Histone Acetylome-wide Association Study of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The association of histone modification changes with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has not been systematically examined. We conducted a histone acetylome-wide association study (HAWAS) by performing H3K27ac chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) on 257 postmortem samples from ASD and matched control brains. Despite etiological heterogeneity, ≥68% of syndromic and idiopathic ASD cases shared a common acetylome signature at >5,000 cis-regulatory elements in prefrontal and temporal cortex. Similarly, multiple genes associated with rare genetic mutations in ASD showed common "epimutations." Acetylome aberrations in ASD were not attributable to genetic differentiation at cis-SNPs and highlighted genes involved in synaptic transmission, ion transport, epilepsy, behavioral abnormality, chemokinesis, histone deacetylation, and immunity. By correlating histone acetylation with genotype, we discovered >2,000 histone acetylation quantitative trait loci (haQTLs) in human brain regions, including four candidate causal variants for psychiatric diseases. Due to the relative stability of histone modifications postmortem, we anticipate that the HAWAS approach will be applicable to multiple diseases.

Loss of resilience contributes to detrusor underactivity in advanced age.

Volume hyposensitivity resulting from impaired sympathetic detrusor relaxation during bladder filling contributes to detrusor underactivity (DU) associated with aging. Detrusor tension regulation provides an adaptive sensory input of bladder volume to the brainstem and is challenged by physiological stressors superimposed upon biological aging. We recently showed that HCN channels have a stabilizing role in detrusor sympathetic relaxation. While mature mice maintain homeostasis in the face of stressors, old mice are not always capable. In old mice, there is a dichotomous phenotype, in which resilient mice adapt and maintain homeostasis, while non-resilient mice fail to maintain physiologic homeostasis. In this DU model, we used cystometry as a stressor to categorize mice as old-responders (old-R, develop a filling/voiding cycle) or old-non-responders (old-NR, fail to develop a filling/voiding cycle; fluctuating high pressures and continuous leaking), while also assessing functional and molecular differences. Lamotrigine (HCN activator)-induced bladder relaxation is diminished in old-NR mice following HCN-blockade. Relaxation responses to NS 1619 were reduced in old-NR mice, with the effect lost following HCN-blockade. However, RNA-sequencing revealed no differences in HCN gene expression and electrophysiology studies showed similar percentage of detrusor myocytes expressing HCN (Ih) current between old-R and old-NR mice. Our murine model of DU further defines a role for HCN, with failure of adaptive recalibration of HCN participation and intensity of HCN-mediated stabilization, while genomic studies show upregulated myofibroblast and fibrosis pathways and downregulated neurotransmitter-degradation pathways in old-NR mice. Thus, the DU phenotype is multifactorial and represents the accumulation of age-associated loss in homeostatic mechanisms.

Cuprizone-mediated demyelination reversibly degrades voiding behavior in mice while sparing brainstem reflex.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, progressively debilitating demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Nearly 80% of MS patients experience lower urinary tract dysfunction early in their diagnosis. This significantly affects the quality of life, and in latter stages of disease is a leading cause of hospitalization. Previously, animal models have shown that inflammatory demyelination in the CNS causes profound bladder dysfunction, but the confounding influence of systemic inflammation limits the potential interpretation of the contribution of CNS demyelination to bladder dysfunction. Since the micturition circuit has myelinated neuronal connections in the cortex, brainstem, and spinal cord, we examined alterations in bladder function in the cuprizone model characterized by demyelinating lesions in the cortex and corpus callosum that are independent of T-cell-mediated autoimmunity. Herein, we report that a 4-week dietary cuprizone treatment in C57Bl/6J mice induced alterations in voiding behavior with increased micturition frequency and reduced volume voided, similar to human MS bladder dysfunction. Subsequently, recovery from cuprizone treatment restored normal bladder function. Demyelination and remyelination were confirmed by Luxol Fast Blue staining of the corpus callosum. Additionally, we also determined that an 8-week cuprizone treatment, resulting in chronic demyelination lacking spontaneous remyelination potential, is associated with an exacerbated voiding phenotype. Interestingly, while cuprizone-induced CNS demyelination severely affected conscious (cortical) urinary behavior, the brainstem and spinal cord reflex remained unchanged, as confirmed by urethane-anesthetized cystometry. This is the first study to show that cortical demyelination independent of inflammation can negatively impact urinary function.

The hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated channel resides on myocytes in mouse bladders and contributes to adrenergic-induced detrusor relaxation.

Control of urinary continence is predicated on sensory signaling about bladder volume. Bladder sensory nerve activity is dependent on tension, implicating autonomic control over detrusor myocyte activity during bladder filling. Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) ion channels are known contributors to bladder control, but their mechanism of action is not well understood. The lack of a definitive identification of cell type(s) expressing HCN in the bladder presents a significant knowledge gap. We recently reported a complete transcriptomic atlas of the C57BL/6 mouse bladder showing the dominant HCN paralog in mouse bladder, Hcn1, is limited to a subpopulation of detrusor smooth myocytes (DSMs). Here, we report details of these findings, along with results of patch-clamp experiments, immunohistochemistry, and functional myobath/tension experiments in bladder strips. With the use of a transgenic mouse expressing fluorescence-tagged α-smooth muscle actin, our data confirmed location and function of DSM HCN channels. Despite previous associations of HCN with postulated bladder interstitial cells, neither evidence of specific interstitial cell types nor an association of nonmyocytes with HCN was discovered. We confirm that HCN activation participates in reducing sustained (tonic) detrusor tension via cAMP, with no effect on intermittent (phasic) detrusor activity. In contrast, blockade of HCN increases phasic activity induced by a protein kinase A (PKA) blocker or a large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channel opener. Our findings, therefore, suggest a central role for detrusor myocyte HCN in regulating and constraining detrusor myocyte activity during bladder filling.

Alzheimer's disease amyloidogenesis is linked to altered lower urinary tract physiology.

AIMS: While most Alzheimer's disease (AD) research emphasizes cognitive and behavioral abnormalities, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are observed in a third of AD patients, contributing to morbidity, poor quality of life, and need for institutionalization. Alzheimer's disease-associated urinary dysfunction (ADUD) has been assumed to be due to cognitive decline alone. While mouse studies have suggested that bladder innervation and voiding behavior may be altered in AD models, technical challenges precluded voiding reflex assessments. This study seeks to establish a mouse model of ADUD, and it seeks to characterize the noncognitive sequelae involved in AD-pathology associated alterations in the voiding reflex. METHODS: Having developed techniques permitting the assessment of bladder volume, pressure, and flow in mice, we now provide evidence of alterations in involuntary bladder control and increased response heterogeneity in a transgenic amyloidosis mouse model of AD using cystometry and tissue pharmacomyography. Tg-APP/PS1DE9 (PA) mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates (n = 6-8 per group) were used before plaque onset in the PA mice (4-6 months) and after plaque accumulation in the PA mice (8-10 months) in comparison to their WT control littermates. RESULTS: Novel findings include data suggestive of sphincteric discoordination, with pharmacological evidence of altered adrenergic mechanisms. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these data highlight the importance of addressing noncognitive sequelae of AD and offer novel translational insights into the debilitating impact of AD on LUTS and incontinence.

PART 2: Mouse models for multiple sclerosis research.

Lower urinary tract symptoms and dysfunction (LUTS/LUTD) contribute to loss of quality of life, morbidity, and need for medical intervention in most patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Although MS is an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease, clinical manifestations including continence control disorders have traditionally been attributed to the loss of neural signaling due to neurodegeneration. Clinical approaches to MS-LUTS/LUTD have focused on addressing symptoms in the context of urodynamic dysfunctions as pathophysiologic understandings are incomplete. The mouse model provides a useful research platform for discovery of more detailed molecular, cellular, and tissue-level knowledge of the disease and its clinical manifestations. The aim of this two-part review is to provide a state-of-the-art update on the use of the mouse model for MS research, with a focus on lower urinary tract symptoms. Part I presents a summary of current understanding of MS pathophysiology, the impact on lower urinary tract symptoms, and briefly introduces the types of mouse models available to study MS. Part II presents the common animal models that are currently available to study MS, their mechanism, relevance to MS-LUTS/LUTD and their urinary pathophysiology, advantages and disadvantages.

Animal modeling of lower urinary tract dysfunction associated with multiple sclerosis: Part I: Justification of the mouse model for MS research.

Lower urinary tract symptoms and dysfunction (LUTS/LUTD) contribute to loss of quality of life, morbidity, and need for medical intervention in most patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Although MS is an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease, clinical manifestations including continence control disorders have traditionally been attributed to the loss of neural signaling due to neurodegeneration. Clinical approaches to MS-LUTS/LUTD have focused on addressing symptoms in the context of urodynamic dysfunctions as pathophysiologic understandings are incomplete. The mouse model provides a useful research platform for the discovery of more detailed molecular, cellular, and tissue-level knowledge of the disease and its clinical manifestations. The aim of this two-part review is to provide a state-of-the-art update on the use of the mouse model for MS research, with a focus on lower urinary tract symptoms. Part I presents a summary of the current understanding of MS pathophysiology, the impact on lower urinary tract symptoms, and briefly introduces the types of mouse models available to study MS. Part II presents the common animal models that are currently available to study MS, their mechanism, relevance to MS-LUTS/LUTD and their urinary pathophysiology, advantages, and disadvantages.