Project description:Intracranial inoculation of the neuroadapted JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus (JHMV) into susceptible strains of mice results in acute encephalomyelitis and chronic immune-mediated demyelination similar to the human demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS). JHMV infection of transgenic mice in which expression of the neutrophil chemoattractant chemokine CXCL1 is under the control of a tetracycline-inducible promoter active within GFAP-positive cells results in sustained neutrophil infiltration in the central nervous system (CNS) that correlates with an increase in spinal cord demyelination. We used single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) and flow cytometry to characterize molecular and cellular changes within the CNS associated with increased demyelination in transgenic mice compared to control animals. These approaches revealed the presence of activated neutrophils as determined by increased expression of mRNA transcripts associated with increased neutrophil effector functions, such as CD63, MMP9, S100a8, S100a9, and ASPRV1, as well as by altered neutrophil morphology and protein expression. Collectively, these findings reveal insight into changes in the profile of neutrophils associated with increased white matter damage in mice persistently infected with a neurotropic coronavirus.
Project description:Intracranial inoculation of the neuroadapted JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus (JHMV) into susceptible strains of mice results in acute encephalomyelitis followed by a cimmune-mediated demyelination similar to the human demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS). JHMV infection of transgenic mice in which expression of the neutrophil chemoattractant chemokine CXCL1 is under the control of a tetracycline-inducible promoter active within GFAP-positive cells results in sustained neutrophil infiltration in the central nervous system (CNS) that correlates with an increase in spinal cord demyelination. We used single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) and flow cytometry to characterize molecular and cellular changes within the CNS associated with increased demyelination in transgenic mice compared to control animals. These approaches revealed the presence of activated neutrophils as determined by expression of mRNA transcripts associated with neutrophil effector functions, including CD63, MMP9, S100a8, S100a9, and ASPRV1, as well as altered neutrophil morphology and protein expression. Collectively, these findings reveal insight into changes in the profile of neutrophils associated with increased white matter damage in mice persistently infected with a neurotropic coronavirus.
Project description:Adoptive transfer of T cells from wild-type (WT) mice to IL-17A-/- mice or T cells from IL-17A-/- mice to Rag-/- mice induced CNS demyelination in infected mice. Adoptive T cell experiments suggest that both T cells and non-T cells expressing IL-17A contribute to HSV-IL-2-induced CNS demyelination with no difference in the severity of demyelination between the two groups of IL-17A producing cells. IL-6, IL-10, or TGFβ did not contribute to CNS demyelination in infected mice. Transcriptome analysis between IL-17A-/- brain and spinal cord of infected mice with and without T cell transfer from WT mice revealed that “neuron projection extension involved in neuron projection guidance” and “ensheathment of neurons” pathways were associated with CNS demyelination. Collectively, the results indicate the importance of IL-17A in CNS demyelination and the possible involvement of more than three of IL-17 receptors in CNS demyelination
Project description:Background: Cystatin F is a secreted lysosomal cysteine protease inhibitor that has been implicated in affecting the severity of demyelination and enhancing remyelination in pre-clinical models of immune-mediated demyelination. How cystatin F impacts neurologic disease severity following viral infection of the central nervous system (CNS) has not been well characterized and was the focus of this study. We used cystatin F null-mutant mice (Cst7-/-) with a well-established model of murine coronavirus-induced neurologic disease to evaluate the contributions of cystatin F in host defense, demyelination and remyelination. Methods: Wildtype controls and Cst7-/- mice were intracranially (i.c.) infected with a sublethal dose of the neurotropic JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus (JHMV), with disease progression and survival monitored daily. Immune cell infiltration into the brain and spinal cord was determined by flow cytometry. Spinal cord demyelination was determined by luxol fast blue (LFB) and Hematoxylin/Eosin (H&E) staining and remyelination evaluated by electron microscopy (EM) and calculation of g-ratios. Immune cell infiltration into the CNS and microglia activation were determined by flow cytometry and 10X genomics chromium 3’ single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq). Results: JHMV-infected Cst7-/- mice were able to control viral replication within the CNS, indicating that cystatin F is not essential for an effective Th1 anti-viral immune response. Infiltration of T cells and monocytes/macrophages into the spinal cords of JHMV-infected Cst7-/- mice was increased compared to infected controls, and this correlated with amplified demyelination and impaired remyelination. Single-cell RNA-seq of CD45+ cells enriched from spinal cords of infected Cst7-/- and control mice at day 21 post-infection (p.i.) revealed enhanced expression of transcripts encoding macrophage chemoattractant, Ccl2, and T cell chemoattractants, Cxcl9 and Cxcl10, combined with elevated expression of interferon-g (Ifng) transcripts and activation markers in CD8+ T cells from Cst7-/- mice compared to controls. Conclusions: Cystatin F is not required for immune-mediated control of JHMV replication within the CNS. However, JHMV-infected Cst7-/- mice exhibited more severe clinical disease associated with increased demyelination and impaired remyelination. The increase in disease severity was associated with elevated expression of macrophage and T cell chemoattractant chemokines, concurrent with increased neuroinflammation. These findings support the theory that one mechanism by which cystatin F affects chronic disease in mice persistently infected with JHMV is through regulating expression of pro-inflammatory molecules that impact neuroinflammation and neurologic disease.
Project description:Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, and demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Ursolic acid (UA) can be used in the MS treatment with anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective activities. However, UA is insoluble in water, which may affect its medication effectiveness. In this study, we evaluated the pharmacological effects of UAOS-Na, a water-soluble UA derivative, on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse, explored its underlying mechanism, and verified the mechanism by in vitro and in vivo experiments. As we expected, UAOS-Na (30 mg/kg/d) delayed the onset time of EAE from 11.78 days post immunization (dpi) to 14.33 dpi, reduced the incidence from 90.0% to 42.9%, and was more effective than UA. UAOS-Na (60 mg/kg/d) significantly decreased the serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-17A, TNF-α and IL-6, reduced the mononuclear cell infiltration of spinal cord, and inhibited the overexpression of key transcription factors T-bet and ROR-γt of EAE mouse spinal cord and spleen. In addition, UAOS-Na attenuated demyelination and astrogliosis in the CNS of EAE and Cuprizone-induced mice. Mechanically, proteomics showed that 217 differential expression proteins (DEPs) were enriched and 215 were upregulated in EAE mice. After UAOS-Na treatment, 52 DEPs were enriched and 49 were downregulated, and these DEPs were markedly enriched in inositol phosphate metabolism, calcium, sphingolipid, cAMP, and antigen processing and presentation (APP) signaling pathways. Among them, there were few studies on APP signaling pathway related with MS. Therefore, we further investigated the effect of UAOS-Na on APP signaling pathway and found that UAOS-Na downregulated the protein levels of Tapbp and H2-T23 in MHC-I antigen presentation pathway and decreased the proliferation of splenic CD8 T cells, thereby inhibiting the CNS infiltration of CD8 T cells. Together, our findings demonstrated that UAOS-Na have both direct anti-demyelination and anti-inflammation effects. And it could reduce the inflammation of MS by downregulating the expression of Tapbp and H2-T23 in the MHC-I antigen presentation pathway.
Project description:Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by demyelination and axonal loss. Demyelinating lesions are associated with infiltrating T lymphocytes, bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDM), and activated resident microglia. Tissue damage is thought to be mediated by T cell produced cytokines and chemokines, which activate microglia and/or BMDM to both strip myelin and produce toxic factors, ultimately damaging axons and promoting disability. However, the relative contributions of BMDM and microglia to demyelinating pathology are unclear, as their identification in MS tissue is difficult due to similar morphology and indistinguishable surface markers when activated. The CD4 T cell-induced autoimmune murine model of MS, experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE), in which BMDM are essential for demyelination, has revealed pathogenic and repair-promoting phenotypes associated with BMDM and microglia, respectively. Using a murine model of demyelination induced by a gliatropic coronavirus, in which BMDM are redundant for demyelination, we herein characterize gene expression profiles of BMDM versus microglia associated with demyelination. While gene expression in CNS infiltrating BMDM was upregulated early following infection and subsequently sustained, microglia expressed a more dynamic gene profile with extensive mRNA upregulation coinciding with peak demyelination after viral control. This delayed microglia response comprised a highly pro-inflammatory and phagocytic profile. Furthermore, while BMDM exhibited a mixed phenotype of M1 and M2 markers, microglia repressed the vast majority of M2-markers. Overall, these data support a pro-inflammatory and pathogenic role of microglia temporally remote from viral control, whereas BMDM retained their gene expression profile independent of the changing environment. As demyelination is caused by multifactorial insults, our results highlight the plasticity of microglia in responding to distinct inflammatory settings, which may be relevant for MS pathogenesis.
Project description:The molecular basis of CNS myelin regeneration (remyelination) is poorly understood. Here we generate a comprehensive transcriptional profile of the separate stages of spontaneous remyelination following focal demyelination in the rat CNS. White matter tracts in the rat caudal cerebellar peduncles were focally demyelinated using 0.1% ethidium bromide, the lesions were isolated using laser capture microdissection at 5, 14 and 28 days postlesion, followed by RNA extraction and Illumina beadarray analysis of differentially expressed transcripts. We found transcripts encoding retinoid acid receptor RXR-gamma is highly differentially expressed during remyelination, and that oligodendrocyte lineage cells express RXR-gamma in rat tissues undergoing remyelination and in active and remyelinated MS lesions. RXR-gamma knockdown by RNA interference or RXR-specific antagonists severely inhibit oligodendrocyte differentiation in culture. In RXR-gamma deficient mice, adult oligodendrocyte precursor cells efficiently repopulate lesions following demyelination, but display delayed differentiation into mature oligodendrocytes. Administration of the RXR agonist 9-cis-retinoic acid to demyelinated cerebellar slice cultures and to aged rats following demyelination results in more remyelinated axons. RXR-gamma is therefore a positive regulator of endogenous oligodendrocyte precursor cell differentiation and remyelination, and may be a pharmacological target for CNS regenerative therapy. 9 Samples analysed, 3 different time points each with 3 biological replicates.
Project description:Demyelination is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis, leukoencephalopathies, cerebral vasculopathies and several neurodegenerative diseases. The cuprizone mouse model is widely used to simulate demyelination occurring in these diseases. Here, we present a high-resolution snRNA-seq analysis of gene expression changes across all brain cells in this model. We define signatures of prototypic responses to demyelination and remyelination for each cell type, including anti-stress, anti-oxidant-, metabolic-, hypoxia-, IFN-, and IL-33-driven responses, and validate them at the protein level and in IL-33R-deficient mice. We identify related transcription regulators underpinning these pathways, including STAT3, NF-κB, OLIG1 and MAFB. Furthermore, snRNA- seq data provide novel insights into how various brain cell types connect and interact, defining complex circuitries previously unknown to impact demyelination and remyelination. As an explicative example, perturbation of microglia caused by TREM2 deficiency impacts the oligodendrocyte responses to demyelination. Altogether, this study provides a rich resource for future studies investigating mechanisms underlying demyelination and remyelination.