Characterization of Non-Cholesterol Sterols in Microglia Cell Membranes Using Targeted Mass Spectrometry.

BACKGROUND: Non-cholesterol sterols, as well as plant sterols, cross the blood-brain barrier and, thus, can be incorporated into cell membranes, affecting the cell's inflammatory response. The aim of our work was to develop an analytical protocol for a quantitative assessment of the sterol composition within the membrane microdomains of microglia. METHODS: A protocol for cell membrane isolation using OptiPrepTM gradient ultracentrifugation, in combination with a targeted mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based assay, was developed and validated for the quantitative analysis of free sterols in microglia cell membranes. RESULTS: Utilizing an established LC-MS/MS assay, cholesterol and seven non-cholesterol sterols were analyzed with a limit of detection from 0.001 to 0.05 mg/L. Applying the detergent-free isolation of SIM-A9 microglia cell membranes, cholesterol (CH), desmosterol (DE), lanosterol (LA) stigmasterol (ST), beta-sitosterol (SI) and campesterol (CA) were quantified with coefficients of variations between 6 and 29% (fractions 4-6, n = 5). The highest concentrations of non-CH sterols within the microglia plasma membranes were found in the microdomain region (DE>LA>SI>ST>CA), with ratios to CH ranging from 2.3 to 435 lower abundancies. CONCLUSION: By applying our newly developed and validated analytical protocol, we show that the non-CH sterol concentration is about 38% of the total sterol content in microglia membrane microdomains. Further investigations must clarify how changes in the non-sterol composition influence membrane fluidity and cell signaling.

Plant Sterol-Poor Diet Is Associated with Pro-Inflammatory Lipid Mediators in the Murine Brain.

Plant sterols (PSs) cannot be synthesized in mammals and are exclusively diet-derived. PSs cross the blood-brain barrier and may have anti-neuroinflammatory effects. Obesity is linked to lower intestinal uptake and blood levels of PSs, but its effects in terms of neuroinflammation-if any-remain unknown. We investigated the effect of high-fat diet-induced obesity on PSs in the brain and the effects of the PSs campesterol and ß-sitosterol on in vitro microglia activation. Sterols (cholesterol, precursors, PSs) and polyunsaturated fatty acid-derived lipid mediators were measured in the food, blood, liver and brain of C57BL/6J mice. Under a PSs-poor high-fat diet, PSs levels decreased in the blood, liver and brain (>50%). This effect was reversible after 2 weeks upon changing back to a chow diet. Inflammatory thromboxane B2 and prostaglandin D2 were inversely correlated to campesterol and ß-sitosterol levels in all brain regions. PSs content was determined post mortem in human cortex samples as well. In vitro, PSs accumulate in lipid rafts isolated from SIM-A9 microglia cell membranes. In summary, PSs levels in the blood, liver and brain were associated directly with PSs food content and inversely with BMI. PSs dampen pro-inflammatory lipid mediators in the brain. The identification of PSs in the human cortex in comparable concentration ranges implies the relevance of our findings for humans.

Dual Promoters Improve the Rescue of Recombinant Measles Virus in Human Cells.

Reverse genetics is a technology that allows the production of a virus from its complementary DNA (cDNA). It is a powerful tool for analyzing viral genes, the development of novel vaccines, and gene delivery vectors. The standard reverse genetics protocols are laborious, time-consuming, and inefficient for negative-strand RNA viruses. A new reverse genetics platform was established, which increases the recovery efficiency of the measles virus (MV) in human 293-3-46 cells. The novel features compared with the standard system involving 293-3-46 cells comprise (a) dual promoters containing the RNA polymerase II promoter (CMV) and the bacteriophage T7 promoter placed in uni-direction on the same plasmid to enhance RNA transcription; (b) three G nucleotides added just after the T7 promoter to increase the T7 RNA polymerase activity; and (c) two ribozymes, the hairpin hammerhead ribozyme (HHRz), and the hepatitis delta virus ribozyme (HDVrz), were used to cleavage the exact termini of the antigenome RNA. Full-length antigenome cDNA of MV of the wild type IC323 strain or the vaccine AIK-C strain was inserted into the plasmid backbone. Both virus strains were easily rescued from their respective cloned cDNA. The rescue efficiency increased up to 80% compared with the use of the standard T7 rescue system. We assume that this system might be helpful in the rescue of other human mononegavirales.

Mutated Measles Virus Matrix and Fusion Protein Influence Viral Titer In Vitro and Neuro-Invasion in Lewis Rat Brain Slice Cultures.

Measles virus (MV) can cause severe acute diseases as well as long-lasting clinical deteriorations due to viral-induced immunosuppression and neuronal manifestation. How the virus enters the brain and manages to persist in neuronal tissue is not fully understood. Various mutations in the viral genes were found in MV strains isolated from patient brains. In this study, reverse genetics was used to introduce mutations in the fusion, matrix and polymerase genes of MV. The generated virus clones were characterized in cell culture and used to infect rat brain slice cultures. A mutation in the carboxy-terminal domain of the matrix protein (R293Q) promoted the production of progeny virions. This effect was observed in Vero cells irrespective of the expression of the signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM). Furthermore, a mutation in the fusion protein (I225M) induced syncytia formation on Vero cells in the absence of SLAM and promoted viral spread throughout the rat brain slices. In this study, a solid ex vivo model was established to elucidate the MV mutations contributing to neural manifestation.

Improved method for simultaneous isolation of proteins and nucleic acids.

Guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction (GTPC extraction) is widely used in molecular biology for isolating DNA, RNA, and proteins. Protein isolation by commercially available GTPC solutions is time consuming and the resulting pellets are only incompletely soluble. In this study ethanol-bromochloropropane-water was used for precipitation of proteins from the phenol-ethanol phase after GTPC extraction of RNA and DNA. The precipitated proteins can be readily dissolved in 4% SDS for subsequent analysis. This technique allows a fast (30min) and efficient (with a protein recovery of up to 95%) extraction of proteins for the study of transcriptional and posttranscriptional events from the same sample.