Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is characterized by acute neurological dysfunction and associated with the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and Alzheimer’s disease. We previously showed that cis phosphorylated tau (cis P-tau), but not the trans form, contributes to tau pathology and functional impairment in an animal model of severe TBI. Here we found that in human samples obtained post TBI due to a variety of causes, cis P-tau is induced in cortical axons and cerebrospinal fluid and positively correlates with axonal injury and clinical outcome. Using mouse models of severe or repetitive TBI, we showed that cis P-tau elimination with a specific neutralizing antibody administered immediately or at delayed time points after injury, attenuates the development of neuropathology and brain dysfunction during acute and chronic phases including CTE-like pathology and dysfunction after repetitive TBI. Thus, cis P-tau contributes to short-term and long-term sequelae after TBI, but is effectively neutralized by cis antibody treatment.

Interleukin 33 (IL-33) is among the earliest-released cytokines in response to allergens that orchestrate type 2 immunity. The prolyl cis-trans isomerase PIN1 is known to induce cytokines for eosinophil survival and activation by stabilizing cytokines mRNAs, but the function of PIN1 in upstream signaling pathways in asthma is unknown. Here we show that interleukin receptor associated kinase M (IRAK-M) is a PIN1 target critical for IL-33 signaling in allergic asthma. NMR analysis and docking simulations suggest that PIN1 might regulate IRAK-M conformation and function in IL-33 signaling. Upon IL-33-induced airway inflammation, PIN1 is activated for binding with and isomerization of IRAK-M, resulting in IRAK-M nuclear translocation and induction of selected proinflammatory genes in dendritic cells. Thus, the IL-33-PIN1-IRAK-M is an axis critical for dendritic cell activation, type 2 immunity and IL-33 induced airway inflammation.

APTO-253 is a phase I clinical stage small molecule that selectively induces CDKN1A (p21), promotes G-G cell-cycle arrest, and triggers apoptosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells without producing myelosuppression in various animal species and humans. Differential gene expression analysis identified a pharmacodynamic effect on MYC expression, as well as induction of DNA repair and stress response pathways. APTO-253 was found to elicit a concentration- and time-dependent reduction in MYC mRNA expression and protein levels. Gene ontogeny and structural informatic analyses suggested a mechanism involving G-quadruplex (G4) stabilization. Intracellular pharmacokinetic studies in AML cells revealed that APTO-253 is converted intracellularly from a monomer to a ferrous complex [Fe(253)]. FRET assays demonstrated that both monomeric APTO-253 and Fe(253) stabilize G4 structures from telomeres, MYC, and KIT promoters but do not bind to non-G4 double-stranded DNA. Although APTO-253 exerts a host of mechanistic sequelae, the effect of APTO-253 on MYC expression and its downstream target genes, on cell-cycle arrest, DNA damage, and stress responses can be explained by the action of Fe(253) and APTO-253 on G-quadruplex DNA motifs. .

The development of resistance to cisplatin (cDDP) is commonly accompanied by reduced drug uptake or increased efflux. Previous studies in yeast and murine embryonic fibroblasts have reported that the copper (Cu) transporters and chaperones participate in the uptake, efflux, and intracellular distribution of cDDP. However, there is conflicting data from studies in human cells. We used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to individually knock out the human copper transporters CTR1 and CTR2 and the copper chaperones ATOX1 and CCS. Isogenic knockout cell lines were generated in both human HEK-293T and ovarian carcinoma OVCAR8 cells. All knockout cell lines had slowed growth compared to parental cells, small changes in basal Cu levels, and varying sensitivities to Cu depending on the gene targeted. However, all of the knockouts demonstrated only modest 2 to 5-fold changes in cDDP sensitivity that did not differ from the range of sensitivities of 10 wild type clones grown from the same parental cell population. We conclude that, under basal conditions, loss of CTR1, CTR2, ATOX1, or CCS does not produce a change in cisplatin sensitivity that exceeds the variance found within the parental population, suggesting that they are not essential to the mechanism by which cDDP enters these cell lines and is transported to the nucleus.

Copper transporter 1 (CTR1) is the major copper (Cu) influx transporter in mammalian cells. We report here that CTR1 is required for the activation of signaling to the MAPK pathway by the ligands of three major receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) including FGF, PDGF and EGF. Induction of Erk1/2 phosphorylation was compared in isogenic wild type CTR1+/+ and CTR1−/− cells. Whereas all three ligands increased pErk1/2 in the CTR1+/+ cells, they failed to do this in CTR1−/− cells. While FGF did not enhance the phosphorylation of AKT in the CTR1+/+ cells, both PDGF and EGF increased pAKT in the CTR1+/+ but not CTR1−/− cells. The deficit in Erk1/2 phosphorylation in the CTR1−/− cells was rescued by adding Cu to the medium, and it was induced in CTR1+/+ cells by treatment with a Cu chelator. Intracellular Cu availability was reduced in the CTR1−/− cells as reflected by increased expression of the Cu chaperone CCS. The failure of RTK-induced signaling to both Erk1/2 and AKT suggested the presence of a Cu-dependent step upstream of Ras. The Cu-dependent enzyme SOD1 is responsible for generating the hydrogen peroxide in response to RTK activation that serves to inhibit phosphatases that normally limit RTK signaling. SOD1 activity was reduced by a factor of 17-fold in the CTR1−/− cells, and addition of hydrogen peroxide restored signaling. We conclude that Cu acquired from CTR1 is required for signaling in pathways regulated by RTKs that play major roles in development and cancer.

The functional role of adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus remains the subject of intense speculation. One recent hypothesis is that adult-born neurons contribute to the endocrine and behavioural outputs of the stress response. Here we show a genetic model system to ablate neurogenesis by inducibly deleting Tbr2 gene function specifically in the hippocampus and corroborate our findings in a radiation-based model of neurogenesis deprivation. We found that mice with ablation of new neurons in the dentate gyrus exhibit reduced anxiety during the dark cycle. After restraint stress, corticosterone levels in neurogenesis-deficient mice decreased more quickly than controls and were more sensitive to suppression by dexamethasone. Furthermore, glucocorticoid receptor target genes and neuronal activity markers showed reduced expression after stress in neurogenesis-deficient mice. These findings suggest that newborn neurons in the hippocampus are involved in sensing and eliciting an appropriate response to stress.

One of the two common hallmark lesions of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brains is neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein (p-tau). NFTs are also a defining feature of other neurodegenerative disorders and have recently been identified in the brains of patients suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). However, NFTs are not normally observed in traumatic brain injury (TBI) until months or years after injury. This raises the question of whether NFTs are a cause or a consequence of long-term neurodegeneration following TBI. Two conformations of phosphorylated tau, cis p-tau and trans p-tau, which are regulated by the peptidyl-prolyl isomerase Pin1, have been previously identified. By generating a polyclonal and monoclonal antibody (Ab) pair capable of distinguishing between cis and trans isoforms of p-tau (cis p-tau and trans p-tau, respectively), cis p-tau was identified as a precursor of tau pathology and an early driver of neurodegeneration in AD, TBI and CTE. Histological studies shows the appearance of robust cis p-tau in the early stages of human mild cognitive impairment (MCI), AD and CTE brains, as well as after sport- and military-related TBI. Notably, cis p-tau appears within hours after closed head injury and long before other known pathogenic p-tau conformations including oligomers, pre-fibrillary tangles and NFTs. Importantly, cis p-tau monoclonal antibody treatment not only eliminates cis p-tau induction and tau pathology, but also restores many neuropathological and functional outcome in TBI mouse models. Thus, cis p-tau is an early driver of tau pathology in TBI and CTE and detection of cis p-tau in human bodily fluids could potentially provide new diagnostic and prognostic tools. Furthermore, humanization of the cis p-tau antibody could ultimately be developed as a new treatment for AD, TBI and CTE.

Soy saponin may be effective in preventing colon cancer by affecting cell morphology, cell proliferation enzymes, and cell growth.