scholarly journals Deletion of Kif5c Does Not Alter Prion Disease Tempo or Spread in Mouse Brain

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1391
Author(s):  
Brent Race ◽  
Katie Williams ◽  
Chase Baune ◽  
James F. Striebel ◽  
Clayton W. Winkler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prion Disease ◽  
Molecular Motors ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Mouse Strains ◽  
Survival Times ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Transport Vesicles ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Knock Out Mice ◽  
Scrapie Strains

In prion diseases, the spread of infectious prions (PrPSc) is thought to occur within nerves and across synapses of the central nervous system (CNS). However, the mechanisms by which PrPSc moves within axons and across nerve synapses remain undetermined. Molecular motors, including kinesins and dyneins, transport many types of intracellular cargo. Kinesin-1C (KIF5C) has been shown to transport vesicles carrying the normal prion protein (PrPC) within axons, but whether KIF5C is involved in PrPSc axonal transport is unknown. The current study tested whether stereotactic inoculation in the striatum of KIF5C knock-out mice (Kif5c−/−) with 0.5 µL volumes of mouse-adapted scrapie strains 22 L or ME7 would result in an altered rate of prion spreading and/or disease timing. Groups of mice injected with each strain were euthanized at either pre-clinical time points or following the development of prion disease. Immunohistochemistry for PrP was performed on brain sections and PrPSc distribution and tempo of spread were compared between mouse strains. In these experiments, no differences in PrPSc spread, distribution or survival times were observed between C57BL/6 and Kif5c−/− mice.

scholarly journals Reduced SOD2 expression does not influence prion disease course or pathology in mice

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259597
Author(s):  
Simote T. Foliaki ◽  
Brent Race ◽  
Katie Williams ◽  
Chase Baune ◽  
Bradley R. Groveman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prion Disease ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathies ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Spongiform Change ◽  
Knock Out Mice

Prion diseases are progressive, neurodegenerative diseases affecting humans and animals. Also known as the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, for the hallmark spongiform change seen in the brain, these diseases manifest increased oxidative damage early in disease and changes in antioxidant enzymes in terminal brain tissue. Superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) is an antioxidant enzyme that is critical for life. SOD2 knock-out mice can only be kept alive for several weeks post-birth and only with antioxidant therapy. However, this results in the development of a spongiform encephalopathy. Consequently, we hypothesized that reduced levels of SOD2 may accelerate prion disease progression and play a critical role in the formation of spongiform change. Using SOD2 heterozygous knock-out and litter mate wild-type controls, we examined neuronal long-term potentiation, disease duration, pathology, and degree of spongiform change in mice infected with three strains of mouse adapted scrapie. No influence of the reduced SOD2 expression was observed in any parameter measured for any strain. We conclude that changes relating to SOD2 during prion disease are most likely secondary to the disease processes causing toxicity and do not influence the development of spongiform pathology.

scholarly journals Loss of microglial SIRPα promotes synaptic pruning in preclinical models of neurodegeneration

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Ding ◽  
Jin Wang ◽  
Miaoxin Huang ◽  
Zhangpeng Chen ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Classical Complement Pathway ◽  
Synaptic Remodeling ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
System Activation ◽  
Knock Out Mice ◽  
Synaptic Pruning

AbstractMicroglia play a key role in regulating synaptic remodeling in the central nervous system. Activation of classical complement pathway promotes microglia-mediated synaptic pruning during development and disease. CD47 protects synapses from excessive pruning during development, implicating microglial SIRPα, a CD47 receptor, in synaptic remodeling. However, the role of microglial SIRPα in synaptic pruning in disease remains unclear. Here, using conditional knock-out mice, we show that microglia-specific deletion of SIRPα results in decreased synaptic density. In human tissue, we observe that microglial SIRPα expression declines alongside the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. To investigate the role of SIRPα in neurodegeneration, we modulate the expression of microglial SIRPα in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. Loss of microglial SIRPα results in increased synaptic loss mediated by microglia engulfment and enhanced cognitive impairment. Together, these results suggest that microglial SIRPα regulates synaptic pruning in neurodegeneration.

The neuroepidemiology of human prion disease

2020 ◽  
pp. 367-378
Author(s):  
Patrick JM Urwin ◽  
Anna M Molesworth
Keyword(s):  
Prion Protein ◽  
Prion Disease ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Prion Protein Gene ◽  
Human Prion Disease ◽  
Disease States ◽  
Jakob Disease ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Sporadic Disease

Human prion diseases comprise a number of rare and fatal neurodegenerative conditions that result from the accumulation in the central nervous system of an abnormal form of a naturally occurring protein, called the prion protein. The diseases occur in genetic, sporadic, and acquired forms: genetic disease is associated with mutations in the prion protein gene (PRNP); sporadic disease is thought to result from a spontaneous protein misfolding event; acquired disease results from transmission of infection from an animal or another human. The potential transmissibility of the prion in any of these forms, either in disease states or during the incubation period, has implications for public health. Here we focus on Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), including variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), although we will also discuss other forms of human prion disease.

The Neuroimmune Interface in Prion Diseases

Physiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 250-255
Author(s):  
Michael A. Klein ◽  
Adriano Aguzzi
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Prion Disease ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorders ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
The Central Nervous System

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders of animals and humans. Here we address the role of the immune system in the spread of prions from peripheral sites to the central nervous system and its potential relevance to iatrogenic prion disease.

Factor IX: Insights from knock-out and genetically engineered mice

2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (10) ◽  
pp. 563-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Monahan
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Models ◽  
Positional Cloning ◽  
Coagulation Factors ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Factor Ix ◽  
Mouse Strains ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Haemophilia B ◽  
Genetically Engineered Mice ◽  
Knock Out Mice

SummaryThe study of coagulation factors has been rapidly advanced by studies performed in genetically engineered mouse strains. Investigation of factor IX (FIX) has benefited from excellent genedeleted mouse models that recapitulate many of the features of human haemophilia B. Moreover, advanced positional cloning techniques and availability of technology to allow not only knock-out mice, but also knock-in and knock-down mice, provide new opportunities to observe genotype-phenotype and structure-function correlations regarding FIX, as well as the interaction of FIX with inflammatory, immune, and tissue repair systems. In this paper, available FIX knock-out mice and additional haemophilia B mouse models are reviewed specifically in regards to observations these models have facilitated concerning: factor IX gene expression and factor IX protein pharmacokinetics; the role of FIX in haemostasis, thrombosis and wound healing; insights into coagulation FIX arising out of gene therapy applications in haemophilia mouse models; immunology of tolerance or loss of tolerance of FIX and inhibitor antibody formation.

scholarly journals EBI2 Is Temporarily Upregulated in MO3.13 Oligodendrocytes during Maturation and Regulates Remyelination in the Organotypic Cerebellar Slice Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4342
Author(s):  
Maria Velasco-Estevez ◽  
Nina Koch ◽  
Ilona Klejbor ◽  
Stephane Laurent ◽  
Kumlesh K. Dev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Immune Cells ◽  
White Matter Lesions ◽  
Demyelinating Diseases ◽  
Cellular Migration ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
New Information ◽  
Chemically Induced ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Knock Out Mice

The EBI2 receptor regulates the immune system and is expressed in various immune cells including B and T lymphocytes. It is also expressed in astrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) where it regulates pro-inflammatory cytokine release, cell migration and protects from chemically induced demyelination. Its signaling and expression are implicated in various diseases including multiple sclerosis, where its expression is increased in infiltrating immune cells in the white matter lesions. Here, for the first time, the EBI2 protein in the CNS cells in the human brain was examined. The function of the receptor in MO3.13 oligodendrocytes, as well as its role in remyelination in organotypic cerebellar slices, were investigated. Human brain sections were co-stained for EBI2 receptor and various markers of CNS-specific cells and the human oligodendrocyte cell line MO3.13 was used to investigate changes in EBI2 expression and cellular migration. Organotypic cerebellar slices prepared from wild-type and cholesterol 25-hydroxylase knock-out mice were used to study remyelination following lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-induced demyelination. The data showed that EBI2 receptor is present in OPCs but not in myelinating oligodendrocytes in the human brain and that EBI2 expression is temporarily upregulated in maturing MO3.13 oligodendrocytes. Moreover, we show that migration of MO3.13 cells is directly regulated by EBI2 and that its signaling is necessary for remyelination in cerebellar slices post-LPC-induced demyelination. The work reported here provides new information on the expression and role of EBI2 in oligodendrocytes and myelination and provides new tools for modulation of oligodendrocyte biology and therapeutic approaches for demyelinating diseases.

scholarly journals Prion protein quantification in cerebrospinal fluid as a tool for prion disease drug development

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia M Vallabh ◽  
Chloe K Nobuhara ◽  
Franc Llorens ◽  
Inga Zerr ◽  
Piero Parchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽  
Prion Protein ◽  
Prion Disease ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Protein Quantification ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Blood Contamination ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

AbstractReduction of native prion protein (PrP) levels in the brain is an attractive and genetically validated strategy for the treatment or prevention of human prion diseases. However, clinical development of any PrP-reducing therapeutic will require an appropriate pharmacodynamic biomarker: a practical and robust method for quantifying PrP, and reliably demonstrating its reduction, in the central nervous system (CNS) of a living patient. Here we evaluate the potential of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based quantification of human PrP in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to serve as a biomarker for PrP-reducing therapeutics. We show that CSF PrP is highly sensitive to plastic adsorption during handling and storage, but its loss can be minimized by addition of detergent. We find that blood contamination does not affect CSF PrP levels, and that CSF PrP and hemoglobin are uncorrelated, together suggesting that CSF PrP is CNS-derived, supporting its relevance for monitoring the tissue of interest and in keeping with high PrP abundance in brain relative to blood. In a cohort with controlled sample handling, CSF PrP exhibits good within-subject test-retest reliability (mean coefficient of variation 13% in samples collected 8-11 weeks apart), a sufficiently stable baseline to allow therapeutically meaningful reductions in brain PrP to be readily detected in CSF. Together, these findings supply a method for monitoring the effect of a PrP-reducing drug in the CNS, enabling the development of prion disease therapeutics with this mechanism of action.

scholarly journals TGF-B Inhibition Rescues Hematopoietic Defects in Fanconi Anemia

Blood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. SCI-29-SCI-29
Author(s):  
Joel S Greenberger
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Fanconi Anemia ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Radiation Sensitivity ◽  
Mouse Strains ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Bone Marrow Cultures ◽  
Knock Out Mice ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Four different combinations of double knock-out mouse strains have been created (SMAD3-/- Fancd2-/-) consisting of combinations of the individual knock-out strains on either the C57BL/6 or 129/Sv background. Sets of breeding experiments were carried out and the frequency of detection of double knock-out mice was significantly below the expected frequency of detecting DKO mice by breeding double heterozygotes (1 out of 16 or 6.25%). In fact, DKO mice were detected at a frequency ranging from 3.4% to 0.54%. Mice of all four DKO genotypes showed resistance of bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells to canonical TGF-β signaling, consistent with the SMAD3-/- parent. However, the predominant phenotype was that of the Fancd2-/- parent including reduced duration of hematopoiesis in long-term bone marrow cultures, reduced marrow stem cell competitive repopulation capacity, and retained mitomycin C and radiation sensitivity of bone marrow stromal cells. These mice should be a valuable resource for elucidating the bypass pathways involved in the reduced, but successful gestation of SMAD3-/- Fancd2-/- mice, and the interactions of the FA and TGF-β signaling pathways. Supported by the NIAID/NIH U19-A168021 and the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

scholarly journals Prion-Associated Neurodegeneration Causes Both Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Proteasome Impairment in a Murine Model of Spontaneous Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 465
Author(s):  
Alicia Otero ◽  
Marina Betancor ◽  
Hasier Eraña ◽  
Natalia Fernández Borges ◽  
José J. Lucas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Endoplasmic Reticulum ◽  
Er Stress ◽  
Prion Disease ◽  
Murine Model ◽  
Secretory Pathway ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Gfp Reporter ◽  
The Central Nervous System

Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders that can be spontaneous, familial or acquired by infection. The conversion of the prion protein PrPC to its abnormal and misfolded isoform PrPSc is the main event in the pathogenesis of prion diseases of all origins. In spontaneous prion diseases, the mechanisms that trigger the formation of PrPSc in the central nervous system remain unknown. Several reports have demonstrated that the accumulation of PrPSc can induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and proteasome impairment from the early stages of the prion disease. Both mechanisms lead to an increment of PrP aggregates in the secretory pathway, which could explain the pathogenesis of spontaneous prion diseases. Here, we investigate the role of ER stress and proteasome impairment during prion disorders in a murine model of spontaneous prion disease (TgVole) co-expressing the UbG76V-GFP reporter, which allows measuring the proteasome activity in vivo. Spontaneously prion-affected mice showed a significantly higher accumulation of the PKR-like ER kinase (PERK), the ER chaperone binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP/Grp78), the ER protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and the UbG76V-GFP reporter than age-matched controls in certain brain areas. The upregulation of PERK, BiP, PDI and ubiquitin was detected from the preclinical stage of the disease, indicating that ER stress and proteasome impairment begin at early stages of the spontaneous disease. Strong correlations were found between the deposition of these markers and neuropathological markers of prion disease in both preclinical and clinical mice. Our results suggest that both ER stress and proteasome impairment occur during the pathogenesis of spontaneous prion diseases.

Genetic Factors in Mammalian Prion Diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Mead ◽  
Sarah Lloyd ◽  
John Collinge
Keyword(s):  
Prion Protein ◽  
Prion Disease ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Cellular Prion Protein ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Modifying Factors ◽  
Jakob Disease ◽  
The Central Nervous System

Mammalian prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative conditions caused by infection of the central nervous system with proteinaceous agents called prions, including sporadic, variant, and iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; kuru; inherited prion disease; sheep scrapie; bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and chronic wasting disease. Prions are composed of misfolded and multimeric forms of the normal cellular prion protein (PrP). Prion diseases require host expression of the prion protein gene ( PRNP) and a range of other cellular functions to support their propagation and toxicity. Inherited forms of prion disease are caused by mutation of PRNP, whereas acquired and sporadically occurring mammalian prion diseases are controlled by powerful genetic risk and modifying factors. Whereas some PrP amino acid variants cause the disease, others confer protection, dramatically altered incubation times, or changes in the clinical phenotype. Multiple mechanisms, including interference with homotypic protein interactions and the selection of the permissible prion strains in a host, play a role. Several non- PRNP factors have now been uncovered that provide insights into pathways of disease susceptibility or neurotoxicity.

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