Project description:The Khakh laboratory sequenced RNA from both whole and astrocyte specific RNAs from mouse prefrontal cortex and visual cortex by using Aldh1l1-CreERT2 - RiboTag mice. RNA was purified from controls and LPS injected mice, 1, 2 and 14 days after the injection.
Project description:Neuroinflammation is a common feature of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Neuroinflammation is induced by dysregulated glial activation, and astrocytes, the most abundant glial cells, become reactive upon neuroinflammatory cytokines released from microglia, and actively contribute to neuronal loss. Therefore, blocking reactive astrocyte functions is a viable strategy to manage neurodegenerative disorders. However, factors or therapeutics directly regulating astrocyte subtype remain unexplored. Here, we identified transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) as a therapeutic target in neurotoxic reactive astrocytes upon neuroinflammation. We found that the absence of Nrf2 promoted the activation of reactive astrocytes in the brain tissue samples obtained from AD model 5xFAD mice, whereas enhanced Nrf2 expression blocked the induction of reactive astrocyte gene expression by counteracting NF-kB subunit p65 recruitment. Neuroinflammatory astrocytes robustly upregulated genes associated with type I interferon and the antigen-presenting pathway, which were suppressed by Nrf2 pathway activation. Moreover, impaired cognitive behaviors observed in AD mice were rescued upon ALGERNON2 treatment, which potentiated Nrf2 pathway and reduced the induction of neurotoxic reactive astrocytes. Thus, we highlight the potential of astrocyte-targeting therapy by promoting the Nrf2 pathway signaling for neuroinflammation-triggered neurodegeneration.
Project description:Neuroinflammation is a common feature of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Neuroinflammation is induced by dysregulated glial activation, and astrocytes, the most abundant glial cells, become reactive upon neuroinflammatory cytokines released from microglia, and actively contribute to neuronal loss. Therefore, blocking reactive astrocyte functions is a viable strategy to manage neurodegenerative disorders. However, factors or therapeutics directly regulating astrocyte subtype remain unexplored. Here, we identified transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) as a therapeutic target in neurotoxic reactive astrocytes upon neuroinflammation. We found that the absence of Nrf2 promoted the activation of reactive astrocytes in the brain tissue samples obtained from AD model 5xFAD mice, whereas enhanced Nrf2 expression blocked the induction of reactive astrocyte gene expression by counteracting NF-kB subunit p65 recruitment. Neuroinflammatory astrocytes robustly upregulated genes associated with type I interferon and the antigen-presenting pathway, which were suppressed by Nrf2 pathway activation. Moreover, impaired cognitive behaviors observed in AD mice were rescued upon ALGERNON2 treatment, which potentiated Nrf2 pathway and reduced the induction of neurotoxic reactive astrocytes. Thus, we highlight the potential of astrocyte-targeting therapy by promoting the Nrf2 pathway signaling for neuroinflammation-triggered neurodegeneration.
Project description:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive paralysis resulting from specific degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons (MNs). Chronic neuroinflammation, mediated by activated microglia, is a hallmark of patients diagnosed with ALS, and correlates with disease pathogenesis. Protecting MNs, particularly from toxic insults caused by neuroinflammation, could lead to effective treatments of ALS patient. Here, we report a screening campaign identifying a series of pyrazolotriazines that cell-autonomously protect MNs against neuroinflammation. We demonstrate that these compounds inhibit Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) and Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3), and we use phospho-proteomics to show that neuroprotection is linked to alterations in microtubule dynamics.
Project description:Neuroinflammation plays a role in the progression of several neurodegenerative disorders. We used a lipolysaccharide (LPS) model of neuroinflammation to characterize the gene expression changes underlying the inflammatory and behavioral effects of neuroinflammation. A single intracerebroventricular injection of LPS (5 ug) was administered into the lateral ventricle of mice and, 24 hours later, we examined gene expression in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus using microarray technology. Gene Ontology (GO) terms for inflammation and the ribosome were significantly enriched by LPS, whereas GO terms associated with learning and memory had decreased expression. We detected 224 changed transcripts in the cerebral cortex and 170 in the hippocampus. Expression of Egr1 (also known as Zif268) and Arc, two genes associated with learning and memory, was significantly lower in the cortex, but not hippocampus, of LPS-treated animals. Overall, altered expression of these genes may underlie some of the inflammatory and behavioral effects of neuroinflammation. Mice were given intracerebroventricular injections of saline vehicle (n = 4) or lipopolysaccharide (n = 4). Twenty-four hours later, we dissected the hippocampus and cerebral cortex and processed the tissue for microarray analysis. Gene expression changes observed in the microaray data were validated with quantitative real-time PCR.
Project description:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease whose pathophysiology is largely unknown. Despite motor neuron death is recognized as the key event in ALS, astrocytes dysfunctionalities and neuroinflammation were demonstrated to accompany and probably even drive motor neuron loss. Nevertheless, the mechanisms priming astrocyte failure and hyperactivation are still obscure. In this work, altered pathways in ALS astrocytes were unveiled by investigating the proteomic profile of primary spinal-cord astrocytes derived from transgenic ALS mouse model overexpressing the human (h)SOD1(G93A) protein, in comparison with the transgenic counterpart expressing hSOD1(WT) protein. In this research, we showed that hSOD1(G93A) astrocytes present a profound alterations in the expression of proteins involved in proteostasis and glutathione metabolism.
Project description:Transcriptional alterations in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens implicate neuroinflammation and synaptic remodeling in opioid use disorder. Transcriptomic profile of 20 control subjects and 20 OUD subjects in brain region DLPFC and NAC
Project description:Brain total lysate from ad patient. Reduced binding of apolipoprotein E4 isoform to complement factor H promotes amyloid-beta induced neuroinflammation.