MicroRNA-223 protects neurons from degeneration in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory, demyelinating, and neurodegenerative disease affecting the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Neuronal damage is triggered by various harmful factors that engage diverse signalling cascades in neurons; thus, therapeutic approaches to protect neurons will need to focus on agents that can target multiple biological processes. We have therefore focused our attention on microRNAs: small non-coding RNAs that primarily function as post-transcriptional regulators that target messenger RNAs and repress their translation into proteins. A single microRNA can target many functionally related messenger RNAs making microRNAs powerful epigenetic regulators. Dysregulation of microRNAs has been described in many neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis. Here, we report that two microRNAs, miR-223-3p and miR-27a-3p, are upregulated in neurons in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mouse model of CNS inflammation and in grey matter-containing multiple sclerosis lesions. Prior work has shown peripheral blood mononuclear cell conditioned media causes sublethal degeneration of neurons in culture. We find overexpression of miR-27a-3p or miR-223-3p protects dissociated cortical neurons from condition media mediated degeneration. Introduction of miR-223-3p in vivo in mouse retinal ganglion cells protects their axons from degeneration in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. In silico analysis revealed that messenger RNAs involved in glutamate receptor signalling are enriched as miR-27a-3p and miR-223-3p targets. We observe that antagonism of NMDA and AMPA type glutamate receptors protects neurons from condition media dependent degeneration. Our results suggest that miR-223-3p and miR-27a-3p are upregulated in response to inflammation to mediate a compensatory neuroprotective gene expression program that desensitizes neurons to glutamate by targeting messenger RNAs involved in glutamate receptor signalling.

NMDA receptor-dependent dephosphorylation of serine 387 in Argonaute 2 increases its degradation and affects dendritic spine density and maturation.

Argonaute (AGO) proteins are essential components of the microRNA (miRNA) pathway. AGO proteins are loaded with miRNAs to target mRNAs and thereby regulate mRNA stability and protein translation. As such, AGO proteins are important actors in controlling local protein synthesis, for instance, at dendritic spines and synapses. Although miRNA-mediated regulation of dendritic mRNAs has become a focus of intense interest over the past years, the mechanisms regulating neuronal AGO proteins remain largely unknown. Here, using rat hippocampal neurons, we report that dendritic Ago2 is down-regulated by the proteasome upon NMDA receptor activation. We found that Ser-387 in Ago2 is dephosphorylated upon NMDA treatment and that this dephosphorylation precedes Ago2 degradation. Expressing Ser-387 phosphorylation-deficient or phosphomimetic Ago2 in neurons, we observed that this phosphorylation site is involved in modulating dendritic spine morphology and postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) expression in spines. Collectively, our results point toward a signaling pathway linking NMDA receptor-dependent Ago2 dephosphorylation and turnover to postsynaptic structural changes. They support a model in which NMDA receptor-mediated dephosphorylation of Ago2 and Ago2 turnover contributes to the de-repression of mRNAs involved in spine growth and maturation.

A single amino acid difference between the intracellular domains of amyloid precursor protein and amyloid-like precursor protein 2 enables induction of synaptic depression and block of long-term potentiation.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is initially characterized as a disease of the synapse that affects synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity. While amyloid-beta and tau have been traditionally implicated in causing AD, recent studies suggest that other factors, such as the intracellular domain of the amyloid-precursor protein (APP-ICD), can also play a role in the development of AD. Here, we show that the expression of APP-ICD induces synaptic depression, while the intracellular domain of its homolog amyloid-like precursor protein 2 (APLP2-ICD) does not. We are able to show that this effect by APP-ICD is due to a single alanine vs. proline difference between APP-ICD and APLP2-ICD. The alanine in APP-ICD and the proline in APLP2-ICD lie directly behind a conserved caspase cleavage site. Inhibition of caspase cleavage of APP-ICD prevents the induction of synaptic depression. Finally, we show that the expression of APP-ICD increases and facilitates long-term depression and blocks induction of long-term potentiation. The block in long-term potentiation can be overcome by mutating the aforementioned alanine in APP-ICD to the proline of APLP2. Based on our results, we propose the emergence of a new APP critical domain for the regulation of synaptic plasticity and in consequence for the development of AD.

Voluntary running exercise prevents ß-cell failure in susceptible islets of the Zucker diabetic fatty rat.

Physical activity improves glycemic control in type 2 diabetes (T2D), but its contribution to preserving ß-cell function is uncertain. We evaluated the role of physical activity on ß-cell secretory function and glycerolipid/fatty acid (GL/FA) cycling in male Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats. Six-week-old ZDF rats engaged in voluntary running for 6 wk (ZDF-A). Inactive Zucker lean and ZDF (ZDF-I) rats served as controls. ZDF-I rats displayed progressive hyperglycemia with ß-cell failure evidenced by falling insulinemia and reduced insulin secretion to oral glucose. Isolated ZDF-I rat islets showed reduced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion expressed per islet and per islet protein. They were also characterized by loss of the glucose regulation of fatty acid oxidation and GL/FA cycling, reduced mRNA expression of key ß-cell genes, and severe reduction of insulin stores. Physical activity prevented diabetes in ZDF rats through sustaining ß-cell compensation to insulin resistance shown in vivo and in vitro. Surprisingly, ZDF-A islets had persistent defects in fatty acid oxidation, GL/FA cycling, and ß-cell gene expression. ZDF-A islets, however, had preserved islet insulin mRNA and insulin stores compared with ZDF-I rats. Physical activity did not prevent hyperphagia, dyslipidemia, or obesity in ZDF rats. In conclusion, islets of ZDF rats have a susceptibility to failure that is possibly due to altered ß-cell fatty acid metabolism. Depletion of pancreatic islet insulin stores is a major contributor to islet failure in this T2D model, preventable by physical activity.

microRNA dysregulation in neurodegenerative diseases: A systematic review.

While the root causes for individual neurodegenerative diseases are distinct, many shared pathological features and mechanisms contribute to neurodegeneration across diseases. Altered levels of microRNAs, small non-coding RNAs involved in post transcriptional regulation of gene expression, are reported for numerous neurodegenerative diseases. Yet, comparison between diseases to uncover commonly dysregulated microRNAs during neurodegeneration in general is lagging. We performed a systematic review of peer-reviewed publications describing differential microRNA expression in neurodegenerative diseases and related animal models. We compiled the results from studies covering the prevalent neurodegenerative diseases in the literature: Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, age-related macular degeneration, ataxia, dementia, myotonic dystrophy, epilepsy, glaucoma, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and prion disorders. MicroRNAs which were dysregulated most often in these diseases and their models included miR-9-5p, miR-21-5p, the miR-29 family, miR-132-3p, miR-124-3p, miR-146a-5p, miR-155-5p, and miR-223-3p. Common pathways targeted by these predominant miRNAs were identified and revealed great functional overlap across diseases. We also identified a strong role for each microRNA in both the neural and immune components of diseases. microRNAs regulate broad networks of genes and identifying microRNAs commonly dysregulated across neurodegenerative diseases could cultivate novel hypotheses related to common molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration.