Project description:Several neurodegenerative diseases present Tau accumulation as the main pathological marker. Tau post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation and acetylation are increased in neurodegenerative patients. Here, we show that Tau hyper-acetylation at residue 174 increases its own nuclear presence and is the result of DNA damage signaling or the lack of SIRT6, both causative of neurodegeneration. Tau-K174ac is deacetylated in the nucleus by SIRT6. However, lack of SIRT6 or chronic DNA damage result in nuclear Tau-K174ac accumulation. Once there, it induces global changes in gene expression affecting protein translation, synthesis and energy production. Concomitantly, AD patients showed increased Nucleolin and a decrease in SIRT6 levels. AD patients present increased levels of nuclear Tau, particularly Tau-K174ac. Our results suggest that increased Tau-K174ac in AD patients is the result of DNA damage signaling and SIRT6 depletion. We propose that Tau-K174ac toxicity is due to its increased stability, nuclear accumulation and nucleolar dysfunction.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE13206: Human shSIRT6 TNF-alpha timecourse GSE13207: Mouse Sirt6-/- TNF-alpha timecourse GSE13208: Mouse Sirt6-/- tissues GSE13209: Mouse Sirt6-/- RelA+/- tissues Refer to individual Series
Project description:There is a fundamental gap in understanding the consequences of tau-ribosome interactions. Tau oligomers and filaments hinder protein synthesis in vitro, and they associate strongly with ribosomes in vivo. Here, we investigated the consequences of tau interactions with ribosomes in vivo and in human brain tissues to identify tau as a direct modulator of ribosomal selectivity. We performed microarrays and nascent proteomics to measure changes in protein synthesis using rTg4510 tau transgenic mice. We determined that tau expression differentially shifts the transcriptome and the proteome and that the synthesis of ribosomal proteins is reversibly dependent on tau levels. We further extended these results to human brains and show that tau pathologically interacts with ribosomal protein S6 (rpS6 or S6). Consequently, synthesis of ribosomal proteins coded by 5’TOP-mRNAs was reduced under tauopathic conditions in Alzheimer’s disease brains. Our data establish tau as a driver of RNA translation selectivity. Moreover, considering that regulation of protein synthesis is critical to learning and memory, aberrant tau-ribosome interactions in disease could explain the linkage between virtually every tauopathy and cognitive impairment and memory decline.
Project description:Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a strong genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with APOE4 increasing and APOE2 decreasing risk relative to APOE3. In the P301S mouse model of tauopathy, ApoE4 increases tau pathology and neurodegeneration when compared to ApoE3 or the absence of ApoE. However, the role of ApoE isoforms in regulating lipid metabolism in the setting of tauopathy is unknown. Here, by using targeted lipidomics coupled with histological analysis, we demonstrate that in P301S tau mice, ApoE4 strongly promotes glial lipid accumulation along with significant perturbations in cholesterol metabolism and lysosomal function. Increasing lipid efflux in glia via administration of the LXR agonist GW3965 reduces lipid droplet accumulation in primary E4 microglia in vitro and GW3965 or Abca1 overexpression strongly attenuates tau pathology, neurodegeneration, and synapse loss in P301S/ApoE4 mice. By immunostaining, bulk and snRNA sequencing, we demonstrate reductions in reactive astrocytes and microglia as well as significant changes in cholesterol biosynthesis and metabolism in glia of tauopathy mice in response to LXR activation. These data suggest that promoting efflux of glial lipids via Abca1 could serve as a therapeutic approach to ameliorate tau and ApoE4-linked neurodegeneration.
Project description:Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a strong genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with APOE4 increasing and APOE2 decreasing risk relative to APOE3. In the P301S mouse model of tauopathy, ApoE4 increases tau pathology and neurodegeneration when compared to ApoE3 or the absence of ApoE. However, the role of ApoE isoforms in regulating lipid metabolism in the setting of tauopathy is unknown. Here, by using targeted lipidomics coupled with histological analysis, we demonstrate that in P301S tau mice, ApoE4 strongly promotes glial lipid accumulation along with significant perturbations in cholesterol metabolism and lysosomal function. Increasing lipid efflux in glia via administration of the LXR agonist GW3965 reduces lipid droplet accumulation in primary E4 microglia in vitro and GW3965 or Abca1 overexpression strongly attenuates tau pathology, neurodegeneration, and synapse loss in P301S/ApoE4 mice. By immunostaining, bulk and snRNA sequencing, we demonstrate reductions in reactive astrocytes and microglia as well as significant changes in cholesterol biosynthesis and metabolism in glia of tauopathy mice in response to LXR activation. These data suggest that promoting efflux of glial lipids via Abca1 could serve as a therapeutic approach to ameliorate tau and ApoE4-linked neurodegeneration.
Project description:Microarray analysis of liver tissue from WT SIRT6 and conditional knockout of SIRT6 using albumin-Cre (SIRT6Co/Co ;Alb-Cre) at 2 and 8 months of age RNA was extracted from mouse liver tissue at 2 and 8 months of age. RNA from three pairs of WT SIRT6 and SIRT6Co/Co ;Alb-Cre mice was combined and hybridized to Affymetrix mouse gene 1.0 ST arrays.
Project description:Aging leads to a gradual decline in physical activity and disrupted energy homeostasis. The NAD+-dependent SIRT6 deacylase regulates aging and metabolism through mechanisms that largely remain unknown. Here, we show that SIRT6 overexpression leads to a reduction in frailty and lifespan extension in both male and female B6 mice. A combination of physiological assays, in vivo multi-omics analyses and 13C lactate tracing identified an age-dependent decline in glucose homeostasis and hepatic gluconeogenesis (GNG) capacity in wild type mice. In contrast, aged SIRT6-transgenic mice preserve GNG capacity and glucose homeostasis through an improvement in the utilization of two major GNG precursors, lactate and glycerol. To mediate these changes, mechanistically, SIRT6 increases hepatic GNG gene expression, de novo NAD+ synthesis, and systemically enhances glycerol release from adipose tissue. These findings show that SIRT6 optimizes energy homeostasis in old age to delay frailty and preserve healthy aging.
Project description:Pericentric heterochromatin silencing at mammalian centromeres is essential for mitotic fidelity and genomic stability. Defective pericentric silencing is observed in senescent cells, aging tissues, and mammalian tumors, but the underlying mechanisms and functional consequences of these defects are unclear. Here, we uncover a pivotal role of the human SIRT6 enzyme in pericentric transcriptional silencing, and this function protects against mitotic defects, genomic instability, and cellular senescence. At pericentric heterochromatin, SIRT6 promotes deacetylation of a new substrate, histone H3 lysine K18 (H3K18), and inactivation of SIRT6 in cells leads to H3K18 hyperacetylation and aberrant accumulation of pericentric transcripts. Strikingly, RNAi-depletion of these transcripts rescues the mitotic and senescence phenotypes of SIRT6-deficient cells. Together, our findings reveal a new function for SIRT6 and H3K18Ac regulation at heterochromatin, and demonstrate the pathogenic role of de-regulated pericentric transcription in aging- and cancer- related cellular dysfunction. H3K18ac, H3K9ac, H3K9me3, H3K56ac and Input ChIP-seq for U2OS cell
Project description:Microarray analysis of liver tissue from WT SIRT6 and conditional knockout of SIRT6 using albumin-Cre (SIRT6Co/Co ;Alb-Cre) at 2 and 8 months of age
Project description:Purpose: The complete understanding of how genetic and epigenetic components control beta cell differentiation and function is key to the discovery of novel therapeutic approaches to prevent beta cell dysfunction and failure in the progression of type 2 diabetes. Our goal was to elucidate the role of histone deacetylase SIRT6 in beta-cell development and homeostasis. Methods: The Sirt6 endocrine progenitor cell conditional knockout (EKO) and beta-cell-specific knockout (BKO) mice were generated using the Cre-loxP system. Mice were assayed for islet morphology, glucose tolerance, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, and susceptibility to streptozotocin. Transcriptional regulatory functions of SIRT6 in primary islets were evaluated by RNA-seq analysis. RT-qPCR and immunoblot were used to verify and investigate the gene expression changes. Chromatin occupancies of SIRT6, H3K9Ac, H3K56Ac, and active RNA Polymerase II were evaluated by chromatin immunoprecipitation. Results: Deletion of Sirt6 in pancreatic endocrine progenitor cells did not affect endocrine morphology, beta cell mass, or insulin production, but did result in glucose intolerance and defective glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in mice. Conditional deletion of Sirt6 in adult beta cells reproduced the insulin secretion defect. Loss of Sirt6 resulted in aberrant upregulation of TXNIP. SIRT6 deficiency led to increased accumulations of H3K9Ac, H3K56Ac, and active RNA polymerase II at the promoter region of Txnip. SIRT6-deficient beta cells exhibited a time-dependent increase of H3K9Ac, H3K56Ac, and TXNIP levels. Furthermore, beta-cell-specific SIRT6 deficient mice showed increased sensitivity to streptozotocin. Conclusions: Our results reveal that SIRT6 suppresses Txnip expression in beta-cells via deacetylation of histone H3 and plays a critical role in maintaining beta-cell function and viability. Agents that preserve SIRT6 activity may be beneficial for preventing the progression of type 2 diabetes.