Project description:Huntington’s disease (HD) is caused by expanded CAG repeats in the Huntingtin gene (HTT) that results in expression of mutant HTT proteins (mHTT) with extended polyglutamine tracts in diverse cells of the body, including striatal neurons and astrocytes. The relative contributions of neurons and astrocytes to disease pathogenesis are unknown for HD and other neurodegenerative diseases. This is a critical issue to address since it has been proposed that neuronal loss in HD and other major neurodegenerative diseases is downstream of astrocytic dysfunction that drives neuronal death. Moreover, astrocyte-to-neuron conversion is considered a promising approach in HD and other neurodegenerative diseases with little reported detriment with regards to normal astrocytic physiological functions, which are varied and extensive in health and disease. Thus, astrocytes are considered both causative and also largely replaceable in neurodegeneration, and their basic contributions to disease pathophysiology relative to neurons remain undefined in vivo. We used genetically encoded and cell-specific zinc finger protein (ZFP) transcriptional repressors to lower mHTT and molecularly dissected neuronal and astrocytic influences on HD pathophysiology at molecular, cellular, and behavioral levels. We found that the major disease drivers were in fact neurons, with astrocytes displaying lesser loss of essential functions such as cholesterol metabolism that were downstream of greater neuronal dysfunction, which encompassed neuromodulation, synaptic, and intracellular signaling. We thus dissected the cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous mechanistic and causal contributions of both neurons and astrocytes to a complex neurodegenerative disease in vivo with wider implications for rescue and repair strategies.
Project description:We performed cell-type specific RNAseq in astrocytes and neurons in the presence or absence of ZFP transcriptional repressors in the striatum of R6/2 mouse model of HD.
Project description:Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a fatal, neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion, resulting in a mutant huntingtin protein. While it is now clear that astrocytes are affected by HD and significantly contribute to neuronal dysfunction and pathogenesis, the alterations in the transcriptional and epigenetic profiles in HD astrocytes have yet to be characterized. Here, we examined global transcription and chromatin accessibility dynamics during in vitro astrocyte differentiation in a transgenic non-human primate model of HD. We found global changed in accessibility and transcription across different stages of HD pluripotent stem cell differentiation, with distinct trends first observed in neural progenitor cells (NPCs), once cells have committed to a neural lineage. Transcription of p53 signaling and cell cycle pathway genes was highly impacted during differentiation, with depletion in HD NPCs and upregulation in HD astrocytes. E2F target genes also displayed this inverse expression pattern, and strong associations between E2F target gene expression and accessibility at nearby putative enhancers were observed. The results suggest that chromatin accessibility and transcription are altered throughout in vitro HD astrocyte differentiation and provide evidence that E2F dysregulation contributes to aberrant cell cycle reentry and apoptosis throughout the progression from NPCs to astrocytes.
Project description:We used cell-specific zinc finger protein (ZFP) transcriptional repressors to lower mHTT and experimentally evaluated the consequences of neuronal and astrocytic mHTT lowering on HD pathophysiology using cell-type specific RNA-seq
Project description:We tested a group of five neuronally-secreted ligands and validated their synergistic contributions to astrocyte development within both human cortical organoids and primary fetal tissue.
Project description:Astrocytes and neurons coexist and interact in the CNS1,2. Given that many signaling and pathological events are protein-driven, identifying astrocyte and neuron proteomes is essential for elucidating the complex protein networks that dictate their respective contributions to physiology and disease. Here, we used cell- and subcompartment-specific proximity-dependent biotinylation3 to study the proteomes of striatal astrocytes and medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in vivo. We evaluated cytosolic and plasma membrane compartments for astrocytes and MSNs, revealing how these cells differ at the protein level and in their core signaling machinery. We assessed subcellular compartments of astrocytes including end feet and processes to reveal the molecular basis of essential astrocyte signaling and homeostatic functions. Unexpectedly, SAPAP3 proteins (gene; Dlgap3) associated with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and repetitive behaviors4-11 were detected at equivalent levels in striatal astrocyte and MSN plasma membrane and cytosolic compartments. Astrocytic expression was confirmed by RNA-seq, fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, genetic rescue experiments combined with behavioral analyses and proteomics in a mouse model4 of OCD lacking SAPAP3 revealed contributions of SAPAP3 in astrocytes and MSNs to repetitive and anxiety-related OCD behaviors. Our data define how astrocytes and neurons differ at the protein level and in their major signaling pathways, how astrocyte proteomes vary between physiological subcompartments, and how specific astrocyte and neuronal molecular mechanisms contribute to a psychiatric disease. Targeting both astrocytes and neurons together is likely to be therapeutically effective in complex CNS disorders.
Project description:Astrocytes tile the central nervous system, but their functions in neural microcircuits in vivo and their roles in mammalian behavior remain incompletely defined. We used 2-photon laser scanning microscopy (2PLSM), electrophysiology, MINIscopes, RNA-seq and a new genetic approach to characterize the effects of reduced striatal astrocyte Ca2+ signaling in vivo. In wild type mice, reducing striatal astrocyte Ca2+-dependent signaling increased repetitive self-grooming behaviors by altering medium spiny neuron (MSN) activity. The mechanism involved astrocyte-mediated neuromodulation mediated by ambient GABA and was corrected by blocking astrocyte GABA transporter 3 (GAT-3). Furthermore, in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease, dysregulation of GABA and astrocyte Ca2+ signaling accompanied excessive self-grooming, which was relieved by blocking GAT-3. Assessments with RNA-seq revealed astrocyte genes and pathways regulated by Ca2+ signaling in a cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous manner, including Rab11a, a regulator of GAT-3 functional expression. Thus, striatal astrocytes contribute to neuromodulation controlling obsessive-compulsive-like behavior in mice.
Project description:Astrocytes tile the central nervous system, but their functions in neural microcircuits in vivo and their roles in mammalian behavior remain incompletely defined. We used 2-photon laser scanning microscopy (2PLSM), electrophysiology, MINIscopes, RNA-seq and a new genetic approach to characterize the effects of reduced striatal astrocyte Ca2+ signaling in vivo. In wild type mice, reducing striatal astrocyte Ca2+-dependent signaling increased repetitive self-grooming behaviors by altering medium spiny neuron (MSN) activity. The mechanism involved astrocyte-mediated neuromodulation mediated by ambient GABA and was corrected by blocking astrocyte GABA transporter 3 (GAT-3). Furthermore, in a mouse model of Huntington’s disease, dysregulation of GABA and astrocyte Ca2+ signaling accompanied excessive self-grooming, which was relieved by blocking GAT-3. Assessments with RNA-seq revealed astrocyte genes and pathways regulated by Ca2+ signaling in a cell autonomous and non-cell autonomous manner, including Rab11a, a regulator of GAT-3 functional expression. Thus, striatal astrocytes contribute to neuromodulation controlling obsessive-compulsive-like behavior in mice.