1
|
Jensen VN, Huffman EE, Jalufka FL, Pritchard AL, Baumgartner S, Walling I, C. Gibbs H, McCreedy DA, Alilain WJ, Crone SA. V2a neurons restore diaphragm function in mice following spinal cord injury. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313594121. [PMID: 38442182 PMCID: PMC10945804 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313594121] [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: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
The specific roles that different types of neurons play in recovery from injury is poorly understood. Here, we show that increasing the excitability of ipsilaterally projecting, excitatory V2a neurons using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADDs) restores rhythmic bursting activity to a previously paralyzed diaphragm within hours, days, or weeks following a C2 hemisection injury. Further, decreasing the excitability of V2a neurons impairs tonic diaphragm activity after injury as well as activation of inspiratory activity by chemosensory stimulation, but does not impact breathing at rest in healthy animals. By examining the patterns of muscle activity produced by modulating the excitability of V2a neurons, we provide evidence that V2a neurons supply tonic drive to phrenic circuits rather than increase rhythmic inspiratory drive at the level of the brainstem. Our results demonstrate that the V2a class of neurons contribute to recovery of respiratory function following injury. We propose that altering V2a excitability is a potential strategy to prevent respiratory motor failure and promote recovery of breathing following spinal cord injury.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Victoria N. Jensen
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH45219
| | - Emily E. Huffman
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY40536
- Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY40536
| | - Frank L. Jalufka
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843
| | - Anna L. Pritchard
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843
| | - Sarah Baumgartner
- Division of Neurosurgery, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH45229
| | - Ian Walling
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH45219
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH45267
| | - Holly C. Gibbs
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843
- Microscopy and Imaging Center, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843
| | - Dylan A. McCreedy
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843
- Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843
| | - Warren J. Alilain
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY40536
- Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY40536
| | - Steven A. Crone
- Division of Neurosurgery, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH45229
- Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH45229
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH45267
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Dong C, Zhao C, Chen X, Berry K, Wang J, Zhang F, Liao Y, Han R, Ogurek S, Xu L, Zhang L, Lin Y, Zhou W, Xin M, Lim DA, Campbell K, Nakafuku M, Waclaw RR, Lu QR. Conserved and Distinct Functions of the Autism-Related Chromatin Remodeler CHD8 in Embryonic and Adult Forebrain Neurogenesis. J Neurosci 2022; 42:8373-8392. [PMID: 36127134 PMCID: PMC9653284 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2400-21.2022] [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: 12/04/2021] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The chromatin remodeler CHD8 represents a high-confidence risk factor in autism, a multistage progressive neurologic disorder, however the underlying stage-specific functions remain elusive. In this study, by analyzing Chd8 conditional knock-out mice (male and female), we find that CHD8 controls cortical neural stem/progenitor cell (NSC) proliferation and survival in a stage-dependent manner. Strikingly, inducible genetic deletion reveals that CHD8 is required for the production and fitness of transit-amplifying intermediate progenitors (IPCs) essential for upper-layer neuron expansion in the embryonic cortex. p53 loss of function partially rescues apoptosis and neurogenesis defects in the Chd8-deficient brain. Further, transcriptomic and epigenomic profiling indicates that CHD8 regulates the chromatin accessibility landscape to activate neurogenesis-promoting factors including TBR2, a key regulator of IPC neurogenesis, while repressing DNA damage- and p53-induced apoptotic programs. In the adult brain, CHD8 depletion impairs forebrain neurogenesis by impeding IPC differentiation from NSCs in both subventricular and subgranular zones; however, unlike in embryos, it does not affect NSC proliferation and survival. Treatment with an antidepressant approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), fluoxetine, partially restores adult hippocampal neurogenesis in Chd8-ablated mice. Together, our multistage functional studies identify temporally specific roles for CHD8 in developmental and adult neurogenesis, pointing to a potential strategy to enhance neurogenesis in the CHD8-deficient brain.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The role of the high-confidence autism gene CHD8 in neurogenesis remains incompletely understood. Here, we identify a stage-specific function of CHD8 in development of NSCs in developing and adult brains by conserved, yet spatiotemporally distinct, mechanisms. In embryonic cortex, CHD8 is critical for the proliferation, survival, and differentiation of both NSC and IPCs during cortical neurogenesis. In adult brain, CHD8 is required for IPC generation but not the proliferation and survival of adult NSCs. Treatment with FDA-approved antidepressant fluoxetine partially rescues the adult neurogenesis defects in CHD8 mutants. Thus, our findings help resolve CHD8 functions throughout life during embryonic and adult neurogenesis and point to a potential avenue to promote neurogenesis in CHD8 deficiency.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chen Dong
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
- Key Laboratory of Birth Defects, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China
| | - Chuntao Zhao
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Xiang Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Kalen Berry
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Jiajia Wang
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Feng Zhang
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Yunfei Liao
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Rong Han
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Sean Ogurek
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Lingli Xu
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Li Zhang
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Yifeng Lin
- Key Laboratory of Birth Defects, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China
| | - Wenhao Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Birth Defects, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai 201102, China
| | - Mei Xin
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Daniel A Lim
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143
| | - Kenneth Campbell
- Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Masato Nakafuku
- Division of Developmental Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Ronald R Waclaw
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| | - Q Richard Lu
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Itskovich SS, Gurunathan A, Clark J, Burwinkel M, Wunderlich M, Berger MR, Kulkarni A, Chetal K, Venkatasubramanian M, Salomonis N, Kumar AR, Lee LH. MBNL1 regulates essential alternative RNA splicing patterns in MLL-rearranged leukemia. Nat Commun 2020; 11:2369. [PMID: 32398749 PMCID: PMC7217953 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15733-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [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: 01/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite growing awareness of the biologic features underlying MLL-rearranged leukemia, targeted therapies for this leukemia have remained elusive and clinical outcomes remain dismal. MBNL1, a protein involved in alternative splicing, is consistently overexpressed in MLL-rearranged leukemias. We found that MBNL1 loss significantly impairs propagation of murine and human MLL-rearranged leukemia in vitro and in vivo. Through transcriptomic profiling of our experimental systems, we show that in leukemic cells, MBNL1 regulates alternative splicing (predominantly intron exclusion) of several genes including those essential for MLL-rearranged leukemogenesis, such as DOT1L and SETD1A. We finally show that selective leukemic cell death is achievable with a small molecule inhibitor of MBNL1. These findings provide the basis for a new therapeutic target in MLL-rearranged leukemia and act as further validation of a burgeoning paradigm in targeted therapy, namely the disruption of cancer-specific splicing programs through the targeting of selectively essential RNA binding proteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Svetlana S Itskovich
- Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Arun Gurunathan
- Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Jason Clark
- Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Matthew Burwinkel
- Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Mark Wunderlich
- Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Mikaela R Berger
- College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, 45267, USA
| | - Aishwarya Kulkarni
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, USA
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Kashish Chetal
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Meenakshi Venkatasubramanian
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221, USA
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Nathan Salomonis
- Division of Biomedical Informatics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Ashish R Kumar
- Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Immune Deficiency, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Lynn H Lee
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA.
- Division of Oncology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Zoubovsky SP, Hoseus S, Tumukuntala S, Schulkin JO, Williams MT, Vorhees CV, Muglia LJ. Chronic psychosocial stress during pregnancy affects maternal behavior and neuroendocrine function and modulates hypothalamic CRH and nuclear steroid receptor expression. Transl Psychiatry 2020; 10:6. [PMID: 32066677 PMCID: PMC7026416 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-0704-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [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] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Postpartum depression (PPD) affects up to 20% of mothers and has negative consequences for both mother and child. Although exposure to psychosocial stress during pregnancy and abnormalities in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis have been linked to PPD, molecular changes in the brain that contribute to this disease remain unknown. This study utilized a novel chronic psychosocial stress paradigm during pregnancy (CGS) to investigate the effects of psychosocial stress on maternal behavior, neuroendocrine function, and gene expression changes in molecular regulators of the HPA axis in the early postpartum period. Postpartum female mice exposed to CGS display abnormalities in maternal behavior, including fragmented and erratic maternal care patterns, and the emergence of depression and anxiety-like phenotypes. Dysregulation in postpartum HPA axis function, evidenced by blunted circadian peak and elevation of stress-induced corticosterone levels, was accompanied by increased CRH mRNA expression and a reduction in CRH receptor 1 in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). We further observed decreased PVN expression of nuclear steroid hormone receptors associated with CRH transcription, suggesting these molecular changes could underlie abnormalities in postpartum HPA axis and behavior observed. Overall, our study demonstrates that psychosocial stress during pregnancy induces changes in neuroendocrine function and maternal behavior in the early postpartum period and introduces our CGS paradigm as a viable model that can be used to further dissect the molecular defects that lead to PPD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra P Zoubovsky
- Center for the Prevention of Preterm Birth, Perinatal Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Molecular and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Sarah Hoseus
- Center for the Prevention of Preterm Birth, Perinatal Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Shivani Tumukuntala
- Center for the Prevention of Preterm Birth, Perinatal Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Jay O Schulkin
- Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Michael T Williams
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Charles V Vorhees
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Louis J Muglia
- Center for the Prevention of Preterm Birth, Perinatal Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
- Molecular and Developmental Biology Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
| |
Collapse
|