Unknown,Transcriptomics,Genomics,Proteomics

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Distinct roles for Toll and autophagy pathways in double-stranded RNA toxicity in a Drosophila model of expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases

ABSTRACT: Dominantly inherited expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases are typically caused by the expansion of existing variable copy number tandem repeat sequences in otherwise unrelated genes. Repeats located in translated regions encode polyglutamine that is thought to be the toxic agent, however in several instances the expanded repeat is in an untranslated region, necessitating multiple pathogenic pathways or an alternative common toxic agent. As numerous clinical features are shared by several of these diseases, and expanded repeat RNA is a common intermediary, RNA has been proposed as a common pathogenic agent. Various forms of repeat RNA are toxic in animal models, by multiple distinct pathways. In Drosophila, repeat-containing double-stranded RNA (rCAG.rCUG~100) toxicity is dependent on Dicer processing evident with the presence of single-stranded rCAG7, which have been detected in affected HD brains. Microarray analysis of Drosophila rCAG.rCUG~100 repeat RNA toxicity revealed perturbation of several pathways including innate immunity. Recent reports of elevated circulating cytokines prior to clinical onset, and age-dependent increased inflammatory signaling and microglia activation in the brain, suggest that immune activation precedes neuronal toxicity. Since the Toll pathway is activated by certain forms of RNA, we assessed the role of this pathway in RNA toxicity. We find that rCAG.rCUG~100 activates Toll signaling and that RNA toxicity is dependent on this pathway. The sensitivity of RNA toxicity to autophagy further implicates innate immune activation. Expression of rCAG.rCUG~100 was therefore directed in glial cells and found to be sufficient to cause neuronal dysfunction. Non-autonomous toxicity due to expanded repeat-containing double-stranded RNA mediated activation of innate immunity is therefore proposed as a candidate pathway for this group of human genetic diseases. The heads from newly eclosed male Drosophila were used for RNA extraction and profiling on Affymetrix Drosophile Genome 2.0 microarrays. Nine samples were analysed, representing control and experimental lines. Two independent lines of rCAG.rCUG~100 double-stranded RNA were analysed in triplicate. These were compared to 4xUAS control analysed in triplicate. All transgenes were expressed using the elavII-GAL4 pan-neuronal driver. Candidates were selected from the pool of transcripts which showed a 'present' call in all samples. T-tests were performed on raw values to determine samples that showed a significant difference with a P-value < 0.05.

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

SUBMITTER: Gareth Price

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-42910 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress

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Distinct roles for Toll and autophagy pathways in double-stranded RNA toxicity in a Drosophila model of expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases.

Samaraweera Saumya E SE O'Keefe Louise V LV Price Gareth R GR Venter Deon J DJ Richards Robert I RI

Human molecular genetics 20130321 14

Dominantly inherited expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases are caused by the expansion of variable copy number tandem repeat sequences in otherwise unrelated genes. Some repeats encode polyglutamine that is thought to be toxic; however, other repeats do not encode polyglutamine indicating either multiple pathogenic pathways or an alternative common toxic agent. As these diseases share numerous clinical features and expanded repeat RNA is a common intermediary, RNA-based pathogenesis has bee ...[more]

PMID: 23525903

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Project description:Recent evidence supports a role for RNA as a common pathogenic agent in both the “polyglutamine” and “untranslated” dominant expanded repeat disorders. One feature of all repeat sequences currently associated with disease is their predicted ability to form a hairpin secondary structure at the RNA level. In order to investigate mechanisms by which hairpin forming repeat RNAs could induce neurodegeneration, we have looked for alterations in gene transcripts as hallmarks of the cellular response to toxic hairpin repeat RNAs. Three disease associated repeat sequences - CAG, CUG and AUUCU - were specifically expressed in the neurons of Drosophila and resultant common, early, transcriptional changes assessed by microarray analyses. Transcripts that encode several components of the Akt/Gsk3-β signalling pathway were altered as a consequence of expression of these repeat RNAs, indicating that this pathway is a component of the neuronal response to these pathogenic RNAs and may represent an important common therapeutic target in this class of diseases. The heads from newly eclosed Male Drosophila were used for RNA extraction and profiling on Affymetrix Drosophile Genome 2.0 microarrays. Twenty samples were analysed, representing control and experimental lines. Two independently derived control lines were used in each exeriment, totaling 4 samples. The tri-nucleotide repeats (CAG, CUG, CAA) were represented by three independently derived two transgene insertion lines each in one experiment and two independent four transgene insertion lines each in a second experiment, totaling 15 samples. A single four transgene insertion line was analysed for AUUCU. Candidates were selected from the pool of transcripts which showed a ‘present’ call in either all independent lines for a particular repeat sequence, or in all samples for the elav- GAL4/+ control in that experiment. Where possible, T-tests were performed on raw values to determine samples that showed a significant difference with a P-value < 0.05.

Project description:Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is one of the polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases, which are caused by a CAG repeat expansion within the coding region of the associated genes. The CAG repeat specifies glutamine, and the expanded polyQ domain with mutation confers dominant toxicity on the protein. Traditionally, studies have focused on protein toxicity in polyQ disease mechanisms. Recent findings, however, demonstrate that the CAG repeat RNA, which encodes the toxic polyQ protein, also contributes to the disease in Drosophila. To provide insight into the nature of the RNA toxicity, we extracted brain-enriched RNA from flies expressing a toxic CAG repeat mRNA (CAG100) and a non-toxic interrupted CAA/G mRNA repeat (CAA/G105) for microarray analysis. This approach identified a set of genes that are differentially expressed specifically in CAG100 flies. Four independent replicates of flies expressing CAG0, CAG100, or CAA/G105 by elav-GAL4 were collected at 3 days. The transgenes are DsRed with either (CAG0) no CAG repeat in the 3'UTR, (CAG100) a CAG repeat of 100 CAGs in the 3'UTR, or (CAA/G105) an interrupted CAA CAG repeat in the 3'UTR (ref: Li et al., Nature 453:1107) The transgenes were adjusted to match in mRNA expression such that CAG0 flies had one copy of the transgene, CAG100 flies had 5 copies, and CAA/G105 had two copies. Fly brain tissue (about 20 brains per sample, dissected from head capsule, eyes, lamina and outer medulla removed) was dissected in cold phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and stored in Trizol reagent (Invitrogen Corporation, Carlsbad, CA) at -80Ë?C. Total brain RNA was extracted and purified using TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen) and the RNeasy Mini system (Qiagen), and treated with RNase-free DNase I (Qiagen). To define genes whose expression is altered in response to a toxic CAG repeat RNA, we compared CAG100 flies with age-matched flies expressing CAG0. To exclude transcriptional changes in response to a non-toxic trinucleotide repeat, a second gene list was generated by comparing CAA/G105 flies with age-matched CAG0 flies.

Project description:G4C2 hexanucleotide repeat expansions in a non-coding region of the C9orf72 gene are the most common cause of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). G4C2 insertion length is variable, and patients can carry up to several thousand repeats. Dipeptide repeat proteins (DPR) translated from G4C2 transcripts are thought to be a main driver of toxicity. Experiments in model organisms with relatively short DPR have shown that arginine-rich DPR are most toxic, while polyGlycine-Alanine (GA) DPRs cause only mild toxicity. However, GA is the most abundant DPR in patient brains, and experimental work in animals has generally relied on the use of low numbers of repeats, with DPRs often tagged for in vivo tracking. Whether repeat length, or tagging, affect the toxicity of GA has not been systematically assessed. Therefore, we generated Drosophila fly lines expressing GA100, GA200 or GA400 specifically in adult neurons. Consistent with previous studies, expression of GA100 and GA200 caused only mild toxicity. In contrast, neuronal expression of GA400 drastically reduced climbing ability and survival of the flies, indicating that long GA DPRs can be highly toxic in vivo. This toxicity could be abolished by tagging GA400. Proteomics analysis of fly brains showed a repeat-length-dependent modulation of the brain proteome, with GA400 causing earlier and stronger changes than shorter GA proteins. PolyGA expression up-regulated proteins involved in ER to Golgi trafficking, and down-regulated proteins involved in insulin signalling. Experimental down-regulation of Tango1, a highly conserved regulator of ER-to Golgi transport, partially rescued GA400 toxicity, suggesting that misregulation of this process contributes to polyGA toxicity. Experimentally increasing insulin signaling also rescued GA toxicity. In summary, our data show that long polyGA proteins can be highly toxic in vivo, and that they may therefore contribute to ALS/FTD pathogenesis in humans patients.

Project description:Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a neuromuscular disorder caused by a non-coding CTG repeat expansion in the DMPK gene. This mutation generates a toxic CUG RNA that interferes with the RNA processing of target genes in multiple tissues. Despite debilitating neurological impairment, the pathophysiological cascade of molecular and cellular events in the central nervous system has been less extensively characterized than the molecular pathogenesis of muscle/cardiac dysfunction. Particularly, the contribution of different cell types to DM1 brain disease is not clearly understood. We first used transcriptomics to compare the impact of expanded CUG RNA on the transcriptome of primary neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes derived from DMSXL mice, a transgenic model of DM1. RNA sequencing revealed more frequent expression and splicing changes in glia than neuronal cells. In particular, primary DMSXL oligodendrocytes showed the highest number of transcripts differentially expressed, while DMSXL astrocytes displayed the most severe splicing dysregulation. Interestingly, the expression and splicing defects of DMSXL glia recreated molecular signatures suggestive of impaired cell differentiation: while DMSXL oligodendrocytes failed to upregulate a subset of genes that are naturally activated during the oligodendroglia differentiation, a significant proportion of missplicing events in DMSXL oligodendrocytes and astrocytes increased the expression of RNA isoforms typical of precursor cell stages. Together these data suggest that expanded CUG RNA in glial cells affects preferentially differentiation-regulated molecular events. This hypothesis was corroborated by gene ontology (GO) analyses, which revealed an enrichment for biological processes and cellular components with critical roles during cell differentiation. Finally, we combined exon ontology with phosphoproteomics and cell imaging to explore the functional impact of CUG-associated spliceopathy on downstream protein metabolism. Changes in phosphorylation, protein isoform expression and intracellular localization in DMSXL astrocytes demonstrate the far-reaching impact of the DM1 repeat expansion on cell metabolism. Our multi-omics approaches provide insight into the mechanisms of CUG RNA toxicity in the CNS with cell type resolution, and support the priority for future research on non-neuronal mechanisms and proteomic changes in DM1 brain disease.

Dataset Information

Distinct roles for Toll and autophagy pathways in double-stranded RNA toxicity in a Drosophila model of expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases

Publications

Distinct roles for Toll and autophagy pathways in double-stranded RNA toxicity in a Drosophila model of expanded repeat neurodegenerative diseases.

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