Mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) are associated with increased risk for developing Parkinson's disease (PD). Previously, we found that LRRK2 G2019S mutation carriers have increased mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage and after zinc finger nuclease-mediated gene mutation correction, mtDNA damage was no longer detectable. While the mtDNA damage phenotype can be unambiguously attributed to the LRRK2 G2019S mutation, the underlying mechanism(s) is unknown. Here, we examine the role of LRRK2 kinase function in LRRK2 G2019S-mediated mtDNA damage, using both genetic and pharmacological approaches in cultured neurons and PD patient-derived cells. Expression of LRRK2 G2019S induced mtDNA damage in primary rat midbrain neurons, but not in cortical neuronal cultures. In contrast, the expression of LRRK2 wild type or LRRK2 D1994A mutant (kinase dead) had no effect on mtDNA damage in either midbrain or cortical neuronal cultures. In addition, human LRRK2 G2019S patient-derived lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) demonstrated increased mtDNA damage relative to age-matched controls. Importantly, treatment of LRRK2 G2019S expressing midbrain neurons or patient-derived LRRK2 G2019S LCLs with the LRRK2 kinase inhibitor GNE-7915, either prevented or restored mtDNA damage to control levels. These findings support the hypothesis that LRRK2 G2019S-induced mtDNA damage is LRRK2 kinase activity dependent, uncovering a novel pathological role for this kinase. Blocking or reversing mtDNA damage via LRRK2 kinase inhibition or other therapeutic approaches may be useful to slow PD-associated pathology.
BackgroundEmerging evidence shows that ErbB2 signaling has a critical role in cardiomyocyte physiology, based mainly on findings that blocking ErbB2 for cancer therapy is toxic to cardiac cells. However, consequences of high levels of ErbB2 activity in the heart have not been previously explored.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe investigated consequences of cardiac-restricted over-expression of ErbB2 in two novel lines of transgenic mice. Both lines develop striking concentric cardiac hypertrophy, without heart failure or decreased life span. ErbB2 transgenic mice display electrocardiographic characteristics similar to those found in patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, with susceptibility to adrenergic-induced arrhythmias. The hypertrophic hearts, which are 2–3 times larger than those of control littermates, express increased atrial natriuretic peptide and β-myosin heavy chain mRNA, consistent with a hypertrophic phenotype. Cardiomyocytes in these hearts are significantly larger than wild type cardiomyocytes, with enlarged nuclei and distinctive myocardial disarray. Interestingly, the over-expression of ErbB2 induces a concurrent up-regulation of multiple proteins associated with this signaling pathway, including EGFR, ErbB3, ErbB4, PI3K subunits p110 and p85, bcl-2 and multiple protective heat shock proteins. Additionally, ErbB2 up-regulation leads to an anti-apoptotic shift in the ratio of bcl-xS/xL in the heart. Finally, ErbB2 over-expression results in increased activation of the translation machinery involving S6, 4E-BP1 and eIF4E. The dependence of this hypertrophic phenotype on ErbB family signaling is confirmed by reduction in heart mass and cardiomyocyte size, and inactivation of pro-hypertrophic signaling in transgenic animals treated with the ErbB1/2 inhibitor, lapatinib.Conclusions/SignificanceThese studies are the first to demonstrate that increased ErbB2 over-expression in the heart can activate protective signaling pathways and induce a phenotype consistent with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Furthermore, our work suggests that in the situation where ErbB2 signaling contributes to cardiac hypertrophy, inhibition of this pathway may reverse this process.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations are a common cause of primary mitochondrial disorders, and have also been implicated in a broad collection of conditions, including aging, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Prevalent among these pathogenic variants are mtDNA deletions, which show a strong bias for the loss of sequence in the major arc between, but not including, the heavy and light strand origins of replication. Because individual mtDNA deletions can accumulate focally, occur with multiple mixed breakpoints, and in the presence of normal mtDNA sequences, methods that detect broad-spectrum mutations with enhanced sensitivity and limited costs have both research and clinical applications. In this study, we evaluated semi-quantitative and digital PCR-based methods of mtDNA deletion detection using double-stranded reference templates or biological samples. Our aim was to describe key experimental assay parameters that will enable the analysis of low levels or small differences in mtDNA deletion load during disease progression, with limited false-positive detection. We determined that the digital PCR method significantly improved mtDNA deletion detection sensitivity through absolute quantitation, improved precision and reduced assay standard error.
bergen C, Gabrielson K. ErbB2 overexpression upregulates antioxidant enzymes, reduces basal levels of reactive oxygen species, and protects against doxorubicin cardiotoxicity. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 309: H1271-H1280, 2015. First published August 14, 2015; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00517.2014.-Levels of the HER2/ErbB2 protein in the heart are upregulated in some women during breast cancer therapy, and these women are at high risk for developing heart dysfunction after sequential treatment with anti-ErbB2/trastuzumab or doxorubicin. Doxorubicin is known to increase oxidative stress in the heart, and thus we considered the possibility that ErbB2 protein influences the status of cardiac antioxidant defenses in cardiomyocytes. In this study, we measured reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cardiac mitochondria and whole hearts from mice with cardiacspecific overexpression of ErbB2 (ErbB2 tg ) and found that, compared with control mice, high levels of ErbB2 in myocardium result in lower levels of ROS in mitochondria (P ϭ 0.0075) and whole hearts (P ϭ 0.0381). Neonatal cardiomyocytes isolated from ErbB2 tg hearts have lower ROS levels and less cellular death (P Ͻ 0.0001) following doxorubicin treatment. Analyzing antioxidant enzyme levels and activities, we found that ErbB2 tg hearts have increased levels of glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1) protein (P Ͻ 0.0001) and GPx activity (P ϭ 0.0031) in addition to increased levels of two known GPx activators, c-Abl (P ϭ 0.0284) and Arg (P Ͻ 0.0001). Interestingly, although mitochondrial ROS emission is reduced in the ErbB2 tg hearts, oxygen consumption rates and complex I activity are similar to control littermates. Compared with these in vivo studies, H9c2 cells transfected with ErbB2 showed less cellular toxicity and produced less ROS (P Ͻ 0.0001) after doxorubicin treatment but upregulated GR activity (P ϭ 0.0237) instead of GPx. Our study shows that ErbB2-dependent signaling contributes to antioxidant defenses and suggests a novel mechanism by which anticancer therapies involving ErbB2 antagonists can harm myocardial structure and function.ErbB2; glutathione peroxidase; reactive oxygen species; nRTK; mitochondria NEW & NOTEWORTHY This is the first study on ErbB2 overexpression in the heart that identifies cardioprotection after doxorubicin treatment. Our findings suggest that an adverse effect on redox signaling pathways necessary for maintaining mitochondrial antioxidant defenses may be an important mechanism of cardiac toxicity induced by drugs that target ErbB2 and Abl kinases.THE ERBB2 RECEPTOR TYROSINE kinase is a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family and has an essential role in cardiac function and development (9,39,47,50). ErbB2 is also important in cancer biology, and dysregulated ErbB2 signaling is implicated in various types of cancer, most notably in breast and ovarian cancer (30, 49). The clinical link between ErbB2 and heart function was discovered when 27% of ErbB2-overexpressing breast cancer patients treated with doxorubicin and anti-...
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