Characterisation of premature cell senescence in Alzheimer's disease using single nuclear transcriptomics.

Aging is associated with cell senescence and is the major risk factor for AD. We characterized premature cell senescence in postmortem brains from non-diseased controls (NDC) and donors with Alzheimer's disease (AD) using imaging mass cytometry (IMC) and single nuclear RNA (snRNA) sequencing (> 200,000 nuclei). We found increases in numbers of glia immunostaining for galactosidase beta (> fourfold) and p16INK4A (up to twofold) with AD relative to NDC. Increased glial expression of genes related to senescence was associated with greater ß-amyloid load. Prematurely senescent microglia downregulated phagocytic pathways suggesting reduced capacity for ß-amyloid clearance. Gene set enrichment and pseudo-time trajectories described extensive DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), mitochondrial dysfunction and ER stress associated with increased ß-amyloid leading to premature senescence in microglia. We replicated these observations with independent AD snRNA-seq datasets. Our results describe a burden of senescent glia with AD that is sufficiently high to contribute to disease progression. These findings support the hypothesis that microglia are a primary target for senolytic treatments in AD.

A single nuclear transcriptomic characterisation of mechanisms responsible for impaired angiogenesis and blood-brain barrier function in Alzheimer's disease.

Brain perfusion and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity are reduced early in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We performed single nucleus RNA sequencing of vascular cells isolated from AD and non-diseased control brains to characterise pathological transcriptional signatures responsible for this. We show that endothelial cells (EC) are enriched for expression of genes associated with susceptibility to AD. Increased ß-amyloid is associated with BBB impairment and a dysfunctional angiogenic response related to a failure of increased pro-angiogenic HIF1A to increased VEGFA signalling to EC. This is associated with vascular inflammatory activation, EC senescence and apoptosis. Our genomic dissection of vascular cell risk gene enrichment provides evidence for a role of EC pathology in AD and suggests that reducing vascular inflammatory activation and restoring effective angiogenesis could reduce vascular dysfunction contributing to the genesis or progression of early AD.

Diverse human astrocyte and microglial transcriptional responses to Alzheimer's pathology.

To better define roles that astrocytes and microglia play in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we used single-nuclei RNA-sequencing to comprehensively characterise transcriptomes in astrocyte and microglia nuclei selectively enriched during isolation post-mortem from neuropathologically defined AD and control brains with a range of amyloid-beta and phospho-tau (pTau) pathology. Significant differences in glial gene expression (including AD risk genes expressed in both the astrocytes [CLU, MEF2C, IQCK] and microglia [APOE, MS4A6A, PILRA]) were correlated with tissue amyloid or pTau expression. The differentially expressed genes were distinct between with the two cell types and pathologies, although common (but cell-type specific) gene sets were enriched with both pathologies in each cell type. Astrocytes showed enrichment for proteostatic, inflammatory and metal ion homeostasis pathways. Pathways for phagocytosis, inflammation and proteostasis were enriched in microglia and perivascular macrophages with greater tissue amyloid, but IL1-related pathway enrichment was found specifically in association with pTau. We also found distinguishable sub-clusters in the astrocytes and microglia characterised by transcriptional signatures related to either homeostatic functions or disease pathology. Gene co-expression analyses revealed potential functional associations of soluble biomarkers of AD in astrocytes (CLU) and microglia (GPNMB). Our work highlights responses of both astrocytes and microglia for pathological protein clearance and inflammation, as well as glial transcriptional diversity in AD.

Efficacy of arginine depletion by ADI-PEG20 in an intracranial model of GBM.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains a cancer with a poor prognosis and few effective therapeutic options. Successful medical management of GBM is limited by the restricted access of drugs to the central nervous system (CNS) caused by the blood brain barrier (BBB). We previously showed that a subset of GBM are arginine auxotrophic because of transcriptional silencing of ASS1 and/or ASL and are sensitive to pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG20). However, it is unknown whether depletion of arginine in peripheral blood in vivo has therapeutic activity against intracranial disease. In the present work, we describe the efficacy of ADI-PEG20 in an intracranial model of human GBM in which tumour growth and regression are assessed in real time by measurement of luciferase activity. Animals bearing intracranial human GBM tumours of varying ASS status were treated with ADI-PEG20 alone or in combination with temozolomide and monitored for tumour growth and regression. Monotherapy ADI-PEG20 significantly reduces the intracranial growth of ASS1 negative GBM and extends survival of mice carrying ASS1 negative GBM without obvious toxicity. The combination of ADI-PEG20 with temozolomide (TMZ) demonstrates enhanced effects in both ASS1 negative and ASS1 positive backgrounds.Our data provide proof of principle for a therapeutic strategy for GBM using peripheral blood arginine depletion that does not require BBB passage of drug and is well tolerated. The ability of ADI-PEG20 to cytoreduce GBM and enhance the effects of temozolomide argues strongly for its early clinical evaluation in the treatment of GBM.

PPARß/δ modulates ethanol-induced hepatic effects by decreasing pyridoxal kinase activity.

Because of the significant morbidity and lethality caused by alcoholic liver disease (ALD), there remains a need to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms that can be targeted to prevent and treat ALD. Toward this goal, minimally invasive biomarker discovery represents an outstanding approach for these purposes. The mechanisms underlying ALD include hepatic lipid accumulation. As the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-ß/δ (PPARß/δ) has been shown to inhibit steatosis, the present study examined the role of PPARß/δ in ALD coupling metabolomic, biochemical and molecular biological analyses. Wild-type and Pparß/δ-null mice were fed either a control or 4% ethanol diet and examined after 4-7 months of treatment. Ethanol fed Pparß/δ-null mice exhibited steatosis after short-term treatment compared to controls, the latter effect appeared to be due to increased activity of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP1c). The wild-type and Pparß/δ-null mice fed the control diet showed clear differences in their urinary metabolomic profiles. In particular, metabolites associated with arginine and proline metabolism, and glycerolipid metabolism, were markedly different between genotypes suggesting a constitutive role for PPARß/δ in the metabolism of these amino acids. Interestingly, urinary excretion of taurine was present in ethanol-fed wild-type mice but markedly lower in similarly treated Pparß/δ-null mice. Evidence suggests that PPARß/δ modulates pyridoxal kinase activity by altering Km, consistent with the observed decreased in urinary taurine excretion. These data collectively suggest that PPARß/δ prevents ethanol-induced hepatic effects by inhibiting hepatic lipogenesis, modulation of amino acid metabolism, and altering pyridoxal kinase activity.

Cell wall perturbation sensitizes fungi to the antimalarial drug chloroquine.

Chloroquine (CQ) has been a mainstay of antimalarial drug treatment for several decades. Additional therapeutic actions of CQ have been described, including some reports of fungal inhibition. Here we investigated the action of CQ in fungi, including the yeast model Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A genomewide yeast deletion strain collection was screened against CQ, revealing that bck1Δ and slt2Δ mutants of the cell wall integrity pathway are CQ hypersensitive. This phenotype was rescued with sorbitol, consistent with cell wall involvement. The cell wall-targeting agent caffeine caused hypersensitivity to CQ, as did cell wall perturbation by sonication. The phenotypes were not caused by CQ-induced changes to cell wall components. Instead, CQ accumulated to higher levels in cells with perturbed cell walls: CQ uptake was 2- to 3-fold greater in bck1Δ and slt2Δ mutants than in wild-type yeast. CQ toxicity was synergistic with that of the major cell wall-targeting antifungal drug, caspofungin. The MIC of caspofungin against the yeast pathogen Candida albicans was decreased 2-fold by 250 µM CQ and up to 8-fold at higher CQ concentrations. Similar effects were seen in Candida glabrata and Aspergillus fumigatus. The results show that the cell wall is critical for CQ resistance in fungi and suggest that combination treatments with cell wall-targeting drugs could have potential for antifungal treatment.

Analysis of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-ß/δ (PPARß/δ) cistrome reveals novel co-regulatory role of ATF4.

BACKGROUND: The present study coupled expression profiling with chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) to examine peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-ß/δ (PPARß/δ)-dependent regulation of gene expression in mouse keratinocytes, a cell type that expresses PPARß/δ in high concentration. RESULTS: Microarray analysis elucidated eight different types of regulation that modulated PPARß/δ-dependent gene expression of 612 genes ranging from repression or activation without an exogenous ligand, repression or activation with an exogenous ligand, or a combination of these effects. Bioinformatic analysis of ChIP-seq data demonstrated promoter occupancy of PPARß/δ for some of these genes, and also identified the presence of other transcription factor binding sites in close proximity to PPARß/δ bound to chromatin. For some types of regulation, ATF4 is required for ligand-dependent induction of PPARß/δ target genes. CONCLUSIONS: PPARß/δ regulates constitutive expression of genes in keratinocytes, thus suggesting the presence of one or more endogenous ligands. The diversity in the types of gene regulation carried out by PPARß/δ is consistent with dynamic binding and interactions with chromatin and indicates the presence of complex regulatory networks in cells expressing high levels of this nuclear receptor such as keratinocytes. Results from these studies are the first to demonstrate that differences in DNA binding of other transcription factors can directly influence the transcriptional activity of PPARß/δ.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ß/δ cross talks with E2F and attenuates mitosis in HRAS-expressing cells.

The role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ß/δ (PPARß/δ) in Harvey sarcoma ras (Hras)-expressing cells was examined. Ligand activation of PPARß/δ caused a negative selection with respect to cells expressing higher levels of the Hras oncogene by inducing a mitotic block. Mitosis-related genes that are predominantly regulated by E2F were induced to a higher level in HRAS-expressing Pparß/δ-null keratinocytes compared to HRAS-expressing wild-type keratinocytes. Ligand-activated PPARß/δ repressed expression of these genes by direct binding with p130/p107, facilitating nuclear translocation and increasing promoter recruitment of p130/p107. These results demonstrate a novel mechanism of PPARß/δ cross talk with E2F signaling. Since cotreatment with a PPARß/δ ligand and various mitosis inhibitors increases the efficacy of increasing G2/M arrest, targeting PPARß/δ in conjunction with mitosis inhibitors could become a suitable option for development of new multitarget strategies for inhibiting RAS-dependent tumorigenesis.

Stable over-expression of PPARß/δ and PPARγ to examine receptor signaling in human HaCaT keratinocytes.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-ß/δ (PPARß/δ) function and receptor cross-talk with other nuclear receptors, including PPARγ and retinoic acid receptors (RARs), was examined using stable human HaCaT keratinocyte cell lines over-expressing PPARß/δ or PPARγ. Enhanced ligand-induced expression of two known PPAR target genes, adipocyte differentiation-related protein (ADRP) and angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4), was found in HaCaT keratinocytes over-expressing PPARß/δ or PPARγ. Over-expression of PPARß/δ did not modulate the effect of a PPARγ agonist on up-regulation of ADRP or ANGPTL4 mRNA in HaCaT keratinocytes. All-trans retinoic acid (atRA) increased expression of a known RAR target gene, yet despite a high ratio of fatty acid binding protein 5 (FABP5) to cellular retinoic acid binding protein II, did not increase expression of ANGPTL4 or 3-phosphoinositide-dependent-protein kinase 1 (PDPK1), even in HaCaT keratinocytes expressing markedly higher levels of PPARß/δ. While PPARß/δ-dependent attenuation of staurosporine- or UVB-induced poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage was not observed, PPARß/δ- and PPARγ-dependent repression of UVB-induced expression and secretion of inflammatory cytokines was found in HaCaT keratinocytes over-expressing PPARß/δ or PPARγ. These studies suggest that FABP5 does not transport atRA or GW0742 to PPARß/δ and promote anti-apoptotic activity by increasing expression of PDPK1, or that PPARß/δ interferes with PPARγ transcriptional activity. However, these studies demonstrate that stable over-expression of PPARß/δ or PPARγ significantly increases the efficacy of ligand activation and represses UVB-induced expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), interleukin 6 (IL6), or IL8 in HaCaT keratinocytes, thereby establishing an excellent model to study the functional role of these receptors in human keratinocytes.

The antimalarial drug quinine disrupts Tat2p-mediated tryptophan transport and causes tryptophan starvation.

Quinine is a major drug of choice for the treatment of malaria. However, the primary mode of quinine action is unclear, and its efficacy is marred by adverse reactions among patients. To help address these issues, a genome-wide screen for quinine sensitivity was carried out using the yeast deletion strain collection. Quinine-sensitive mutants identified in the screen included several that were defective for tryptophan biosynthesis (trp strains). This sensitivity was confirmed in independent assays and was suppressible with exogenous Trp, suggesting that quinine caused Trp starvation. Accordingly, quinine was found to inhibit [(3)H]Trp uptake by cells, and the quinine sensitivity of a trp1Delta mutant could be rescued by overexpression of Trp permeases, encoded by TAT1 and TAT2. The site of quinine action was identified specifically as the high affinity Trp/Tyr permease, Tat2p, with which quinine associated in a Trp-suppressible manner. A resultant action also on Tyr levels was reflected by the Tyr-suppressible quinine hypersensitivity of an aro7Delta deletion strain, which is auxotrophic for Tyr (and Phe). The present genome-wide dataset provides an important resource for discovering modes of quinine toxicity. That potential was validated with our demonstration that Trp and Tyr uptake via Tat2p is a major target of cellular quinine toxicity. The results also suggest that dietary tryptophan supplements could help to avert the toxic effects of quinine.