Direct Intracranial Injection of AAVrh8 Encoding Monkey ß-N-Acetylhexosaminidase Causes Neurotoxicity in the Primate Brain.

GM2 gangliosidoses, including Tay-Sachs disease and Sandhoff disease, are lysosomal storage disorders caused by deficiencies in ß-N-acetylhexosaminidase (Hex). Patients are afflicted primarily with progressive central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction. Studies in mice, cats, and sheep have indicated safety and widespread distribution of Hex in the CNS after intracranial vector infusion of AAVrh8 vectors encoding species-specific Hex α- or ß-subunits at a 1:1 ratio. Here, a safety study was conducted in cynomolgus macaques (cm), modeling previous animal studies, with bilateral infusion in the thalamus as well as in left lateral ventricle of AAVrh8 vectors encoding cm Hex α- and ß-subunits. Three doses (3.2 × 1012 vg [n = 3]; 3.2 × 1011 vg [n = 2]; or 1.1 × 1011 vg [n = 2]) were tested, with controls infused with vehicle (n = 1) or transgene empty AAVrh8 vector at the highest dose (n = 2). Most monkeys receiving AAVrh8-cmHexα/ß developed dyskinesias, ataxia, and loss of dexterity, with higher dose animals eventually becoming apathetic. Time to onset of symptoms was dose dependent, with the highest-dose cohort producing symptoms within a month of infusion. One monkey in the lowest-dose cohort was behaviorally asymptomatic but had magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities in the thalami. Histopathology was similar in all monkeys injected with AAVrh8-cmHexα/ß, showing severe white and gray matter necrosis along the injection track, reactive vasculature, and the presence of neurons with granular eosinophilic material. Lesions were minimal to absent in both control cohorts. Despite cellular loss, a dramatic increase in Hex activity was measured in the thalamus, and none of the animals presented with antibody titers against Hex. The high overexpression of Hex protein is likely to blame for this negative outcome, and this study demonstrates the variations in safety profiles of AAVrh8-Hexα/ß intracranial injection among different species, despite encoding for self-proteins.

TISSUE ENZYME ACTIVITIES IN KEMP'S RIDLEY TURTLES (LEPIDOCHELYS KEMPII).

This study determined the tissue distribution and activities of eight enzymes in 13 juvenile Kemp's ridley turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) that died after stranding. Samples from the liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, pancreas, lung, small intestine, and spleen were evaluated for activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), amylase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CK), γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and lipase. AST, CK, and LDH activities were highest in cardiac and skeletal muscle but were also found in all other tissues. Amylase and lipase activities were highest in the pancreas and low in all other tissues. ALP activity was highest in the lung. ALT activity was highest in liver, kidney, and cardiac muscle, and GGT activity was highest in the kidney, but activities of these enzymes were low in all tissues. These data may assist clinicians in interpretation of plasma enzyme activities of Kemp's ridley turtles.

Atypical nodular astrocytosis in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).

BACKGROUND: Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), a model for HIV pathogenesis, is associated with neuropathology. METHODS: Five SIV-infected animals were selected following a database search of 1206 SIV-infected animals for nodular or astrocytic lesions. Two of five had neurologic dysfunction, and 3 of 5 were incidental findings. RESULTS: Histologic examination revealed multifocal nodular foci in the gray and white matter formed by interlacing astrocytes with abundant cytoplasm and large, reactive nuclei. Nodules were often enmeshed with small capillaries. Immunohistochemistry revealed variable immunoreactivity for a panel of markers: GFAP (4/5), vimentin (5/5), Glut-1 (1/5), CNPase (0/5), S100 (5/5), Iba1 (0/5), Ki67 (0/5), and p53 (4/4). In situ hybridization failed to detect any SIV RNA (0/5). Immunohistochemistry for simian virus 40, rhesus cytomegalovirus, and rhesus lymphocryptovirus failed to detect any antigen within the lesions. CONCLUSION: The immunoreactivity of p53 in the lesions compared with adjacent tissue suggests a local derangement in astrocyte proliferation and function.

Prolactin prevents hepatocellular carcinoma by restricting innate immune activation of c-Myc in mice.

Women are more resistant to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than men despite equal exposure to major risk factors, such as hepatitis B or C virus infection. Female resistance is hormone-dependent, as evidenced by the sharp increase in HCC incidence in postmenopausal women who do not take hormone replacement therapy. In rodent models sex-dimorphic HCC phenotypes are pituitary-dependent, suggesting that sex hormones act via the gonadal-hypophyseal axis. We found that the estrogen-responsive pituitary hormone prolactin (PRL), signaling through hepatocyte-predominant short-form prolactin receptors (PRLR-S), constrained TNF receptor-associated factor (TRAF)-dependent innate immune responses invoked by IL-1ß, TNF-α, and LPS/Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), but not TRIF-dependent poly(I:C)/TLR3. PRL ubiquitinated and accelerated poststimulatory decay of a "trafasome" comprised of IRAK1, TRAF6, and MAP3K proteins, abrogating downstream activation of c-Myc-interacting pathways, including PI3K/AKT, mTORC1, p38 MAPK, and NF-κB. Consistent with this finding, we documented exaggerated male liver responses to immune stimuli in mice and humans. Tumor promotion through, but regulation above, the level of c-Myc was demonstrated by sex-independent HCC eruption in Alb-Myc transgenic mice. PRL deficiency accelerated liver carcinogenesis in Prl(-/-) mice of both sexes. Conversely, pharmacologic PRL mobilization using the dopamine D2 receptor antagonist domperidone prevented HCC in tumor-prone C3H/HeN males. Viewed together, our results demonstrate that PRL constrains tumor-promoting liver inflammation by inhibiting MAP3K-dependent activation of c-Myc at the level of the trafasome. PRL-targeted therapy may hold promise for reducing the burden of liver cancer in high-risk men and women.

A general model for preferential hetero-oligomerization of LIN-2/7 domains: mechanism underlying directed assembly of supramolecular signaling complexes.

LIN-2/7 (L27) domains are protein interaction modules that preferentially hetero-oligomerize, a property critical for their function in directing specific assembly of supramolecular signaling complexes at synapses and other polarized cell-cell junctions. We have solved the solution structure of the heterodimer composed of the L27 domains from LIN-2 and LIN-7. Comparison of this structure with other L27 domain structures has allowed us to formulate a general model for why most L27 domains form an obligate heterodimer complex. L27 domains can be divided in two types (A and B), with each heterodimer comprising an A/B pair. We have identified two keystone positions that play a central role in discrimination. The residues at these positions are energetically acceptable in the context of an A/B heterodimer, but would lead to packing defects or electrostatic repulsion in the context of A/A and B/B homodimers. As predicted by the model, mutations of keystone residues stabilize normally strongly disfavored homodimers. Thus, L27 domains are specifically optimized to avoid homodimeric interactions.