Circulating microRNAs in Huntington's disease: Emerging mediators in metabolic impairment.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease, with peripheral consequences that negatively contribute to quality of life. Circulating microRNAs (cmiRNAs) are being explored for their roles in intercellular communication and gene expression regulation, which allows gaining insight into the regulation of crosstalk between neuronal and peripheral tissues. Here, we explore the cmiRNA profile of plasma samples from fifteen symptomatic patients, with 40-45 CAG repeats in the HTT gene, and seven healthy matched controls. Isolated miRNAs from plasma samples were run against human miRNome panels, which have sequences for 752 human mature miRNAs. We found that 168 cmiRNAs are altered in symptomatic patients. Considering Bonferroni's correction, miR-877-5p, miR-223-3p, miR-223-5p, miR-30d-5p, miR-128, miR-22-5p, miR-222-3p, miR-338-3p, miR-130b-3p, miR-425-5p, miR-628-3p, miR-361-5p, miR-942 are significantly increased in HD patients as compared with controls. Moreover, after patient's organization according to approved HD scales, miR-122-5p is significantly decreased in HD patients with Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale >24, whereas an increase in miR-100-5p levels and a decrease in miR-641 and miR-330-3p levels were recorded when patients were rearranged by Total Functional Capacity. These results suggest that cmiRNA profile could be further modified by disease progression, making cmiRNAs useful as monitoring biomarkers. Analysis of target genes indicated a general overexpression of cmiRNAs implicated in metabolism regulation. Profiling cmiRNA of HD subjects opens the possibility of personalized therapies for different groups of HD patients, based on disease modifiers: regulation of altered pathways might contribute to not only alleviate disease symptoms, but also influence HD progression.

Synergy between RA and TLR3 promotes type I IFN-dependent apoptosis through upregulation of TRAIL pathway in breast cancer cells.

Due to its ability to regulate the growth, differentiation and apoptosis of cancer cells, retinoic acid (RA) is considered a signaling molecule with promising therapeutic potential in oncology. In this study, we show that RA is able to induce the intrinsic ability of breast cancer cells to recognize double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) through the upregulation of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) expression. RA, co-administered with the dsRNA mimicker polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C)), synergizes to mount a specific response program able to sense dsRNA through the concurrent upregulation of TLR3, the dsRNA helicases melanoma differentiation-associated antigen-5 (MDA-5) and RA-inducible gene-1 (RIG-1), and the dsRNA-activated protein kinase (PKR) expression, leading breast cancer cells to specifically express downstream transcriptional targets of dsRNA sensors, such as interferon-ß (IFNß), interleukin-8 (IL-8), chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5), and C-X-C motif Chemokine 10 (CXCL10). A TLR3-dependent apoptotic program is also induced by RA and poly(I:C) co-treatment that correlates with the induction of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and contributes to block breast cancer cell proliferation. The mechanisms of apoptosis induced by RA/poly(I:C) in breast cancer cells involve type I IFN autocrine signaling, caspase-8 and caspase-3 activation, as well as TRAIL signaling. Our results reveal important links among RA, TLR3 and TRAIL and highlight the combined use of RA and poly(I:C) as a potential effective tumor therapy by improving the apoptotic response of cancer cells with low sensitivity to the action of synthetic dsRNA.

Nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and neurotrophin-3 are sorted to dense-core vesicles and released via the regulated pathway in primary rat cortical neurons.

Neurotrophins (NTs) play an important role in the modulation of synaptic transmission and in morphological changes in synaptic structures. Although there is agreement that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is sorted to large dense-core vesicles (LDCVs) and released via the regulated secretory pathway, there has been some dispute regarding the mode of secretion of nerve growth factor (NGF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), two structurally related members of the NT family. In this study, we examined the subcellular localization and release characteristics of NGF, BDNF, and NT-3 in adenovirus-infected primary cortical neurons. We found that all members of the NT family colocalized with markers for the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi within cell bodies and in a punctate manner with a marker for LDCVs within processes. Moreover, their release was triggered by depolarization, indicating that NGF, BDNF, and NT-3 are released via the regulated secretory pathway. When neurons were coinfected with two separate adenoviruses coding for NGF or BDNF, both NTs showed almost complete vesicular colocalization within single cells, suggesting that different NTs might be packaged into shared vesicles. We also examined whether the two splice variants of NGF, the short and long precursors, differ in their release characteristics. We found that neurons infected with viruses coding for either splice variant released NGF in a regulated way. Overall, our study supports the notion that all members of the NT family undergo activity-dependent regulated release from neurons, enabling them to act as "synaptotrophins" on electrically active neurons.

BDNF overexpression increases dendrite complexity in hippocampal dentate gyrus.

There is increasing evidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) modulates synaptic and morphological plasticity in the developing and mature nervous system. Plasticity may be modulated partially by BDNF's effects on dendritic structure. Utilizing transgenic mice where BDNF overexpression was controlled by the beta-actin promoter, we evaluated the effects of long-term overexpression of BDNF on the dendritic structure of granule cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. BDNF transgenic mice provided the opportunity to investigate the effects of modestly increased BDNF levels on dendrite structure in the complex in vivo environment. While the elevated BDNF levels were insufficient to change levels of TrkB receptor isoforms or downstream TrkB signaling, they did increase dendrite complexity of dentate granule cells. These cells showed an increased number of first order dendrites, of total dendritic length and of total number of branch points. These results suggest that dendrite structure of granule cells is tightly regulated and is sensitive to modest increases in levels of BDNF. This is the first study to evaluate the effects of BDNF overexpression on dendrite morphology in the intact hippocampus and extends previous in vitro observations that BDNF influences synaptic plasticity by increasing complexity of dendritic arbors.

Neurotrophins are key mediators of the myelination program in the peripheral nervous system.

Although knowledge of the functions of neurotrophins has advanced rapidly in recent years, studies concerning the involvement of neurotrophins in glial-neuronal interactions rarely extend further than their roles in supporting the survival and differentiation of neuronal cells. In this study endogenous brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT3) were identified in Schwann cell/dorsal root ganglia neuronal cocultures and shown to modulate the myelination program of the peripheral nervous system. The differential expression of BDNF and NT3 were examined and compared with the expression profiles of myelin proteins in the cocultures throughout the myelination process. BDNF levels correlated with active myelin formation, whereas NT3 expression was initially high and then down regulated throughout the proliferation and premyelination periods. Addition of exogenous BDNF enhanced myelination, whereas the removal of the endogenous BDNF by using the BDNF receptor TrkB-Fc fusion protein inhibited the formation of mature myelin internodes. Interestingly, exogenous NT3 significantly inhibited myelination, whereas the removal of the endogenous NT3 by using the NT3 receptor TrkC-Fc fusion protein resulted in an enhancement similar to that obtained with the addition of BDNF. In addition, in vivo studies were performed during the development of the mouse sciatic nerve. Subcutaneous injections of BDNF resulted in an enhancement of myelin formation in the sciatic nerve, whereas the removal of the endogenous BDNF dramatically inhibited myelination. Injections of NT3 inhibited myelin formation, and the removal of the endogenous NT3 enhanced myelination. These results demonstrate that BDNF and NT3 possess different modulatory roles in the myelination program of the peripheral nervous system and that their mechanisms of action are specific and highly regulated.

Binding of nerve growth factor to its p75 receptor in stressed cells induces selective IkappaB-beta degradation and NF-kappaB nuclear translocation.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) regulates the activity of the transcription factor NF-kappaB (nuclear factor-kappaB) through its low affinity receptor, p75. In the present study we found that NGF binding to p75 induces nuclear translocation of p65 and increases NF-kappaB binding activity in a cell line overexpressing p75, but only after the cells have been subjected to a previous stress. Under physiological conditions, in the absence of stress, NGF is unable to alter p65 nuclear levels. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) induces a down-regulation of IkappaB-alpha, -beta and -epsilon both in physiological and in stress, i.e. serum-free, conditions. In contrast, NGF only induces the specific degradation of IkappaB-beta after serum withdrawal, without affecting IkappaB-alpha or -epsilon either in the presence or in the absence of stress. IkappaB-beta consists of several isoforms, whose relative abundance is regulated by serum withdrawal. NGF does not target all the IkappaB-beta isoforms with the same potency, being more effective in reducing the levels of the isoforms up-regulated by serum withdrawal. TRAF-6 is expressed at the same level under both physiological and stress conditions. These results indicate that NGF is able to induce NF-kappaB nuclear translocation by a mechanism that involves specific IkappaB-beta degradation only after the cells have been subjected to a severe stress.

Nerve growth factor activates the RARbeta2 promoter by a Ras-dependent mechanism.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) and retinoic acid (RA) exert important actions on PC12 cells. We have previously shown that incubation with NGF induces retinoic acid receptor beta (RARbeta) binding to a hormone response element in PC12 cells. In this study we show that NGF increases RARbeta protein levels by enhancing basal RARbeta2 promoter activity, and potentiates stimulation by RA in transient transfection assays. The effect of RA is mediated by a RA response element (RARE) located at -37/-53 and mutation of this element abolishes activation by the retinoid, as well as cooperation with NGF. However, the action of NGF is independent of the RARE and is mediated by sequences overlapping the TATA box and the INR comprising nucleotides -59 to +14. NGF produces a strong decrease in some of the complexes that bind to the INR. These results suggest that the RARbeta2 gene could be in a basal repressed state and NGF could increase RARbeta2 transcription by inducing the release of some inhibitory factors from the INR. Functional Ras is required for RARbeta2 promoter activation by NGF because expression of oncogenic Ras increases promoter activity and a dominant inhibitory Ras mutant blocks the effect of NGF. Oncogenic Raf also mimics the effect of NGF on the promoter. Other ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors that stimulate Ras also cause RARbeta2 promoter activation and act cooperatively with RA. These results indicate the existence of cross-coupling of the Ras-Raf signal transduction pathway with retinoid receptor pathways which could increase sensitivity to RA and be important for PC12 cell function.

Palmitoylation of the p75 neurotrophin receptor has no effect on its interaction with TrkA or on TrkA-mediated down-regulation of cell adhesion molecules.

The short- and long-term effects of nerve growth factor (NGF) were studied on fibroblast cell lines stably expressing both TrkA and either wild-type p75 or a mutant that lacks the palmitoylation site of p75. The lack of palmitoylation had no effect on the ability of p75 to enhance the short-term NGF-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of TrkA over a wide range of NGF concentrations. Long-term treatment of the cell lines with NGF led to loss of cell adhesion to the culture dishes that increased with increasing concentrations of NGF and increased expression of TrkA. Treatment of the cell lines with mutant NGFs that bound selectively to TrkA or p75 alone revealed that cell detachment was mediated solely through TrkA. Increased cell detachment correlated with a decrease in the expression levels of fibronectin and cadherin, cell surface molecules involved in cell adhesion. The loss of cell adhesion with the cell line expressing the palmitoylation-deficient p75 were identical to those expressing wild type, as was anticipated from the lack of involvement of p75 in this process.

The ras oncogene inhibits growth factor inducibility of early response genes, and promotes selectively expression of NGFI-A in a PC12 cell line.

Expression of oncogenic Ras in UR61 cells (a PC12 subclone) results in neuronal differentiation. We have observed that the oncoprotein selectively increased the levels of NGFI-A transcripts, but was unable to induce NGFI-B or c-fos transcripts. In contrast, nerve growth factor (NGF) elicited a strong induction of the three immediate early genes (IEGs). Thus, activation of Ras alone is sufficient for the induction of NGFI-A by NGF, whereas an additional pathway(s), besides Ras, is required for the stimulation of NGFI-B and c-fos gene expression. These results show that the acquisition of a neuronal phenotype does not correlate with induction of IEG expression. Additionally, Ras markedly reduces the response of the three genes to NGF and to other growth factors. This attenuation could reflect a negative regulatory mechanism acting on signalling pathways normally stimulated by growth factor receptors.

Retinoic acid regulates selectively the expression of immediate early response genes in PC12 cells.

Nerve growth factor (NGF) induces neuronal differentiation and growth arrest in PC12 cells. One of the initial effects of NGF in these cells is the induction of the expression of immediate early genes (IEGs). In this study we have analyzed the influence of retinoic acid (RA), which exerts important effects on PC12 cell proliferation and function, on the expression of IEGs. Incubation with RA did not alter NGFI-A mRNA levels, but significantly reduced the NGFI-B and c-fos response to NGF and serum. The response to NGF was maximal in the presence of cycloheximide, and RA also reduced the superinduction of NGFI-B and c-fos mRNA levels. Sequences contained within the 5' flanking region of the c-fos gene confer responsiveness to NGF and mediate the inhibitory effect of RA. The differential regulation by RA suggests that NGF induces expression of the three IEGs by different mechanisms.

Neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells induced by engrailed homeodomain is DNA-binding specific and independent of MAP kinases.

Neuronal differentiation may be induced by different mechanisms. In PC12 cells, differentiation can be achieved after stimulation by nerve growth factor through the sustained activation and nuclear translocation of MAPKs. A peptide covering the homeodomain of Drosophila Antennapedia translocates through the cell membrane in primary neurons in culture and reaches their nuclei. This process accelerates neurite elongation. We have examined whether the capacity for neuronal induction is a general characteristic of homeodomains, and whether differentiation proceeds through the same pathway as that induced by growth factors or represents a distinct cellular response. We show here that Engrailed homeodomain is internalized by UR61 cells, a PC12 cell derivative, and that it promotes and sustains neurite outgrowth. This event appears to proceed independently of MAPKs activation, suggesting that either parallel signal transduction pathways are under the control of homeoproteins or that they act downstream of MAPKs. The Fushi tarazu homeodomain also causes neurite outgrowth in UR61 cells and the neurotrophic activities of Engrailed and Fushi tarazu homeodomains correlate with their DNA binding specificities. However, neurite outgrowth is not promoted by Bicoid homeodomain, which recognizes a different DNA sequence. Therefore, the neurotrophic activity of the homeodomains depends not only on DNA-binding ability but also on the specificity of this binding.

Influence of Ras and retinoic acid on nerve growth factor induction of transin gene expression in PC12 cells.

Nerve growth factor (NGF)- and ras-induced neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells is accompanied by expression of transin, a secreted metalloproteinase. Retinoic acid (RA) is known to exert important effects on neural cell proliferation and differentiation. In this study we have analysed different PC12 sublines which express either activated Ras or dominant negative p21N17 Ras, to evaluate the influence of retinoic acid (RA) on the response of the transin gene to NGF and Ras. There was a good correlation between neurite extension and induction of transin mRNA levels in the different subclones. NGF did not induce transin mRNA in cells which do not differentiate in response to this neurotrophin. In addition, incubation with RA did not detectably increase basal transin mRNA levels, but caused a significant increase in the transin response to NGF or Ras in cells in which these factors induce a neuronal morphology. Sequences contained within 750 base pairs of the 5' flanking region of the transin gene confer responsiveness to NGF and Ras, but do not mediate the stimulatory effect of RA. In addition, expression of oncogenic Raf increases transin promoter activity in PC12 cells, but a dominant-negative Raf mutant was unable to block NGF-induced transin activity suggesting the existence of a bifurcation downstream of ras in the signaling mechanism leading to transin expression by NGF.

Growth factor ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors activate the Rous sarcoma virus promoter by a Ras- and Raf-dependent mechanism.

In PC12 cells, NGF and other ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors increased the activity of the Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) promoter. IGF-1 stimulated the RSV promoter in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. This promoter was also activated by oncogenic Ras and Raf in different cell types, and growth factor induction was inhibited by expression of dominant negative forms of ras and raf, showing that its effect is mediated by a Ras- and Raf-dependent mechanism. Therefore, the RSV promoter should not be used in the determination of transfection efficiency in the studies on regulation of gene expression by ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors, ras and raf.

Retinoic acid induces secretion of transforming growth factors by PC12 pheochromocytoma cells.

Conditioned medium from PC12 cells incubated with retinoic acid (RA) increases [3H]thymidine incorporation in normal rat kidney (NRK) fibroblasts and 3D9 epithelial cells. The medium also causes anchorage-independent growth of NRK cells, which is strongly potentiated either in the presence of EGF or after activation of latent forms of transforming growth factors (TGFs) by acidification. These results suggest that RA regulates the release of more than one growth factor by PC12 cells. Conditioned media from control or NGF-treated PC12 cells causes growth of NRK cells in soft agar only after acidification. An increase in expression of the TGF-beta1 gene is coincident with NGF-induced neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells. In addition, RA also causes a dose- and time-dependent increase in content of TGF-beta1 transcripts. This increase is, at least in part, secondary to transcriptional activation. Sequences responsible for the effect of RA and NGF are located in the 5'-flanking region of the TGF-beta1 gene. The TFG-beta1 gene has two promoters and in transient transfection assays RA and NGF significantly enhance the activity of constructs containing the second promoter. High-affinity TGF-beta1 receptors were undetectable in PC12 cells both before and after NGF or RA treatment. RA and NGF decrease PC12 cell proliferation and a neutralizing anti-TGF-beta1 antibody does not reverse this inhibition. In summary, an increase in expression and secretion of TGF-beta1 accompanies RA and NGF-induced PC12 cell growth arrest, but TGF-beta1 does not play an autocrine role in this inhibition.

Nerve growth factor and ras regulate beta-amyloid precursor protein gene expression in PC12 cells.

The beta-amyloid protein, the major component of the vascular and plaque amyloid deposits that characterize Alzheimer's disease, derives from a larger beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) that is expressed in both neural and nonneural cells. An increased expression of APP might actively contribute to the development of the pathology; however, the mechanisms involved in the regulation of APP gene expression are not yet well understood. In PC12 cells, a rat pheochromocytoma cell line, we have demonstrated that nerve growth factor (NGF) induces the APP gene expression and increases APP mRNA levels in the presence of 0.5 or 15% serum. Expression of activated ras in the PC12 cell subline UR61 also leads to a significant increase in content of APP transcripts, and a dominant negative mutant of ras blocks the NGF-induced response. Other ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors, such as fibroblast growth factor, which causes morphological differentiation, or epidermal growth factor, which induces cell growth, also increase APP mRNA levels in PC12 cells. These results suggest that ras mediates the induction of APP gene expression by NGF and other ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors.

Ras- and Raf-mediated regulation of transforming growth factor beta 1 gene expression by ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors in PC12 cells.

Different ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors have neurotrophic or mitogenic effects in PC12 cells. NFG and FGF, which cause morphological differentiation, as well as EGF, that induces cell growth, produce a significant increase of TGF-beta1 transcripts in PC12 cells. Sequences responsible for the transcriptional effects of the growth factors are located in the 5'-flanking region of the TGF-beta1 gene. The TGF-beta1 gene has two promoters and the growth factors significantly enhance the activity of constructs containing either the first or the second promoter. A functional p21ras is required for the regulation of TGF-beta1 by ligands of tyrosine kinase receptors since expression of oncogenic ras in PC12 cells also increases TGF-beta1 transcripts, and a dominant inhibitory ras mutant blocks activation of TGF-beta1 gene expression by NGF. Oncogenic raf stimulates the activity of both promoters and a dominant negative raf also significantly inhibits growth factor activation. As determined by Mv1Lu cell proliferation inhibition assay, PC12 cells release a significant amount of TGF-beta1 in a latent form and incubation with growth factors or expression of oncogenic ras further increase TCF-beta1 production. These results suggest that during proliferation or growth factor-induced differentiation of sympathetic neurons there is an increase in TGF-beta1 that could be an important mediator of neural cells function.

Comparison of the effects of retinoic acid and nerve growth factor on PC12 cell proliferation, differentiation, and gene expression.

Retinoic acid (RA) produced a dose-dependent inhibition of PC12 cell growth and the appearance of cell clusters without neurite extension. RA-induced cell clumping was similar to that caused by dexamethasone (Dx). Nerve growth factor (NGF) induced neurite extension, and the combination of RA plus NGF produced a maximal decrease in cell proliferation with a mixed morphology in which part of the cell population had neurites and part formed clumps. Transcriptional effects of RA were demonstrated by the increase in the activity of reporter constructs that contain an RA response element. RA also regulated expression of endogenous genes in PC12 cells. The retinoid produced a two- to threefold increase in level of p75LNGFR mRNA (the low-affinity NGF receptor), without altering expression of the trk protoon-cogene (the high-affinity NGF receptor carrying tyrosine kinase activity). RA also caused a transient increase in level of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA (twofold after 16 h), which returned to basal levels and then decreased relative to basal levels at 48 h. The effect of NGF on the expression of these genes was identical to that produced by RA. However, incubation with Dx did not induce p75LNGFR mRNA and produced a strong and sustained increase of TH mRNA level (three- to fivefold after 48 h). These results show that, despite the common morphological changes produced by RA and glucocorticoids in PC12 cells, the biochemical changes caused by RA are similar to those produced by NGF. Therefore, RA could initiate a biochemical program of neuronal differentiation in PC12 cells, although a fully differentiated phenotype with neurite extension is not obtained.

Nerve growth factor regulates transforming growth factor-beta 1 gene expression by both transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms in PC12 cells.

PC12 cells express two transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 transcripts, 1.7 and 2.5 kb in size. Other TGF-beta s are expressed at much lower levels. Incubation with nerve growth factor (NGF) produced a time- and dose-dependent increase in content of TGF-beta 1 transcripts. The level of the smaller mRNA increased little, whereas that of the 2.5-kb transcript increased more, with the latter becoming the predominant TGF-beta 1 message. NGF differentially regulated the stability of both mRNAs. The half-life of the 2.5-kb transcript was not altered by NGF; however, the half-life of the 1.7-kb mRNA was approximately 6 h and increased to > 30 h on incubation with NGF. In addition, induction of the 2.5-kb TGF-beta 1 mRNA by NGF required de novo protein synthesis, whereas induction of the 1.7-kb TGF-beta 1 mRNA was independent of protein synthesis. The NGF effect was independent of protein kinase C activation, which also preferentially induced the larger transcript. PC12 cells release a significant amount of TGF-beta 1, and incubation with NGF further increases TGF-beta 1 production. This factor is released in a latent form. These results indicate that an increase in expression and secretion of TGF-beta 1 accompanies neuronal differentiation in PC12 cells. Regulation of TGF-beta 1 gene expression by NGF is complex, involving both increased transcription of the TGF-beta 1 gene and stabilization of the smaller TGF-beta 1 transcript.