Project description:BACKGROUND: Histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) has been proposed as a target for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) because it mediates nerve-skeletal muscle interaction and since its expression in skeletal muscle correlates with the severity of the disease. However, our recent studies on the skeletal muscle response upon long-term denervation highlighted the importance of HDAC4 in maintaining muscle integrity. METHODS: To fully identify the yet uncharacterized HDAC4 functions in ALS, we genetically deleted HDAC4 in skeletal muscles of a mouse model of ALS. Body weight, skeletal muscle, innervation and spinal cord were analyzed over time by morphological and molecular analyses. A transcriptome analysis was also performed to delineate the signaling modulated by HDAC4 in skeletal muscle of a mouse model of ALS. FINDINGS: HDAC4 deletion in skeletal muscle caused earlier ALS onset, characterized by body weight loss, muscle denervation and atrophy, and compromised muscle performance in ALS mice, although the main catabolic pathways were not activated. A transcriptome analysis identified the gene networks modulated by HDAC4 in ALS, revealing UCP1 as a top regulator that may be implicated in worsening ALS features. INTERPRETATION: HDAC4 plays an important role in preserving innervations and skeletal muscle in ALS, likely by modulating the UCP1 gene network. Our study highlights a possible risk in considering HDAC inhibitors for the treatment of ALS.
Project description:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal adult-onset neuromuscular disorder characterized by the selective degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons, progressive muscle wasting and paralysis. To define the full set of alterations in gene expression in skeletal muscle during the course of the disease, we performed high-density oligonucleotide microarray analysis of gene expression in hind limb skeletal muscles of sod1(G86R) mice, one of the existing transgenic models of ALS. To monitor denervation-dependent gene expression, we determined the effects of short-term acute denervation on the muscle transcriptome after sciatic nerve axotomy.
Project description:Gene expression profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells with hTERT/E6/E7 transfected MSCs. hTERT may change gene expression in MSCs. Goal was to determine the gene expressions of immortalized MSCs.
Project description:This study was designed to identify gene expression changes in skeletal muscle that could define reliably the degree of the severity of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). All samples were from human biopsies, either from healthy muscles or from muscle whose patients were clearly diagnosed as having Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
