Age-dependent modulation the microvasculature by human microenvironment and serum
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE121444 | GEO | 2021/05/19
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Brain perfusion and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity are reduced early in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We performed single nucleus RNA sequencing of vascular cells isolated from AD and non-diseased control brains to characterize pathological transcriptional signatures responsible for this. We found that endothelial cells (EC) are enriched for expression of genes associated with susceptibility to AD. Increased β-amyloid is associated with BBB impairment and a dysfunctional angiogenic response related to a failure of increased pro-angiogenic HIF1A to increased VEGFA signalling to EC. This is associated with vascular inflammatory activation, EC senescence and apoptosis. Our genomic dissection of vascular cell risk gene enrichment provides evidence for a causal role of EC pathology in AD and suggests that reducing vascular inflammatory activation and restoring effective angiogenesis could reduce vascular dysfunction contributing to the genesis or progression of early AD.
2024-01-20 | GSE252921 | GEO
Project description:Vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Currently, the mechanistic insights into the evolution and progression of VCID remain elusive. White matter change represents an invariant feature. Compelling clinical neuroimaging and pathological evidence suggest a link between white matter changes and neurodegeneration. Our prior study detected hypoperfused lesions in mice with partial deficiency of endothelial nitric oxide (eNOS) at very young age, precisely matching to those hypoperfused areas identified in preclinical AD patients. White matter tracts are particularly susceptible to the vascular damage induced by chronic hypoperfusion. Using immunohistochemistry, we detected severe demyelination in the middle aged eNOS-deficient mice. The demyelinated areas were confined to cortical and subcortical areas including the corpus callosum and hippocampus. The intensity of demyelination correlated with behavioral deficits of gait and associative recognition memory performances. By Evans blue angiography, we detected blood-brain barrier (BBB) leakage as another early pathological change affecting frontal and parietal cortex in eNOS-deficient mic. Sodium nitrate fortified drinking water provided to young and middle aged eNOS-deficient mice completely prevented non-perfusion, BBB leakage, and white matter pathology, indicating that impaired endothelium-derived NO signaling may have caused these pathological events. Furthermore, genome-wide transcriptomic analysis revealed altered gene clusters most related to mitochondrial respiratory pathways selectively in the white matter of young eNOS-deficient mice. Using eNOS-deficient mice, we identified BBB breakdown and hypoperfusion as the two earliest pathological events, resulting from insufficient vascular NO signaling. We speculate that the compromised BBB and mild chronic hypoperfusion trigger vascular damage, along with oxidative stress and astrogliosis, accounting for the white matter pathological changes in the eNOS-deficient mouse model. We conclude that eNOS-deficient mice represent an ideal spontaneous evolving model for studying the earliest events leading to spontaneous white matter changes, which will be instrumental to future therapeutic testing of drug candidates and for targeting novel/specific vascular mechanisms contributing to VCID and AD.
2022-07-12 | GSE207693 | GEO
Project description:Apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4), the main susceptibly gene for Alzheimer’s disease1–5, exerts cerebrovascular toxicity6 leading to blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown in humans7–9 and APOE4 transgenic mice10–13. Moreover, an early BBB dysfunction predicts cognitive decline in humans7. However, the comprehensive large-scale analysis of cell-specific mechanisms underlying APOE4 cerebrovascular disorder and how it relates to neuronal disorder is lacking. Using single-nucleus RNA-sequencing, phosphoproteome and proteome analysis14–17 here we show that APOE4 compared to APOE3 leads to early disruption of the BBB transcriptome in 2-3-month old APOE4 knock-in mice18 followed by dysregulation in protein signaling networks. This includes proteins regulating cell junctions, cytoskeleton, clathrin-mediated transport, and translation in brain endothelium, and transcription and RNA-splicing suggestive of DNA damage in pericytes. Changes in the BBB signaling mechanisms paralleled an early, progressive BBB breakdown and loss of pericytes starting at 2-3 months of age. The BBB breakdown preceded loss of neurites, post-synaptic interactome dysregulation, and behavioral deficits that developed 2-5 months later, and was associated with astrocyte and microglia response protecting BBB integrity. Thus, disruption of the BBB cell-specific signaling mechanisms could be an initial central contributor to APOE4-mediated neuronal disorder, and possibly a major target to correct APOE4-related cognitive deficits.
2022-08-23 | PXD029230 | Pride
Project description:Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related disease, with loss of integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) being an early feature. Cellular senescence is one of the reported nine hallmarks of aging. Here we show for the first time the presence of senescent cells in the vasculature in AD patients and mouse models of AD. Senescent endothelial cells and pericytes are present in APP/PS1 transgenic mice but not in wild-type littermates at the time of amyloid deposition. In vitro, senescent endothelial cells display altered VE-cadherin expression and loss of cell junction formation and increased permeability. Consistent with this, senescent endothelial cells in APP/PS1 mice are present at areas of vascular leak that have decreased claudin-5 and VE-cadherin expression confirming BBB breakdown. Further, single cell sequencing of endothelial cells from APP/PS1 transgenic mice confirms that adhesion molecule pathways are among the most highly altered pathways in these cells. At the pre-plaque stage the vasculature shows significant signs of breakdown, with a general loss of VE-cadherin, leakage within the microcirculation, and obvious pericyte perturbation. Although senescent vascular cells were not directly observed at sites of vascular leak, senescent cells were close to the leak area. Thus, we would suggest in AD there is a progressive induction of senescence in constituents of the neurovascular unit contributing to an increasing loss of vascular integrity. Targeting the vasculature early in AD, either with senolytics or with drugs that improve the integrity of the BBB maybe valid therapeutic strategies.
2023-12-07 | GSE243576 | GEO
Project description:Signaling events that regulate central nervous system (CNS) angiogenesis and blood-brain barrier (BBB) formation are only beginning to be elucidated. By evaluating the gene expression profile of mouse vasculature, we identified DR6/TNFRSF21 and TROY/TNFRSF19 as regulators of CNS-specific angiogenesis in both zebrafish and mice. Furthermore, these two death receptors interact both genetically and physically and are required for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-mediated JNK activation and subsequent human brain endothelial sprouting in vitro. Increasing beta-catenin levels in brain endothelium upregulate DR6 and TROY, indicating that these death receptors are downstream target genes of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, which has been shown to be required for BBB development. These findings define a role for death receptors DR6 and TROY in CNS-specific vascular development. 5 replicates of 3 time points for either brain or liver/lung facs sorted vascaulture. One adult liver/lung replicate was not used as it failed QC
2012-02-15 | E-GEOD-35802 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The blood-brain barrier (BBB) dynamically controls and maintains a precisely balanced brain microenvironment necessary for reliable functioning. It is made up of highly specialized endothelial cells (ECs) in the lining of the vascular wall. These ECs are surrounded by the basal lamina, astrocytic perivascular endfeet, pericytes, microglia and neuronal processes that have been shown to contribute to barrier function1. In essence, the brain endothelium limits both transcellular and paracellular passage of cells and molecules into the central nervous system (CNS). Transcellular passage of hydrophilic molecules is limited due to a low rate of transcytotic vesicles, an extremely low pinocytotic activity, expression of active efflux transporters, and high metabolic activity. Paracellular diffusion of hydrophilic molecules and trafficking of immune cells is restricted by a network of tight junctions (TJs)2-5. Due to these characteristics, the BBB is able to protect the CNS from sudden changes in blood composition and uncontrolled influx of immune cells. In a large number of neuro-inflammatory diseases, an impaired function and an opening of the BBB are observed. In diseases of the CNS like multiple sclerosis or stroke or after brain trauma, the BBB becomes inflamed (mediated by for example reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hypoxia) and its function severely impaired which gives rise to enhanced cellular infiltration, thus contributing to tissue damage and neurological deficits. Due to the specialized nature of brain ECs, transmigration of leukocytes through cerebrovascular endothelium is likely to differ from that in other vascular beds. Generally, the transmigration process is closely controlled by the interaction of leukocytes with the endothelial surface followed by low velocity rolling, arrest, firm adhesion, and finally transmigration. For the diapedesis of immune cells across the cerebral vasculature a re-arrangement of the cytoskeleton and opening of the TJ complexes is required to allow cells to pass into the sub endothelial space. In the initial step of the adhesive cascade leukocytes adhere to the endothelium with low affinity. This adhesion is mediated by several members of the selectin family and their corresponding ligands. Despite the low affinity of these interactions, resulting contact of leukocytes with the endothelium leads to further activation of both cell types and finally transmigration of the leukocytes through the BBB6,7. The glycosylation of endothelial cells of different vascular bed origins To date it is unknown which specific carbohydrate structures on the BBB endothelium mediate leukocyte capture and rolling, and whether these structures are differentially expressed onto inflamed brain EC compared to normal brain ECs and vascular beds of other organs. Initial studies using qPCR and FACS analysis within our group reveal that brain endothelial cells have a different profile in their glycosylation-related genes compared to microvascular ECs upon inflammation, which may result in a different glycosylation profile of adhesive structures and may underlie rolling, adhesion and diapedesis of leukocytes. In this project we wish to identify specific, glycosylated structures on brain endothelial cells that mediate capture, rolling and diapedesis of leukocytes in the brain. To investigate the expression of glycosyltransferases in dendritic cells and the changes in expression associated with maturation. RNA preparations from stimulated and non-stimulated hcMEC/D3 (human brain endothelial cells line) and FMVEC (human promary microvascular endothelial cells isolated from foreskins) were sent to both Microarray Core (E) and Core(C). The RNA was put on an RNeasy Column, amplified, labeled, and hybridized to the Glycov3 microarrays. Data was sent to Dr. van Kooyk's lab for analysis.
2011-06-14 | E-GEOD-29932 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:With advances in single-cell genomics, molecular signatures of cells comprising the brain vasculature are revealed in unprecedented detail, yet the ageing-associated cell subtype transcriptomic changes which may contribute to neurovascular dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases remain elusive. Here, we performed single-cell transcriptomic profiling of brain endothelial cells (EC) in young adult and aged mice to characterize their ageing-associated genome-wide expression changes. We identified zonation-dependent transcriptomic changes in aged brain EC subtypes, with capillary ECs exhibiting the most transcriptomic alterations. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed altered immune/cytokine signaling in ECs of all vascular segments, while functional changes impacting the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and glucose/energy metabolism were most prominently implicated in ECs of the capillary bed – the primary site where ECs and other neurovascular unit (NVU) cell types closely interact and coordinate to regulate BBB and cerebral blood flow in health and diseased conditions. Furthermore, an overrepresentation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-associated genes identified from GWAS studies was evident among the human orthologs of differentially expressed genes of aged capillary ECs but not other EC subtypes. Importantly, for numerous EC-enriched differentially expressed genes with important functional roles at the BBB and/or association with AD, we found concordant expression changes in human aged or AD brains. Finally, we demonstrated that treatment with exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonist, strongly reverses transcriptomic changes in ECs and largely reduces BBB leakage in the aged brain. Thus, our study revealed novel vascular ageing-associations of AD in the brain capillary endothelium, and provides insights into detailed transcriptomic alterations underlying brain EC ageing that are complex with subtype specificity yet amenable to pharmacological interventions.
2020-03-30 | GSE147693 | GEO
Project description:The decline of endothelial autophagy is closely related to vascular senescence and disease, although the molecular mechanisms connecting these outcomes in vascular endothelial cells (VECs) remain unclear. Here, we identify a crucial role for CD44, a multifunctional adhesion molecule, in controlling autophagy and aging in VECs. The CD44 intercellular domain (CD44ICD) negatively regulates autophagy by reducing PIK3R4 and PIK3C3 levels and disrupting STAT3-dependent PtdIns3K complexes. CD44 and its homologue clec-31 are increased in aging vascular endothelium and Caenorhabditis elegans, respectively, suggesting that an age-dependent increase in CD44 induces autophagy decline and aging phenotypes. Accordingly, CD44 knockdown ameliorates age-associated phenotypes in VECs. The endothelium-specific CD44ICD knock-in mouse is shorter-lived, with VECs exhibiting obvious premature aging characteristics associated with decreased basal autophagy. Autophagy activation suppresses the premature aging of human and mouse VECs overexpressing CD44ICD, function conserved in the CD44 homologue clec-31 in C. elegans. Our work describes a mechanism coordinated by CD44 function bridging autophagy decline and aging.
2023-08-30 | GSE236523 | GEO
Project description:Blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction is emerging as a key pathogenic factor in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), where increased microvascular endothelial permeability has been proposed to play an important role. However, the molecular mechanisms leading to increased brain microvascular permeability in AD are not fully understood. We observed that brain endothelial permeability in the APPswe/PS1DE9 (APP/PS1) transgenic mouse model of amyloid-beta (Ab) amyloidosis increases with aging in the areas with the greatest amyloid plaque deposition. We performed an unbiased bulk RNA-sequencing analysis of brain endothelial cells (BECs) in APP/PS1 transgenic mice. We observed that upregulation of interferon signaling gene expression pathways in BECs were among the most prominent transcriptomic signatures in the brain endothelium of APP/PS1 mice. Immunofluorescence analysis of isolated BECs from APP/PS1 mice demonstrated higher levels of the Type I interferon-stimulated gene IFIT2. Immunoblotting of APP/PS1 BECs showed downregulation of the adherens junction protein VE-cadherin. Stimulation of human brain endothelial cells with interferon-β decreased the levels of the adherens junction protein VE-cadherin as well as tight junction proteins Occludin and Claudin-5 and increased barrier leakiness. Depletion of the Type I interferon receptor in human brain endothelial cells prevented interferon-β-induced VE- cadherin downregulation and restored endothelial barrier integrity. Our study suggests that Type I interferon signaling contributes to brain endothelial dysfunction in AD.
2022-06-25 | GSE206629 | GEO
Project description:Background: Brain activity governing cognition and behaviour depends on the fine-tuned microenvironment provided by a tightly controlled blood-brain barrier (BBB). Brain endothelium dysfunction is a hallmark of BBB breakdown in most neurodegenerative/neuroinflammatory disorders. Therefore, the identification of new endogenous molecules involved in endothelial cell disruption is essential to better understand BBB dynamics. Cortistatin is a neuroimmune mediator with anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties that exerts beneficial effects on the peripheral endothelium. However, its role in the healthy and injured brain endothelium remains to be evaluated. Herein, this study aimed to investigate the potential function of endogenous and therapeutic cortistatin in regulating brain endothelium dysfunction in a neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative environment. Methods: Wild-type and cortistatin-deficient murine brain endothelium and human cells were used for an in vitro barrier model, where a simulated ischemia-like environment was mimicked. Endothelial permeability, junction integrity, and immune response in the presence and absence of cortistatin were evaluated using different size tracers, immunofluorescence labelling, qPCR, and ELISA. Cortistatin molecular mechanisms underlying brain endothelium dynamics were assessed by RNA-sequencing analysis. Cortistatin role in BBB leakage was evaluated in adult mice injected with LPS. Results: The endogenous lack of cortistatin predisposes endothelium weakening with increased permeability, tight-junctions breakdown, and dysregulated immune activity. We demonstrated that both damaged and uninjured brain endothelial cells isolated from cortistatin-deficient mice, present a dysregulated and/or deactivated genetic programming. These pathways, related to basic physiology but also crucial for the repair after damage (e.g., extracellular matrix remodelling, angiogenesis, response to oxygen, signalling, and metabolites transport), are dysfunctional and make brain endothelial barrier lacking cortistatin non-responsive to any further injury. Treatment with cortistatin reversed in vitro hyperpermeability, tight-junctions disruption, inflammatory response, and reduced in vivo BBB leakage. Conclusions: The neuropeptide cortistatin has a key role in the physiology of the cerebral microvasculature and its presence is crucial to develop a canonical balanced response to damage. The reparative effects of cortistatin in the brain endothelium were accompanied by the modulation of the immune function and the rescue of barrier integrity. Cortistatin-based therapies could emerge as a novel pleiotropic strategy to ameliorate neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative disorders with disrupted BBB.
2023-09-01 | GSE207405 | GEO