Project description:Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neurodegenerative disease which exhibits selective motor neuron death caused by a ubiquitous deficiency of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. It remains unclear how the ubiquitous reduction of SMN lead to death in selective motor neuron pools. Medial motor neuron columns (MMC) are vulnerable, whereas lateral motor columns (LMC) are resistant to motor neuron death in SMA. Here we performed microarray and pathway analysis comparing cholera toxin subunit B (CTb) labeled vulnerable MMC and resistant LMC of pre-symptomatic SMA with corresponding motor neuron columns of control mice to identify pathways involved in selective motor neuron death in SMA. WT is FVB. SMN is Delta7 (SMNΔ7;SMN2;Smn-) on a FVB background.
Project description:Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disease caused by mutations in the survival of motor neuron (SMN) gene. Although the primary manifestation of SMA is degeneration of motor neurons in a dying-back manner, deficient SMN intrinsic to motor neurons does not cause severe motor neuron loss, as is the case in SMA mouse models. Thus, the involvement of non-neuronal cells in the pathogenesis of SMA has been suggested. Here, we report that a novel subset of fibro-adipogenic progenitors expressing Dpp4 (Dpp4+ FAPs) is required for the survival of motor neurons, in which BRCA1-associating protein 1 (Bap1) is crucial for the stabilization of SMN by preventing its ubiquitination-dependent degradation. Inactivation of Bap1 in FAPs decreased SMN levels and accompanied degeneration of the neuromuscular junction, leading to dying-back loss of motor neurons and muscle atrophy, reminiscent of SMA pathogenesis. Overexpression of ubiquitination-resistant SMN variant, SMNK186R, in Bap1-null FAPs completely prevented neuromuscular degenerations. In addition, transplantation of Dpp4+ FAPs, but not Dpp4- FAPs, completely rescued neuromuscular defects in the mutant mice. Our data revealed that Bap1-mediated stabilization of SMN in Dpp4+ FAPs is crucial for the survival of motor neurons and provided a new therapeutic approach to treat SMA.
Project description:Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is typically characterized as a motor neuron disease, but extra-neuronal phenotypes are present in almost every organ in severely affected patients and animal models. Extra-neuronal phenotypes were previously underappreciated as patients with severe SMA phenotypes usually died in infancy; however, with current treatments for motor neurons which increase patient lifespan, impaired function of peripheral organs may develop into significant future comorbidities and lead to new treatment-modified phenotypes. Fatty liver is seen in animal models of SMA, but generalizability to patients and whether this is due to hepatocyte-intrinsic Survival Motor Neuron (SMN) protein deficiency and/or subsequent to skeletal muscle denervation is unknown. If liver pathology in SMA is SMN-dependent and hepatocyte-intrinsic, this provides proof of concept that SMN repleting therapies must target extra-neuronal tissues as well as motor neurons for optimal patient outcome. Here we show that fatty liver is present in SMA and that SMA patient-specific iHeps are susceptible to steatosis. Using proteomics, functional studies and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, we confirm that fatty liver in SMA is a primary SMN-dependent hepatocyte-intrinsic liver defect associated with mitochondrial and other hepatic metabolism dysfunctions. These pathologies require monitoring and indicate the need for systematic clinical surveillance and additional and/or combinatorial therapies to ensure continued SMA patient health.
Project description:Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is well-known to be caused by mutations in the gene Survival of Motor Neuron 1 (SMN1). Because this gene is ubiquitously expressed, it remains poorly understood why motor neurons (MNs) are one of the most affected cell types. To begin to address this question, we carried out RNA-sequencing studies using fixed, antibody-labeled and purified MNs produced from control and SMA patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We found SMA-specific changes in MNs, including hyper-activation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway and enhanced apoptosis. Functional studies demonstrated that inhibition of ER stress improves overall MN health and survival in vitro even in MNs with low SMN levels. In SMA mice, we show that systemic delivery of an ER stress inhibitor that crosses the blood-brain-barrier led to preservation of MNs in the spinal cord and prolonged survival of these mice. Therefore, our study implies that selective activation of ER stress underlies MN death in SMA. Moreover, the approach we have taken would be broadly applicable to studying disease-prone human cells in heterogeneous cultures. total RNA collected from ES cell and patient ES cell derived spinal motor neurons
Project description:Proximal spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an early onset, autosomal recessive motor neuron disease caused by loss of or mutation in SMN1 (survival motor neuron 1). Despite understanding the genetic basis underlying this disease, it is still not known why motor neurons (MNs) are selectively affected by the loss of the ubiquitously expressed SMN protein. Using a mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) model for severe SMA, the RNA transcript profiles (transcriptomes) between control and severe SMA (SMN2+/+;mSmn-/-) mESC-derived MNs were compared in this study using massively parallel RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). The MN differentiation efficiencies between control and severe SMA mESCs were similar. RNA-Seq analysis identified 3094 upregulated and 6964 downregulated transcripts in SMA mESC-derived MNs when compared against control cells. Pathway and network analysis of the differentially expressed RNA transcripts showed that pluripotency and cell proliferation transcripts were significantly increased in SMA MNs while transcripts related to neuronal development and activity were reduced. The differential expression of selected transcripts such as Crabp1, Crabp2 and Nkx2.2 was validated in a second mESC model for SMA as well as in the spinal cords of low copy SMN2 severe SMA mice. Furthermore, the levels of these selected transcripts were restored in high copy SMN2 rescue mouse spinal cords when compared against low copy SMN2 severe SMA mice. These findings suggest that SMN deficiency affects processes critical for normal development and maintenance of MNs. RNA profiles were generated from FACS-purified control and SMA mESC-derived motor neurons (n=3/genotype) by deep sequencing using Illumina HighSeq 2500
Project description:Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disorder caused by mutations of the survival of motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. In the pathogenesis of SMA, pathological changes of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) precede the motor neuronal loss. Therefore, it is critical to evaluate the NMJ formed by SMA patientsM-bM-^@M-^Y motor neurons (MNs), and to identify drugs that can restore the normal condition. We generated NMJ-like structures using motor neurons (MNs) derived from SMA patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and found that the clustering of the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) is significantly impaired. Valproic acid and antisense oligonucleotide treatment ameliorated the AChR clustering defects, leading to an increase in the level of full-length SMN transcripts. Thus, the current in vitro model of AChR clustering using SMA patient-derived iPSCs is useful to dissect the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of SMA, and to evaluate the efficacy of new therapeutic approaches.M-bM-^@M-^C To compare the gene expression pattern between control and patient derived iPSCs
Project description:Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disorder caused by mutations of the survival of motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. In the pathogenesis of SMA, pathological changes of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) precede the motor neuronal loss. Therefore, it is critical to evaluate the NMJ formed by SMA patientsM-bM-^@M-^Y motor neurons (MNs), and to identify drugs that can restore the normal condition. We generated NMJ-like structures using motor neurons (MNs) derived from SMA patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and found that the clustering of the acetylcholine receptor (AChR) is significantly impaired. Valproic acid and antisense oligonucleotide treatment ameliorated the AChR clustering defects, leading to an increase in the level of full-length SMN transcripts. Thus, the current in vitro model of AChR clustering using SMA patient-derived iPSCs is useful to dissect the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of SMA, and to evaluate the efficacy of new therapeutic approaches.M-bM-^@M-^C to evaluate the effects of VPA on the expression profiles of the MNs