Lengthening a glutamine tract in huntingtin confers a dominant attribute that initiates degeneration of striatal neurons in Huntington's disease (HD). To identify pathways that are candidates for the mutant protein's abnormal function, we compared striatal cell lines established from wild-type and Hdh(Q111) knock-in embryos. Alternate versions of full-length huntingtin, distinguished by epitope accessibility, were localized to different sets of nuclear and perinuclear organelles involved in RNA biogenesis and membrane trafficking. However, mutant STHdh(Q111) cells also exhibited additional forms of the full-length mutant protein and displayed dominant phenotypes that did not mirror phenotypes caused by either huntingtin deficiency or excess. These phenotypes indicate a disruption of striatal cell homeostasis by the mutant protein, via a mechanism that is separate from its normal activity. They also support specific stress pathways, including elevated p53, endoplasmic reticulum stress response and hypoxia, as potential players in HD.
Prolonged culturing of rodent cells in vitro activates p19ARF (named p14 ARF in man), resulting in a p53-dependent proliferation arrest known as senescence. The p19 ARF -Mdm2-p53 pathway also serves to protect primary cells against oncogenic transformation. We have used a genetic screen in mouse neuronal cells, conditionally immortalized by a temperature-sensitive mutant of SV40 large T antigen, to identify genes that allow bypass of senescence. Using retroviral cDNA expression libraries, we have identified TBX-3 as a potent inhibitor of senescence. TBX-3 is a T-box gene, which is found mutated in the human developmental disorder UlnarMammary Syndrome. We have shown that TBX-3 potently represses expression of both mouse p19 ARF and human p14 ARF . We have also shown here that point mutants of TBX-3, which are found in Ulnar-Mammary Syndrome, have lost the ability to inhibit senescence and fail to repress mouse p19 ARF and human p14 ARF expression. These data suggest that the hypoproliferative features of this genetic disorder may be caused, at least in part, by deregulated expression of p14 ARF .
Point mutations of the CACNA1A gene coding for the alpha 1A voltage-dependent calcium channel subunit are responsible for familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) and episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2). In addition, expansions of the CAG repeat motif at the 3' end of the gene, smaller than those responsible for dynamic mutation disorders, were found in patients with a progressive spinocerebellar ataxia, named SCA6. In the present work, the analysis of two new families with small CAG expansions of the CACNA1A gene is presented. In one family, with a clinical diagnosis of EA2, a CAG23 repeat allele segregated in patients showing different interictal symptoms, ranging from nystagmus only to severe progressive cerebellar ataxia. No additional mutations in coding and intron-exon junction sequences in disequilibrium with the CAG expansion were found. In the second family, initially classified as autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia of unknown type, an inter-generational allele size change showed that a CAG20 allele was associated with an EA2 phenotype and a CAG25 allele with progressive cerebellar ataxia. These results show that EA2 and SCA6 are the same disorder with a high phenotypic variability, at least partly related to the number of repeats, and suggest that the small expansions may not be as stable as previously reported. A refinement of the coding and intron-exon junction sequences of the CACNA1A gene is also provided.
Defects in gene transcription and mitochondrial function have been implicated in the dominant disease process that leads to the loss of striatal neurons in Huntington's disease (HD). Here we have used precise genetic HD mouse and striatal cell models to investigate the hypothesis that decreased cAMP responsive element (CRE)-mediated gene transcription may reflect impaired energy metabolism. We found that reduced CRE-signaling in Hdh(Q111) striatum, monitored by brain derived neurotrophic factor and phospho-CRE binding protein (CREB), predated inclusion formation. Furthermore, cAMP levels in Hdh(Q111) striatum declined from an early age (10 weeks), and cAMP was significantly decreased in HD postmortem brain and lymphoblastoid cells, attesting to a chronic deficit in man. Reduced CRE-signaling in cultured STHdh(Q111) striatal cells was associated with cytosolic CREB binding protein that mirrored diminished cAMP synthesis. Moreover, mutant cells exhibited mitochondrial respiratory chain impairment, evidenced by decreased ATP and ATP/ADP ratio, impaired MTT conversion and heightened sensitivity to 3-nitropropionic acid. Thus, our findings strongly suggest that impaired ATP synthesis and diminished cAMP levels amplify the early HD disease cascade by decreasing CRE-regulated gene transcription and altering energy dependent processes essential to neuronal cell survival.
Huntington's disease (HD), with its selective neuronal cell loss, is caused by an elongated glutamine tract in the huntingtin protein. To discover the pathways that are candidates for the protein's normal and/or abnormal function, we surveyed 19 classes of organelle in Hdh(ex4/5)/Hdh(ex4/5) knock-out compared with wild-type embryonic stem cells to identify any that might be affected by huntingtin deficiency. Although the majority did not differ, dramatic changes in six classes revealed that huntingtin's function is essential for the normal nuclear (nucleoli, transcription factor-speckles) and perinuclear membrane (mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi and recycling endosomes) organelles and for proper regulation of the iron pathway. Moreover, upmodulation by deferoxamine mesylate implicates huntingtin as an iron-response protein. However, excess huntingtin produced abnormal organelles that resemble the deficiency phenotype, suggesting the importance of huntingtin level to the protein's normal pathway. Thus, organelles that require huntingtin to function suggest roles for the protein in RNA biogenesis, trafficking and iron homeostasis to be explored in HD pathogenesis.
We examined the effects of the chemokine fractalkine (CX3CL1) on EPSCs evoked by electrical stimulation of Schaffer collaterals in patch-clamped CA1 pyramidal neurons from rat hippocampal slices. Acute application of CX3CL1 caused a sustained reduction of EPSC amplitude, with partial recovery after washout. CX3CL1-induced EPSC depression is postsynaptic in nature, because paired-pulse ratio was maintained, amplitude distribution of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents shifted to lower values, and whole-cell current responses to AMPA were reversibly inhibited. EPSC depression by CX3CL1 is mediated by CX3CL1 receptor (CX3CR1), because CX3CL1 was unable to influence EPSC amplitude in CA1 pyramidal neurons from CX3CR1 knock-out mice. CX3CL1-induced depression of both EPSC and AMPA current was not observed in the absence of afferent fiber stimulation or AMPA receptor activation, respectively, indicating the requirement of sustained receptor activity for its development. Findings obtained from hippocampal slices, cultured hippocampal neurons, and transfected human embryonic kidney cells indicate that a Ca2+-, cAMP-, and phosphatase-dependent process is likely to modulate CX3CL1 effects because of the following: (1) CX3CL1-induced depression was antagonized by intracellular BAPTA, 8Br-cAMP, phosphatase inhibitors, and pertussis toxin (PTX); (2) CX3CL1 inhibited forskolin-induced cAMP formation sensitive to PTX; and (3) CX3CL1 inhibited forskolin-induced Ser845 GluR1 phosphorylation, which was sensitive to PTX and dependent on Ca2+and phosphatase activity. Together, these findings indicate that CX3CL1 negatively modulates AMPA receptor function at active glutamatergic synapses through cell-signaling pathways by influencing the balance between kinase and phosphatase activity.
Fractalkine/CX3CL1 is a neuron-associated chemokine, which modulates microglia-induced neurotoxicity activating the specific and unique receptor CX3CR1. CX3CL1/CX3CR1 interaction modulates the release of cytokines from microglia, reducing the level of tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-1-b, and nitric oxide and induces the production of neurotrophic substances, both in vivo and in vitro. We have recently shown that blocking adenosine A 1 receptors (A 1 R) with the specific antagonist 1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine (DPCPX) abolishes CX3CL1-mediated rescue of neuronal excitotoxic death and that CX3CL1 induces the release of adenosine from microglia. In this study, we show that the presence of extracellular adenosine is mandatory for the neurotrophic effect of CX3CL1 as reducing adenosine levels in hippocampal cultures, by adenosine deaminase treatment, strongly impairs CX3CL1-mediated neuroprotection. Furthermore, we confirm the predominant role of microglia in mediating the neuronal effects of CX3CL1, because the selective depletion of microglia from hippocampal cultures treated with clodronate-filled liposomes causes the complete loss of effect of CX3CL1. We also show that hippocampal neurons obtained from A 1 R À/À mice are not protected by CX3CL1 whereas A 2A R À/À neurons are. The requirement of functional A 1 R for neuroprotection is not unique for CX3CL1 as A 1 R À/À hippocampal neurons are not rescued from Glu-induced cell death by other neurotrophins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor and erythropoietin, which are fully active on wt neurons.
The properties of ␥-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors (GABA A receptors) microtransplanted from the human epileptic brain to the plasma membrane of Xenopus oocytes were compared with those recorded directly from neurons, or glial cells, in human brains slices. Cell membranes isolated from brain specimens, surgically obtained from six patients afflicted with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) were injected into frog oocytes. Within a few hours, these oocytes acquired GABA A receptors that generated GABA currents with an unusual run-down, which was inhibited by orthovanadate and okadaic acid. In contrast, receptors derived from membranes of a nonepileptic hippocampal uncus, membranes from mouse brain, or recombinant rat ␣12␥2-GABA receptors exhibited a much less pronounced GABA-current rundown. Moreover, the GABA A receptors of pyramidal neurons in temporal neocortex slices from the same six epileptic patients exhibited a stronger run-down than the receptors of rat pyramidal neurons. Interestingly, the GABA A receptors of neighboring glial cells remained substantially stable after repetitive activation. Therefore, the excessive GABA-current run-down observed in the membrane-injected oocytes recapitulates essentially what occurs in neurons, rather than in glial cells. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses from the same TLE neocortex specimens revealed that GABA Areceptor 1, 2, 3, and ␥2 subunit mRNAs were significantly overexpressed (8-to 33-fold) compared with control autopsy tissues. Our results suggest that an abnormal GABA-receptor subunit transcription in the TLE brain leads to the expression of run-down-enhanced GABA A receptors. Blockage of phosphatases stabilizes the TLE GABAA receptors and strengthens GABAergic inhibition. It may be that this process can be targeted to develop new treatments for intractable epilepsy.temporal lobe epilepsy ͉ microtransplantation into Xenopus oocyte ͉ okadaic acid ͉ ␥-aminobutyric acid-current run-down ͉ human tissue slices
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