Value of systematic genetic screening of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: The clinical utility of routine genetic sequencing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is uncertain. Our aim was to determine whether routine targeted sequencing of 44 ALS-relevant genes would have a significant impact on disease subclassification and clinical care. METHODS: We performed targeted sequencing of a 44-gene panel in a prospective case series of 100 patients with ALS recruited consecutively from the Sheffield Motor Neuron Disorders Clinic, UK. All participants were diagnosed with ALS by a specialist Consultant Neurologist. 7/100 patients had familial ALS, but the majority were apparently sporadic cases. RESULTS: 21% of patients with ALS carried a confirmed pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutation, of whom 93% had no family history of ALS. 15% met the inclusion criteria for a current ALS genetic-therapy trial. 5/21 patients with a pathogenic mutation had an additional variant of uncertain significance (VUS). An additional 21% of patients with ALS carried a VUS in an ALS-associated gene. Overall, 13% of patients carried more than one genetic variant (pathogenic or VUS). Patients with ALS carrying two variants developed disease at a significantly earlier age compared with patients with a single variant (median age of onset=56 vs 60 years, p=0.0074). CONCLUSIONS: Routine screening for ALS-associated pathogenic mutations in a specialised ALS referral clinic will impact clinical care in 21% of cases. An additional 21% of patients have variants in the ALS gene panel currently of unconfirmed significance after removing non-specific or predicted benign variants. Overall, variants within known ALS-linked genes are of potential clinical importance in 42% of patients.

A neuroepithelial wave of BMP signalling drives anteroposterior specification of the tuberal hypothalamus.

The tuberal hypothalamus controls life-supporting homeostatic processes, but despite its fundamental role, the cells and signalling pathways that specify this unique region of the central nervous system in embryogenesis are poorly characterised. Here, we combine experimental and bioinformatic approaches in the embryonic chick to show that the tuberal hypothalamus is progressively generated from hypothalamic floor plate-like cells. Fate-mapping studies show that a stream of tuberal progenitors develops in the anterior-ventral neural tube as a wave of neuroepithelial-derived BMP signalling sweeps from anterior to posterior through the hypothalamic floor plate. As later-specified posterior tuberal progenitors are generated, early specified anterior tuberal progenitors become progressively more distant from these BMP signals and differentiate into tuberal neurogenic cells. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments in vivo and ex vivo show that BMP signalling initiates tuberal progenitor specification, but must be eliminated for these to progress to anterior neurogenic progenitors. scRNA-Seq profiling shows that tuberal progenitors that are specified after the major period of anterior tuberal specification begin to upregulate genes that characterise radial glial cells. This study provides an integrated account of the development of the tuberal hypothalamus.

SHH and Notch regulate SOX9+ progenitors to govern arcuate POMC neurogenesis.

Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC) play key roles in feeding and energy homoeostasis, hence their development is of great research interest. As the process of neurogenesis is accompanied by changes in adhesion, polarity, and migration that resemble aspects of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMTs), we have characterised the expression and regulation within the prospective ARC of transcription factors with context-dependent abilities to regulate aspects of EMT. Informed by pseudotime meta-analysis of recent scRNA-seq data, we use immunohistochemistry and multiplex in situ hybridisation to show that SOX2, SRY-Box transcription factor 9 (SOX9), PROX1, Islet1 (ISL1), and SOX11 are sequentially expressed over the course of POMC neurogenesis in the embryonic chick. Through pharmacological studies ex vivo, we demonstrate that while inhibiting either sonic hedgehog (SHH) or Notch signalling reduces the number of SOX9+ neural progenitor cells, these treatments lead, respectively, to lesser and greater numbers of differentiating ISL1+/POMC+ neurons. These results are consistent with a model in which SHH promotes the formation of SOX9+ progenitors, and Notch acts to limit their differentiation. Both pathways are also required to maintain normal levels of proliferation and to suppress apoptosis. Together our findings demonstrate that hypothalamic neurogenesis is accompanied by dynamic expression of transcription factors (TFs) that mediate EMTs, and that SHH and Notch signalling converge to regulate hypothalamic cellular homoeostasis.

Single-cell analysis of early chick hypothalamic development reveals that hypothalamic cells are induced from prethalamic-like progenitors.

The hypothalamus regulates many innate behaviors, but its development remains poorly understood. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) to profile multiple stages of early hypothalamic development in the chick. Hypothalamic neuroepithelial cells are initially induced from prethalamic-like cells. Two distinct hypothalamic progenitor populations then emerge and give rise to tuberal and mammillary/paraventricular hypothalamic cells. At later stages, the regional organization of the chick and mouse hypothalamus is highly similar. We identify selective markers for major subdivisions of the developing chick hypothalamus and many previously uncharacterized candidate regulators of hypothalamic induction, regionalization, and neurogenesis. As proof of concept for the power of the dataset, we demonstrate that prethalamus-derived follistatin inhibits hypothalamic induction. This study clarifies the organization of the nascent hypothalamus and identifies molecular mechanisms that may control its induction and subsequent development.

Detecting signatures of selection on gene expression.

A substantial amount of phenotypic diversity results from changes in gene expression levels and patterns. Understanding how the transcriptome evolves is therefore a key priority in identifying mechanisms of adaptive change. However, in contrast to powerful models of sequence evolution, we lack a consensus model of gene expression evolution. Furthermore, recent work has shown that many of the comparative approaches used to study gene expression are subject to biases that can lead to false signatures of selection. Here we first outline the main approaches for describing expression evolution and their inherent biases. Next, we bridge the gap between the fields of phylogenetic comparative methods and transcriptomics to reinforce the main pitfalls of inferring selection on expression patterns and use simulation studies to show that shifts in tissue composition can heavily bias inferences of selection. We close by highlighting the multi-dimensional nature of transcriptional variation and identifying major unanswered questions in disentangling how selection acts on the transcriptome.

Saracatinib is an efficacious clinical candidate for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva.

Currently, no effective therapies exist for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a rare congenital syndrome in which heterotopic bone is formed in soft tissues owing to dysregulated activity of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptor kinase ALK2 (also known as ACVR1). From a screen of known biologically active compounds, we identified saracatinib as a potent ALK2 kinase inhibitor. In enzymatic and cell-based assays, saracatinib preferentially inhibited ALK2, compared with other receptors of the BMP/TGF-ß signaling pathway, and induced dorsalization in zebrafish embryos consistent with BMP antagonism. We further tested the efficacy of saracatinib using an inducible ACVR1Q207D-transgenic mouse line, which provides a model of heterotopic ossification (HO), as well as an inducible ACVR1R206H-knockin mouse, which serves as a genetically and physiologically faithful FOP model. In both models, saracatinib was well tolerated and potently inhibited the development of HO, even when administered transiently following soft tissue injury. Together, these data suggest that saracatinib is an efficacious clinical candidate for repositioning in FOP treatment, offering an accelerated path to clinical proof-of-efficacy studies and potentially significant benefits to individuals with this devastating condition.

Complexity in biomaterials for tissue engineering.

The molecular and physical information coded within the extracellular milieu is informing the development of a new generation of biomaterials for tissue engineering. Several powerful extracellular influences have already found their way into cell-instructive scaffolds, while others remain largely unexplored. Yet for commercial success tissue engineering products must be not only efficacious but also cost-effective, introducing a potential dichotomy between the need for sophistication and ease of production. This is spurring interest in recreating extracellular influences in simplified forms, from the reduction of biopolymers into short functional domains, to the use of basic chemistries to manipulate cell fate. In the future these exciting developments are likely to help reconcile the clinical and commercial pressures on tissue engineering.

Zebrafish atoh8 mutants do not recapitulate morpholino phenotypes.

Atoh8 is a bHLH transcription factor expressed in pancreas, skeletal muscle, the nervous system, and cardiovascular tissues during embryological development. Although it has been implicated in the regulation of pancreatic and endothelial cell differentiation, the phenotypic consequences of Atoh8 loss are uncertain. Conclusions from knockout studies in the mouse differ widely depending on the targeting strategy used, while atoh8 knockdown by interfering morpholino oligonucleotides (morpholinos) in zebrafish has led to a range of developmental defects. This study characterised zebrafish embryos homozygous for atoh8sa1465, a loss-of-function allele of atoh8, in order to provide genetic evidence for the developmental role of Atoh8 in this species. Embryos homozygous for atoh8sa1465 present normal body morphology, swimbladder inflation, and heart looping, and survive to adulthood. These embryos do not develop pericardial oedema by 72 hpf and are not sensitised to the loss of Fog1 protein, suggesting that this previously described abnormality is not a specific phenotype. Vascular patterning and primitive haematopoiesis are unaffected in atoh8sa1465/sa1465 mutant embryos. Together, the data suggest that Atoh8 is dispensible for zebrafish development under standard laboratory conditions.

Correction: Zebrafish atoh8 mutants do not recapitulate morpholino phenotypes.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0171143.].

Comparison of Zebrafish tmem88a mutant and morpholino knockdown phenotypes.

Tmem88a is a transmembrane protein that is thought to be a negative regulator of the Wnt signalling pathway. Several groups have used antisense morpholino oligonucleotides in an effort to characterise the role of tmem88a in zebrafish cardiovascular development, but they have not obtained consistent results. Here, we generate an 8 bp deletion in the coding region of the tmem88a locus using TALENs, and we have gone on to establish a viable homozygous tmem88aΔ8 mutant line. Although tmem88aΔ8 mutants have reduced expression of some key haematopoietic genes, differentiation of erythrocytes and neutrophils is unaffected, contradicting our previous study using antisense morpholino oligonucleotides. We find that expression of the tmem88a paralogue tmem88b is not significantly changed in tmem88aΔ8 mutants and injection of the tmem88a splice-blocking morpholino oligonucleotide into tmem88aΔ8 mutants recapitulates the reduction of erythrocytes observed in morphants using o-Dianisidine. This suggests that there is a partial, but inessential, requirement for tmem88a during haematopoiesis and that morpholino injection exacerbates this phenotype in tmem88a morpholino knockdown embryos.

Latent TGF-ß hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering.

A biomimetic delivery strategy for transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß) is described, in which TGF-ß is presented in a latent form (the small latent complex, SLC), which is inactive until modified by the actions of the cells. In this work, SLC is tethered to a hyaluronic acid hydrogel scaffold to enhance in vitro chondrogenesis.

Strontium- and zinc-alginate hydrogels for bone tissue engineering.

The development of bone replacement materials is an important healthcare objective due to the drawbacks of treating defects with bone autografts. In this work we propose a bone tissue engineering approach in which arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD)-modified alginate hydrogels are crosslinked with bioactive strontium and zinc ions as well as calcium. Strontium was chosen for its ability to stimulate bone formation, and zinc is essential for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. Calcium and strontium gels had similar stiffnesses but different stabilities over time. Strontium gels made with alginate with a high percentage of guluronic acid residues (high G) were slow to degrade, whereas those made with alginate rich in mannuronic acid (high M) degraded more quickly, and supported proliferation of Saos-2 osteoblast-like cells. After an initial burst, strontium release from alginate gels was steady and sustained, and the magnitude of release from high M gels was biologically relevant. Saos-2 cultured within alginate gels upregulated the osteoblast phenotypic marker genes RUNX2, collagen I (COL1A1) and bone sialoprotein (BSP), and ALP protein activity was highest in alginate gels cast with strontium ions. This strategy has the potential to be combined with other alginate-based systems for bone tissue engineering, or adapted to other tissue engineering applications.

Synthetic polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering.

The field of tissue engineering places complex demands on the materials it uses. The materials chosen to support the intricate processes of tissue development and maintenance need to have properties which serve both the bulk mechanical and structural requirements of the target tissue, as well as enabling interactions with cells at the molecular scale. In this critical review we explore how synthetic polymers can be utilised to meet the needs of tissue engineering applications, and how biomimetic principles can be applied to polymeric materials in order to enhance the biological response to scaffolding materials (105 references).