Project description:Electromagnetic field-mediated direct lineage reprogramming into induced dopamine neurons in vivo for Parkinson’s disease therapy [microarray2]
Project description:Electromagnetic field-mediated direct lineage reprogramming into induced dopamine neurons in vivo for Parkinson’s disease therapy [microarray1]
Project description:Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are physical energy generated by electrically charged objects that can influence numerous biologic processes, including control of cell fate and plasticity. In this study, we show that magnetic gold nanoparticles in the presence of EMF can facilitate efficient direct lineage reprogramming to induced dopamine neurons both in vitro and in vivo. Remarkably, electromagnetic stimulation leads to the specific activation of the histone acetyl transferase Brd2, resulting in H3K27 acetylation and robust activation of neuronal-specific gene expression. In vivo reprogramming in conjunction with EMF stimulation efficiently alleviated symptoms in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a noninvasive and controllable manner. These studies provide a proof of principle that EMF-based approaches may represent a viable and safe therapeutic strategy facilitating in vivo lineage conversion for neurodegenerative disorders.
Project description:Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are physical energy generated by electrically charged objects that can influence numerous biologic processes, including control of cell fate and plasticity. In this study, we show that magnetic gold nanoparticles in the presence of EMF can facilitate efficient direct lineage reprogramming to induced dopamine neurons both in vitro and in vivo. Remarkably, electromagnetic stimulation leads to the specific activation of the histone acetyl transferase Brd2, resulting in H3K27 acetylation and robust activation of neuronal-specific gene expression. In vivo reprogramming in conjunction with EMF stimulation efficiently alleviated symptoms in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a noninvasive and controllable manner. These studies provide a proof of principle that EMF-based approaches may represent a viable and safe therapeutic strategy facilitating in vivo lineage conversion for neurodegenerative disorders.
Project description:Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are physical energy generated by electrically charged objects that can influence numerous biologic processes, including control of cell fate and plasticity. In this study, we show that magnetic gold nanoparticles in the presence of EMF can facilitate efficient direct lineage reprogramming to induced dopamine neurons both in vitro and in vivo. Remarkably, electromagnetic stimulation leads to the specific activation of the histone acetyl transferase Brd2, resulting in H3K27 acetylation and robust activation of neuronal-specific gene expression. In vivo reprogramming in conjunction with EMF stimulation efficiently alleviated symptoms in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a noninvasive and controllable manner. These studies provide a proof of principle that EMF-based approaches may represent a viable and safe therapeutic strategy facilitating in vivo lineage conversion for neurodegenerative disorders.
Project description:Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived dopamine neurons provide an opportunity to model Parkinson’s disease (PD) but neuronal cultures are confounded by cellular heterogeneity. By applying high-resolution single cell transcriptomic analyses to Parkinson’s iPSC-derived dopamine neurons carrying the GBA-N370S risk variant, we exploited intra-culture cellular heterogeneity to identify a progressive axis of gene expression variation leading to endoplasmic reticulum stress. Analysis of genes differentially-expressed (DE) along this axis identified the transcriptional repressor histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) as an upstream regulator of disease progression. HDAC4 was mislocalized to the nucleus in PD iPSC-derived dopamine neurons and repressed genes early in the disease axis, leading to late deficits in protein homeostasis. Treatment of iPSC-derived dopamine neurons with compounds known to modulate HDAC4 activity upregulated genes early in the DE axis, and corrected Parkinson’s-related cellular phenotypes. Our study demonstrates how single cell transcriptomics can exploit cellular heterogeneity to reveal disease mechanisms and identify therapeutic targets.
Project description:First-in-human clinical trials illustrate the feasibility and translational potential of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based cell therapy in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, a major unresolved challenge is the extensive cell death following transplantation with <10% of grafted dopamine neurons surviving. Here, we performed a pooled CRISPR/Cas9 screen to enhance survival of postmitotic dopamine neurons in vivo. We identified TP53-mediated apoptotic cell death as major contributor to dopamine neuron loss and uncovered a causal link of TNFa-NFκB signaling in limiting cell survival. A surface marker screen enabled the purification of midbrain dopamine neurons obviating the need for genetic reporters. Combining cell sorting with adalimumab pretreatment, a clinically approved TNFa inhibitor, enabled efficient engraftment of postmitotic dopamine neurons leading to extensive re-innervation and functional recovery in a preclinical PD mouse model. Thus, transient TNFa inhibition may present a clinically relevant strategy to enhance survival of human PSC-derived lineages in PD and beyond.
Project description:First-in-human clinical trials illustrate the feasibility and translational potential of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based cell therapy in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, a major unresolved challenge is the extensive cell death following transplantation with <10% of grafted dopamine neurons surviving. Here, we performed a pooled CRISPR/Cas9 screen to enhance survival of postmitotic dopamine neurons in vivo. We identified TP53-mediated apoptotic cell death as major contributor to dopamine neuron loss and uncovered a causal link of TNFa-NFκB signaling in limiting cell survival. A surface marker screen enabled the purification of midbrain dopamine neurons obviating the need for genetic reporters. Combining cell sorting with adalimumab pretreatment, a clinically approved TNFa inhibitor, enabled efficient engraftment of postmitotic dopamine neurons leading to extensive re-innervation and functional recovery in a preclinical PD mouse model. Thus, transient TNFa inhibition may present a clinically relevant strategy to enhance survival of human PSC-derived lineages in PD and beyond.
Project description:Reprogramming somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) sets their identity back to an embryonic age. This presents a fundamental hurdle for modeling late-onset disorders using iPSC-derived cells. We therefore developed a strategy to induce age-like features in multiple iPSC-derived lineages and tested its impact on modeling Parkinson’s disease (PD). We first describe markers that predict fibroblast donor age and observed the loss of these age-related markers following iPSC induction and re-differentiation into fibroblasts. Remarkably, age-related markers were readily induced in iPSC-derived fibroblasts or neurons following exposure to progerin including dopamine neuron-specific phenotypes such as neuromelanin accumulation. Induced aging in PD-iPSC-derived dopamine neurons revealed disease phenotypes requiring both aging and genetic susceptibility such as frank dendrite degeneration, progressive loss of tyrosine-hydroxylase expression and enlarged mitochondria or Lewy body-precursor inclusions. Our study presents a strategy for inducing age-related cellular properties and enables the modeling of late-onset disease features. Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived midbrain dopamine neurons from a young and old donor overexpressing either GFP or Progerin.