Project description:Metabolic dysregulation is one of the most common causes of pediatric neurodegenerative disorders. However, how the disruption of ubiquitous and essential metabolic pathways predominantly affect neural tissue remains unclear. Here we use a mouse model of AMPD2 deficiency to study cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to selective neuronal vulnerability to purine metabolism imbalance. We show that AMPD deficiency in mice primarily leads to hippocampal dentate gyrus degeneration despite causing a generalized reduction of brain GTP levels. Remarkably, we uncover that neurodegeneration resistant regions of the hippocampus accumulate micron sized filaments of IMPDH2, the rate limiting enzyme in GTP synthesis. In contrast, IMPDH2 filaments are barely detectable in the dentate gyrus, which show a progressively neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Furthermore, using a human AMPD2 neural cell culture model, we show that blocking IMPDH2 polymerization with a dominant negative IMPDH2 variant impairs AMPD2 deficient neural progenitor growth. Together, our findings suggest that IMPDH2 polymerization prevents detrimental GTP deprivation caused by AMPD2 deficiency, providing resistance to neurodegeneration. This data opens the possibility of exploring the involvement of IMPDH2 assembly as a therapeutic intervention for neurodegeneration.
Project description:Metabolic dysregulation is one of the most common causes of pediatric neurodegenerative disorders. However, how the disruption of ubiquitous and essential metabolic pathways predominantly affect neural tissue remains unclear. Here we use mouse models of a childhood neurodegenerative disorder caused by AMPD2 deficiency to study cellular and molecular mechanisms that lead to selective neuronal vulnerability to purine metabolism imbalance. We show that AMPD2 mouse models exhibit predominant degeneration of the hippocampal dentate gyrus, despite a general reduction of brain GTP levels. Neurodegeneration-resistant regions accumulate micron-sized filaments of IMPDH2, the rate limiting enzyme in GTP synthesis, while these filaments are barely detectable in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Furthermore, we show that IMPDH2 filament disassembly reduces GTP levels and impairs growth of neural progenitor cells derived from individuals with human AMPD2 deficiency. Together, our findings suggest that IMPDH2 polymerization prevents detrimental GTP deprivation, opening the possibility of exploring the induction of IMPDH2 assembly as a therapy for neurodegeneration.
Project description:The symptoms of ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) include a progressive neurodegeneration caused by ATM protein deficiency. We previously found that nuclear accumulation of histone deacetylase-4, HDAC4, contributes to this degeneration; we now report that increased histone H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) mediated by polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) also plays an important role in the A-T phenotype. Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), a core catalytic component of PRC2, is identified as a new ATM kinase target, and its S734 phosphorylation reduces protein stability. Thus, PRC2 formation is elevated along with H3K27me3in ATM deficiency. ChIP-sequencing shows a significant increase in H3K27me3 ‘marks’ and a dramatic shift in their location. The change of H3K27me3 chromatin-binding pattern is directly related to cell cycle re-entry and cell death of ATM-deficient neurons. Lentiviral knockdown of EZH2 rescues Purkinje cell degeneration and behavioral abnormalities in Atm / mice, demonstrating that EZH2-mediated H3K27me3 is another key factor in A-T neurodegeneration. Two samples each were run of brain total RNA from Atm+/+ and Atm-/- mice.
Project description:Disruption of local iron homeostasis is a common feature of neurodegenerative diseases. We focused on dopaminergic neurons, asking how iron transport proteins modulate iron homeostasis in vivo. Inactivation of the transmembrane iron exporter ferroportin had no apparent consequences. However, loss of the transferrin receptor 1, involved in iron uptake, caused profound, age-progressive neurodegeneration with features similar to Parkinson’s disease. There was gradual loss of dopaminergic projections in the striatum with subsequent death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. After depletion of 30% of the neurons the mice developed neurobehavioral parkinsonism, with evidence of mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired mitochondrial autophagy. Molecular analysis revealed strong signatures indicative of attempted axonal regeneration, a metabolic switch to glycolysis and the unfolded protein response. We speculate that cellular iron deficiency may contribute to neurodegeneration in human patients Using Ribotag technology, from mouse ventral midbrain lysates, we isolated actively translated mRNA species from control and Transferrin receptor 1-null dopaminergic neurons. Two mouse ages were used 3 wks (early neurodegeration) 10 wks (late neurodegeneration)
Project description:Gene silencing in bacteria is mediated by chromatin proteins, of which Escherichia coli H-NS is a paradigmatic example. H-NS forms nucleoprotein filaments with either one or two DNA duplexes. However, the overall structures, arrangements of DNA-binding domains (DBDs), positions of DBD–DNA contacts, and determinants of genomic distribution for these linear and bridged filaments are uncertain. To connect H-NS structures that silence genes in vivo with features elucidated in vitro, we developed a multimodal multiscale analysis that combines a new method for chromatin reconstitution and mapping (Nitro-seq), ChIP-seq, tethered-nuclease mapping of DBD–DNA contacts (TEN-map), ·OH footprinting, molecular dynamics, and bioinformatics. We find that DNA sequence principally governs H-NS-filament location with indistinguishable sequence specificity in bridged or linear forms with or without the H-NS modifiers StpA and Hha and that DBD–DNA contacts vary in orientation and position with ~10-bp average spacing. Our results support a hemi-sequestration model of linear-to-bridged filament switching.