Epidermal 1-O-acylceramides appear with the establishment of the water permeability barrier in mice and are produced by maturating keratinocytes.

1-O-Acylceramides (1-OACs) have a fatty acid esterified to the 1-hydroxyl of the sphingosine head group of the ceramide, and recently we identified these lipids as natural components of human and mouse epidermis. Here we show epidermal 1-OACs arise shortly before birth during the establishment of the water permeability barrier in mice. Fractionation of human epidermis indicates 1-OACs concentrate in the stratum corneum. During in vitro maturation into reconstructed human epidermis, human keratinocytes dramatically increase 1-OAC levels indicating they are one source of epidermal 1-OACs. In search of potential enzymes responsible for 1-OAC synthesis in vivo, we analyzed mutant mice with deficiencies of ceramide synthases (Cers2, Cers3, or Cers4), diacylglycerol acyltransferases (Dgat1 or Dgat2), elongase of very long fatty acids 3 (Elovl3), lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (Lcat), stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (Scd1), or acidic ceramidase (Asah1). Overall levels of 1-OACs did not decrease in any mouse model. In Cers3 and Dgat2-deficient epidermis they even increased in correlation with deficient skin barrier function. Dagt2 deficiency reshapes 1-OAC synthesis with an increase in 1-OACs with N-linked non-hydroxylated fatty acids and a 60% decrease compared to control in levels of 1-OACs with N-linked hydroxylated palmitate. As none of the single enzyme deficiencies we examined resulted in a lack of 1-OACs, we conclude that either there is functional redundancy in forming 1-OAC and more than one enzyme is involved, and/or an unknown acyltransferase of the epidermis performs the final step of 1-OAC synthesis, the implications of which are discussed.

Transplantation of Skin Precursor-Derived Schwann Cells Yields Better Locomotor Outcomes and Reduces Bladder Pathology in Rats with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury.

Cell transplantation for spinal cord injury (SCI) has largely been studied in sub-acute settings within 1-2 weeks of injury. In contrast, here we transplanted skin-derived precursors differentiated into Schwann cells (SKP-SCs) into the contused rat spinal cord 8 weeks post-injury (wpi). Twenty-one weeks later (29 wpi), SKP-SCs were found to have survived transplantation, integrated with host tissue, and mitigated the formation of a dense glial scar. Furthermore, transplanted SKP-SCs filled much of the lesion sites and greatly enhanced the presence of endogenous SCs, which myelinated thousands of sprouting/spared host axons in and around the injury site. In addition, SKP-SC transplantation improved locomotor outcomes and decreased pathological thickening of bladder wall. To date, functional improvements have very rarely been observed with cell transplantation beyond the sub-acute stage of injury. Hence, these findings indicate that skin-derived SCs are a promising candidate cell type for the treatment of chronic SCI.

Endogenous levels of 1-O-acylceramides increase upon acidic ceramidase deficiency and decrease due to loss of Dgat1 in a tissue-dependent manner.

Except for epidermis and liver, little is known about endogenous expression of 1-O-acylceramides (1-OACs) in mammalian tissue. Therefore, we screened several organs (brain, lung, liver, spleen, lymph nodes, heart, kidney, thymus, small intestine, and colon) from mice for the presence of 1-OACs by LC-MS2. In most organs, low levels of about 0.25-1.3 pmol 1-OACs/mg wet weight were recorded. Higher levels were detected in liver, small and large intestines, with about 4-13 pmol 1-OACs/mg wet weight. 1-OACs were esterified mainly with palmitic, stearic, or oleic acids. Esterification with saturated very long-chain fatty acids, as in epidermis, was not observed. Western-type diet induced 3-fold increased 1-OAC levels in mice livers while ceramides were unaltered. In a mouse model of Farber disease with a decrease of acid ceramidase activity, we observed a strong, up to 50-fold increase of 1-OACs in lung, thymus, and spleen. In contrast, 1-OAC levels were reduced 0.54-fold in liver. Only in lung 1-OAC levels correlated to changes in ceramide levels - indicating tissue-specific mechanisms of regulation. Glucosylceramide synthase deficiency in liver did not cause changes in 1-OAC or ceramide levels, whereas increased ceramide levels in glucosylceramide synthase-deficient small intestine caused an increase in 1-OAC levels. Deficiency of Dgat1 in mice resulted in a reduction of 1-OACs to 30% in colon, but not in small intestine and liver, going along with constant free ceramides levels. From these data, we conclude that Dgat1 as well as lysosomal lipid metabolism contribute in vivo to homeostatic 1-OAC levels in an organ-specific manner.

Deletion of MCP-1 Impedes Pathogenesis of Acid Ceramidase Deficiency.

Farber Disease (FD) is an ultra-rare Lysosomal Storage Disorder caused by deficient acid ceramidase (ACDase) activity. Patients with ACDase deficiency manifest a spectrum of symptoms including formation of nodules, painful joints, and a hoarse voice. Classic FD patients will develop histiocytes in organs and die in childhood. Monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP-1; CCL2) is significantly elevated in both FD patients and a mouse model we previously generated. Here, to further study MCP-1 in FD, we created an ACDase;MCP-1 double mutant mouse. We show that deletion of MCP-1 reduced leukocytosis, delayed weight loss, and improved lifespan. Reduced inflammation and fibrosis were observed in livers from double mutant animals. Bronchial alveolar lavage fluid analyses revealed a reduction in cellular infiltrates and protein accumulation. Furthermore, reduced sphingolipid accumulation was observed in the lung and liver but not in the brain. The neurological and hematopoietic defects observed in FD mice were maintained. A compensatory cytokine response was found in the double mutants, however, that may contribute to continued signs of inflammation and injury. Taken together, targeting a reduction of MCP-1 opens the door to a better understanding of the mechanistic consequences of ceramide accumulation and may even delay the progression of FD in some organ systems.

Chronic lung injury and impaired pulmonary function in a mouse model of acid ceramidase deficiency.

Farber disease (FD) is a debilitating lysosomal storage disorder (LSD) caused by a deficiency of acid ceramidase (ACDase) activity due to mutations in the gene ASAH1. Patients with ACDase deficiency may develop a spectrum of clinical phenotypes. Severe cases of FD are frequently associated with neurological involvement, failure to thrive, and respiratory complications. Mice homozygous ( Asah1P361R/P361R) for an orthologous patient mutation in Asah1 recapitulate human FD. In this study, we show significant impairment in lung function, including low compliance and increased airway resistance in a mouse model of ACDase deficiency. Impaired lung mechanics in Farber mice resulted in decreased blood oxygenation and increased red blood cell production. Inflammatory cells were recruited to both perivascular and peribronchial areas of the lung. We observed large vacuolated foamy histiocytes that were full of storage material. An increase in vascular permeability led to protein leakage, edema, and impacted surfactant homeostasis in the lungs of Asah1P361R/P361R mice. Bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) extraction and analysis revealed accumulation of a highly turbid lipoprotein-like substance that was composed in part of surfactants, phospholipids, and ceramides. The phospholipid composition of BALF from Asah1P361R/P361R mice was severely altered, with an increase in both phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and sphingomyelin (SM). Ceramides were also found at significantly higher levels in both BALF and lung tissue from Asah1P361R/P361R mice when compared with levels from wild-type animals. We demonstrate that a deficiency in ACDase leads to sphingolipid and phospholipid imbalance, chronic lung injury caused by significant inflammation, and increased vascular permeability, leading to impaired lung function.

Lentivector Iterations and Pre-Clinical Scale-Up/Toxicity Testing: Targeting Mobilized CD34+ Cells for Correction of Fabry Disease.

Fabry disease is a rare lysosomal storage disorder (LSD). We designed multiple recombinant lentivirus vectors (LVs) and tested their ability to engineer expression of human α-galactosidase A (α-gal A) in transduced Fabry patient CD34+ hematopoietic cells. We further investigated the safety and efficacy of a clinically directed vector, LV/AGA, in both ex vivo cell culture studies and animal models. Fabry mice transplanted with LV/AGA-transduced hematopoietic cells demonstrated α-gal A activity increases and lipid reductions in multiple tissues at 6 months after transplantation. Next we found that LV/AGA-transduced Fabry patient CD34+ hematopoietic cells produced even higher levels of α-gal A activity than normal CD34+ hematopoietic cells. We successfully transduced Fabry patient CD34+ hematopoietic cells with "near-clinical grade" LV/AGA in small-scale cultures and then validated a clinically directed scale-up transduction process in a GMP-compliant cell processing facility. LV-transduced Fabry patient CD34+ hematopoietic cells were subsequently infused into NOD/SCID/Fabry (NSF) mice; α-gal A activity corrections and lipid reductions were observed in several tissues 12 weeks after the xenotransplantation. Additional toxicology studies employing NSF mice xenotransplanted with the therapeutic cell product demonstrated minimal untoward effects. These data supported our successful clinical trial application (CTA) to Health Canada and opening of a "first-in-the-world" gene therapy trial for Fabry disease.

Enzyme replacement therapy for Farber disease: Proof-of-concept studies in cells and mice.

A series of studies were carried out in Farber disease (OMIM #228000) cells and mice to evaluate the feasibility of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for this disorder. Media from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells overexpressing human recombinant acid ceramidase (rhAC) was used to treat fibroblasts from a Farber disease patient, leading to significantly reduced ceramide. We also found that chondrocytes from Farber disease mice had a markedly abnormal chondrogenic phenotype, and this was corrected by rhAC as well. Acute dosing of rhAC in Farber mice confirmed the enzyme's bioactivity in vivo, and showed that it could be safely administered at doses up to 50 mg/kg. These studies also revealed little or no re-accumulation of ceramide in tissues for at least 7 days after enzyme administration. Once weekly administration of rhAC moderately improved survival of the mice, which could be enhanced by starting enzyme administration at an earlier age (3 days vs. 3 weeks). Repeat administration of the enzyme also led to normalization of spleen size, significantly reduced plasma levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), reduced infiltration of macrophages into liver and spleen, and significantly reduced ceramide and sphingosine in tissues. Overall, we conclude that ERT should be further developed for this debilitating and life-threatening disorder.

Acid Ceramidase Deficiency in Mice Results in a Broad Range of Central Nervous System Abnormalities.

Farber disease is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by acid ceramidase deficiency that usually presents as early-onset progressive visceral and neurologic disease. To understand the neurologic abnormality, we investigated behavioral, biochemical, and cellular abnormalities in the central nervous system of Asah1P361R/P361R mice, which serve as a model of Farber disease. Behaviorally, the mutant mice had reduced voluntary locomotion and exploration, increased thigmotaxis, abnormal spectra of basic behavioral activities, impaired muscle grip strength, and defects in motor coordination. A few mutant mice developed hydrocephalus. Mass spectrometry revealed elevations of ceramides, hydroxy-ceramides, dihydroceramides, sphingosine, dihexosylceramides, and monosialodihexosylganglioside in the brain. The highest accumulation was in hydroxy-ceramides. Storage compound distribution was analyzed by mass spectrometry imaging and morphologic analyses and revealed involvement of a wide range of central nervous system cell types (eg, neurons, endothelial cells, and choroid plexus cells), most notably microglia and/or macrophages. Coalescing and mostly perivascular granuloma-like accumulations of storage-laden CD68+ microglia and/or macrophages were seen as early as 3 weeks of age and located preferentially in white matter, periventricular zones, and meninges. Neurodegeneration was also evident in specific cerebral areas in late disease. Overall, our central nervous system studies in Asah1P361R/P361R mice substantially extend the understanding of human Farber disease and suggest that this model can be used to advance therapeutic approaches for this currently untreatable disorder.

Acid Ceramidase Deficiency is characterized by a unique plasma cytokine and ceramide profile that is altered by therapy.

Acid Ceramidase Deficiency (Farber disease, FD) is an ultra-rare Lysosomal Storage Disorder that is poorly understood and often misdiagnosed as Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). Hallmarks of FD are accumulation of ceramides, widespread macrophage infiltration, splenomegaly, and lymphocytosis. The cytokines involved in this abnormal hematopoietic state are unknown. There are dozens of ceramide species and derivatives, but the specific ones that accumulate in FD have not been investigated. We used a multiplex assay to analyze cytokines and mass spectrometry to analyze ceramides in plasma from patients and mice with FD, controls, Farber patients treated by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), JIA patients, and patients with Gaucher disease. KC, MIP-1α, and MCP-1 were sequentially upregulated in plasma from FD mice. MCP-1, IL-10, IL-6, IL-12, and VEGF levels were elevated in plasma from Farber patients but not in control or JIA patients. C16-Ceramide (C16-Cer) and dhC16-Cer were upregulated in plasma from FD mice. a-OH-C18-Cer, dhC12-Cer, dhC24:1-Cer, and C22:1-Cer-1P accumulated in plasma from patients with FD. Most cytokines and only a-OH-C18-Cer returned to baseline levels in HSCT-treated Farber patients. Sphingosines were not altered. Chitotriosidase activity was also relatively low. A unique cytokine and ceramide profile was seen in the plasma of Farber patients that was not observed in plasma from HSCT-treated Farber patients, JIA patients, or Gaucher patients. The cytokine profile can potentially be used to prevent misdiagnosis of Farber as JIA and to monitor the response to treatment. Further understanding of why these signaling molecules and lipids are elevated can lead to better understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology of FD and inform development of future treatments.

Relative distribution of Gb3 isoforms/analogs in NOD/SCID/Fabry mice tissues determined by tandem mass spectrometry.

AIM: Fabry disease is a lysosomal storage disorder leading to glycosphingolipid accumulation in different organs, tissues and biological fluids. The development of a Fabry disease gene therapy trial is underway in Canada. A tool to determine the distribution of Gb3 biomarkers in tissues of Fabry mice might be applicable to monitor the effect of gene therapy. Results & methodology: An ultra-performance LC-MS/MS (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the analysis of 22 Gb3 isoform/analogs in various Fabry mice tissues was developed and validated. Marked variation in biomarker organ distribution was found with higher levels in the spleen, followed by the small intestine, kidneys, lungs, heart, liver and brain. CONCLUSION: The devised method is sensitive and useful for the evaluation of biomarker profiles in Fabry mice.

On-tissue localization of ceramides and other sphingolipids by MALDI mass spectrometry imaging.

A novel MALDI-FTICR imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) workflow is described for on-tissue detection, spatial localization, and structural confirmation of low abundance bioactive ceramides and other sphingolipids. Increasingly, altered or elevated levels of sphingolipids, sphingolipid metabolites, and sphingolipid metabolizing enzymes have been associated with a variety of disorders such as diabetes, obesity, lysosomal storage disorders, and cancer. Ceramide, which serves as a metabolic hub in sphingolipid metabolism, has been linked to cancer signaling pathways and to metabolic regulation with involvement in autophagy, cell-cycle arrest, senescence, and apoptosis. Using kidney tissues from a new Farber disease mouse model in which ceramides of all acyl chain lengths and other sphingolipid metabolites accumulate in tissues, specific ceramides and sphingomyelins were identified by on-tissue isolation and fragmentation, coupled with an on-tissue digestion by ceramidase or sphingomyelinase. Multiple glycosphingolipid species were also detected. The newly generated library of sphingolipid ions was then applied to MALDI-IMS of human lung cancer tissues. Multiple tumor specific ceramide and sphingomyelin species were detected and confirmed by on-tissue enzyme digests and structural confirmation. High-resolution MALDI-IMS in combination with novel on-tissue ceramidase and sphingomyelinase enzyme digestions makes it now possible to rapidly visualize the distribution of bioactive ceramides and sphingomyelin in tissues.

Direct genesis of functional rodent and human schwann cells from skin mesenchymal precursors.

Recent reports of directed reprogramming have raised questions about the stability of cell lineages. Here, we have addressed this issue, focusing upon skin-derived precursors (SKPs), a dermally derived precursor cell. We show by lineage tracing that murine SKPs from dorsal skin originate from mesenchymal and not neural crest-derived cells. These mesenchymally derived SKPs can, without genetic manipulation, generate functional Schwann cells, a neural crest cell type, and are highly similar at the transcriptional level to Schwann cells isolated from the peripheral nerve. This is not a mouse-specific phenomenon, since human SKPs that are highly similar at the transcriptome level can be made from neural crest-derived facial and mesodermally derived foreskin dermis and the foreskin SKPs can make myelinating Schwann cells. Thus, nonneural crest-derived mesenchymal precursors can differentiate into bona fide peripheral glia in the absence of genetic manipulation, suggesting that developmentally defined lineage boundaries are more flexible than widely thought.

Systemic ceramide accumulation leads to severe and varied pathological consequences.

Farber disease (FD) is a severe inherited disorder of lipid metabolism characterized by deficient lysosomal acid ceramidase (ACDase) activity, resulting in ceramide accumulation. Ceramide and metabolites have roles in cell apoptosis and proliferation. We introduced a single-nucleotide mutation identified in human FD patients into the murine Asah1 gene to generate the first model of systemic ACDase deficiency. Homozygous Asah1(P361R/P361R) animals showed ACDase defects, accumulated ceramide, demonstrated FD manifestations and died within 7-13 weeks. Mechanistically, MCP-1 levels were increased and tissues were replete with lipid-laden macrophages. Treatment of neonates with a single injection of human ACDase-encoding lentivector diminished the severity of the disease as highlighted by enhanced growth, decreased ceramide, lessened cellular infiltrations and increased lifespans. This model of ACDase deficiency offers insights into the pathophysiology of FD and the roles of ACDase, ceramide and related sphingolipids in cell signaling and growth, as well as facilitates the development of therapy.

Pathologic bladder microenvironment attenuates smooth muscle differentiation of skin derived precursor cells: implications for tissue regeneration.

Smooth muscle cell containing organs (bladder, heart, blood vessels) are damaged by a variety of pathological conditions necessitating surgery or organ replacement. Currently, regeneration of contractile tissues is hampered by lack of functional smooth muscle cells. Multipotent skin derived progenitor cells (SKPs) can easily be isolated from adult skin and can be differentiated in vitro into contractile smooth muscle cells by exposure to FBS. Here we demonstrate an inhibitory effect of a pathologic contractile organ microenvironment on smooth muscle cell differentiation of SKPs. In vivo, urinary bladder strain induces microenvironmental changes leading to de-differentiation of fully differentiated bladder smooth muscle cells. Co-culture of SKPs with organoids isolated from ex vivo stretched bladders or exposure of SKPs to diffusible factors released by stretched bladders (e.g. bFGF) suppresses expression of smooth muscle markers (alpha SMactin, calponin, myocardin, myosin heavy chain) as demonstrated by qPCR and immunofluorescent staining. Rapamycin, an inhibitor of mTOR signalling, previously observed to prevent bladder strain induced de-differentiation of fully differentiated smooth muscle cells in vitro, inhibits FBS-induced smooth muscle cell differentiation of undifferentiated SKPs. These results suggest that intended precursor cell differentiation may be paradoxically suppressed by the disease context for which regeneration may be required. Organ-specific microenvironment contexts, particularly prevailing disease, may play a significant role in modulating or attenuating an intended stem cell phenotypic fate, possibly explaining the variable and inefficient differentiation of stem cell constructs in in vivo settings. These observations must be considered in drafting any regeneration strategies.