Project description:Down syndrome (DS), a genetic condition leading to intellectual disability, is characterized by triplication of human chromosome 21. Neuropathological hallmarks of DS include abnormal central nervous system development that manifests during gestation and extends throughout life. As a result, newborns and adults with DS exhibit cognitive and motor deficits and fail to meet typical developmental and lack independent life skills. As of summer 2020, 13 pharmacological interventions have been tested with little evidence of success in improving cognition in humans with DS. Potential reasons for this failure may be related to the fact that these therapeutic interventions were carried out too late, and not during the prenatal and early postnatal critical periods for brain development. To date, no prenatal treatment studies have been reported in pregnant women carrying fetuses with T21. A limited number of prenatal treatment studies using fluoxetine, maternal choline supplementation and the neuroprotective peptides NAP and SAL have been described using the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS. In our previous studies, we integrated gene expression data from nine different cellular and tissue sources in both humans with DS and mouse models to identify common dysregulated signaling pathways and cellular processes. We demonstrated that pathway abnormalities associated with DS were the result of gene-dosage specific effects and the consequence of a global stress response with activation of compensatory mechanisms. To counteract these genome-wide abnormalities, we used the Connectivity Map database (www.broadinstitute.org/CMap) to discover molecules that could be repurposed to rescue the transcriptome and promote more typical brain development in individuals with DS. One of the molecules that had the most consistent negative scores (hence, negating the dysregulated gene expression signatures in DS) across tissues and species was apigenin (4’, 5, 7-trihydroxyflavone). Here, we hypothesized that prenatal treatment with apigenin would partly rescue the global gene expression dysregulation to improve neurogenesis and postnatal cognitive outcomes in DS. In the current study, we used a human in vitro cell model (amniocytes derived from live fetuses with Trisomy 21 and euploid fetuses) and the Ts1Cje mouse model of DS to evaluate the effects of apigenin as a potential therpay for prenatal brain defects and postnatal cognitive outcome in DS. We demonstrated that apigenin is a safe treatment that can rescue oxidative stress and total antioxidant capacity imbalance in human amniocytes from fetuses with T21. It also improved several postnatal behavioral deficits in the Ts1Cje mouse model. We also showed that apigenin achieves its therapeutic action by triggering the expression of neurogenic genes, suppressing inflammation via inhibiting NFκB and by reducing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, while promoting the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, angiogenic and neurotrophic factors.

Project description:Down syndrome (DS), a genetic condition leading to intellectual disability, is characterized by triplication of human chromosome 21. Neuropathological hallmarks of DS include abnormal central nervous system development that manifests during gestation and extends throughout life. As a result, newborns and adults with DS exhibit cognitive and motor deficits and fail to meet typical developmental and lack independent life skills. In the last two decades, a number of preclinical treatment studies showed beneficial effects in the Ts65Dn mouse model. As of summer 2020, 13 pharmacological interventions have been tested with little evidence of success in humans with DS. Potential reasons for this failure may be related to the fact that these therapeutic interventions were carried out too late, and not during the prenatal and early postnatal critical periods for brain development. To date, no prenatal treatment studies have been reported in pregnant women carrying fetuses with T21. A limited number of prenatal treatment studies using fluoxetine, maternal choline supplementation and the neuroprotective peptides NAP and SAL have been described using the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS. In our previous studies, we integrated gene expression data from nine different cellular and tissue sources in both humans with DS and mouse models to identify common dysregulated signaling pathways and cellular processes. We demonstrated that pathway abnormalities associated with DS were the result of gene-dosage specific effects and the consequence of a global stress response with activation of compensatory mechanisms. To counteract these genome-wide abnormalities, we used the Connectivity Map database (www.broadinstitute.org/CMap) to discover molecules that could be repurposed to rescue the transcriptome and promote more typical brain development in individuals with DS. One of the molecules that had the most consistent negative scores (hence, negating the dysregulated gene expression signatures in DS) across tissues and species was apigenin (4’, 5, 7-trihydroxyflavone). Here, we hypothesized that prenatal treatment with apigenin would partly rescue the global gene expression dysregulation to improve neurogenesis and postnatal cognitive outcomes in DS. In the current study, we used a human in vitro cell model (amniocytes derived from live fetuses with Trisomy 21 and euploid fetuses) and the Ts1Cje mouse model of DS to evaluate the effects of apigenin as a potential therpay for prenatal brain defects and postnatal cognitive outcome in DS. We demonstrated that apigenin is a safe treatment that can rescue oxidative stress and total antioxidant capacity imbalance in human amniocytes from fetuses with T21. It also improved several postnatal behavioral deficits in the Ts1Cje mouse model. We also showed that apigenin achieves its therapeutic action by triggering the expression of neurogenic genes, suppressing inflammation via inhibiting NFκB and by reducing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, while promoting the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, angiogenic and neurotrophic factors.

Project description:Background: Among full autosomal trisomies, only trisomies of chromosome 21 (Down syndrome, DS), 18 (Edward syndrome, ES) and 13 (Patau syndrome, PS) are compatible with postnatal survival. But the mechanisms, how a supernumerary chromosome disrupts the normal development and causes specific phenotypes, are still not fully explained. As an alternative to gene dosage effects due to the trisomic chromosome, a genome-wide transcriptional dysregulation has been postulated. The aim of this study was to define the transcriptional changes in trisomy 13, 18, and 21 during early fetal development in order to define whether (1) overexpression of genes of the trisomic chromosome contributes solely to the phenotype, if (2) all genes of the trisomic chromosome are upregulated similarly and whether the ratio of gene expression is in agreement with the gene dosis, (3) whether the different trisomies behave similarly in the characteristics of transcriptional dysregulation, and (4) whether transcriptional pattern can be potentially used in prenatal diagnosis. Methods: Using oligonucleotide microarrays (Affymetrix, U133 Plus 2.0), we analyzed whole genome expression profiles representing 54.000 probe sets in cultured amniocytes (AC) and chorion villus cells (CV) from pregnancies with a normal karyotype and with trisomies of human chromosomes 21, 18 and 13. Findings: We observed a low to moderate up-regulation for a subset of genes of the trisomic chromosomes. Transcriptional level of approximately 12-13 % of the supernumerary chromosome appeared similar to the respective chromosome pair in normal karyotypes. Expression values as well as the expression patterns of genes from the trisomic chromosome can distinguish the respective trisomic samples from euploid controls. A subset of chromosome 21-genes including the DSCR1-gene involved in fetal heart development was consistently up-regulated in different tissues (AC, CV) of trisomy 21 fetuses whereas only minor changes were found for genes of all other chromosomes. In contrast, in trisomy 13 and trisomy 18 vigorous downstream transcriptional changes were found. Interpretation: Global transcriptome analysis for autosomal trisomies 13, 18, and 21 supported a combination of the two major hypotheses. As several transcriptional pathways are altered, complex regulatory mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of autosomal trisomies. A genome-wide transcriptional dysregulation was predominantly observed in trisomies 13 and 18, whereas a more to chromosome 21 restricted expression alteration was found in trisomy 21. Experiment Overall Design: The study included the following samples: Three samples with normal chromosomes in Amniocytes (AC) and chorion villus cells (CV) each, three samples with trisomy 13 in AC, three samples with trisomy 18 in CV, and three samples with trisomy 21 in AC and CV each.

Dataset Information

Apigenin as a Candidate Prenatal Treatment for Trisomy 21: Effects in Human Amniocytes and the Ts1Cje Mouse Model

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