Erythropoietin and small molecule agonists of the tissue-protective erythropoietin receptor increase FXN expression in neuronal cells in vitro and in Fxn-deficient KIKO mice in vivo

Friedreich's ataxia (FA) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by reduced levels of the mitochondrial protein frataxin (FXN). Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) increased FXN protein in vitro and in early clinical studies, while no published reports evaluate rhEPO in animal models of FA. STS-E412 and STS-E424 are novel small molecule agonists of the tissue-protective, but not the erythropoietic EPO receptor. We find that rhEPO, STS-E412 and STS-E424 increase FXN expression in vitro and in vivo. RhEPO, STS-E412 and STS-E424 increase FXN by up to 2-fold in primary human cortical cells and in retinoic-acid differentiated murine P19 cells. In primary human cortical cells, the increase in FXN protein was accompanied by an increase in FXN mRNA, detectable within 4 h. RhEPO and low nanomolar concentrations of STS-E412 and STS-E424 also increase FXN in normal and FA patient-derived PBMC by 20%-40% within 24 h, an effect that was comparable to that by HDAC inhibitor 4b. In vivo, STS-E412 increased Fxn mRNA and protein in wild-type C57BL6/j mice. RhEPO, STS-E412, and STS-E424 increase FXN expression in the heart of FXN-deficient KIKO mice. In contrast, FXN expression in the brains of KIKO mice increased following treatment with STS-E412 and STS-E424, but not following treatment with rhEPO. Unexpectedly, rhEPO-treated KIKO mice developed severe splenomegaly, while no splenomegaly was observed in STS-E412- or STS-E424-treated mice. RhEPO, STS-E412 and STS-E424 upregulate FXN expression in vitro at equal efficacy, however, the effects of the small molecules on FXN expression in the CNS are superior to rhEPO in vivo.

Discovery and Characterization of Nonpeptidyl Agonists of the Tissue-Protective Erythropoietin Receptor

Erythropoietin (EPO) and its receptor are expressed in a wide variety of tissues, including the central nervous system. Local expression of both EPO and its receptor is upregulated upon injury or stress and plays a role in tissue homeostasis and cytoprotection. High-dose systemic administration or local injection of recombinant human EPO has demonstrated encouraging results in several models of tissue protection and organ injury, while poor tissue availability of the protein limits its efficacy. Here, we describe the discovery and characterization of the nonpeptidyl compound STS-E412 (2-[2-(4-chlorophenoxy)ethoxy]-5,7-dimethyl-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine), which selectively activates the tissue-protective EPO receptor, comprising an EPO receptor subunit (EPOR) and the common β-chain (CD131). STS-E412 triggered EPO receptor phosphorylation in human neuronal cells. STS-E412 also increased phosphorylation of EPOR, CD131, and the EPO-associated signaling molecules JAK2 and AKT in HEK293 transfectants expressing EPOR and CD131. At low nanomolar concentrations, STS-E412 provided EPO-like cytoprotective effects in primary neuronal cells and renal proximal tubular epithelial cells. The receptor selectivity of STS-E412 was confirmed by a lack of phosphorylation of the EPOR/EPOR homodimer, lack of activity in off-target selectivity screening, and lack of functional effects in erythroleukemia cell line TF-1 and CD34(+) progenitor cells. Permeability through artificial membranes and Caco-2 cell monolayers in vitro and penetrance across the blood-brain barrier in vivo suggest potential for central nervous system availability of the compound. To our knowledge, STS-E412 is the first nonpeptidyl, selective activator of the tissue-protective EPOR/CD131 receptor. Further evaluation of the potential of STS-E412 in central nervous system diseases and organ protection is warranted.

Polo-like kinase 2 (PLK2) phosphorylates alpha-synuclein at serine 129 in central nervous system

Several neurological diseases, including Parkinson disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, are characterized by the accumulation of alpha-synuclein phosphorylated at Ser-129 (p-Ser-129). The kinase or kinases responsible for this phosphorylation have been the subject of intense investigation. Here we submit evidence that polo-like kinase 2 (PLK2, also known as serum-inducible kinase or SNK) is a principle contributor to alpha-synuclein phosphorylation at Ser-129 in neurons. PLK2 directly phosphorylates alpha-synuclein at Ser-129 in an in vitro biochemical assay. Inhibitors of PLK kinases inhibited alpha-synuclein phosphorylation both in primary cortical cell cultures and in mouse brain in vivo. Finally, specific knockdown of PLK2 expression by transduction with short hairpin RNA constructs or by knock-out of the plk2 gene reduced p-Ser-129 levels. These results indicate that PLK2 plays a critical role in alpha-synuclein phosphorylation in central nervous system.

BACE knockout mice are healthy despite lacking the primary beta-secretase activity in brain: implications for Alzheimer's disease therapeutics

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. The major components of plaque, beta-amyloid peptides (Abetas), are produced from amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the activity of beta- and gamma-secretases. beta-secretase activity cleaves APP to define the N-terminus of the Abeta1-x peptides and, therefore, has been a long- sought therapeutic target for treatment of AD. The gene encoding a beta-secretase for beta-site APP cleaving enzyme (BACE) was identified recently. However, it was not known whether BACE was the primary beta-secretase in mammalian brain nor whether inhibition of beta-secretase might have effects in mammals that would preclude its utility as a therapeutic target. In the work described herein, we generated two lines of BACE knockout mice and characterized them for pathology, beta-secretase activity and Abeta production. These mice appeared to develop normally and showed no consistent phenotypic differences from their wild-type littermates, including overall normal tissue morphology and brain histochemistry, normal blood and urine chemistries, normal blood-cell composition, and no overt behavioral and neuromuscular effects. Brain and primary cortical cultures from BACE knockout mice showed no detectable beta-secretase activity, and primary cortical cultures from BACE knockout mice produced much less Abeta from APP. The findings that BACE is the primary beta-secretase activity in brain and that loss of beta-secretase activity produces no profound phenotypic defects with a concomitant reduction in beta-amyloid peptide clearly indicate that BACE is an excellent therapeutic target for treatment of AD.

Contrasting effects of inflammatory cytokines and glucocorticoids on the production of activin A in human marrow stromal cells and their implications

Human marrow stromal cells were analysed with immunocytochemical staining, Northern blot, and functional bioassay for production of activin A. Although Northern blot and immunocytochemical staining did not detect the alpha subunit of inhibin in human marrow stromal cells, RT-PCR analyses confirmed its presence, along with the expected activin beta A PCR products. Present studies showed that human marrow fibroblastoid cells were reactive with anti-activin A antibodies and that the production of beta A RNA was upregulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines/regulators like interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA). IL-1 alpha or TNF-alpha stimulated-marrow stromal cells accumulated beta A RNA after 2 h of incubation, reaching a peak stimulation at approximately 8 h. Biologically active activin A molecules were detected in the conditioned media by a bioassay, and their activity was specifically inhibited by a blocking antibody or an activin-binding protein, follistatin. Accumulation of bioactive activin A in conditioned medium of human marrow stromal cells increased after incubation with IL-1 alpha or TNF-alpha. Nuclear run-off assays with TNF-alpha stimulated marrow stromal cells showed that the enhanced expression of activin A was related to an increase in its rate of transcription. In contrast to the stimulatory effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines, hydrocortisone and dexamethasone at 1 x 10(-7) to 1 x 10(-6) M inhibited both the constitutive and the cytokine-stimulated expression of activin beta A RNA, and also the production of bioactive activin A protein. The upregulation of activin A production by cytokines and its suppression by glucocorticoids imply that activin A may also act as a moderator in diverse functions including host defences.

Induced expression of the new cytokine, activin A, in human monocytes: inhibition by glucocorticoids and retinoic acid

The capacity of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), glucocorticoids or all-trans-retinoic acid to modulate production of activin A by human monocytes was studied. It was shown that GM-CSF stimulated monocytes to accumulate activin A RNA after as few as 4 hr of incubation, reaching a peak of stimulation at approximately 16 hr of incubation. The activin A transcripts accumulated in the monocytes after stimulation with only 5 U/ml of GM-CSF and reached a maximum plateau level of expression between 25 and 50 U/ml of GM-CSF. Biologically active activin A molecules were detected in the conditioned media by a bioassay, performed both in the absence and presence of a neutralizing antiserum for activin A. Accumulation of bioactive activin A in conditioned medium of monocyte cultures was detected after 24 hr of incubation with GM-CSF and high levels of activin A were maintained for 72 hr. The production of the dimeric beta A beta A in these monocytes was further confirmed by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) specific for activin A. In contrast to the stimulatory effect of GM-CSF, hydrocortisone, dexamethasone or all-trans-retinoic acid at 1 x 10(-7) to 1 x 10(-5) M inhibited the constitutive expression of activin A and greatly suppressed the GM-CSF-stimulated production. Thus, the expression of activin A is modulated in monocytes by different agents. These observations may imply new roles for activin A at sites of inflammation where monocytes accumulate.

Detection of functional and dimeric activin A in human marrow microenvironment. Implications for the modulation of erythropoiesis

Activin A, which was initially recognized as a gonadal protein, was implicated in the modulation of erythropoiesis through a paracrine control in the bone marrow microenvironment. Present studies demonstrate that, in contrast to T lymphocytes and cultured skin fibroblasts, human marrow stromal cells produce a functional and dimeric beta A beta A molecule (i.e., activin A). RT-PCR further indicates that both alpha and beta A mRNAs of inhibin A/activin A are produced in human stromal cells. The level of beta A subunit mRNAs, however, is in large excess over that of alpha subunit mRNAs, suggesting the predominant production of beta A beta A dimers, as well as some inhibin A (alpha beta A). It should be noted, however, that the beta A subunit can form dimeric proteins other than activin A, such as activin AB (beta A beta B) and inhibin A (alpha beta A). Hence, the presence of the beta A subunit may not necessarily indicate the production of the activin A molecule in any tissue. Therefore, a special quantitative sandwich ELISA assay specific for the dimeric beta A beta A molecule was developed for the measurement of activin A. With this assay, production of activin A in marrow stromal cells is found to be greatly enhanced by cytokines and inflammatory mediators such as TNF-alpha, IL-1 alpha, and lipopolysaccharide. These studies thus suggest that inflammatory cytokines are the inducers for activin A, probably serving a role of up-regulating activin A production locally in bone marrow microenvironment. At present, activin A is not known to play any role in inflammatory reaction; this study may thus raise the possibility that activin A performs more functions than are currently recognized. Alternatively, the enhanced production of this molecule in the bone marrow microenvironment may be regarded as a compensatory mechanism in host defenses, countering inflammatory mediators that are known to suppress erythropoiesis.

Regulation of production of activin A in human marrow stromal cells and monocytes

In studies of the regulation of hematopoiesis, increasing attention has focused on the role of bone marrow stromal cells as rich sources of various cytokines. Present studies indicate that marrow stromal cells and monocytes produce activin A, implicating this new cytokine in the paracrine control of hematopoiesis. Activin A, which was initially recognized as a beta A beta A dimeric gonadal protein, was found to potentiate the proliferation and differentiation of erythroid progenitors; both purified erythroid colony-forming units (CFU-E) and K562 cells possess high affinity receptors specific for activin A. Present studies using Western and Northern blots demonstrate the presence of beta A subunits of activin A in the conditioned medium of monocytes and stromal cells and its RNA transcripts in these cells. The presence of functional and homodimeric beta A beta A activin molecule was confirmed through bioassay with or without a blocking antiserum against activin A or an activin binding protein, follistatin; its presence is further supported by a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in which a monoclonal antibody reacted only with the beta A beta A dimeric form of this molecule. In other experiments, the production of activin A was found to be regulated by various cytokines and regulators. The production of activin A in monocytes was stimulated more than ninefold by treatment with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Activin A expression was also stimulated, albeit less potently, by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and gamma-interferon. On the other hand, the expression of activin A in marrow stromal cells was upregulated by incubation with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), LPS, and interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 alpha). Therefore, we propose that the local production of activin A in the microenvironment within bone marrow may fine tune the regulation of steady-state hematopoiesis. In addition, this factor may normally be produced at minimal levels, but under certain situations may be further induced to provide important biological functions.

Regulation of globin gene expression in human K562 cells by recombinant activin A

Recent studies indicate that a purified protein, activin A, belongs to the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) superfamily. Similar to TGF-beta, activin A can have different biologic activities, depending on the target tissues. We used recombinant activin A to demonstrate a possible regulatory role of this protein in modulating human erythroid differentiation in the human erythroid cell line, K562. Using genomic probes containing the second exon of alpha, beta, gamma, and epsilon globins, relative abundance of various types of globin transcripts in untreated and activin-treated K562 cells was examined with S1 nuclease analysis. Despite considerable homology amongst various globin sequences, these globin probes were highly specific for their unique mRNA species in the analyses. It was shown that the abundance of specific globin probe fragments for gamma and epsilon globins (209 nucleotides) as well as alpha (180 nucleotides), which were protected from S1 digestion, increased many fold in K562 cells treated with activin A. In contrast, there were no specific transcripts of beta globin detected in either the control or activin-treated cells. The increases in the level of fetal and embryonic beta-like and alpha globin transcripts also confirmed earlier studies of Northern and slot-blot analyses using globin cDNA as probes. In addition, nuclear run-off transcription assay using isolated nuclei indicated that most of the increase in the globin transcripts after activin treatment could be attributed to the stimulation of transcription rate for globin genes. Transient transfection assays also provide evidence that activin A significantly stimulated transcriptional activity of an epsilon globin promoter in K562, but not in the nonerythroid Chinese hamster ovary cells. Therefore, it was concluded that activin A exerts its effects on globin gene expression at the level of transcription in erythroid cells.

Effect of activin A on globin gene expression in purified human erythroid progenitors

The regulatory control of human erythropoiesis through a purified protein, activin A, was examined. Previous studies using mixed populations of bone marrow cells suggested that activin A has an indirect effect on cellular proliferation and DNA synthesis of erythroid progenitors through the mediation of accessory cells. In present studies, the cultures of purified erythroid progenitors were used to examine the effect of activin A on globin gene expression. Human erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E) were partially purified from peripheral blood, and after 8 days of culture the cells generated consisted mainly of erythroid colony-forming units (CFU-E). It was found that the subsequent 7-day cultures of these purified progenitors yielded similar numbers and size distributions of erythroid colonies, regardless of the presence of activin A in the cultures. In addition, these erythroid progenitor cells were responsive, in terms of stimulation of DNA synthesis, to the addition of erythropoietin, but not to treatment by activin A. Therefore, once the erythroid progenitors are depleted of accessory cells, activin A has little effect on both the proliferation and the DNA synthesis of these progenitors. However, when these purified erythroid progenitors were cultured in the presence of activin A, the levels of all alpha, beta, and epsilon globin transcripts and hemoglobins were significantly increased. In addition, disuccinimidyl suberate was found to chemically cross-link 125I-activin A to cell surface binding proteins (45 to 54 Kd) in both purified erythroid progenitors and K562 cells. The labeling of these binding proteins was specifically inhibited by the presence of unlabeled activin A, but not transforming growth factor-beta. These results suggest that, in addition to its indirect effect on DNA synthesis and cellular proliferation of erythroid progenitors, activin A directly affects the levels of globin mRNAs and hemoglobins in developing human erythroid cells through its specific surface binding receptor(s).