scholarly journals Activation of endogenous retroviruses during brain development causes neuroinflammation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie E Jönsson ◽  
Raquel Garza ◽  
Yogita Sharma ◽  
Rebecca Petri ◽  
Erik Södersten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Development ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Neural Progenitor Cells ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Endogenous Retroviruses ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Potential Trigger ◽  
Mammalian Genomes ◽  
The Brain

AbstractEndogenous retroviruses (ERVs) make up a large fraction of mammalian genomes and are thought to contribute to human disease, including brain disorders. In the brain, aberrant activation of ERVs is a potential trigger for neuroinflammation, but mechanistic insight into this phenomenon remains lacking. Using CRISPR/Cas9-based gene disruption of the epigenetic co-repressor protein Trim28, we found a dynamic H3K9me3-dependent regulation of ERVs in proliferating neural progenitor cells (NPCs), but not in adult neurons. In vivo deletion of Trim28 in cortical NPCs during mouse brain development resulted in viable offspring expressing high levels of ERV expression in excitatory neurons in the adult brain. Neuronal ERV expression was linked to inflammation, including activated microglia, and aggregates of ERV-derived proteins. This study demonstrates that brain development is a critical period for the silencing of ERVs and provides causal in vivo evidence demonstrating that transcriptional activation of ERV in neurons results in neuroinflammation.

scholarly journals In vivo imaging of the kinetics of microglial self-renewal and maturation in the adult visual cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique S. Mendes ◽  
Jason Atlas ◽  
Zachary Brehm ◽  
Antonio Ladron-de-Guevara ◽  
Matthew N. McCall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Self Renewal ◽  
Two Photon ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Mathematical Model ◽  
Kinetics Of ◽  
The Brain

AbstractMicroglia are the resident immune cells in the brain with the capacity to autonomously self-renew. Under basal conditions, microglial self-renewal appears to be slow and stochastic, although microglia have the ability to proliferate very rapidly following depletion or in response to injury. Because microglial self-renewal has largely been studied using static tools, the mechanisms and kinetics by which microglia renew and acquire mature characteristics in the adult brain are not well understood. Using chronic in vivo two-photon imaging in awake mice and PLX5622 (Colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) inhibitor) to deplete microglia, we set out to understand the dynamic self-organization and maturation of microglia following depletion in the visual cortex. We confirm that under basal conditions, cortical microglia show limited turnover and migration. Following depletion, however, microglial repopulation is remarkably rapid and is sustained by the dynamic division of the remaining microglia in a manner that is largely independent of signaling through the P2Y12 receptor. Mathematical modeling of microglial division demonstrates that the observed division rates can account for the rapid repopulation observed in vivo. Additionally, newly-born microglia resemble mature microglia, in terms of their morphology, dynamics and ability to respond to injury, within days of repopulation. Our work suggests that microglia rapidly self-renew locally, without the involvement of a special progenitor cell, and that newly born microglia do not recapitulate a slow developmental maturation but instead quickly take on mature roles in the nervous system.Graphical Abstract(a) Microglial dynamics during control condition. Cartoon depiction of the heterogenous microglia in the visual cortex equally spaced. (b) During the early stages of repopulation, microglia are irregularly spaced and sparse. (c) During the later stages of repopulation, the number of microglia and the spatial distribution return to baseline. (d-f) We then created and ran a mathematical model that sampled the number of microglia, (d) the persistent doublets, (e) the rapid divisions of microglia and (f) the secondary divisions of microglia during the peak of repopulation day 2-day 3. The mathematical model suggested that residual microglia can account for the rapid repopulation we observed in vivo.

scholarly journals Meteorin is a Chemokinetic Factor in Neuroblast Migration and Promotes Stroke-Induced Striatal Neurogenesis

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaolu Wang ◽  
Nuno Andrade ◽  
Malene Torp ◽  
Somsak Wattananit ◽  
Andreas Arvidsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Progenitor Cells ◽  
Apoptotic Cell ◽  
Artery Occlusion ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Neuroblast Migration ◽  
Mature Neurons ◽  
Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Ischemic stroke affecting the adult brain causes increased progenitor proliferation in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and generation of neuroblasts, which migrate into the damaged striatum and differentiate to mature neurons. Meteorin (METRN), a newly discovered neurotrophic factor, is highly expressed in neural progenitor cells and immature neurons during development, suggesting that it may be involved in neurogenesis. Here, we show that METRN promotes migration of neuroblasts from SVZ explants of postnatal rats and stroke-subjected adult rats via a chemokinetic mechanism, and reduces N-methyl-d-asparate-induced apoptotic cell death in SVZ cells in vitro. Stroke induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion upregulates the expression of endogenous METRN in cells with neuronal phenotype in striatum. Recombinant METRN infused into the stroke-damaged brain stimulates cell proliferation in SVZ, promotes neuroblast migration, and increases the number of immature and mature neurons in the ischemic striatum. Our findings identify METRN as a new factor promoting neurogenesis both in vitro and in vivo by multiple mechanisms. Further work will be needed to translate METRN's actions on endogenous neurogenesis into improved recovery after stroke.

scholarly journals Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase 1 Regulates Cajal–Retzius Cell Development and Neural Precursor Cell Adhesion

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan M. Nelson ◽  
J. Damon Hoff ◽  
Mya L. Zeese ◽  
Gabriel Corfas
Keyword(s):  
Cell Adhesion ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Neural Progenitor Cells ◽  
Neurological Diseases ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Neuronal Density ◽  
Damage Repair ◽  
Retzius Cell ◽  
Substrate Proteins

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) is a ubiquitously expressed enzyme that regulates DNA damage repair, cell death, inflammation, and transcription. PARP1 functions by adding ADP-ribose polymers (PAR) to proteins including itself, using NAD+ as a donor. This post-translational modification known as PARylation results in changes in the activity of PARP1 and its substrate proteins and has been linked to the pathogenesis of various neurological diseases. PARP1 KO mice display schizophrenia-like behaviors, have impaired memory formation, and have defects in neuronal proliferation and survival, while mutations in genes that affect PARylation have been associated with intellectual disability, psychosis, neurodegeneration, and stroke in humans. Yet, the roles of PARP1 in brain development have not been extensively studied. We now find that loss of PARP1 leads to defects in brain development and increased neuronal density at birth. We further demonstrate that PARP1 loss increases the expression levels of genes associated with neuronal migration and adhesion in the E15.5 cerebral cortex, including Reln. This correlates with an increased number of Cajal–Retzius (CR) cells in vivo and in cultures of embryonic neural progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from the PARP1 KO cortex. Furthermore, PARP1 loss leads to increased NPC adhesion to N-cadherin, like that induced by experimental exposure to Reelin. Taken together, these results uncover a novel role for PARP1 in brain development, i.e., regulation of CR cells, neuronal density, and cell adhesion.

scholarly journals Functional analysis of enhancer elements regulating the expression of the Drosophila homeodomain transcription factor DRx by gene targeting

Hereditas ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 158 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Klöppel ◽  
Kirsten Hildebrandt ◽  
Dieter Kolb ◽  
Nora Fürst ◽  
Isabelle Bley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Gene Targeting ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Larval Brain ◽  
Endogenous Expression ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Background The Drosophila brain is an ideal model system to study stem cells, here called neuroblasts, and the generation of neural lineages. Many transcriptional activators are involved in formation of the brain during the development of Drosophila melanogaster. The transcription factor Drosophila Retinal homeobox (DRx), a member of the 57B homeobox gene cluster, is also one of these factors for brain development. Results In this study a detailed expression analysis of DRx in different developmental stages was conducted. We show that DRx is expressed in the embryonic brain in the protocerebrum, in the larval brain in the DM and DL lineages, the medulla and the lobula complex and in the central complex of the adult brain. We generated a DRx enhancer trap strain by gene targeting and reintegration of Gal4, which mimics the endogenous expression of DRx. With the help of eight existing enhancer-Gal4 strains and one made by our group, we mapped various enhancers necessary for the expression of DRx during all stages of brain development from the embryo to the adult. We made an analysis of some larger enhancer regions by gene targeting. Deletion of three of these enhancers showing the most prominent expression patterns in the brain resulted in specific temporal and spatial loss of DRx expression in defined brain structures. Conclusion Our data show that DRx is expressed in specific neuroblasts and defined neural lineages and suggest that DRx is another important factor for Drosophila brain development.

scholarly journals The Transcription Regulator Patz1 Is Essential for Neural Stem Cell Maintenance and Proliferation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Mancinelli ◽  
Michela Vitiello ◽  
Maria Donnini ◽  
Francesca Mantile ◽  
Giuseppe Palma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Brain Development ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Transcription Regulator ◽  
Stem Cell Maintenance ◽  
Stem And Progenitor Cells ◽  
Cell Maintenance

Proper regulation of neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons are generated from neural stem and progenitor cells (NS/PCs), is essential for embryonic brain development and adult brain function. The transcription regulator Patz1 is ubiquitously expressed in early mouse embryos and has a key role in embryonic stem cell maintenance. At later stages, the detection of Patz1 expression mainly in the developing brain suggests a specific involvement of Patz1 in neurogenesis. To address this point, we first got insights in Patz1 expression profile in different brain territories at both embryonic and postnatal stages, evidencing a general decreasing trend with respect to time. Then, we performed in vivo and ex vivo analysis of Patz1-knockout mice, focusing on the ventricular and subventricular zone, where we confirmed Patz1 enrichment through the analysis of public RNA-seq datasets. Both embryos and adults showed a significant reduction in the number of Patz1-null NS/PCs, as well as of their self-renewal capability, compared to controls. Consistently, molecular analysis revealed the downregulation of stemness markers in NS/PCs derived from Patz1-null mice. Overall, these data demonstrate the requirement of Patz1 for NS/PC maintenance and proliferation, suggesting new roles for this key transcription factor specifically in brain development and plasticity, with possible implications for neurodegenerative disorders and glial brain tumors.

In vivo simultaneous transcriptional activation of multiple genes in the brain using CRISPR–dCas9-activator transgenic mice

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 440-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haibo Zhou ◽  
Junlai Liu ◽  
Changyang Zhou ◽  
Ni Gao ◽  
Zhiping Rao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transgenic Mice ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Multiple Genes ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals Characterizing the nuclear and cytoplasmic transcriptomes in developing and mature human cortex uncovers new insight into psychiatric disease gene regulation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda J. Price ◽  
Taeyoung Hwang ◽  
Ran Tao ◽  
Emily E. Burke ◽  
Anandita Rajpurohi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Development ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Regulation Of Gene Expression ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Developmental Expression ◽  
Psychiatric Disease ◽  
Nuclear Pore ◽  
Nuclear Retention ◽  
Gene Sets ◽  
The Brain

AbstractTranscriptome compartmentalization by the nuclear membrane provides both stochastic and functional buffering of transcript activity in the cytoplasm and has recently been implicated in neurodegenerative disease processes. Although many mechanisms regulating transcript compartmentalization are also prevalent in brain development, the extent to which subcellular localization differs as the brain matures has yet to be addressed. To characterize the nuclear and cytoplasmic transcriptomes during brain development, we sequenced both RNA fractions from homogenate prenatal and adult human postmortem cortex using PolyA+ and RiboZero library preparation methods. We find that while many genes are differentially expressed by fraction and developmental expression changes are similarly detectable in nuclear and cytoplasmic RNA, the compartmented transcriptomes become more distinct as the brain matures, perhaps reflecting increased utilization of nuclear retention as a regulatory strategy in adult brain. We examined potential mechanisms of this developmental divergence including alternative splicing, RNA editing, nuclear pore composition, RNA binding protein motif enrichment, and RNA secondary structure. Intron retention is associated with greater nuclear abundance in a subset of transcripts, as is enrichment for several splicing factor binding motifs. Finally, we examined disease association with fraction-regulated gene sets and found nuclear-enriched genes were also preferentially enriched in gene sets associated with neurodevelopmental psychiatric diseases. These results suggest that although gene-level expression is globally comparable between fractions, nuclear retention of transcripts may play an underappreciated role in developmental regulation of gene expression in brain, particularly in genes whose dysregulation is related to neuropsychiatric disorders.

scholarly journals Reduction of neuronal activity mediated by blood-vessel regression in the brain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofei Gao ◽  
Jun-Liszt Li ◽  
Xingjun Chen ◽  
Bo Ci ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Vessel ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Leukocyte Adhesion ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Brain Vasculature ◽  
Vessel Regression ◽  
Blood Flow Occlusion ◽  
Human Brains ◽  
The Brain

SummaryThe brain vasculature supplies neurons with glucose and oxygen, but little is known about how vascular plasticity contributes to brain function. Using longitudinal in vivo imaging, we reported that a substantial proportion of blood vessels in the adult brain sporadically occluded and regressed. Their regression proceeded through sequential stages of blood-flow occlusion, endothelial cell collapse, relocation or loss of pericytes, and retraction of glial endfeet. Regressing vessels were found to be widespread in mouse, monkey and human brains. Both brief occlusions of the middle cerebral artery and lipopolysaccharide-mediated inflammation induced an increase of vessel regression. Blockage of leukocyte adhesion to endothelial cells alleviated LPS-induced vessel regression. We further revealed that blood vessel regression caused a reduction of neuronal activity due to a dysfunction in mitochondrial metabolism and glutamate production. Our results elucidate the mechanism of vessel regression and its role in neuronal function in the adult brain.

scholarly journals Altered expression of Armet and Mrlp51 in the oocyte, preimplantation embryo, and brain of mice following oocyte in vitro maturation but postnatal brain development and cognitive function are normal

Reproduction ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Wang ◽  
Liya Wang ◽  
Fang Le ◽  
Qitao Zhan ◽  
Yingming Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Development ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Suppressive Subtractive Hybridization ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Newborn Mice ◽  
Altered Expression ◽  
Developmental Potential ◽  
The Brain

Despite the efforts to recapitulate the follicle environment, oocytes from in vitro maturation (IVM) have poorer developmental potential than those matured in vivo and the effects on the resultant offspring are of concern. The aim of this study was to determine altered gene expression in oocytes following IVM and to evaluate the expression of the arginine rich, mutated in early stage of tumors gene (Armet) and mitochondrial ribosomal protein L51 (Mrpl51) in embryos and brains of fetal/postnatal mice and the brain development of IVM offspring. An IVM mouse model was established while oocytes matured in vivo were used as the controls. Suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) and RT-PCR/western blot were used to analyze the differential expression of genes/proteins between IVM and the control group. HE staining and water maze were used to assess the histological changes in brain tissue and cognition of the offspring. The rates of fertilization, cleavage, and live birth were significantly decreased in IVM group. Thirteen genes were upregulated in IVM oocytes compared with the control, including Armet and Mrpl51. The higher level of Armet in IVM oocytes was retained in brain of newborn mice, which could be related to the upregulation of activating transcription factor 6 (Atf6) and X-box binding protein 1 (Xbp1), while Mrpl51 was expressed normally in brain of postnatal mice. No significant differences were detected in brain weight, neuronal counts, and the cognition in the offspring between the two groups. The present results suggested that IVM could affect the pregnancy outcome and the Armet and Mrpl51 gene/protein expression. The change in Armet expression lasted while the change of Mrpl51 disappeared after birth. However, the brain development of the offspring seemed to be unaffected by IVM.

scholarly journals Progress in iPSC-Based Modeling of Psychiatric Disorders

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 4896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anke Hoffmann ◽  
Michael Ziller ◽  
Dietmar Spengler
Keyword(s):  
Brain Development ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Neural Progenitor Cells ◽  
Cellular Systems ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Functional Impairments ◽  
Vitro Model ◽  
Inhibitory Signaling

Progress in iPSC-based cellular systems provides new insights into human brain development and early neurodevelopmental deviations in psychiatric disorders. Among these, studies on schizophrenia (SCZ) take a prominent role owing to its high heritability and multifarious evidence that it evolves from a genetically induced vulnerability in brain development. Recent iPSC studies on patients with SCZ indicate that functional impairments of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in monolayer culture extend to brain organoids by disrupting neocorticogenesis in an in vitro model. In addition, the formation of hippocampal circuit-like structures in vitro is impaired in patients with SCZ as is the case for glia development. Intriguingly, chimeric-mice experiments show altered oligodendrocyte and astrocyte development in vivo that highlights the importance of cell–cell interactions in the pathogenesis of early-onset SCZ. Likewise, cortical imbalances in excitatory–inhibitory signaling may result from a cell-autonomous defect in cortical interneuron (cIN) development. Overall, these findings indicate that genetic risk in SCZ impacts neocorticogenesis, hippocampal circuit formation, and the development of distinct glial and neuronal subtypes. In light of this remarkable progress, we discuss current limitations and further steps necessary to harvest the full potential of iPSC-based investigations on psychiatric disorders.

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