Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a movement disorder caused by neurodegeneration in neocortex, substantia nigra (SN) and brainstem and synucleinopathy. Some inherited PD is caused by mutations in α-synuclein (αSyn), and inherited and idiopathic PD are associated with mitochondrial perturbations. However, the mechanisms of pathogenesis are unresolved. We characterized a human αSyn transgenic mouse model and tested the hypothesis that the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) is involved in the disease mechanisms. C57BL/6 mice expressing human A53T-mutant αSyn driven by a Thy1 promoter develop a severe, age-related, fatal movement disorder involving ataxia, rigidity, and postural instability. These mice develop synucleinopathy and neocortical, SN, and cerebello-rubro-thalamic degeneration involving mitochondriopathy and apoptotic and non-apoptotic neurodegeneration. Interneurons undergo apoptotic degeneration in young mice. Mutant αSyn associated with dysmorphic neuronal mitochondria and bound voltage-dependent anion channels. Genetic ablation of cyclophilin D, an mPTP modulator, delayed disease onset and extended lifespans of mutant αSyn mice. Thus, mutant αSyn transgenic mice on a C57BL/6 background develop PD-like phenotypes, and the mPTP is involved in their disease mechanisms.

Purpose We used human stem and progenitor cells to develop a genetically accurate novel model of MYC-driven Group 3 medulloblastoma. We also developed a new informatics method, Disease-model Signature vs. Compound-Variety Enriched Response (“DiSCoVER”), to identify novel therapeutics that target this specific disease subtype. Experimental Design Human neural stem and progenitor cells derived from the cerebellar anlage were transduced with oncogenic elements associated with aggressive medulloblastoma. An in silico analysis method for screening drug sensitivity databases (DiSCoVER) was used in multiple drug sensitivity datasets. We validated the top hits from this analysis in vitro and in vivo. Results Human neural stem and progenitor cells transformed with c-MYC, dominant-negative p53, constitutively active AKT and hTERT formed tumors in mice that recapitulated Group 3 medulloblastoma in terms of pathology and expression profile. DiSCoVER analysis predicted that the aggressive MYC-driven Group 3 medulloblastoma would be sensitive to CDK inhibitors. The CKD4/6 inhibitor palbociclib decreased proliferation, increased apoptosis and significantly extended the survival of mice with orthotopic medulloblastoma orthotopic xenografts. Conclusion We present a new method to generate genetically accurate models of rare tumors, and a companion computational methodology to find therapeutic interventions that target them. We validated our human neural stem cell model of MYC-driven Group 3 medulloblastoma and showed that CDK4/6 inhibitors are active against this subgroup. Our results suggest that palbociclib is a potential effective treatment for poor-prognosis MYC-driven Group 3 medulloblastoma tumors in carefully selected patients.

A subset of poor-prognosis medulloblastoma has genomic amplification of MYC . MYC regulates glutamine metabolism in multiple cellular contexts. We modified the glutamine analog 6-diazo-5-oxo-l-norleucine (DON) to mask its carboxylate and amine functionalities, creating a prodrug termed JHU-083 with increased oral bioavailability. We hypothesized that this prodrug would kill MYC-expressing medulloblastoma. JHU-083 treatment caused decreased growth and increased apoptosis in human MYC-expressing medulloblastoma cell lines. We generated a mouse MYC-driven medulloblastoma model by transforming C57BL/6 mouse cerebellar stem and progenitor cells. When implanted into the brains of C57BL/6 mice, these cells formed large cell/anaplastic tumors that resembled aggressive medulloblastoma. A cell line derived from this model was sensitive to JHU-083 in vitro . Oral administration of JHU-038 led to the accumulation of micromolar concentrations of DON in the mouse brain. JHU-083 treatment significantly increased the survival of immune-competent animals bearing orthotopic tumors formed by the mouse cerebellar stem cell model as well as immune-deficient animals bearing orthotopic tumors formed by a human MYC-amplified medulloblastoma cell line. These data provide pre-clinical justification for the ongoing development and testing of orally bioavailable DON prodrugs for use in medulloblastoma patients.