Project description:Type 1 Diabetes is still an incurable disease characterized by autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells within the islet of Langerhans in the pancreas. Currently, there are no methods to monitor beta-cell mass in humans or deliver therapeutics specifically to beta cells. Here we performed Cluster Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) experiments and toggle SELEX experiments to identify RNA aptamers specific for human islets. In the cluster SELEX, we started from a random library of RNA nucleotides composed of a 40 nucleotide long variable region flanked by two constant regions. We performed eight selection cycles using hand-picked islets and islet-depleted acinar tissue from 4 cadaveric human donors as positive and negative selectors. In the toggle SELEX, we conducted eight cycles of selection using islets and acinar tissue from mice, followed by two cycles of selection using human tissues. The polyclonal libraries from the two selection strategies showed a convergent evolution of ligands and increased specificity for human islets.
Project description:We conducted a screening for nuclear proteins which interact with α-synuclein by mass-spectrometry. As a result, we found that α-synuclein interact with BAF complex. Furthermore, overexpressed α-synuclein increased global H4R3me2s by promoting interaction between BAF complex and PRMT5 in cultered cells. In this study, we explored the influence of overexpressed α-synuclein on H4R3me2s by ChIP-seq using anti-H4R3me2s antibody.
Project description:Alpha-synuclein is an abundant protein implicated in synaptic function and plasticity, but the molecular mechanism of its action is not understood. Missense mutations and gene duplication/triplication events result in Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder of old age with impaired movement and emotion control. Here, we systematically investigated the striatal as well as the cerebellar transcriptome profile of alpha-synuclein-deficient mice via a genome-wide microarray survey in order to gain hypothesis-free molecular insights into the physiological function of alpha-synuclein. A genotype-dependent, specific and strong downregulation of forkhead box P1 (Foxp1) transcript levels was observed in all brain regions from postnatal age until old age and could be validated by qPCR. In view of the co-localization and heterodimer formation of FOXP1 with FOXP2, a transcription factor with a well established role for vocalization, and the reported regulation of both alpha-synuclein and FOXP2 expression during avian song learning, we performed a detailed assessment of mouse movements and vocalizations in the postnatal period. While there was no difference in isolation-induced behavioral activity in these animals, the alpha-synuclein-deficient mice exhibited an increased production of isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs). This phenotype might also reflect the reduced expression of the anxiety-related GABA-A receptor subunit gamma 2 (Gabrg2) we observed. Taken together, we identified an early behavioral consequence of alpha-synuclein deficiency and accompanying molecular changes, which supports the notion that the neural connectivity of sound or emotion control systems is affected. Factorial design comparing SNCA knock-out mice with wild type littermates in two different tissues (striatum, cerebellum) at two different timepoints (6 and 21 month)
Project description:In order to investigate the effect of Alpha-Ketoglutarate (AKG) on p-α-synuclein in substantia nigra of Parkinson's disease (PD) model mice (C57BL/6), we profiled substantia nigra from wild-type (WT), AAV-α-synuclein (α-Syn), AKG and α-Syn-AKG in male mice by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq).
Project description:We performed RNAseq using whole Drosophila heads after expressing human wild type alpha synuclein in either glia, neurons, or both types. We identified many upregulated genes when alpha synuclein was expresed in glia and many downregulated genes with it was expresed in neurons or both cell types.
Project description:Although α-synucleinis implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, it remains unclear whether specific conformations or levels of α-synuclein assemblies are toxic and how they cause progressive loss of human dopaminergic neurons. To address this issue, we used iPSC-derived dopaminergic neurons with a-synuclein triplication or controls where endogenous α-synuclein was imprinted into synthetic or disease-relevant conformations. We used α-synuclein fibrils generated de novo or amplified from homogenates of brains affected with Parkinson’s disease (n=3) .We found that a 2.5-fold increase in α-synuclein levels in α-synuclein gene triplication neurons promoted seeded aggregation in a dose and time-dependent fashion, which was associated with a further increase in α-synuclein gene expression.Transcriptomic analysis and isogenic correction of α-synuclein triplication revealed that intraneuronal α-synuclein levels solely and sufficiently explained vulnerability to cell death.
Project description:Aggregation of α-synuclein may trigger the development of synucleinopathies, a progressive neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's disease and Dementia with Lewy bodies. We demonstrate RNA initiates α-synuclein phase transition in vitro, however, RNA binding ability and its motif remain unclear. Here, we indicate purified human α-synuclein protein preferentially binds to guanine-rich RNA sequences by RNA Bind-N-Seq using a pool of random 24-mer RNA oligonucleotides in vitro. Importantly, these hit motifs were required consecutive guanines not random, suggesting that RNA G-quadruplexes binds to α-synuclein. We also confirmed that GC content and skew of α-synuclein-enriched RNA sequences were similar to that of BG4 (G-quadruplex antibody)-enriched RNA sequences. Taken together, these data suggest that α-synuclein binds to RNA-formed G-quadruplex.
Project description:Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the aggregation of the presynaptic protein α-synuclein and its deposition into pathologic Lewy bodies. While extensive research has been carried out on mediators of α-synuclein aggregation, molecular facilitators of α-synuclein disaggregation are still generally unknown. We investigated the role of molecular chaperones in both preventing and disaggregating α-synuclein oligomers and fibrils, with a focus on the mammalian disaggregase complex. Here, we show that overexpression of the chaperone Hsp110 is sufficient to reduce α-synuclein aggregation in a mammalian cell culture model. Additionally, we demonstrate that Hsp110 effectively mitigates α-synuclein pathology in vivo through the characterization of transgenic Hsp110 and double transgenic α-synuclein/Hsp110 mouse models. Unbiased analysis of the synaptic proteome of these mice revealed that overexpression of Hsp110 can override the protein changes driven by the α-synuclein transgene. Furthermore, overexpression of Hsp110 is sufficient to prevent endogenous α-synuclein templating and spread following injection of aggregated α-synuclein seeds into brain, supporting a role for Hsp110 in the prevention and/or disaggregation of α-synuclein pathology.