Project description:Central nervous system (CNS) resident cells such as microglia, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes are gaining increasing attention in respect to their contribution to CNS pathologies including Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Several studies have demonstrated the involvement of pro- inflammatory glial subsets in the pathogenesis and propagation of inflammatory events in MS and its animal models. However, it has only recently become clear that the underlying heterogeneity of astrocytes and microglia can not only drive inflammation, but also lead to its resolution through direct and indirect mechanisms. Failure of these tissue-protective mechanisms may potentiate disease and increase the risk of conversion to progressive stages of MS, for which currently available therapies are limited. Using proteomic analyses of cerebrospinal fluid specimens from MS patients in combination with experimental studies, we here identify Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) as a central mediator of tissue-protective and anti-inflammatory effects important for the recovery from acute inflammatory lesions in CNS autoimmunity. Hypoxic conditions drive the rapid upregulation of HB-EGF by astrocytes during early CNS inflammation, while pro-inflammatory conditions suppress trophic HB-EGF signaling through epigenetic modifications. Finally, we demonstrate both anti-inflammatory and tissue-protective effects of HB-EGF in a broad variety of cell types in vitro and use intranasal administration of HB-EGF in acute and post-acute stages of neuroinflammation to attenuate disease in a preclinical mouse model of MS. Altogether, we identify astrocyte-derived HB-EGF and its epigenetic regulation as a novel modulator of autoimmune CNS inflammation and potential therapeutic target in MS.
Project description:Central nervous system (CNS) resident cells such as microglia, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes are gaining increasing attention in respect to their contribution to CNS pathologies including Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Several studies have demonstrated the involvement of pro- inflammatory glial subsets in the pathogenesis and propagation of inflammatory events in MS and its animal models. However, it has only recently become clear that the underlying heterogeneity of astrocytes and microglia can not only drive inflammation, but also lead to its resolution through direct and indirect mechanisms. Failure of these tissue-protective mechanisms may potentiate disease and increase the risk of conversion to progressive stages of MS, for which currently available therapies are limited. Using proteomic analyses of cerebrospinal fluid specimens from MS patients in combination with experimental studies, we here identify Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) as a central mediator of tissue-protective and anti-inflammatory effects important for the recovery from acute inflammatory lesions in CNS autoimmunity. Hypoxic conditions drive the rapid upregulation of HB-EGF by astrocytes during early CNS inflammation, while pro-inflammatory conditions suppress trophic HB-EGF signaling through epigenetic modifications. Finally, we demonstrate both anti-inflammatory and tissue-protective effects of HB-EGF in a broad variety of cell types in vitro and use intranasal administration of HB-EGF in acute and post-acute stages of neuroinflammation to attenuate disease in a preclinical mouse model of MS. Altogether, we identify astrocyte-derived HB-EGF and its epigenetic regulation as a novel modulator of autoimmune CNS inflammation and potential therapeutic target in MS.
Project description:Central nervous system (CNS)-resident cells such as microglia, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes are gaining increasing attention in respect to their contribution to CNS pathologies including multiple sclerosis (MS). Several studies have demonstrated the involvement of pro-inflammatory glial subsets in the pathogenesis and propagation of inflammatory events in MS and its animal models. However, it has only recently become clear that the underlying heterogeneity of astrocytes and microglia can not only drive inflammation, but also lead to its resolution through direct and indirect mechanisms. Failure of these tissue-protective mechanisms may potentiate disease and increase the risk of conversion to progressive stages of MS, for which currently available therapies are limited. Using proteomic analyses of cerebrospinal fluid specimens from patients with MS in combination with experimental studies, we here identify Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) as a central mediator of tissue-protective and anti-inflammatory effects important for the recovery from acute inflammatory lesions in CNS autoimmunity. Hypoxic conditions drive the rapid upregulation of HB-EGF by astrocytes during early CNS inflammation, while pro-inflammatory conditions suppress trophic HB-EGF signaling through epigenetic modifications. Finally, we demonstrate both anti-inflammatory and tissue-protective effects of HB-EGF in a broad variety of cell types in vitro and use intranasal administration of HB-EGF in acute and post-acute stages of autoimmune neuroinflammation to attenuate disease in a preclinical mouse model of MS. Altogether, we identify astrocyte-derived HB-EGF and its epigenetic regulation as a modulator of autoimmune CNS inflammation and potential therapeutic target in MS.
Project description:Comparison of genomic data from astrocytes and non-astrocyte cells from mice with or without FGF+EGF after SCI. We conducted genome-wide RNA sequencing of (i) immunoprecipitated astrocyte-specific ribosome-associated RNA (ramRNA) and (ii) the non-precipitated (flow-through) RNA deriving from non-astrocyte cells, from spinal cord tissue of mice recieving i) SCI alone, ii) SCI+hydrogel depot containing FGF+EGF, or iii) SCI+empty hydrogel depot.
Project description:The ability of trophectodermal cells (outer layer of the embryo) to attach to the endometrial cells and subsequently invade the underlying matrix are critical stages of embryo implantation during successful pregnancy establishment. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been implicated in embryo-maternal crosstalk, that reprogram endometrial cells towards a pro-implantation signature and phenotype. However, challenges associated with EV yield and direct loading of biomolecules limits their therapeutic potential. We have previously established generation of cell-derived nanovesicles (NVs) from human trophectodermal cells (hTSCs) and their capacity to reprogram endometrial cells to enhance adhesion and blastocyst outgrowth. Here, we developed a rapid NV loading strategy to encapsulate potent implantation molecules such as HB-EGF (NVHBEGF). We show these loaded NVs upon uptake to low-receptive endometrial HEC1A cells elicit EGFR-downstream pathways and enhance target cell attachment and invasion in an EGF-signalling dependent manner. This phosphoproteomics and proteomics approach reveals that NVHBEGF regulate short-term signalling (e.g., ERBB/EGFR signalling) and long-term reprogramming capabilities on endometrial cells, and demonstrate their functional regulation on trophectodermal-endometrial interactions and trophectodermal invasion. This proof-of-concept study demonstrate feasibility in enhancing the potency of NVs in the context of embryo attachment and establishment.
Project description:Primary cultures of astrocytes from rat optic nerve heads were treated with EGFR ligand, EGF. Two cell lines from two different rat donors were used. The sister cell cultures were set as control and EGF treated groups. Experiment Overall Design: experiment #1: compared control astrocyte cultures to sister cultures treated with EGF for 4 hours. Experiment Overall Design: experiment #2: compared control astrocyte cultures to sister cultures treated with EGF for 12 hours