Mesenchymal stem cells do not exert direct beneficial effects on CNS remyelination in the absence of the peripheral immune system.

Remyelination is the natural repair mechanism in demyelinating disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and it was proposed that it might protect from axonal loss. For unknown reasons, remyelination is often incomplete or fails in MS lesions and therapeutic treatments to enhance remyelination are not available. Recently, the transplantation of exogenous mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) has emerged as a promising tool to enhance repair processes. This included the animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a commonly used model for the autoimmune mechanisms of MS. However, in EAE it is not clear if the beneficial effect of MSC derives from a direct influence on brain resident cells or if this is an indirect phenomenon via modulation of the peripheral immune system. The aim of this study was to determine potential regenerative functions of MSC in the toxic cuprizone model of demyelination that allows studying direct effects on de- and remyelination without the influence of the peripheral immune system. MSC from three different species (human, murine, canine) were transplanted either intraventricularly into the cerebrospinal fluid or directly into the lesion of the corpus callosum at two time points: at the onset of oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) proliferation or the peak of OPC proliferation during cuprizone induced demyelination. Our results show that MSC did not exert any regenerative effects after cuprizone induced demyelination and oligodendrocyte loss. During remyelination, MSC did not influence the dynamics of OPC proliferation and myelin formation. In conclusion, MSC did not exert direct regenerative functions in a mouse model where peripheral immune cells and especially T lymphocytes do not play a role. We thus suggest that the peripheral immune system is required for MSC to exert their effects and this is independent from a direct influence of the central nervous system.

Experimental evolution in the cyanobacterium Trichormus variabilis: increases in size and morphological diversity.

Cyanobacteria morphology has apparently remained almost unchanged for billions of years, exhibiting remarkable evolutionary stasis. Cyanobacteria appear to have reached their maximum morphological complexity in terms of size, modes of multicellularity, and cellular types by ~2 Ga. This contrasts with the increased complexity observed in other multicellular lineages, such as plants. Using experimental evolution, we show that morphological diversity can rapidly evolve in a species of filamentous cyanobacteria. Since size has such significance with regard to organismal complexity, we subjected the heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium Trichornus variabilis (syn. Anabaena variabilis) to selection for larger size. We observed increases in size of more than 30-fold, relative to the ancestral population, after 45 cycles of selection. Two distinguishable nascent morphological elaborations were identified in all the selected populations: Tangle (long, tangled filaments) and Cluster (clusters of short filaments) morphology. Growth from single cells indicates heritability of the evolved Tangle and Cluster morphological phenotypes. Cyanobacteria evolutionary conservatism is ascribed to developmental constraints, slow evolution rates, or ecological flexibility. These results open opportunities to study possibilities and constraints for the evolution of higher integrated biological levels of organization within this lineage.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)-induced processing of amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP) and APP-like protein 2 is mediated by different metalloproteinases.

alpha-Secretase cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is of great interest because it prevents the formation of the Alzheimer-linked amyloid-beta peptide. APP belongs to a conserved gene family including the two paralogues APP-like protein (APLP) 1 and 2. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) stimulates the shedding of all three proteins. IGF-1-induced shedding of both APP and APLP1 is dependent on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K), whereas APLP2 shedding is independent of this signaling pathway. Here, we used human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells to investigate the involvement of protein kinase C (PKC) in the proteolytic processing of endogenously expressed members of the APP family. Processing was induced by IGF-1 or retinoic acid, another known stimulator of APP alpha-secretase shedding. Our results show that stimulation of APP and APLP1 processing involves multiple signaling pathways, whereas APLP2 processing is mainly dependent on PKC. Next, we wanted to investigate whether the difference in the regulation of APLP2 shedding compared with APP shedding could be due to involvement of different processing enzymes. We focused on the two major alpha-secretase candidates ADAM10 and TACE, which both are members of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloprotease) family. Shedding was analyzed in the presence of the ADAM10 inhibitor GI254023X, or after transfection with small interfering RNAs targeted against TACE. The results clearly demonstrate that different alpha-secretases are involved in IGF-1-induced processing. APP is mainly cleaved by ADAM10, whereas APLP2 processing is mediated by TACE. Finally, we also show that IGF-1 induces PKC-dependent phosphorylation of TACE.

O-GlcNAcylation increases non-amyloidogenic processing of the amyloid-ß precursor protein (APP).

The amyloid-ß precursor protein (APP) was shown to be O-GlcNAcylated 15 years ago, but the effect of this modification on APP processing and formation of the Alzheimer's disease associated amyloid-ß (Aß) peptide has so far not been investigated. Here, we demonstrate with pharmacological tools or siRNA that O-GlcNAcase and O-GlcNAc transferase regulate the level of O-GlcNAcylated APP. We also show that O-GlcNAcylation increases non-amyloidogenic α-secretase processing, resulting in increased levels of the neuroprotective sAPPα fragment and decreased Aß secretion. Our results implicate O-GlcNAcylation as a potential therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease.

Amyloid precursor protein and its homologues: a family of proteolysis-dependent receptors.

The Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein (APP) belongs to a conserved gene family that also includes the mammalian APLP1 and APLP2, the Drosophila APPL, and the C. elegans APL-1. The biological function of APP is still not fully clear. However, it is known that the APP family proteins have redundant and partly overlapping functions, which demonstrates the importance of studying all APP family members to gain a more complete picture. When APP was first cloned, it was speculated that it could function as a receptor. This theory has been further substantiated by studies showing that APP and its homologues bind both extracellular ligands and intracellular adaptor proteins. The APP family proteins undergo regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP), generating secreted and cytoplasmic fragments that have been ascribed different functions. In this review, we will discuss the APP family with focus on biological functions, binding partners, and regulated processing.

PI3-K- and PKC-dependent up-regulation of APP processing enzymes by retinoic acid.

Retinoic acid stimulates alpha-secretase processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and decreases beta-secretase cleavage that leads to amyloid-beta formation. Here, we investigated the effect of retinoic acid on the two putative alpha-secretases, the disintegrin metalloproteinases ADAM10 and TACE, and the beta-site cleaving enzyme BACE1, in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. Western blot analysis showed that exposure to retinoic acid resulted in significantly increased levels of ADAM10 and TACE, suggesting that regulation of alpha-secretases causes the effects on APP processing. The presence of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor LY 294002 selectively reduced the effect on ADAM10 protein levels but not on ADAM10 mRNA levels as determined by RT-PCR. On the other hand, the effect on TACE was shown to be dependent on protein kinase C, since it was completely blocked in the presence of the inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide XI. Our data indicate that different signalling pathways are involved in retinoic acid-induced up-regulation of the secretases.

Exposure to the saturated free fatty acid palmitate alters BV-2 microglia inflammatory response.

Elevated levels of free fatty acids (FFAs) in plasma and increased incidence of chronic systemic inflammation are associated with obesity. In the brain, activated microglia are believed to play different roles during inflammation that may either be neuroprotective or promote neurodegeneration. Here, we have investigated the effects of FFAs on microglial response to inflammatory stimuli. Our results indicate that the saturated FFA palmitate on its own induces alternative activation of BV-2 microglia cells. Further, pre-exposure to palmitate changed the response of microglia to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We show that palmitate affects the mRNA levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1ß and interleukin-6. The transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein δ is also affected by pre-exposure to palmitate. Furthermore, the phagocytic activity of microglia was investigated using fluorescent beads. By analyzing the bead uptake by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, we found that palmitate alone, as well as together with LPS, stimulated the phagocytic activity of microglia. Taken together, our results suggest that exposure of microglia to increased levels of free fatty acids may alter the consequences of classical inflammatory stimuli.