Immortalized striatal precursor neurons from Huntington's disease patient-derived iPS cells as a platform for target identification and screening for experimental therapeutics.

We have previously established induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models of Huntington's disease (HD), demonstrating CAG-repeat-expansion-dependent cell biological changes and toxicity. However, the current differentiation protocols are cumbersome and time consuming, making preparation of large quantities of cells for biochemical or screening assays difficult. Here, we report the generation of immortalized striatal precursor neurons (ISPNs) with normal (33) and expanded (180) CAG repeats from HD iPSCs, differentiated to a phenotype resembling medium spiny neurons (MSN), as a proof of principle for a more tractable patient-derived cell model. For immortalization, we used co-expression of the enzymatic component of telomerase hTERT and conditional expression of c-Myc. ISPNs can be propagated as stable adherent cell lines, and rapidly differentiated into highly homogeneous MSN-like cultures within 2 weeks, as demonstrated by immunocytochemical criteria. Differentiated ISPNs recapitulate major HD-related phenotypes of the parental iPSC model, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-withdrawal-induced cell death that can be rescued by small molecules previously validated in the parental iPSC model. Proteome and RNA-seq analyses demonstrate separation of HD versus control samples by principal component analysis. We identified several networks, pathways, and upstream regulators, also found altered in HD iPSCs, other HD models, and HD patient samples. HD ISPN lines may be useful for studying HD-related cellular pathogenesis, and for use as a platform for HD target identification and screening experimental therapeutics. The described approach for generation of ISPNs from differentiated patient-derived iPSCs could be applied to a larger allelic series of HD cell lines, and to comparable modeling of other genetic disorders.

Valsartan nano-filaments alter mitochondrial energetics and promote faster healing in diabetic rat wounds.

Chronic wounds are a common and debilitating condition associated with aging populations that impact more than 6.5 million patients in the United States. We have previously demonstrated the efficacy of daily topical 1% valsartan in treating wounds in diabetic mouse and pig models. Despite these promising results, there remains a need to develop an extended-release formulation that would reduce patient burden by decreasing the frequency of daily applications. Here, we used nanotechnology to self-assemble valsartan amphiphiles into a filamentous structure (val-filaments) that would serve as a scaffold in wound beds and allow for steady, localised and tunable release of valsartan amphiphiles over 24 days. Two topical treatments of this peptide-based hydrogel on full-thickness wounds in Zucker Diabetic Fatty rats resulted in faster rates of wound closure. By day 23, all val-filament treated wounds were completely closed, as compared to one wound closed in the placebo group. Mechanistically, we observed enrichment of proteins involved in cell adhesion and energetics pathways, downregulation of Tgf-ß signalling pathway mediators (pSmad2, pSmad3 and Smad4) and increased mitochondrial metabolic pathway intermediates. This study demonstrates the successful synthesis of a sustained-release valsartan filament hydrogel, its impact on mitochondrial energetics and efficacy in treating diabetic wounds.

Induction of cell cycle arrest and inflammatory genes by combined treatment with epigenetic, differentiating, and chemotherapeutic agents in triple-negative breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: A combination of entinostat, all-trans retinoic acid, and doxorubicin (EAD) induces cell death and differentiation and causes significant regression of xenografts of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). METHODS: We investigated the mechanisms underlying the antitumor effects of each component of the EAD combination therapy by high-throughput gene expression profiling of drug-treated cells. RESULTS: Microarray analysis showed that entinostat and doxorubicin (ED) altered expression of genes related to growth arrest, inflammation, and differentiation. ED downregulated MYC, E2F, and G2M cell cycle genes. Accordingly, entinostat sensitized the cells to doxorubicin-induced growth arrest at G2. ED induced interferon genes, which correlated with breast tumors containing a higher proportion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. ED also increased the expression of immune checkpoint agonists and cancer testis antigens. Analysis of TNBC xenografts showed that EAD enhanced the inflammation score in nude mice. Among the genes differentially regulated between the EAD and ED groups, an all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-regulated gene, DHRS3, was induced in EAD-treated xenografts. DHRS3 was expressed at lower levels in human TNBC metastases compared to normal breast or primary tumors. High expression of ED-induced growth arrest and inflammatory genes was associated with better prognosis in TNBC patients. CONCLUSIONS: Entinostat potentiated doxorubicin-mediated cell death and the combination induced inflammatory signatures. The ED-induced immunomodulation may improve immunotherapy. Addition of ATRA to ED may potentiate inflammation and contribute to TNBC regression.

Two clinical phenotypes in polycythemia vera.

BACKGROUND: Polycythemia vera is the ultimate phenotypic consequence of the V617F mutation in Janus kinase 2 (encoded by JAK2), but the extent to which this mutation influences the behavior of the involved CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells is unknown. METHODS: We analyzed gene expression in CD34+ peripheral-blood cells from 19 patients with polycythemia vera, using oligonucleotide microarray technology after correcting for potential confounding by sex, since the phenotypic features of the disease differ between men and women. RESULTS: Men with polycythemia vera had twice as many up-regulated or down-regulated genes as women with polycythemia vera, in a comparison of gene expression in the patients and in healthy persons of the same sex, but there were 102 genes with differential regulation that was concordant in men and women. When these genes were used for class discovery by means of unsupervised hierarchical clustering, the 19 patients could be divided into two groups that did not differ significantly with respect to age, neutrophil JAK2 V617F allele burden, white-cell count, platelet count, or clonal dominance. However, they did differ significantly with respect to disease duration; hemoglobin level; frequency of thromboembolic events, palpable splenomegaly, and splenectomy; chemotherapy exposure; leukemic transformation; and survival. The unsupervised clustering was confirmed by a supervised approach with the use of a top-scoring-pair classifier that segregated the 19 patients into the same two phenotypic groups with 100% accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: Removing sex as a potential confounder, we identified an accurate molecular method for classifying patients with polycythemia vera according to disease behavior, independently of their JAK2 V617F allele burden, and identified previously unrecognized molecular pathways in polycythemia vera outside the canonical JAK2 pathway that may be amenable to targeted therapy. (Funded by the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health.).

Caenorhabditis elegans RNA-processing protein TDP-1 regulates protein homeostasis and life span.

Transactive response DNA-binding protein (TARDBP/TDP-43), a heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) with diverse activities, is a common denominator in several neurodegenerative disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Orthologs of TDP-43 exist in animals ranging from mammals to invertebrates. Here, we systematically studied mutant Caenorhabditis elegans lacking the nematode TDP-43 ortholog, TDP-1. Heterologous expression of human TDP-43 rescued the defects in C. elegans lacking TDP-1, suggesting their functions are conserved. Although the tdp-1 mutants exhibited deficits in fertility, growth, and locomotion, loss of tdp-1 attenuated defects in several C. elegans models of proteotoxicity. Loss of tdp-1 suppressed defects in transgenic C. elegans expressing TDP-43 or CuZn superoxide dismutase, both of which are associated with proteotoxicity in neurodegenerative diseases. Loss of tdp-1 also reduced defects in mutant animals lacking the heat shock factor HSF-1. Transcriptional profiling demonstrated that the loss of TDP-1 altered expression of genes functioning in RNA processing and protein folding. Furthermore, the absence of tdp-1 extended the life span in C. elegans. The life span extension required a FOXO transcriptional factor DAF-16 but not HSF-1. These results suggest that the C. elegans TDP-1 has a role in the regulation of protein homeostasis and aging.

Interleukin-6 Drives Mitochondrial Dysregulation and Accelerates Physical Decline: Insights From an Inducible Humanized IL-6 Knock-In Mouse Model.

Chronic activation of inflammatory pathways (CI) and mitochondrial dysfunction are independently linked to age-related functional decline and early mortality. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is among the most consistently elevated chronic activation of inflammatory pathways markers, but whether IL-6 plays a causative role in this mitochondrial dysfunction and physical deterioration remains unclear. To characterize the role of IL-6 in age-related mitochondrial dysregulation and physical decline, we have developed an inducible human IL-6 (hIL-6) knock-in mouse (TetO-hIL-6mitoQC) that also contains a mitochondrial-quality control reporter. Six weeks of hIL-6 induction resulted in upregulation of proinflammatory markers, cell proliferation and metabolic pathways, and dysregulated energy utilization. Decreased grip strength, increased falls off the treadmill, and increased frailty index were also observed. Further characterization of skeletal muscles postinduction revealed an increase in mitophagy, downregulation of mitochondrial biogenesis genes, and an overall decrease in total mitochondrial numbers. This study highlights the contribution of IL-6 to mitochondrial dysregulation and supports a causal role of hIL-6 in physical decline and frailty.

Differences in molecular phenotype in mouse and human hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is characterized by phenotypic heterogeneity. We investigated the molecular basis of the cardiac phenotype in two mouse models at established disease stage (mouse-HCM), and human myectomy tissue (human-HCM). We analyzed the transcriptome in 2 mouse models with non-obstructive HCM (R403Q-MyHC, R92W-TnT)/littermate-control hearts at 24 weeks of age, and in myectomy tissue of patients with obstructive HCM/control hearts (GSE36961, GSE36946). Additionally, we examined myocyte redox, cardiac mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN), mt-respiration, mt-ROS generation/scavenging and mt-Ca2+ handling in mice. We identified distinct allele-specific gene expression in mouse-HCM, and marked differences between mouse-HCM and human-HCM. Only two genes (CASQ1, GPT1) were similarly dysregulated in both mutant mice and human-HCM. No signaling pathway or transcription factor was predicted to be similarly dysregulated (by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) in both mutant mice and human-HCM. Losartan was a predicted therapy only in TnT-mutant mice. KEGG pathway analysis revealed enrichment for several metabolic pathways, but only pyruvate metabolism was enriched in both mutant mice and human-HCM. Both mutant mouse myocytes demonstrated evidence of an oxidized redox environment. Mitochondrial complex I RCR was lower in both mutant mice compared to controls. MyHC-mutant mice had similar mtDNA-CN and mt-Ca2+ handling, but TnT-mutant mice exhibited lower mtDNA-CN and impaired mt-Ca2+ handling, compared to littermate-controls. Molecular profiling reveals differences in gene expression, transcriptional regulation, intracellular signaling and mt-number/function in 2 mouse models at established disease stage. Further studies are needed to confirm differences in gene expression between mouse and human-HCM, and to examine whether cardiac phenotype, genotype and/or species differences underlie the divergence in molecular profiles.

Purine-rich element binding protein (PUR) alpha induces endoplasmic reticulum stress response, and cell differentiation pathways in prostate cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Following androgen ablation treatment for advanced prostate cancer, almost all men relapse after a period of initial response to therapy, which eventually is life threatening. We have previously found that purine-rich element binding protein, PURalpha, was significantly repressed in androgen-independent prostate cancer cell lines in comparison to an androgen-dependent line. Moreover, over-expressing PURalpha in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells attenuated their cell proliferation. The aim of the studies described here was to uncover some of the mechanisms by which over-expression of PURalpha attenuates cell proliferation. METHODS: A set of common genes induced by over-expressing PURalpha both in PC3 and LNCaP cells was analyzed by DNA microarray. The results were then validated utilizing quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. Using a 5.3-kb region of the PSA promoter containing androgen response elements, the participation of PURalpha in androgen regulated gene expression was determined. RESULTS: Genes involved in stress response and cell differentiation were induced in cells over-expressing PURalpha. Some of the genes that are targets of androgen regulation are also induced. Most strikingly, ectopic expression of PURalpha induced transcriptional activity of the 5.3-kb PSA promoter containing androgen response elements, without androgen stimulation. CONCLUSION: Based upon the consideration that some of the genes involved in cell stress and differentiation are also regulated by androgens our data suggest that PURalpha shares some common pathways regulated by the androgen receptor. These findings suggest that regulation of PURalpha expression in prostate cancer cells may serve as a therapeutic target for hormone refractory prostate cancer.

Thyroid Transcription Factor 1 Reprograms Angiogenic Activities of Secretome.

Through both gain- and loss-of-TTF-1 expression strategies, we show that TTF-1 positively regulates vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and that the VEGF promoter element contains multiple TTF-1-responsive sequences. The major signaling receptor for VEGF, i.e VEGFR2, also appears to be under a direct and positive regulation of TTF-1. The TTF-1-dependent upregulation of VEGF was moderately sensitive to rapamycin, implicating a partial involvement of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). However, hypoxia did not further increase the secreted VEGF level of the TTF-1(+) lung cancer cells. The TTF-1-induced VEGF upregulation occurs in both compartments (exosomes and exosome-depleted media (EDM)) of the conditioned media. Surprisingly, the EDM of TTF-1(+) lung cancer cells (designated EDM-TTF-1(+)) displayed an anti-angiogenic activity in the endothelial cell tube formation assay. Mechanistic studies suggest that the increased granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) level in the EDM-TTF-1(+) conferred the antiangiogenic activities. In human lung cancer, the expression of TTF-1 and GM-CSF exhibits a statistically significant and positive correlation. In summary, this study provides evidence that TTF-1 may reprogram lung cancer secreted proteome into an antiangiogenic state, offering a novel basis to account for the long-standing observation of favorable prognosis associated with TTF-1(+) lung adenocarcinomas.

How PEDF prevents angiogenesis: a hypothesized pathway.

Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is a multiple functional protein, coded by the serine proteinase inhibitor, clade F, member 1 (SERPINF1) gene, which has both anti-angiogenic activity and neurotrophic activity at the same time. Its antiangiogenic activity in the mammalian eye is the most potent known at this time. However, the mechanism(s) by which PEDF works in vivo is still uncertain. Some observations suggest that PEDF can simultaneously inhibit the migration and proliferation induced by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and then further inhibits angiogenesis by interacting with specific cell surface receptors, but no such receptor has been reported to date. Here we propose a hypothesis that PEDF exerts its function by binding with intergrins. Intergrin can therefore serve as the receptor of PEDF.

Induced pluripotent stem cells from familial Alzheimer's disease patients differentiate into mature neurons with amyloidogenic properties.

Although the majority of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases are sporadic, about 5% of cases are inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern as familial AD (FAD) and manifest at an early age. Mutations in the presenilin 1 (PSEN1) gene account for the majority of early-onset FAD. Here, we describe the generation of virus-free human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) derived from fibroblasts of patients harboring the FAD PSEN1 mutation A246E and fibroblasts from healthy age-matched controls using nonintegrating episomal vectors. We have differentiated these hiPSC lines to the neuronal lineage and demonstrated that hiPSC-derived neurons have mature phenotypic and physiological properties. Neurons from mutant hiPSC lines express PSEN1-A246E mutations themselves and show AD-like biochemical features, that is, amyloidogenic processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) indicated by an increase in ß-amyloid (Aß)42/Aß40 ratio. FAD hiPSCs harboring disease properties can be used as humanized models to test novel diagnostic methods and therapies and explore novel hypotheses for AD pathogenesis.

SH3GL2 is frequently deleted in non-small cell lung cancer and downregulates tumor growth by modulating EGFR signaling.

The purpose of this study was to identify key genetic pathways involved in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and understand their role in tumor progression. We performed a genome wide scanning using paired tumors and corresponding 16 mucosal biopsies from four follow-up lung cancer patients on Affymetrix 250K-NSpI array platform. We found that a single gene SH3GL2 located on human chromosome 9p22 was most frequently deleted in all the tumors and corresponding mucosal biopsies. We further validated the alteration pattern of SH3GL2 in a substantial number of primary NSCLC tumors at DNA and protein level. We also overexpressed wild-type SH3GL2 in three NSCLC cell lines to understand its role in NSCLC progression. Validation in 116 primary NSCLC tumors confirmed frequent loss of heterozygosity of SH3GL2 in overall 51 % (49/97) of the informative cases. We found significantly low (p = 0.0015) SH3GL2 protein expression in 71 % (43/60) primary tumors. Forced overexpression of wild-type (wt) SH3GL2 in three NSCLC cell lines resulted in a marked reduction of active epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression and an increase in EGFR internalization and degradation. Significantly decreased in vitro (p = 0.0015-0.030) and in vivo (p = 0.016) cellular growth, invasion (p = 0.029-0.049), and colony formation (p = 0.023-0.039) were also evident in the wt-SH3GL2-transfected cells accompanied by markedly low expression of activated AKT(Ser(473)), STAT3 (Tyr(705)), and PI3K. Downregulation of SH3GL2 interactor USP9X and activated ß-catenin was also evident in the SH3GL2-transfected cells. Our results indicate that SH3GL2 is frequently deleted in NSCLC and regulates cellular growth and invasion by modulating EGFR function.