Project description:Background Chronic preconception paternal alcohol use modifies the sperm epigenome, inducing fetoplacental growth defects in the offspring of exposed males. A crucial outstanding question in the field of paternal epigenetic inheritance concerns the resilience of the male reproductive tract and the germline's capacity to recover and correct sperm-inherited epigenetic errors after stressor withdrawal. Objectives We set out to determine if measures of the sperm-inherited epigenetic program revert to match the control treatment one month after withdrawing daily alcohol treatments. Materials and Methods Using a voluntary access model, we exposed C57Bl6/J males to 10% alcohol for ten weeks, withdrew alcohol treatment for four weeks, and used RNA sequencing to examine gene expression patterns in the caput section of the epididymis. We then compared the abundance of sperm small RNA species between treatments. Results In the caput section of the epididymis, chronic alcohol exposures induced changes in the transcriptional control of genetic pathways related to mitochondrial function, oxidative phosphorylation, the generalized stress response (EIF2 signaling), and Sirtuin signaling. Subsequent analysis identified region-specific, alcohol-induced changes in mitochondrial DNA copy number across the epididymis, which correlated with increases in the mitochondrial DNA content of alcohol-exposed sperm. Notably, in the corpus section of the epididymis, increases in mitochondrial DNA copy number persisted one month after alcohol cessation. Analysis of sperm noncoding RNAs between Control and Alcohol-Exposed males one month after alcohol withdrawal revealed a ~100-fold increase in mir-196a, a microRNA induced as part of the Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-Related Factor 2 (Nrf2)-driven cellular antioxidant response. Discussion and Conclusion Our data reveal that alcohol-induced epididymal mitochondrial dysfunction and differences in sperm noncoding RNA content persist after alcohol withdrawal. Further, differences in mir-196a and sperm mitochondrial DNA copy number may serve as viable biomarkers of adverse alterations in the sperm- inherited epigenetic program.

Project description:Background Chronic preconception paternal alcohol use modifies the sperm epigenome, inducing fetoplacental growth defects in the offspring of exposed males. A crucial outstanding question in the field of paternal epigenetic inheritance concerns the resilience of the male reproductive tract and the germline's capacity to recover and correct sperm-inherited epigenetic errors after stressor withdrawal. Objectives We set out to determine if measures of the sperm-inherited epigenetic program revert to match the control treatment one month after withdrawing daily alcohol treatments. Materials and Methods Using a voluntary access model, we exposed C57Bl6/J males to 10% alcohol for ten weeks, withdrew alcohol treatment for four weeks, and used RNA sequencing to examine gene expression patterns in the caput section of the epididymis. We then compared the abundance of sperm small RNA species between treatments. Results In the caput section of the epididymis, chronic alcohol exposures induced changes in the transcriptional control of genetic pathways related to mitochondrial function, oxidative phosphorylation, the generalized stress response (EIF2 signaling), and Sirtuin signaling. Subsequent analysis identified region-specific, alcohol-induced changes in mitochondrial DNA copy number across the epididymis, which correlated with increases in the mitochondrial DNA content of alcohol-exposed sperm. Notably, in the corpus section of the epididymis, increases in mitochondrial DNA copy number persisted one month after alcohol cessation. Analysis of sperm noncoding RNAs between Control and Alcohol-Exposed males one month after alcohol withdrawal revealed a ~100-fold increase in mir-196a, a microRNA induced as part of the Nuclear Factor Erythroid 2-Related Factor 2 (Nrf2)-driven cellular antioxidant response. Discussion and Conclusion Our data reveal that alcohol-induced epididymal mitochondrial dysfunction and differences in sperm noncoding RNA content persist after alcohol withdrawal. Further, differences in mir-196a and sperm mitochondrial DNA copy number may serve as viable biomarkers of adverse alterations in the sperm-inherited epigenetic program.

Project description:SEPN1 is a type II protein of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) whose loss of function gives rise to a collection of debilitating autosomal recessive myopathies gathered under the umbrella term of SEPN1-related myopathy (RM). At the moment, SEPN1-RM lacks an effective pharmacological treatment; thus, the medical management of the disease is only supportive. The potentially fatal diaphragmatic weakness leading to respiratory insufficiency in patients still ambulant is the main reason for medical concerns. Thus, studies on SEPN1-RM pathogenesis are necessary to implement a targeted pharmacological therapy aimed at relieving the general muscle weakness and the more worrisome diaphragmatic dysfunction. Here, we show a physical and functional interaction between SEPN1 and the ER stress mediator ERO1 alpha (henceforth, ERO1). Both SEPN1 and ERO1 are involved in the redox regulation of proteins into the ER, although in an opposite way SEPN1 imposes a less oxidant ER poise while ERO1 a more oxidant one, conceivable with a reductase function of SEPN1 and an oxidase one of ERO1. Furthermore, both are mainly localized in a region of the ER in close contact with mitochondria termed mitochondria-associated membranes (MAMs) and their loss impacts oppositely on the short-range MAMs, thereby impinging ER-mitochondria Ca2+ dynamics, OXPHOS, and bioenergetics. We find that ERO1 depletion restores the impaired short-range MAMs due to SEPN1 loss together with mitochondrial ATP. ERO1 knockout in a mouse background of SEPN1 loss blunts ER stress and the consequent Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) while it rescues the diaphragmatic weakness by improving ER/mitochondria contacts, calcium dynamics, and OXPHOS. Importantly, treatments of SEPN1 knock out mice with the chemical chaperone tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) mimic the results of ERO1 loss improving calcium dynamics, OXPHOS, ER/mitochondria contacts, thereby rescuing diaphragmatic weakness as well. In addition, TUDCA-treated SEPN1-RM patients-derived myoblasts show a dynamic dose-dependent increase in ATP levels under ER stress conditions suggesting improved mitochondrial function. Thus, our findings point to the ERO1 axis in the pathogenesis of SEPN1-RM thereby impinging on MAMs and mitochondria bioenergetics and recall for the efficacy of a pharmacology therapy with ad hoc ER stress/ERO1 inhibitors for SEPN1-RM.

Project description:Glial cells are central players in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders like Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Ethanol can modulate glial differentiation and astrocyte function imposing dramatic changes to the developing brain. Since ethanol can affect a vast number of intracellular targets and signaling pathways and many effects of early alcohol exposure on cell physiology can persist into adulthood, we tested the hypothesis that ethanol exposure in ferrets during a period equivalent to the last months of human gestation leads to a long-lasting change in astrocyte secretome in vitro. Animals were treated every other day with ethanol (5g/kg) or saline between post-natal day (P)10-30. At P31, astrocyte cultures were made and cells were submitted to stable isotope labeling by amino acids (SILAC). 24h-conditioned media of cells obtained from ethanol- or saline-treated animals (ET-CM or SAL-CM) were collected and analyzed by quantitative mass spectrometry in tandem with liquid chromatography. Here we show that 65 out of 280 quantifiable proteins displayed significant differences comparing ET-CM to SAL-CM. Among 59 proteins found reduced in ET-CM we found components of the extracellular matrix like Laminin subunits α2, α4, β1, β2 and γ1 and the proteoglycans Biglycan, Heparin Sulfate Proteoglycan 2 and Lumican. Proteins with trophic function like Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 4, Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor and Clusterin as well as proteins involved on modulation of proteolysis like TIMP-1 and PAI-1 were also found reduced. On the other hand, pro-synaptogeneic proteins like Thrombospondin-1, Hevin as well as the modulator of extracelular matrix expression, Angiotensinogen, were found increased in ET-CM. The analysis of interactome maps through Ingenuity Pathway Analysis demonstrated that the Amyloid beta A4 protein precursor (APP), which was found reduced in ET-CM, was previously shown to interact with ten other proteins that exhibited significant changes in the ET-CM, rendering it a suitable target for a more accurate analysis about the effects of ethanol on its biology. Taken together our results strongly suggest that early exposure to teratogens such alcohol may lead to an enduring change in astrocyte secretome, affecting mainly the expression of trophic and matricellular proteins, which in turn may lead to permanent alterations in brain function.

Dataset Information

Quantifying Competition Among Mitochondrial Protein Acylation Events Induced by Ethanol Metabolism

Publications

Quantifying Competition among Mitochondrial Protein Acylation Events Induced by Ethanol Metabolism.

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