scholarly journals Gene editing preserves visual function in a mouse model of retinal degeneration

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Vagni ◽  
Laura E. Perlini ◽  
Naïg A. L. Chenais ◽  
Tommaso Marchetti ◽  
Martina Parrini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Retinitis Pigmentosa ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Inherited Retinal Dystrophies ◽  
Retinal Dystrophies ◽  
Function Point

AbstractInherited retinal dystrophies are a large and heterogeneous group of degenerative diseases caused by mutations in various genes. Given the favourable anatomical and immunological characteristics of the eye, gene therapy holds great potential for their treatment. We used a tailored CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing system to prevent retinal photoreceptor death in the Rd10 mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa. We tested the gene editing toolin vitroand then usedin vivosubretinal electroporation to deliver it to one of the retinas of mouse pups at different stages of photoreceptor differentiation. Three months after gene editing, the treated eye exhibited a higher visual acuity compared to the untreated eye. Moreover, we observed preservation of light-evoked responses both in explanted retinas and in the visual cortex of treated animals. Our study validates a CRISPR/Cas9-based therapy as a valuable new approach for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa caused by autosomal recessive loss-of-function point mutations.

scholarly journals Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomal microRNA-136-5p inhibits chondrocyte degeneration in traumatic osteoarthritis by targeting ELF3

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Chen ◽  
Yuanyuan Shi ◽  
Pan Xue ◽  
Xinli Ma ◽  
Junfeng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽  
Mouse Model ◽  
Cartilage Degeneration ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Chondrocyte Migration

Abstract Background Emerging evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRs) are associated with the progression of osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, the role of exosomal miR-136-5p derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in OA progression is investigated and the potential therapeutic mechanism explored. Methods Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and their exosomes were isolated from patients and identified. The endocytosis of chondrocytes and the effects of exosome miR-136-5p on cartilage degradation were observed and examined by immunofluorescence and cartilage staining. Then, the targeting relationship between miR-136-5p and E74-like factor 3 (ELF3) was analyzed by dual-luciferase report assay. Based on gain- or loss-of-function experiments, the effects of exosomes and exosomal miR-136-5p on chondrocyte migration were examined by EdU and Transwell assay. Finally, a mouse model of post-traumatic OA was developed to evaluate effects of miR-136-5p on chondrocyte degeneration in vivo. Results In the clinical samples of traumatic OA cartilage tissues, we detected increased ELF3 expression, and reduced miR-136-5p expression was determined. The BMMSC-derived exosomes showed an enriched level of miR-136-5p, which could be internalized by chondrocytes. The migration of chondrocyte was promoted by miR-136-5p, while collagen II, aggrecan, and SOX9 expression was increased and MMP-13 expression was reduced. miR-136-5p was verified to target ELF3 and could downregulate its expression. Moreover, the expression of ELF3 was reduced in chondrocytes after internalization of exosomes. In the mouse model of post-traumatic OA, exosomal miR-136-5p was found to reduce the degeneration of cartilage extracellular matrix. Conclusion These data provide evidence that BMMSC-derived exosomal miR-136-5p could promote chondrocyte migration in vitro and inhibit cartilage degeneration in vivo, thereby inhibiting OA pathology, which highlighted the transfer of exosomal miR-136-5p as a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with OA.

scholarly journals Fingolimod phosphate inhibits astrocyte inflammatory activity in mucolipidosis IV

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (15) ◽  
pp. 2725-2738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura D Weinstock ◽  
Amanda M Furness ◽  
Shawn S Herron ◽  
Sierra S Smith ◽  
Sitara B Sankar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Protein Signaling ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disease ◽  
Mapk Pathways ◽  
Inflammatory Activation ◽  
Mucolipidosis Iv ◽  
Pro Inflammatory Cytokines

Abstract Mucolipidosis IV (MLIV) is an orphan neurodevelopmental disease that causes severe neurologic dysfunction and loss of vision. Currently there is no therapy for MLIV. It is caused by loss of function of the lysosomal channel mucolipin-1, also known as TRPML1. Knockout of the Mcoln1 gene in a mouse model mirrors clinical and neuropathologic signs in humans. Using this model, we previously observed robust activation of microglia and astrocytes in early symptomatic stages of disease. Here we investigate the consequence of mucolipin-1 loss on astrocyte inflammatory activation in vivo and in vitro and apply a pharmacologic approach to restore Mcoln1−/− astrocyte homeostasis using a clinically approved immunomodulator, fingolimod. We found that Mcoln1−/− mice over-express numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines, some of which were also over-expressed in astrocyte cultures. Changes in the cytokine profile in Mcoln1−/− astrocytes are concomitant with changes in phospho-protein signaling, including activation of PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways. Fingolimod promotes cytokine homeostasis, down-regulates signaling within the PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways and restores the lysosomal compartment in Mcoln1−/− astrocytes. These data suggest that fingolimod is a promising candidate for preclinical evaluation in our MLIV mouse model, which, in case of success, can be rapidly translated into clinical trial.

scholarly journals Katanin maintains meiotic metaphase chromosome alignment and spindle structure in vivo and has multiple effects on microtubules in vitro

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1037-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen McNally ◽  
Evan Berg ◽  
Daniel B. Cortes ◽  
Veronica Hernandez ◽  
Paul E. Mains ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Mutations ◽  
Metaphase Plate ◽  
Meiotic Spindle ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Microtubule Organization ◽  
Bipolar Structure ◽  
Microtubule Severing ◽  
Meiotic Spindles

Assembly of Caenorhabditis elegans female meiotic spindles requires both MEI-1 and MEI-2 subunits of the microtubule-severing ATPase katanin. Strong loss-of-function mutants assemble apolar intersecting microtubule arrays, whereas weaker mutants assemble bipolar meiotic spindles that are longer than wild type. To determine whether katanin is also required for spindle maintenance, we monitored metaphase I spindles after a fast-acting mei-1(ts) mutant was shifted to a nonpermissive temperature. Within 4 min of temperature shift, bivalents moved off the metaphase plate, and microtubule bundles within the spindle lengthened and developed a high degree of curvature. Spindles eventually lost bipolar structure. Immunofluorescence of embryos fixed at increasing temperature indicated that MEI-1 was lost from spindle microtubules before loss of ASPM-1, indicating that MEI-1 and ASPM-1 act independently at spindle poles. We quantified the microtubule-severing activity of purified MEI-1/MEI-2 complexes corresponding to six different point mutations and found a linear relationship between microtubule disassembly rate and meiotic spindle length. Previous work showed that katanin is required for severing at points where two microtubules intersect in vivo. We show that purified MEI-1/MEI-2 complexes preferentially sever at intersections between two microtubules and directly bundle microtubules in vitro. These activities could promote parallel/antiparallel microtubule organization in meiotic spindles.

scholarly journals Binding to Nonmethylated CpG DNA Is Essential for Target Recognition, Transactivation, and Myeloid Transformation by an MLL Oncoprotein

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (23) ◽  
pp. 10470-10478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Ayton ◽  
Everett H. Chen ◽  
Michael L. Cleary
Keyword(s):  
Target Genes ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Cpg Dna ◽  
Subnuclear Localization ◽  
Amino Terminal ◽  
Function Point

ABSTRACT The MLL gene is a frequent target for leukemia-associated chromosomal translocations that generate dominant-acting chimeric oncoproteins. These invariably contain the amino-terminal 1,400 residues of MLL fused with one of a variety of over 30 distinct nuclear or cytoplasmic partner proteins. Despite the consistent inclusion of the MLL amino-terminal region in leukemia oncoproteins, little is known regarding its molecular contributions to MLL-dependent oncogenesis. Using high-resolution mutagenesis, we identified three MLL domains that are essential for in vitro myeloid transformation via mechanisms that do not compromise subnuclear localization. These include the CXXC/Basic domain and two novel domains of unknown function. Point mutations in the CXXC domain that eliminate myeloid transformation by an MLL fusion protein also abolished recognition and binding of nonmethylated CpG DNA sites in vitro and transactivation in vivo. Our results define a critical role for the CXXC DNA binding domain in MLL-associated oncogenesis, most likely via epigenetic recognition of CpG DNA sites within the regulatory elements of target genes.

scholarly journals AP-4 mediated ATG9A sorting underlies axonal and autophagosome biogenesis defects in a mouse model of AP-4 deficiency syndrome

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davor Ivankovic ◽  
Guillermo López-Doménech ◽  
James Drew ◽  
Sharon A. Tooze ◽  
Josef T. Kittler
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Transmembrane Protein ◽  
Adaptor Protein ◽  
Deficiency Syndrome ◽  
Cellular Level ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Golgi Network ◽  
Autophagosome Maturation

AbstractAdaptor protein (AP) complexes have critical roles in transmembrane protein sorting. AP-4 remains poorly understood in the brain despite its loss of function leading to a hereditary spastic paraplegia termed AP-4 deficiency syndrome. Here we demonstrate that knockout (KO) of AP-4 in a mouse model leads to thinning of the corpus callosum and ventricular enlargement, anatomical defects previously described in patients. At the cellular level, we find that AP-4 KO leads to defects in axonal extension and branching, in addition to aberrant distal swellings. Interestingly, we show that ATG9A, a key protein in autophagosome maturation, is critically dependent on AP-4 for its sorting from the trans-golgi network. Failure of AP-4 mediated ATG9A sorting results in its dramatic retention in the trans-golgi network in vitro and in vivo leading to a specific reduction of the axonal pool of ATG9A. As a result, autophagosome biogenesis is aberrant in the axon of AP-4 deficient neurons. The specific alteration to axonal integrity and axonal autophagosome maturation in AP-4 knockout neurons may underpin the pathology of AP-4 deficiency.

scholarly journals Application of CRISPR Tools for Variant Interpretation and Disease Modeling in Inherited Retinal Dystrophies

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 473
Author(s):  
Carla Fuster-García ◽  
Belén García-Bohórquez ◽  
Ana Rodríguez-Muñoz ◽  
José M. Millán ◽  
Gema García-García
Keyword(s):  
Vision Loss ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
Inherited Retinal Dystrophies ◽  
Retinal Dystrophies ◽  
Molecular Imprint ◽  
Large Rearrangements

Inherited retinal dystrophies are an assorted group of rare diseases that collectively account for the major cause of visual impairment of genetic origin worldwide. Besides clinically, these vision loss disorders present a high genetic and allelic heterogeneity. To date, over 250 genes have been associated to retinal dystrophies with reported causative variants of every nature (nonsense, missense, frameshift, splice-site, large rearrangements, and so forth). Except for a fistful of mutations, most of them are private and affect one or few families, making it a challenge to ratify the newly identified candidate genes or the pathogenicity of dubious variants in disease-associated loci. A recurrent option involves altering the gene in in vitro or in vivo systems to contrast the resulting phenotype and molecular imprint. To validate specific mutations, the process must rely on simulating the precise genetic change, which, until recently, proved to be a difficult endeavor. The rise of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology and its adaptation for genetic engineering now offers a resourceful suite of tools to alleviate the process of functional studies. Here we review the implementation of these RNA-programmable Cas9 nucleases in culture-based and animal models to elucidate the role of novel genes and variants in retinal dystrophies.

Abstract 13575: Lack of Both Mitochondrial Proteins Sirt3 and Ucp2 in Mice Recapitulates Many Critical Features of Human Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), Including Inflammatory Plexogenic Lesions, Supporting the Metabolic Theory of PAH

Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongneng Zhang ◽  
Sotirios D Zervopoulos ◽  
Aristeidis E Boukouris ◽  
Bruno Saleme ◽  
Yongsheng Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Resistance ◽  
Mouse Model ◽  
Uncoupling Protein ◽  
Mitochondrial Proteins ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Metabolic Theory ◽  
Apoptosis Resistance

Loss-of function SNPs for Sirt3 (a mitochondrial deacetylase) and Ucp2 (an atypical uncoupling protein enabling mitochondrial calcium entry) have been associated with insulin resistance and obesity in humans; and patients with PAH have insulin resistance without being obese. In a cohort of PAH patients (n=60) we found these SNPs often both in the same patient in a homozygous or heterozygous manner and their presence correlated positively with the degree of PAH upon referral, the presence of type II diabetes and outcomes (death, transplantation). We generated and studied double KO mice for Sirt3 and Ucp2 using closed-chest right heart catheterization and echocardiography and found increasing severity of pulmonary hypertension (PHT) in Sirt3 +/- -Ucp2 +/ - , Sirt3 -/- -Ucp2 +/ - , Sirt3 +/- -Ucp2 -/- and Sirt3 -/- -Ucp2 -/- , associated with decreasing cardiac output and increasing right ventricular hypertrophy, dilatation and dysfunction (TAPSE), compared to wild-type (WT) mice. The LVEDP in all mice was normal. There was increasing severity of vascular remodeling with increasing levels of CD4 + cell infiltration, while Sirt3 -/- -Ucp2 +/- , Sirt3 +/- -Ucp2 -/- and Sirt3 -/- -Ucp2 -/- mice also developed frequent plexogenic lesions. In vivo and in vitro pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC) expressed higher levels of Ki67, compared to WT mice. In vitro, the Sirt3 -/- -Ucp2 +/- , Sirt3 +/- -Ucp2 -/- and Sirt3 -/- -Ucp2 -/- PASMC exhibited more apoptosis-resistance, expressed higher nuclear levels of proliferative transcription factors (HIF1, NFATc2), exhibited decreased respiration and higher levels of glycolysis, similarly to previous reports of animal and human PAH PASMC. The Sirt3 -/- -Ucp2 -/- , but not the WT mice, also developed in vivo evidence of insulin resistance. Our work supports the metabolic theory of PAH and shows that these mice exhibit spontaneous severe PHT (without environmental or chemical triggers) in a gene dose-response dependent manner that mimics human PAH. No other mouse model of PHT has shown frequent and predictable plexogenic lesions. Our study is relevant to the PAH patients that carry loss-of-function SNPs of mitochondrial proteins and offers a new mouse model of PAH, with more features of human PAH than previous mice models.

scholarly journals Connexin hemichannel inhibition ameliorates epidermal pathology in a mouse model of keratitis ichthyosis deafness syndrome

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caterina Sellitto ◽  
Leping Li ◽  
Thomas W. White
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Skin Diseases ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Childhood Mortality ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Flufenamic Acid ◽  
Gene Encoding ◽  
Connexin Hemichannel

AbstractMutations in five different genes encoding connexin channels cause eleven clinically defined human skin diseases. Keratitis ichthyosis deafness (KID) syndrome is caused by point mutations in the GJB2 gene encoding Connexin 26 (Cx26) which result in aberrant activation of connexin hemichannels. KID syndrome has no cure and is associated with bilateral hearing loss, blinding keratitis, palmoplantar keratoderma, ichthyosiform erythroderma and a high incidence of childhood mortality. Here, we have tested whether a topically applied hemichhanel inhibitor (flufenamic acid, FFA) could ameliorate the skin pathology associated with KID syndrome in a transgenic mouse model expressing the lethal Cx26-G45E mutation. We found that FFA blocked the hemichannel activity of Cx26-G45E in vitro, and substantially reduced epidermal pathology in vivo, compared to untreated, or vehicle treated control animals. FFA did not reduce the expression of mutant connexin hemichannel protein, and cessation of FFA treatment allowed disease progression to continue. These results suggested that aberrant hemichannel activity is a major driver of skin disease in KID syndrome, and that the inhibition of mutant hemichannel activity could provide an attractive target to develop novel therapeutic interventions to treat this incurable disease.

scholarly journals Evidence from Artificial Septal Targeting and Site-Directed Mutagenesis that Residues in the Extracytoplasmic β Domain of DivIB Mediate Its Interaction with the Divisomal Transpeptidase PBP 2B

2010 ◽  
Vol 192 (23) ◽  
pp. 6116-6125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan L. Rowland ◽  
Kimberly D. Wadsworth ◽  
Scott A. Robson ◽  
Carine Robichon ◽  
Jon Beckwith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Mutations ◽  
Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Pairwise Interactions ◽  
Binding Partners ◽  
Function Point ◽  
Multiple Binding ◽  
Quaternary Complex ◽  
Recent Demonstration

ABSTRACT Bacterial cytokinesis is achieved through the coordinated action of a multiprotein complex known as the divisome. The Escherichia coli divisome is comprised of at least 10 essential proteins whose individual functions are mostly unknown. Most divisomal proteins have multiple binding partners, making it difficult to pinpoint epitopes that mediate pairwise interactions between these proteins. We recently introduced an artificial septal targeting approach that allows the interaction between pairs of proteins to be studied in vivo without the complications introduced by other interacting proteins (C. Robichon, G. F. King, N. W. Goehring, and J. Beckwith, J. Bacteriol. 190:6048-6059, 2008). We have used this approach to perform a molecular dissection of the interaction between Bacillus subtilis DivIB and the divisomal transpeptidase PBP 2B, and we demonstrate that this interaction is mediated exclusively through the extracytoplasmic domains of these proteins. Artificial septal targeting in combination with mutagenesis experiments revealed that the C-terminal region of the β domain of DivIB is critical for its interaction with PBP 2B. These findings are consistent with previously defined loss-of-function point mutations in DivIB as well as the recent demonstration that the β domain of DivIB mediates its interaction with the FtsL-DivIC heterodimer. These new results have allowed us to construct a model of the DivIB/PBP 2B/FtsL/DivIC quaternary complex that strongly implicates DivIB, FtsL, and DivIC in modulating the transpeptidase activity of PBP 2B.

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