MotiQ: an open-source toolbox to quantify the cell motility and morphology of microglia.

Microglia are the primary resident innate immune cells of the CNS. They possess branched, motile cell processes that are important for their cellular functions. To study the pathways that control microglial morphology and motility under physiological and disease conditions, it is necessary to quantify microglial morphology and motility precisely and reliably. Several image analysis approaches are available for the quantification of microglial morphology and motility. However, they are either not automated, not freely accessible, and/or limited in the number of morphology and motility parameters that can be assessed. Thus, we have developed MotiQ, an open-source, freely accessible software for automated quantification of microglial motility and morphology. MotiQ allows quantification of a diverse set of cellular motility and morphology parameters, including the parameters that have become the gold standard in the microglia field. We demonstrate that MotiQ can be applied to in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro data from confocal, epifluorescence, or two-photon microscopy, and we compare its results to other analysis approaches. We suggest MotiQ as a versatile and customizable tool to study microglia.

Generation of specialized blood vessels via lymphatic transdifferentiation.

The lineage and developmental trajectory of a cell are key determinants of cellular identity. In the vascular system, endothelial cells (ECs) of blood and lymphatic vessels differentiate and specialize to cater to the unique physiological demands of each organ1,2. Although lymphatic vessels were shown to derive from multiple cellular origins, lymphatic ECs (LECs) are not known to generate other cell types3,4. Here we use recurrent imaging and lineage-tracing of ECs in zebrafish anal fins, from early development to adulthood, to uncover a mechanism of specialized blood vessel formation through the transdifferentiation of LECs. Moreover, we demonstrate that deriving anal-fin vessels from lymphatic versus blood ECs results in functional differences in the adult organism, uncovering a link between cell ontogeny and functionality. We further use single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis to characterize the different cellular populations and transition states involved in the transdifferentiation process. Finally, we show that, similar to normal development, the vasculature is rederived from lymphatics during anal-fin regeneration, demonstrating that LECs in adult fish retain both potency and plasticity for generating blood ECs. Overall, our research highlights an innate mechanism of blood vessel formation through LEC transdifferentiation, and provides in vivo evidence for a link between cell ontogeny and functionality in ECs.

Microglial PD-1 stimulation by astrocytic PD-L1 suppresses neuroinflammation and Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Chronic neuroinflammation is a pathogenic component of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that may limit the ability of the brain to clear amyloid deposits and cellular debris. Tight control of the immune system is therefore key to sustain the ability of the brain to repair itself during homeostasis and disease. The immune-cell checkpoint receptor/ligand pair PD-1/PD-L1, known for their inhibitory immune function, is expressed also in the brain. Here, we report upregulated expression of PD-L1 and PD-1 in astrocytes and microglia, respectively, surrounding amyloid plaques in AD patients and in the APP/PS1 AD mouse model. We observed juxtamembrane shedding of PD-L1 from astrocytes, which may mediate ectodomain signaling to PD-1-expressing microglia. Deletion of microglial PD-1 evoked an inflammatory response and compromised amyloid-ß peptide (Aß) uptake. APP/PS1 mice deficient for PD-1 exhibited increased deposition of Aß, reduced microglial Aß uptake, and decreased expression of the Aß receptor CD36 on microglia. Therefore, ineffective immune regulation by the PD-1/PD-L1 axis contributes to Aß plaque deposition during chronic neuroinflammation in AD.

New role of P2X7 receptor in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

Extracellular aggregates of amyloid ß (Aß) peptides, which are characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD), act as an essential trigger for glial cell activation and the release of ATP, leading to the stimulation of purinergic receptors, especially the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R). However, the involvement of P2X7R in the development of AD is still ill-defined regarding the dual properties of this receptor. Particularly, P2X7R activates the NLRP3 inflammasome leading to the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL-1ß; however, P2X7R also induces cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein generating Aß peptides or the neuroprotective fragment sAPPα. We thus explored in detail the functions of P2X7R in AD transgenic mice. Here, we show that P2X7R deficiency reduced Aß lesions, rescued cognitive deficits and improved synaptic plasticity in AD mice. However, the lack of P2X7R did not significantly affect the release of IL-1ß or the levels of non-amyloidogenic fragment, sAPPα, in AD mice. Instead, our results show that P2X7R plays a critical role in Aß peptide-mediated release of chemokines, particularly CCL3, which is associated with pathogenic CD8+ T cell recruitment. In conclusion, our study highlights a novel detrimental function of P2X7R in chemokine release and supports the notion that P2X7R may be a promising therapeutic target for AD.

Nonparametric adaptive enrichment designs using categorical surrogate data.

Adaptive survival trials are particularly important for enrichment designs in oncology and other life-threatening diseases. Current statistical methodology for adaptive survival trials provide type I error rate control only under restrictions. For instance, if we use stage-wise P values based on increments of the log-rank test, then the information used for the interim decisions need to be restricted to the primary survival endpoint. However, it is often desirable to base interim decisions also on correlated short-term endpoints like tumor response. Alternative statistical approaches based on a patient-wise splitting of the data require unnatural restrictions on the follow-up times and do not permit to efficiently account for an early rejection of the primary null hypothesis. We therefore suggest new approaches that enable us to use discrete surrogate endpoints (like tumor response status) and also to incorporate interim rejection boundaries. The new approaches are based on weighted Kaplan-Meier estimates and thereby have additional advantages. They permit us to account for nonproportional hazards and are robust against informative censoring based on the surrogate endpoint. We will show that nonproportionality is an intrinsic and relevant issue in enrichment designs. Moreover, informative censoring based on the surrogate endpoint is likely because of withdrawals and treatment switches after insufficient treatment response. It is shown and illustrated how nonparametric tests based on weighted Kaplan-Meier estimates can be used in closed combination tests for adaptive enrichment designs, such that type I error rate control is achieved and justified asymptotically.

The Average Hazard Ratio - A Good Effect Measure for Time-to-event Endpoints when the Proportional Hazard Assumption is Violated?

BACKGROUND: In many clinical trial applications, the endpoint of interest corresponds to a time-to-event endpoint. In this case, group differences are usually expressed by the hazard ratio. Group differences are commonly assessed by the logrank test, which is optimal under the proportional hazard assumption. However, there are many situations in which this assumption is violated. Especially in applications were a full population and several subgroups or a composite time-to-first-event endpoint and several components are considered, the proportional hazard assumption usually does not simultaneously hold true for all test problems under investigation. As an alternative effect measure, Kalbfleisch and Prentice proposed the so-called 'average hazard ratio'. The average hazard ratio is based on a flexible weighting function to modify the influence of time and has a meaningful interpretation even in the case of non-proportional hazards. Despite this favorable property, it is hardly ever used in practice, whereas the standard hazard ratio is commonly reported in clinical trials regardless of whether the proportional hazard assumption holds true or not. OBJECTIVES: There exist two main approaches to construct corresponding estimators and tests for the average hazard ratio where the first relies on weighted Cox regression and the second on a simple plug-in estimator. The aim of this work is to give a systematic comparison of these two approaches and the standard logrank test for different time-toevent settings with proportional and nonproportional hazards and to illustrate the pros and cons in application. METHODS: We conduct a systematic comparative study based on Monte-Carlo simulations and by a real clinical trial example. RESULTS: Our results suggest that the properties of the average hazard ratio depend on the underlying weighting function. The two approaches to construct estimators and related tests show very similar performance for adequately chosen weights. In general, the average hazard ratio defines a more valid effect measure than the standard hazard ratio under non-proportional hazards and the corresponding tests provide a power advantage over the common logrank test. CONCLUSIONS: As non-proportional hazards are often met in clinical practice and the average hazard ratio tests often outperform the common logrank test, this approach should be used more routinely in applications.

Estimation in multi-arm two-stage trials with treatment selection and time-to-event endpoint.

We consider estimation of treatment effects in two-stage adaptive multi-arm trials with a common control. The best treatment is selected at interim, and the primary endpoint is modeled via a Cox proportional hazards model. The maximum partial-likelihood estimator of the log hazard ratio of the selected treatment will overestimate the true treatment effect in this case. Several methods for reducing the selection bias have been proposed for normal endpoints, including an iterative method based on the estimated conditional selection biases and a shrinkage approach based on empirical Bayes theory. We adapt these methods to time-to-event data and compare the bias and mean squared error of all methods in an extensive simulation study and apply the proposed methods to reconstructed data from the FOCUS trial. We find that all methods tend to overcorrect the bias, and only the shrinkage methods can reduce the mean squared error. © 2017 The Authors. Statistics in Medicine Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sequential tests for non-proportional hazards data.

In clinical trials survival endpoints are usually compared using the log-rank test. Sequential methods for the log-rank test and the Cox proportional hazards model are largely reported in the statistical literature. When the proportional hazards assumption is violated the hazard ratio is ill-defined and the power of the log-rank test depends on the distribution of the censoring times. The average hazard ratio was proposed as an alternative effect measure, which has a meaningful interpretation in the case of non-proportional hazards, and is equal to the hazard ratio, if the hazards are indeed proportional. In the present work we prove that the average hazard ratio based sequential test statistics are asymptotically multivariate normal with the independent increments property. This allows for the calculation of group-sequential boundaries using standard methods and existing software. The finite sample characteristics of the new method are examined in a simulation study in a proportional and a non-proportional hazards setting.

Comparison of different contouring definitions of the rectum as organ at risk (OAR) and dose-volume parameters predicting rectal inflammation in radiotherapy of prostate cancer: which definition to use?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this retrospective planning study was to find a contouring definition for the rectum as an organ at risk (OAR) in curative three-dimensional external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for prostate cancer (PCa) with a predictive correlation between the dose-volume histogram (DVH) and rectal toxicity. METHODS: In a pre-study, the planning CT scans of 23 patients with PCa receiving definitive EBRT were analyzed. The rectum was contoured according to 13 different definitions, and the dose distribution was correlated with the respective rectal volumes by generating DVH curves. Three definitions were identified to represent the most distinct differences in the shapes of the DVH curves: one anatomical definition recommended by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and two functional definitions based on the target volume. In the main study, the correlation between different relative DVH parameters derived from these three contouring definitions and the occurrence of rectal toxicity during and after EBRT was studied in two consecutive collectives. The first cohort consisted of 97 patients receiving primary curative EBRT and the second cohort consisted of 66 patients treated for biochemical recurrence after prostatectomy. Rectal toxicity was investigated by clinical investigation and scored according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. Candidate parameters were the volume of the rectum, mean dose, maximal dose, volume receiving at least 60 Gy (V60), area under the DVH curve up to 25 Gy and area under the DVH curve up to 75 Gy in dependence of each chosen rectum definition. Multivariable logistic regression considered other clinical factors such as pelvine lymphatics vs local target volume, diabetes, prior rectal surgery, anticoagulation or haemorrhoids too. RESULTS: In Cohort 1 (primary EBRT), the mean rectal volumes for definitions "RTOG", planning target volume "(PTV)-based" and "PTV-linked" were 100 cm3 [standard deviation (SD) 43 cm3], 60 cm3 (SD 26 cm3) and 74 cm3 (SD 31 cm3), respectively (p < 0.01; analysis of variance). The mean rectal doses according to these definitions were 35 Gy (SD 8 Gy), 48 Gy (SD 4 Gy) and 44 Gy (SD 5 Gy) (p < 0.01). In Cohort 2 (salvage EBRT), the mean rectal volumes were 114 cm3 (SD 47 cm3), 64 cm3 (SD 26 cm3) and 81 cm3 (SD 30 cm3) (p < 0.01) and the mean doses received by the rectum were 36 Gy (SD 8 Gy), 49 Gy (SD 5 Gy) and 44 Gy (SD 5 Gy) (p < 0.01). Acute or subacute rectal inflammation occurred in 69 (71.9%) patients in Cohort 1 and in 43 (70.5%) in Cohort 2. We did not find a correlation between all investigated DVH parameters and rectal toxicity, irrespective of the investigated definition. By adding additional variables in multivariate analysis, the predictive ability was substantially improved. Still, there was essentially no difference in the probability of predicting rectal inflammation occurrence between the tested contouring definitions. CONCLUSION: The RTOG anatomy-based recommendations are questionable in comparison with functional definitions, as they result in higher variances in several relative DVH parameters. Moreover, the anatomy-based definition is no better and no worse in the predictive value concerning clinical end points. Advances in knowledge: Functional definitions for the rectum as OAR are easier to apply, faster to contour, have smaller variances and do not offer less information than the anatomy-based RTOG definition.

ßB2-Crystallin Promotes Axonal Regeneration in the Injured Optic Nerve in Adult Rats.

The purpose of the study was to further scrutinize the potential of ßB2-crystallin in supporting regeneration of injured retinal ganglion cell axons both in vitro and in vivo. Retinal explants obtained from animals after treatment either with lens injury (LI) alone or with combined LI 5 days or 3 days before or simultaneously with an optic nerve crush (ONC) were cultured for 96 h under regenerative conditions, and the regenerating axons were quantified and compared with untreated controls. These measurements were then repeated with LI replaced by intravitreal injections of γ-crystallin and ß-crystallin at 5 days before ONC. Finally, ßB2-crystallin-overexpressing transfected neural progenitor cells (ßB2-crystallin-NPCs) in the eye were studied after crushing the optic nerve in vivo. Regeneration was monitored with the aid of immunoblotting of the retina and optic nerve both distal and proximal to the lesion site, and this was compared with controls that received injections of phosphate buffer only. LI performed 5 days or 3 days before ONC significantly promoted axonal outgrowth in vitro (p < 0.001), while LI performed alone before explantation did not. Intravitreal injections of ß-crystallin and γ-crystallin mimicked the effects of LI and significantly increased axonal regeneration in culture at the same time intervals (p < 0.001). Western blot analysis revealed that crystallins were present in the proximal optic nerve stump at the lesion site in ONC, but were neither expressed in the undamaged distal optic nerve nor in uninjured tissue. ßB2-crystallin-NPCs supported the regeneration of cut optic nerve axons within the distal optic nerve stump in vivo. The reported data suggest that ßB2-crystallin-producing "cell factories" could be used to provide novel therapeutic drugs for central nervous system injuries.

Crystallin-ß-b2-overexpressing NPCs support the survival of injured retinal ganglion cells and photoreceptors in rats.

PURPOSE: Crystallin ß-b2 (crybb2) is known to support the regeneration of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons in culture. We investigated whether neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs) overexpressing crybb2 (crybb2-NPC) affect secondary retinal degeneration due to optic nerve crush in vivo. METHODS: NPCS were produced by dissociation and propagation of rat embryonic neural tube and eye primordial cells at embryonic days 13.5 and 15. Retinal degeneration was induced by injured optic nerve crush (BY suture, 20 seconds). Several groups were built: crybb2-NPC were injected into the vitreous body, while the Controls were comprised of recombinant crybb2-injected and PBS-injected groups. The eyes, in particular the retina, were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting for different antigens at 2 and 4 weeks after surgery. RESULTS: At 2 and 4 weeks post surgery, crybb2-NPC resided within the vitreoretinal compartment, and were persistently nestin-positive throughout the experimental period. The cells stained positive for various neurotrophins and acted as "living" cell factories to support the survival of injured RGCs. The crybb2-NPC migrated throughout the eye structures and sometimes became integrated within the tissue. Most of the ocular cells responded to the appearance of crybb2-NPC with marked changes of certain proteins, including Iba-1 (microglia), vimentin (glial cells), and rhodopsin (photoreceptors). Photoreceptors also displayed a better survival after crybb2-NPC injection compared to control groups. CONCLUSIONS: Crybb2-NPC exert beneficial effects on the vitreoretinal compartment, which suggests that modified crybb2-NPC could be used in a novel strategy for the treatment of degenerative vitreoretinal diseases. However, future studies must determine the safety of in vivo administration of crybb2-NPC.