AM, Hsiao JS, Huang HS, Pearson BL, Calabrese JM, Starmer J, Parker JS, Magnuson T, Chamberlain SJ, Philpot BD, Zylka MJ. Topoisomerases facilitate transcription of long genes linked to autism. Nature 2013; 501:58-62. [PMID: 23995680 PMCID: PMC3767287 DOI: 10.1038/nature12504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 294] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2013] [Accepted: 07/24/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Topoisomerases are expressed throughout the developing and adult brain and are mutated in some individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, how topoisomerases are mechanistically connected to ASD is unknown. Here we found that topotecan, a Topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) inhibitor, dose-dependently reduced the expression of extremely long genes in mouse and human neurons, including nearly all genes >200 kb. Expression of long genes was also reduced following knockdown of Top1 or Top2b in neurons, highlighting that each enzyme was required for full expression of long genes. By mapping RNA polymerase II density genome-wide in neurons, we found that this length-dependent effect on gene expression was due to impaired transcription elongation. Interestingly, many high confidence ASD candidate genes are exceptionally long and were reduced in expression following TOP1 inhibition. Our findings suggest that chemicals and genetic mutations that impair topoisomerases could commonly contribute to ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian F King
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA
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McCoy ES, Taylor-Blake B, Street SE, Pribisko AL, Zheng J, Zylka MJ. Peptidergic CGRPα primary sensory neurons encode heat and itch and tonically suppress sensitivity to cold. Neuron 2013; 78:138-51. [PMID: 23523592 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.01.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 187] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/23/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a classic molecular marker of peptidergic primary somatosensory neurons. Despite years of research, it is unknown whether these neurons are required to sense pain or other sensory stimuli. Here, we found that genetic ablation of CGRPα-expressing sensory neurons reduced sensitivity to noxious heat, capsaicin, and itch (histamine and chloroquine) and impaired thermoregulation but did not impair mechanosensation or β-alanine itch-stimuli associated with nonpeptidergic sensory neurons. Unexpectedly, ablation enhanced behavioral responses to cold stimuli and cold mimetics without altering peripheral nerve responses to cooling. Mechanistically, ablation reduced tonic and evoked activity in postsynaptic spinal neurons associated with TRPV1/heat, while profoundly increasing tonic and evoked activity in spinal neurons associated with TRPM8/cold. Our data reveal that CGRPα sensory neurons encode heat and itch and tonically cross-inhibit cold-responsive spinal neurons. Disruption of this crosstalk unmasks cold hypersensitivity, with mechanistic implications for neuropathic pain and temperature perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric S McCoy
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7545, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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Kokel D, Cheung CYJ, Mills R, Coutinho-Budd J, Huang L, Setola V, Sprague J, Jin S, Jin YN, Huang XP, Bruni G, Woolf CJ, Roth BL, Hamblin MR, Zylka MJ, Milan DJ, Peterson RT. Photochemical activation of TRPA1 channels in neurons and animals. Nat Chem Biol 2013; 9:257-63. [PMID: 23396078 PMCID: PMC3604056 DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.1183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2012] [Accepted: 01/16/2013] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Optogenetics is a powerful research tool because it enables high-resolution optical control of neuronal activity. However, current optogenetic approaches are limited to transgenic systems expressing microbial opsins and other exogenous photoreceptors. Here, we identify optovin, a small molecule that enables repeated photoactivation of motor behaviors in wild-type zebrafish and mice. To our surprise, optovin's behavioral effects are not visually mediated. Rather, photodetection is performed by sensory neurons expressing the cation channel TRPA1. TRPA1 is both necessary and sufficient for the optovin response. Optovin activates human TRPA1 via structure-dependent photochemical reactions with redox-sensitive cysteine residues. In animals with severed spinal cords, optovin treatment enables control of motor activity in the paralyzed extremities by localized illumination. These studies identify a light-based strategy for controlling endogenous TRPA1 receptors in vivo, with potential clinical and research applications in nontransgenic animals, including humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Kokel
- Department of Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Center and Division of Cardiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
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McCoy ES, Lea WA, Mott BT, Maloney DJ, Jadhav A, Simeonov A, Zylka MJ. High-throughput screen identifies cyclic nucleotide analogs that inhibit prostatic acid phosphatase. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [PMID: 23190738 DOI: 10.1177/1087057112468613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The secretory and transmembrane isoforms of prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) can dephosphorylate extracellular adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) to adenosine, classifying PAP as an ectonucleotidase. Currently, there are no compounds that inhibit PAP in living cells. To identify small-molecule modulators of PAP, we used a 1536-well-based quantitative high-throughput fluorogenic assay to screen the Library of Pharmacologically Active Compounds (LOPAC(1280)) arrayed as eight-concentration dilution series. This fluorogenic assay used difluoro-4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate as substrate and collected data in kinetic mode. Candidate hits were subsequently tested in an orthogonal absorbance-based biochemical assay that used AMP as substrate. From these initial screens, three inhibitors of secretory human (h) and mouse (m)PAP were identified: 8-(4-chlorophenylthio) cAMP (pCPT-cAMP), calmidazolium chloride, and nalidixic acid. These compounds did not inhibit recombinant alkaline phosphatase. Of these compounds, only pCPT-cAMP and a related cyclic nucleotide analog (8-[4-chlorophenylthio] cGMP; pCPT-cGMP) inhibited the ectonucleotidase activity of transmembrane PAP in a cell-based assay. These cyclic nucleotides are structurally similar to AMP but cannot be hydrolyzed by PAP. In summary, we identified two cyclic nucleotide analogs that inhibit secretory and transmembrane PAP in vitro and in live cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric S McCoy
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7545, USA
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Hurt JK, Coleman JL, Fitzpatrick BJ, Taylor-Blake B, Bridges AS, Vihko P, Zylka MJ. Prostatic acid phosphatase is required for the antinociceptive effects of thiamine and benfotiamine. PLoS One 2012; 7:e48562. [PMID: 23119057 PMCID: PMC3485352 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2012] [Accepted: 09/27/2012] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Thiamine (Vitamin B1) is an essential vitamin that must be obtained from the diet for proper neurological function. At higher doses, thiamine and benfotiamine (S-benzoylthiamine O-monophosphate, BT)–a phosphorylated derivative of thiamine–have antinociceptive effects in animals and humans, although how these compounds inhibit pain is unknown. Here, we found that Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP, ACPP) can dephosphorylate BT in vitro, in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons and in primary-afferent axon terminals in the dorsal spinal cord. The dephosphorylated product S-benzoylthiamine (S-BT) then decomposes to O-benzoylthiamine (O-BT) and to thiamine in a pH-dependent manner, independent of additional enzymes. This unique reaction mechanism reveals that BT only requires a phosphatase for conversion to thiamine. However, we found that the antinociceptive effects of BT, thiamine monophosphate (TMP) and thiamine–a compound that is not phosphorylated–were entirely dependent on PAP at the spinal level. Moreover, pharmacokinetic studies with wild-type and Pap−/− mice revealed that PAP is not required for the conversion of BT to thiamine in vivo. Taken together, our study highlights an obligatory role for PAP in the antinociceptive effects of thiamine and phosphorylated thiamine analogs, and suggests a novel phosphatase-independent function for PAP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie K. Hurt
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States of America
| | - Jennifer L. Coleman
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States of America
| | - Brendan J. Fitzpatrick
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States of America
| | - Bonnie Taylor-Blake
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States of America
| | - Arlene S. Bridges
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States of America
| | - Pirkko Vihko
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Division of Clinical Chemistry, HUSLAB, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Mark J. Zylka
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Korboukh I, Hull-Ryde EA, Rittiner JE, Randhawa AS, Coleman J, Fitzpatrick BJ, Setola V, Janzen WP, Frye SV, Zylka MJ, Jin J. Orally active adenosine A(1) receptor agonists with antinociceptive effects in mice. J Med Chem 2012; 55:6467-77. [PMID: 22738238 DOI: 10.1021/jm3004834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Adenosine A(1) receptor (A(1)AR) agonists have antinociceptive effects in multiple preclinical models of acute and chronic pain. Although numerous A(1)AR agonists have been developed, clinical applications of these agents have been hampered by their cardiovascular side effects. Herein we report a series of novel A(1)AR agonists, some of which are structurally related to adenosine 5'-monophosphate (5'-AMP), a naturally occurring nucleotide that itself activates A(1)AR. These novel compounds potently activate A(1)AR in several orthogonal in vitro assays and are subtype selective for A(1)AR over A(2A)AR, A(2B)AR, and A(3)AR. Among them, UNC32A (3a) is orally active and has dose-dependent antinociceptive effects in wild-type mice. The antinociceptive effects of 3a were completely abolished in A(1)AR knockout mice, revealing a strict dependence on A(1)AR for activity. The apparent lack of cardiovascular side effects when administered orally and high affinity (K(i) of 36 nM for the human A(1)AR) make this compound potentially suitable as a therapeutic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilia Korboukh
- Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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McCoy ES, Taylor-Blake B, Zylka MJ. CGRPα-expressing sensory neurons respond to stimuli that evoke sensations of pain and itch. PLoS One 2012; 7:e36355. [PMID: 22563493 PMCID: PMC3341357 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2012] [Accepted: 04/02/2012] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRPα, encoded by Calca) is a classic marker of nociceptive dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. Despite years of research, it is unclear what stimuli these neurons detect in vitro or in vivo. To facilitate functional studies of these neurons, we genetically targeted an axonal tracer (farnesylated enhanced green fluorescent protein; GFP) and a LoxP-stopped cell ablation construct (human diphtheria toxin receptor; DTR) to the Calca locus. In culture, 10–50% (depending on ligand) of all CGRPα-GFP-positive (+) neurons responded to capsaicin, mustard oil, menthol, acidic pH, ATP, and pruritogens (histamine and chloroquine), suggesting a role for peptidergic neurons in detecting noxious stimuli and itch. In contrast, few (2.2±1.3%) CGRPα-GFP+ neurons responded to the TRPM8-selective cooling agent icilin. In adult mice, CGRPα-GFP+ cell bodies were located in the DRG, spinal cord (motor neurons and dorsal horn neurons), brain and thyroid—reproducibly marking all cell types known to express Calca. Half of all CGRPα-GFP+ DRG neurons expressed TRPV1, ∼25% expressed neurofilament-200, <10% contained nonpeptidergic markers (IB4 and Prostatic acid phosphatase) and almost none (<1%) expressed TRPM8. CGRPα-GFP+ neurons innervated the dorsal spinal cord and innervated cutaneous and visceral tissues. This included nerve endings in the epidermis and on guard hairs. Our study provides direct evidence that CGRPα+ DRG neurons respond to agonists that evoke pain and itch and constitute a sensory circuit that is largely distinct from nonpeptidergic circuits and TRPM8+/cool temperature circuits. In future studies, it should be possible to conditionally ablate CGRPα-expressing neurons to evaluate sensory and non-sensory functions for these neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric S McCoy
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America
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Hurt JK, Zylka MJ. PAPupuncture has localized and long-lasting antinociceptive effects in mouse models of acute and chronic pain. Mol Pain 2012; 8:28. [PMID: 22524543 PMCID: PMC3404959 DOI: 10.1186/1744-8069-8-28] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2012] [Accepted: 04/23/2012] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Acupuncture has been used for millennia to treat pain, although its efficacy and duration of action is limited. Acupuncture also has brief (1–2 h) antinociceptive effects in mice and these effects are dependent on localized adenosine A1 receptor (A1R) activation. Intriguingly, adenosine 5’-monophosphate (AMP) is basally elevated near acupuncture points. This finding suggested that it might be possible to inhibit nociception for a longer period of time by injecting prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP, ACPP) into acupuncture points. PAP is an ectonucleotidase that dephosphorylates extracellular AMP to adenosine, has a long half-life in vivo and is endogenously found in muscle tissue surrounding acupuncture points. Here, we found that injection of PAP into the popliteal fossa—a space behind the knee that encompasses the Weizhong acupuncture point—had dose- and A1R-dependent antinociceptive effects in mouse models of acute and chronic pain. These inhibitory effects lasted up to six days following a single injection, much longer than the hour-long inhibition provided by acupuncture. Antinociception could be transiently boosted with additional substrate (AMP) or transiently blocked with an A1R antagonist or an inhibitor of phospholipase C. This novel therapeutic approach—which we term “PAPupuncture”—locally inhibits pain for an extended period of time (100x acupuncture), exploits a molecular mechanism that is common to acupuncture, yet does not require acupuncture needle stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie K Hurt
- Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology, UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7545, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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