scholarly journals Neurofibromin is essential to maintain metabolic function and sustain life in the adult mouse

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley N Turner ◽  
Maria S Johnson ◽  
Stephanie N Brosius ◽  
Brennan S. Yoder ◽  
Kevin Yang ◽  
...  

AbstractThe consequences of pathogenic variants in the NF1 gene can manifest in numerous tissues as a result of loss of neurofibromin protein function(s). A known function of NF1 is negative regulation of p21ras signaling via a GTPase activating (Ras-GAP) domain. Besides modulation of Ras signaling as a tumor suppressor, other functions of this multi-domain protein are less clear. Biallelic inactivation of NF1 leads to an embryonic lethal phenotype, while neurofibromin is expressed at varying levels in most tissues beyond developmental stages. Taking advantage of the mouse genetics toolkit, we established novel tamoxifen-inducible systemic knockout Nf1 mouse models (C57BL/6) to gain a better understanding of the role of Nf1 in the adult (3-4 months) mouse. Following inactivation of floxed Nf1 alleles, adult CAGGCre-ERTM;Nf14F/4F mice lose function of Nf1 systemically. Both male and female animals do not survive beyond 11 days post-tamoxifen induction and exhibit histological changes in multiple tissues. During this acute crisis, CAGGCre-ERTM;Nf14F/4F mice are not able to maintain body temperature or body mass, and expend all adipose tissue; however, they continue to consume food and absorb calories comparable to littermate-paired controls. Targeted metabolite analyses and indirect calorimetry studies revealed altered fat metabolism, amino acid metabolism and energy expenditure, with animals undergoing metabolic crisis and torpor-like states. Thermoneutral conditions accelerated the acute, lethal phenotype coincident with lower food intake. This study reveals that systemic loss of neurofibromin in the adult mouse induces metabolic dysfunction and lethality, thus highlighting potential functions of this multi-domain protein in addition to tumor suppression.

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-340
Author(s):  
Warlen Pereira Piedade ◽  
Jakub K. Famulski

Developmental regulation of the vertebrate visual system has been a focus of investigation for generations as understanding this critical time period has direct implications on our understanding of congenital blinding disease. The majority of studies to date have focused on transcriptional regulation mediated by morphogen gradients and signaling pathways. However, recent studies of post translational regulation during ocular development have shed light on the role of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). This rather ubiquitous yet highly diverse system is well known for regulating protein function and localization as well as stability via targeting for degradation by the 26S proteasome. Work from many model organisms has recently identified UPS activity during various milestones of ocular development including retinal morphogenesis, retinal ganglion cell function as well as photoreceptor homeostasis. In particular work from flies and zebrafish has highlighted the role of the E3 ligase enzyme family, Seven in Absentia Homologue (Siah) during these events. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of UPS activity during Drosophila and vertebrate ocular development, with a major focus on recent findings correlating Siah E3 ligase activity with two major developmental stages of vertebrate ocular development, retinal morphogenesis and photoreceptor specification and survival.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A979-A979
Author(s):  
Megan J Ritter ◽  
Izuki Amano ◽  
Lorraine Soares De Oliveira ◽  
Kristen R Vella ◽  
Anthony Neil Hollenberg

Abstract Thyroid hormone (TH) plays an essential role in maintaining homeostasis and regulating metabolism in all organ systems beginning with embryogenesis and continuing throughout life. TH action is mediated by the thyroid hormone receptor (TR), which is a nuclear receptor, and it’s coregulators. The nuclear receptor corepressor 1 (NCoR1) and the silencing mediator of retinoid and thyroid hormone receptors (SMRT) are two critical corepressors of the TR that inhibit gene transcription in the absence of TH. Repression is mediated by complexing with histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), which is stabilized by NCoR1 and SMRT. NCoR1 and SMRT are critical for maintaining metabolic homeostasis and act to mediate energy expenditure, insulin sensitivity, and body weight. We sought to elucidate the roles of NCoR1 and SMRT in maintaining global physiologic function in the adult mouse. In order to study the post-natal role of these corepressors, we used a tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase (UBC-Cre-ERT2) to knock-out (KO) NCoR1, SMRT, or NCoR1 and SMRT together in adult mice because global deletion of either corepressor during embryogenesis is lethal. Mice were injected with tamoxifen at 8 weeks of age to KO either NCoR1 (NCoR1-KO; NKO), SMRT (SMRT-KO; SKO), or both NCoR1 and SMRT (double KO; DKO) and metabolic parameters were analyzed. While postnatal deletion of either NCoR1 or SMRT did not impact mortality, KO of both NCoR1 and SMRT resulted in a rapidly lethal phenotype heralded by weight loss, hypoglycemia and hypothermia. Metabolic phenotyping confirmed a loss of body mass and in particular fat mass in addition to a reduction in energy expenditure and increase in fecal caloric density. Further analysis showed the rapid development of hepatosteatosis and disturbances in lipid metabolism with a profound increase in beta-oxidation. We also found a reduction in HDAC3 protein levels in the DKO mice but no rapidly lethal phenotype in HDAC3 KO mice. Overall, we show that NCoR1 and SMRT together are critical for life as their deletion results in a rapidly lethal phenotype. While NCoR1 and SMRT are required to stabilize the corepressor complex, including HDAC3, HDAC3 KO resulted in a distinct and separate phenotype.


Author(s):  
Dong-Yu Kan ◽  
Su-Juan Li ◽  
Chen-Chen Liu ◽  
Ren-Rong Wu

Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder with antipsychotics as primary medications, but the antipsychotic-induced metabolic side effects may contribute to the elevated risk of overall morbidity and mortality in patients with psych-iatric diseases. With the development in sequencing technology and bioinformatics, dysbiosis has been shown to contribute to body weight gain and metabolic dysfunction. However, the role of gut microbiota in the antipsychotic-induced metabolic alteration remains unknown. In this paper, we reviewed the recent studies of the gut microbiota with psychiatric disorders and antipsychotic-induced metabolic dysfunction. Patients with neuropsychiatric disorders may have a different composi-tion of gut microbiota compared with healthy controls. In addition, it seems that the use of antipsychotics is concurrently associated with both altered composition of gut microbiota and metabolic disturbance. Further study is needed to address the role of gut microbiota in the development of neuropsychiatric disorders and antipsychotic-induced metabolic disturbance, to develop novel therapeutics for both neuropsychiatric disorders and metabolic dysfunction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawei Chen ◽  
Zhenguo Zhao ◽  
Lu Chen ◽  
Qinghua Li ◽  
Jixue Zou ◽  
...  

AbstractEmerging evidence has demonstrated that alternative splicing has a vital role in regulating protein function, but how alternative splicing factors can be regulated remains unclear. We showed that the PPM1G, a protein phosphatase, regulated the phosphorylation of SRSF3 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and contributed to the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of HCC. PPM1G was highly expressed in HCC tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues, and higher levels of PPM1G were observed in adverse staged HCCs. The higher levels of PPM1G were highly correlated with poor prognosis, which was further validated in the TCGA cohort. The knockdown of PPM1G inhibited the cell growth and invasion of HCC cell lines. Further studies showed that the knockdown of PPM1G inhibited tumor growth in vivo. The mechanistic analysis showed that the PPM1G interacted with proteins related to alternative splicing, including SRSF3. Overexpression of PPM1G promoted the dephosphorylation of SRSF3 and changed the alternative splicing patterns of genes related to the cell cycle, the transcriptional regulation in HCC cells. In addition, we also demonstrated that the promoter of PPM1G was activated by multiple transcription factors and co-activators, including MYC/MAX and EP300, MED1, and ELF1. Our study highlighted the essential role of PPM1G in HCC and shed new light on unveiling the regulation of alternative splicing in malignant transformation.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 554
Author(s):  
Stefania Croce ◽  
Maria Antonietta Avanzini ◽  
Corrado Regalbuto ◽  
Erika Cordaro ◽  
Federica Vinci ◽  
...  

In the last few decades, obesity has increased dramatically in pediatric patients. Obesity is a chronic disease correlated with systemic inflammation, characterized by the presence of CD4 and CD8 T cell infiltration and modified immune response, which contributes to the development of obesity related diseases and metabolic disorders, including impaired glucose metabolism. In particular, Treg and Th17 cells are dynamically balanced under healthy conditions, but imbalance occurs in inflammatory and pathological states, such as obesity. Some studies demonstrated that peripheral Treg and Th17 cells exhibit increased imbalance with worsening of glucose metabolic dysfunction, already in children with obesity. In this review, we considered the role of adipose tissue immunomodulation and the potential role played by Treg/T17 imbalance on the impaired glucose metabolism in pediatric obesity. In the patient care, immune monitoring could play an important role to define preventive strategies of pediatric metabolic disease treatments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Li ◽  
Zaichao Zheng ◽  
Hongyu Li ◽  
Rongrong Fu ◽  
Limei Xu ◽  
...  

AbstractDespite the central role of hemocytes in crustacean immunity, the process of hemocyte differentiation and maturation remains unclear. In some decapods, it has been proposed that the two main types of hemocytes, granular cells (GCs) and semigranular cells (SGCs), differentiate along separate lineages. However, our current findings challenge this model. By tracking newly produced hemocytes and transplanted cells, we demonstrate that almost all the circulating hemocytes of crayfish belong to the GC lineage. SGCs and GCs may represent hemocytes of different developmental stages rather than two types of fully differentiated cells. Hemocyte precursors produced by progenitor cells differentiate in the hematopoietic tissue (HPT) for 3 ~ 4 days. Immature hemocytes are released from HPT in the form of SGCs and take 1 ~ 3 months to mature in the circulation. GCs represent the terminal stage of development. They can survive for as long as 2 months. The changes in the expression pattern of marker genes during GC differentiation support our conclusions. Further analysis of hemocyte phagocytosis indicates the existence of functionally different subpopulations. These findings may reshape our understanding of crustacean hematopoiesis and may lead to reconsideration of the roles and relationship of circulating hemocytes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 4156
Author(s):  
Yoshitaka Sakurai ◽  
Naoto Kubota ◽  
Toshimasa Yamauchi ◽  
Takashi Kadowaki

Many studies have reported that metabolic dysfunction is closely involved in the complex mechanism underlying the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which has prompted a movement to consider renaming NAFLD as metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). Metabolic dysfunction in this context encompasses obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome, with insulin resistance as the common underlying pathophysiology. Imbalance between energy intake and expenditure results in insulin resistance in various tissues and alteration of the gut microbiota, resulting in fat accumulation in the liver. The role of genetics has also been revealed in hepatic fat accumulation and fibrosis. In the process of fat accumulation in the liver, intracellular damage as well as hepatic insulin resistance further potentiates inflammation, fibrosis, and carcinogenesis. Increased lipogenic substrate supply from other tissues, hepatic zonation of Irs1, and other factors, including ER stress, play crucial roles in increased hepatic de novo lipogenesis in MAFLD with hepatic insulin resistance. Herein, we provide an overview of the factors contributing to and the role of systemic and local insulin resistance in the development and progression of MAFLD.


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