Dataset Information

Spatially and Temporally Regulated NRF2 Gene Therapy Using Mcp-1 Promoter in Retinal Ganglion Cell Injury.

ABSTRACT: Retinal ganglion cell degeneration triggered by axonal injury is believed to underlie many ocular diseases, including glaucoma and optic neuritis. In these diseases, retinal ganglion cells are affected unevenly, both spatially and temporally, such that healthy and unhealthy cells coexist in different patterns at different time points. Herein, we describe a temporally and spatially regulated adeno-associated virus gene therapy aiming to reduce undesired off-target effects on healthy retinal neurons. The Mcp-1 promoter previously shown to be activated in stressed retinal ganglion cells following murine optic nerve injury was combined with the neuroprotective intracellular transcription factor Nrf2. In this model, Mcp-1 promoter-driven NRF2 expression targeting only stressed retinal ganglion cells showed efficacy equivalent to non-selective cytomegalovirus promoter-driven therapy for preventing cell death. However, cytomegalovirus promoter-mediated NRF2 transcription induced cellular stress responses and death of Brn3A-positive uninjured retinal ganglion cells. Such undesired effects were reduced substantially by adopting the Mcp-1 promoter. Combining a stress-responsive promoter and intracellular therapeutic gene is a versatile approach for specifically targeting cells at risk of degeneration. This strategy may be applicable to numerous chronic ocular and non-ocular conditions.

SUBMITTER: Fujita K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5415330 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Spatially and Temporally Regulated <i>NRF2</i> Gene Therapy Using <i>Mcp-1</i> Promoter in Retinal Ganglion Cell Injury.

Fujita Kosuke K Nishiguchi Koji M KM Shiga Yukihiro Y Nakazawa Toru T

Molecular therapy. Methods & clinical development 20170419

Retinal ganglion cell degeneration triggered by axonal injury is believed to underlie many ocular diseases, including glaucoma and optic neuritis. In these diseases, retinal ganglion cells are affected unevenly, both spatially and temporally, such that healthy and unhealthy cells coexist in different patterns at different time points. Herein, we describe a temporally and spatially regulated adeno-associated virus gene therapy aiming to reduce undesired off-target effects on healthy retinal neuro ...[more]

PMID: 28480312

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Project description:Retinal ischemia plays a critical role in multiple vision-threatening diseases and leads to death of retinal neurons, particularly ganglion cells. Oxidative stress plays an important role in this ganglion cell loss. Nrf2 (NF-E2-related factor 2) is a major regulator of the antioxidant response, and its role in the retina is increasingly appreciated. We investigated the potential retinal neuroprotective function of Nrf2 after ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. In an experimental model of retinal I/R, Nrf2 knockout mice exhibited much greater loss of neuronal cells in the ganglion cell layer than wild-type mice. Primary retinal ganglion cells isolated from Nrf2 knockout mice exhibited decreased cell viability compared to wild-type retinal ganglion cells, demonstrating the cell-intrinsic protective role of Nrf2. The retinal neuronal cell line 661W exhibited reduced cell viability following siRNA-mediated knockdown of Nrf2 under conditions of oxidative stress, and this was associated with exacerbation of increase in reactive oxygen species. The synthetic triterpenoid CDDO-Im (2-Cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9-dien-28-imidazolide), a potent Nrf2 activator, inhibited reactive oxygen species increase in cultured 661W under oxidative stress conditions and increased neuronal cell survival after I/R injury in wild-type, but not Nrf2 knockout mice. Our findings indicate that Nrf2 exhibits a retinal neuroprotective function in I/R and suggest that pharmacologic activation of Nrf2 could be a therapeutic strategy. Oxidative stress is thought to be an important mediator of retinal ganglion cell death in ischemia-reperfusion injury. We found that the transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a major regulator of oxidative stress, is an important endogenous neuroprotective molecule in retinal ganglion cells in ischemia-reperfusion, exerting a cell-autonomous protective effect. The triterpenoid 2-Cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9-dien-28-imidazolide (CDDO-Im) reduces neurodegeneration following ischemia-reperfusion in an Nrf2-dependent fashion. This suggests that Nrf2-activating drugs including triterpenoids could be a therapeutic strategy for retinal neuroprotection.

Project description:BackgroundPro-apoptotic BAX is a central mediator of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death after optic nerve damage. BAX activation occurs in two stages including translocation of latent BAX to the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM) and then permeabilization of the MOM to facilitate the release of apoptotic signaling molecules. As a critical component of RGC death, BAX is an attractive target for neuroprotective therapies and an understanding of the kinetics of BAX activation and the mechanisms controlling the two stages of this process in RGCs is potentially valuable in informing the development of a neuroprotective strategy.MethodsThe kinetics of BAX translocation were assessed by both static and live-cell imaging of a GFP-BAX fusion protein introduced into RGCs using AAV2-mediated gene transfer in mice. Activation of BAX was achieved using an acute optic nerve crush (ONC) protocol. Live-cell imaging of GFP-BAX was achieved using explants of mouse retina harvested 7 days after ONC. Kinetics of translocation in RGCs were compared to GFP-BAX translocation in 661W tissue culture cells. Permeabilization of GFP-BAX was assessed by staining with the 6A7 monoclonal antibody, which recognizes a conformational change in this protein after MOM insertion. Assessment of individual kinases associated with both stages of activation was made using small molecule inhibitors injected into the vitreous either independently or in concert with ONC surgery. The contribution of the Dual Leucine Zipper-JUN-N-Terminal Kinase cascade was evaluated using mice with a double conditional knock-out of both Mkk4 and Mkk7.ResultsONC induces the translocation of GFP-BAX in RGCs at a slower rate and with less intracellular synchronicity than 661W cells, but exhibits less variability among mitochondrial foci within a single cell. GFP-BAX was also found to translocate in all compartments of an RGC including the dendritic arbor and axon. Approximately 6% of translocating RGCs exhibited retrotranslocation of BAX immediately following translocation. Unlike tissue culture cells, which exhibit simultaneous translocation and permeabilization, RGCs exhibited a significant delay between these two stages, similar to detached cells undergoing anoikis. Translocation, with minimal permeabilization could be induced in a subset of RGCs using an inhibitor of Focal Adhesion Kinase (PF573228). Permeabilization after ONC, in a majority of RGCs, could be inhibited with a broad spectrum kinase inhibitor (sunitinib) or a selective inhibitor for p38/MAPK14 (SB203580). Intervention of DLK-JNK axis signaling abrogated GFP-BAX translocation after ONC.ConclusionsA comparison between BAX activation kinetics in tissue culture cells and in cells of a complex tissue environment shows distinct differences indicating that caution should be used when translating findings from one condition to the other. RGCs exhibit both a delay between translocation and permeabilization and the ability for translocated BAX to be retrotranslocated, suggesting several stages at which intervention of the activation process could be exploited in the design of a therapeutic strategy.

Dataset Information

Spatially and Temporally Regulated NRF2 Gene Therapy Using Mcp-1 Promoter in Retinal Ganglion Cell Injury.

Publications

Spatially and Temporally Regulated <i>NRF2</i> Gene Therapy Using <i>Mcp-1</i> Promoter in Retinal Ganglion Cell Injury.

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