Depletion of transit amplifying cells in the adult brain does not affect quiescent neural stem cell pool size.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are maintained in the adult mammalian brain throughout the animal's lifespan. NSCs in the subependymal zone infrequently divide and generate transit amplifying cells, which are destined to become olfactory bulb neurons. When transit amplifying cells are depleted, they are replenished by the quiescent NSC pool. However, the cellular basis for this recovery process remains largely unknown. In this study, we traced NSCs and their progeny after transit amplifying cells were eliminated by intraventricular infusion of cytosine ß-D-arabinofuranoside. We found that although the number of neurosphere-forming NSCs decreased shortly after the treatment, they were restored to normal levels 3 weeks after the cessation of treatment. More importantly, the depletion of transit amplifying cells did not induce a significant expansion of the NSC pool by symmetric divisions. Our data suggest that the size of the NSC pool is hardly affected by brain damage due to antimitotic drug treatment.

Fut9 Deficiency Causes Abnormal Neural Development in the Mouse Cerebral Cortex and Retina.

α1,3-Fucosyltransferase 9 (Fut9) is responsible for the synthesis of Lewis X [LeX, Galß1-4(Fucα1-3)GlcNAc] carbohydrate epitope, a marker for pluripotent or multipotent tissue-specific stem cells. Although Fut9-deficient mice show anxiety-related behaviors, structural and cellular abnormalities in the brain remain to be investigated. In this study, using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical techniques in combination, we clarified the spatiotemporal expression of Fut9, together with LeX, in the brain and retina. We found that Fut9-expressing cells are positive for Ctip2, a marker of neurons residing in layer V/VI, and TLE4, a marker of corticothalamic projection neurons (CThPNs) in layer VI, of the cortex. A birthdating analysis using 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine at embryonic day (E)11.5, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine at E12.5, and in utero electroporation of a GFP expression plasmid at E14.5 revealed a reduction in the percentage of neurons produced at E11.5 in layer VI/subplate of the cortex and in the ganglion cell layer of the retina in P0 Fut9-/- mice. Furthermore, this reduction in layer VI/subplate neurons persisted into adulthood, leading to a reduction in the number of Ctip2strong/Satb2- excitatory neurons in layer V/VI of the adult Fut9-/- cortex. These results suggest that Fut9 plays significant roles in the differentiation, migration, and maturation of neural precursor cells in the cortex and retina.

Precise CAG repeat contraction in a Huntington's Disease mouse model is enabled by gene editing with SpCas9-NG.

The clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 system is a research hotspot in gene therapy. However, the widely used Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (WT-SpCas9) requires an NGG protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) for target recognition, thereby restricting targetable disease mutations. To address this issue, we recently reported an engineered SpCas9 nuclease variant (SpCas9-NG) recognizing NGN PAMs. Here, as a feasibility study, we report SpCas9-NG-mediated repair of the abnormally expanded CAG repeat tract in Huntington's disease (HD). By targeting the boundary of CAG repeats with SpCas9-NG, we precisely contracted the repeat tracts in HD-mouse-derived embryonic stem (ES) cells. Further, we confirmed the recovery of phenotypic abnormalities in differentiated neurons and animals produced from repaired ES cells. Our study shows that SpCas9-NG can be a powerful tool for repairing abnormally expanded CAG repeats as well as other disease mutations that are difficult to access with WT-SpCas9.

Life-Long Neural Stem Cells Are Fate-Specified at an Early Developmental Stage.

The origin and life-long fate of quiescent neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult mammalian brain remain largely unknown. A few neural precursor cells in the embryonic brain elongate their cell cycle time and subsequently become quiescent postnatally, suggesting the possibility that life-long NSCs are selected at an early embryonic stage. Here, we utilized a GFP-expressing lentivirus to investigate the fate of progeny from individual lentivirus-infected NSCs by identifying the lentiviral integration site. Our data suggest that NSCs become specified to two or more lineages prior to embryonic day 13.5 in mice: one NSC lineage produces cells only for the cortex and another provides neurons to the olfactory bulb. The majority of neurosphere-forming NSCs in the adult brain are relatively dormant and generate very few cells, if any, in the olfactory bulb or cortex, and this NSC population could serve as a reservoir that is occasionally reactivated later in life.

Early Maternal and Social Deprivation Expands Neural Stem Cell Population Size and Reduces Hippocampus/Amygdala-Dependent Fear Memory.

Early life stress can exert detrimental or beneficial effects on neural development and postnatal behavior depending on the timing, duration, strength, and ability to control the stressors. In this study, we utilized a maternal and social deprivation (MSD) model to investigate the effects of early life stress on neural stem cells (NSCs) and neurogenesis in the adult brain. We found that MSD during the stress-hyporesponsive period (SHRP) (early-MSD), when corticosterone secretion is suppressed, increased the size of the NSC population, whereas the same stress beyond the SHRP abrogated these effects. Early-MSD enhanced neurogenesis not only in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, one of the classic neurogenic regions, but also in the amygdala. In addition, mice exposed to early-MSD exhibited a reduction in amygdala/hippocampus-dependent fear memory. These results suggest that animals exposed to early life stress during the SHRP have reinforced stress resilience to cope with perceived stressors to maintain a normal homeostatic state.

Comprehensive evaluation of ubiquitous promoters suitable for the generation of transgenic cynomolgus monkeys†.

Nonhuman primates (NHPs) are considered to be the most valuable models for human transgenic (Tg) research into disease because human pathology is more closely recapitulated in NHPs than rodents. Previous studies have reported the generation of Tg NHPs that ubiquitously overexpress a transgene using various promoters, but it is not yet clear which promoter is most suitable for the generation of NHPs overexpressing a transgene ubiquitously and persistently in various tissues. To clarify this issue, we evaluated four putative ubiquitous promoters, cytomegalovirus (CMV) immediate-early enhancer and chicken beta-actin (CAG), elongation factor 1α (EF1α), ubiquitin C (UbC), and CMV, using an in vitro differentiation system of cynomolgus monkey embryonic stem cells (ESCs). While the EF1α promoter drove Tg expression more strongly than the other promoters in undifferentiated pluripotent ESCs, the CAG promoter was more effective in differentiated cells such as embryoid bodies and ESC-derived neurons. When the CAG and EF1α promoters were used to generate green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing Tg monkeys, the CAG promoter drove GFP expression in skin and hematopoietic tissues more strongly than in ΕF1α-GFP Tg monkeys. Notably, the EF1α promoter underwent more silencing in both ESCs and Tg monkeys. Thus, the CAG promoter appears to be the most suitable for ubiquitous and stable expression of transgenes in the differentiated tissues of Tg cynomolgus monkeys and appropriate for the establishment of human disease models.

Adult neurogenesis and its role in brain injury and psychiatric diseases.

In the adult mammalian brain, neural stem cells (NSCs) reside in two neurogenic regions, the walls of the lateral ventricles, and the subgranular zone of the hippocampus, which generate new neurons for the olfactory bulb and dentate gyrus, respectively. These adult NSCs retain their self-renewal ability and capacity to differentiate into neurons and glia as demonstrated by in vitro studies. However, their contribution to tissue repair in disease and injury is limited, lending credence to the claim by prominent neuropathologist Ramón y Cajal that 'once development was ended, the founts of growth and regeneration of the axons and dendrites dried up irrevocably'. However, recent progress toward understanding the fundamental biology of adult NSCs and their role in pathological conditions has provided new insight into the potential therapeutic utility of endogenous NSCs. In this short review, we highlight two topics: the altered behavior of NSCs after brain damage and the dysfunction of NSCs and oligodendrocyte precursor cells, another type of undifferentiated cell in the adult brain, in mood affective disorders.

Minocycline Directly Enhances the Self-Renewal of Adult Neural Precursor Cells.

Minocycline not only has antibacterial action but also produces a variety of pharmacological effects. It has drawn considerable attention as a therapeutic agent for symptoms caused by inflammation in many neurological disorders, leading to several clinical trials. Although some of these effects are mediated through its function of suppressing microglial activation, it is not clear whether minocycline acts on other cell types in the adult brain. In this study, we utilized a colony-forming neurosphere assay, in which neural stem cells (NSCs) clonally proliferate to form floating colonies, called neurospheres. We found that minocycline (at therapeutically relevant concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid) enhances the self-renewal capability of NSCs derived from the subependymal zone of adult mouse brain and facilitates their differentiation into oligodendrocytes. Importantly, these effects were independent of a suppression of microglial activation and were specifically observed with minocycline (among tetracycline derivatives). In addition, the size of the NSC population in the adult brain was increased when minocycline was infused into the lateral ventricle by an osmotic minipump in vivo. While precise molecular mechanisms of how minocycline alters the behavior of adult NSCs remain unknown, our data provide a basis for the clinical use of minocycline to treat neurodegenerative and demyelinating diseases.

Origin of oligodendrocytes in mammalian forebrains: a revised perspective.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) appear in the late embryonic brain, mature into oligodendrocytes (OLs), and form myelin in the postnatal brain. It has been proposed that early born OPCs derived from the ventral forebrain are eliminated postnatally and late-born OLs predominate in the adult mouse cortex. However, the temporal and regional niche for cortical OL generation, which persists throughout life in adult mammals, remains to be determined. Our recent study provides new insight into self-renewing and multipotent neural stem cells (NSCs). Our results, together with previous studies, suggest that NSCs at the dorsoventral boundary are uniquely specialized to produce myelin-forming OLs in the cortex during a restricted temporal window. These findings may help identify transcription factors or gene expression patterns which confer neural precursors with the characteristic ability of dorsoventral boundary NSCs to differentiate into OLs, and facilitate the development of new strategies for regenerative medicine of the damaged brain.

Generation of transgenic cynomolgus monkeys that express green fluorescent protein throughout the whole body.

Nonhuman primates are valuable for human disease modelling, because rodents poorly recapitulate some human diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease amongst others. Here, we report for the first time, the generation of green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic cynomolgus monkeys by lentivirus infection. Our data show that the use of a human cytomegalovirus immediate-early enhancer and chicken beta actin promoter (CAG) directed the ubiquitous expression of the transgene in cynomolgus monkeys. We also found that injection into mature oocytes before fertilization achieved homogenous expression of GFP in each tissue, including the amnion, and fibroblasts, whereas injection into fertilized oocytes generated a transgenic cynomolgus monkey with mosaic GFP expression. Thus, the injection timing was important to create transgenic cynomolgus monkeys that expressed GFP homogenously in each of the various tissues. The strategy established in this work will be useful for the generation of transgenic cynomolgus monkeys for transplantation studies as well as biomedical research.

The Dorsoventral Boundary of the Germinal Zone is a Specialized Niche for the Generation of Cortical Oligodendrocytes during a Restricted Temporal Window.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) appear in the late embryonic brain, mature to become oligodendrocytes (OLs), and form myelin in the postnatal brain. Recently, it has been proposed that early-born OPCs derived from the ventral forebrain are eradicated postnatally and that late-born OLs predominate in the cortex of the adult mouse brain. However, intrinsic and extrinsic factors that specify the ability of self-renewing multipotent neural stem cells in the embryonic brain to generate cortical OL-lineage cells remain largely unknown. Using an inducible Cre/loxP system to permanently label Nestin- and Olig2-lineage cells, we identified that cortical OL-lineage cells start differentiating from neural stem cells within a restricted temporal window just prior to E16.5 through P10. We then showed, by means of electroporation of a Cre expression plasmid into the VZ/SVZ of E15.5 reporter mouse brains, that neural precursor cells in the dorsal VZ/SVZ are inhibited by Wnt signaling from contributing to cortical OLs in the adult brain. In contrast, neural precursor cells present in the dorsoventral boundary VZ/SVZ produce a significant amount of OLs in the adult cortex. Our results suggest that neural stem cells at this boundary are uniquely specialized to produce myelin-forming OLs in the cortex.

Neural stem cells and neuro/gliogenesis in the central nervous system: understanding the structural and functional plasticity of the developing, mature, and diseased brain.

Neurons and glia in the central nervous system (CNS) originate from neural stem cells (NSCs). Knowledge of the mechanisms of neuro/gliogenesis from NSCs is fundamental to our understanding of how complex brain architecture and function develop. NSCs are present not only in the developing brain but also in the mature brain in adults. Adult neurogenesis likely provides remarkable plasticity to the mature brain. In addition, recent progress in basic research in mental disorders suggests an etiological link with impaired neuro/gliogenesis in particular brain regions. Here, we review the recent progress and discuss future directions in stem cell and neuro/gliogenesis biology by introducing several topics presented at a joint meeting of the Japanese Association of Anatomists and the Physiological Society of Japan in 2015. Collectively, these topics indicated that neuro/gliogenesis from NSCs is a common event occurring in many brain regions at various ages in animals. Given that significant structural and functional changes in cells and neural networks are accompanied by neuro/gliogenesis from NSCs and the integration of newly generated cells into the network, stem cell and neuro/gliogenesis biology provides a good platform from which to develop an integrated understanding of the structural and functional plasticity that underlies the development of the CNS, its remodeling in adulthood, and the recovery from diseases that affect it.

Heterozygous Polg mutation causes motor dysfunction due to mtDNA deletions.

OBJECTIVE: Mutations in nuclear-encoded mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymerase (POLG) are known to cause autosomal dominant chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia (adCPEO) with accumulation of multiple mtDNA deletions in muscles. However, no animal model with a heterozygous Polg mutation representing mtDNA impairment and symptoms of CPEO has been established. To understand the pathogenic mechanism of CPEO, it is important to determine the age dependency and tissue specificity of mtDNA impairment resulting from a heterozygous mutation in the Polg gene in an animal model. METHODS: We assessed behavioral phenotypes, tissue-specific accumulation of mtDNA deletions, and its age dependency in heterozygous Polg (D257A) knock-in mice carrying a proofreading-deficient mutation in the Polg. RESULTS: Heterozygous Polg (D257A) knock-in mice exhibited motor dysfunction in a rotarod test. Polg (+/D257A) mice had significant accumulation of multiple mtDNA deletions, but did not show significant accumulation of point mutations or mtDNA depletion in the brain. While mtDNA deletions increased in an age-dependent manner regardless of the tissue even in Polg (+/+) mice, the age-dependent accumulation of mtDNA deletions was enhanced in muscles and in the brain of Polg (+/D257A) mice. INTERPRETATION: Heterozygous Polg (D257A) knock-in mice showed tissue-specific, age-dependent accumulation of multiple mtDNA deletions in muscles and the brain which was likely to result in neuromuscular symptoms. Polg (+/D257A) mice may be used as an animal model of adCPEO associated with impaired mtDNA maintenance.

Determination of major sialylated N-glycans and identification of branched sialylated N-glycans that dynamically change their content during development in the mouse cerebral cortex.

Oligosaccharides of glycoproteins expressed on the cell surface play important roles in cell-cell interactions, particularly sialylated N-glycans having a negative charge, which interact with sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectins (siglecs). The entire structure of sialylated N-glycans expressed in the mouse brain, particularly the linkage type of sialic acid residues attached to the backbone N-glycans, has not yet been elucidated. An improved method to analyze pyridylaminated sugar chains using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed to determine the entire structure of sialylated N-linked sugar chains expressed in the adult and developing mouse cerebral cortices. Three classes of sialylated sugar chains were prevalent: 1) N-glycans containing α(2-3)-sialyl linkages on a type 2 antennary (Galß(1-4)GlcNAc), 2) sialylated N-glycans with α(2-6)-sialyl linkages on a type 2 antennary, and 3) a branched sialylated N-glycan with a [Galß(1-3){NeuAcα(2-6)}GlcNAc-] structure, which was absent at embryonic day 12 but then increased during development. This branched type sialylated N-glycan structure comprised approximately 2 % of the total N-glycans in the adult brain. Some N-glycans (containing type 2 antennary) were found to change their type of sialic acid linkage from α(2-6)-Gal to α(2-3)-Gal. Thus, the linkages and expression levels of sialylated N-glycans change dramatically during brain development.

Mechanisms for interferon-α-induced depression and neural stem cell dysfunction.

New neurons generated by the neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult hippocampus play an important role in emotional regulation and respond to the action of antidepressants. Depression is a common and serious side effect of interferon-α (IFN-α), which limits its use as an antiviral and antitumor drug. However, the mechanism(s) underlying IFN-induced depression are largely unknown. Using a comprehensive battery of behavioral tests, we found that mice subjected to IFN-α treatment exhibited a depression-like phenotype. IFN-α directly suppressed NSC proliferation, resulting in the reduced generation of new neurons. Brain-specific mouse knockout of the IFN-α receptor prevented IFN-α-induced depressive behavioral phenotypes and the inhibition of neurogenesis, suggesting that IFN-α suppresses hippocampal neurogenesis and induces depression via its receptor in the brain. These findings provide insight for understanding the neuropathology underlying IFN-α-induced depression and for developing new strategies for the prevention and treatment of IFN-α-induced depressive effects.

Bre1a, a histone H2B ubiquitin ligase, regulates the cell cycle and differentiation of neural precursor cells.

Cell cycle regulation is crucial for the maintenance of stem cell populations in adult mammalian tissues. During development, the cell cycle length in neural stem cells increases, which could be associated with their capabilities for self-renewal. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate differentiation and cell cycle progression in embryonic neural stem cells remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated the function of Bre1a, a histone H2B ubiquitylation factor, which is expressed in most but not all of neural precursor cells (NPCs) in the developing mouse brain. We found that the knockdown of Bre1a in NPCs lengthened their cell cycle through the upregulation of p57(kip2) and the downregulation of Cdk2. In addition, the knockdown of Bre1a increased the expression of Hes5, an effector gene of Notch signaling, through the action of Fezf1 and Fezf2 genes and suppressed the differentiation of NPCs. Our data suggest that Bre1a could be a bifunctional gene that regulates both the differentiation status and cell cycle length of NPCs. We propose a novel model that the Bre1a-negative cells in the ventricular zone of early embryonic brains remain undifferentiated and are selected as self-renewing neural stem cells, which increase their cell cycle time during development.

The Lewis X-related α1,3-fucosyltransferase, Fut10, is required for the maintenance of stem cell populations.

Lewis X (Le(X), Galß1-4(Fucα1-3)GlcNAc) is a carbohydrate epitope that is present at the nonreducing terminus of sugar chains of glycoproteins and glycolipids, and is abundantly expressed in several stem cell populations. Le(X) antigen can be used in conjunction with fluorescence-activated cell sorting to isolate neurosphere-forming neural stem cells (NSCs) from embryonic mouse brains. However, its function in the maintenance and differentiation of stem cells remains largely unknown. In this study, we examined mice deficient for fucosyltransferase 9 (Fut9), which is thought to synthesize most, if not all, of the Le(X) moieties in the brain. We found that the number of NSCs was increased in the brain of Fut9(-/-) embryos, suggesting that Fut9-synthesized Le(X) is dispensable for the maintenance of NSCs. Another α1,3-fucosyltransferase gene, fucosyltransferase 10 (Fut10), is expressed in the ventricular zone of the embryonic brain. Overexpression of Fut10 enhanced the self-renewal of NSCs. Conversely, suppression of Fut10 expression induced the differentiation of NSCs and embryonic stem cells. In addition, knockdown of Fut10 expression in the cortical ventricular zone of the embryonic brain by in utero electroporation of Fut10-miRNAs impaired the radial migration of neural precursor cells. Our data suggest that Fut10 is involved in a unique α1,3-fucosyltransferase activity with stringent substrate specificity, and that this activity is required to maintain stem cells in an undifferentiated state.