Project description:Neurotrophins (NTs) promotes angiogenesis and EC survival, via tropomyosin kinase trkA and trkB receptors. A different p75NTR receptor of NTs, which belongs to the TNF-alfa receptor superfamily, is not or scarcely expressed by endothelial cells (EC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) under basal conditions. Both diabetes and muscular ischemia induce p75NTR in capillary EC. In this study, by gene transfer, we forced the expression of p75NTR in EC and EPC to study the effect on cell survival, proliferation, adhesion, migration, and capillary-like tubes formation on matrigel, which all resulted impaired by p75NTR. We identified that p75NTR inhibits the VEGF-A/Akt/eNOS/NO pro-angiogenesis/pro-EC survival pathway and reduces the mRNA contents of survivin and securin in EC. By Illumina technology and real-time PCR, we found that p75-NTR alters the expression of VEGF-A and beta-1 integrin, which are implicated in angiogenesis and cell survival. p75NTR transfer to ischemic murine limb muscles impaired neoangiogenesis and blood flow recovery and induced apoptosis of bone marrow Sca-1+/Lin- progenitor cells. Diabetes induced p75NTR in bone marrow Sca-1+/Lin- cells and this correlated with apoptosis. Finally, inhibition of p75NTR signaling in diabetic ischemic limb muscles restored proper muscular neovascularization and blood flow recovery. Keywords: Response to ectopic receptor expression on angiogenesis Two series of 4 mice each were treated with either control adenovirus (AdNull) or adenovirus expressing neurotrophin p75 receptor (AdP75). Anaesthetized mice received 3 adenovirus injections (for a total of 109 p.f.u. virus in 20 micro L) into 3 equidistant sites of the normoperfused or ischemic left adductor muscles, as described (2. Emanueli C, Graiani G, Salis MB, Gadau S, Desortes E, Madeddu P. Prophylactic gene therapy with human tissue kallikrein ameliorates limb ischemia recovery in type 1 diabetic mice. Diabetes. 2004 Apr;53(4):1096-103. )
Project description:It has been reported that hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) differentiate from mesodermal-derived submesothelial cells during embryonic development, and that these cells express a common surface marker p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR). We sorted p75NTR-expressing cells in embryonic liver at each developmental stage, and transcription profiles were analyzed using the DNA microarray.
Project description:Neurotrophins (NTs) promotes angiogenesis and EC survival, via tropomyosin kinase trkA and trkB receptors. A different p75NTR receptor of NTs, which belongs to the TNF-alfa receptor superfamily, is not or scarcely expressed by endothelial cells (EC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) under basal conditions. Both diabetes and muscular ischemia induce p75NTR in capillary EC. In this study, by gene transfer, we forced the expression of p75NTR in EC and EPC to study the effect on cell survival, proliferation, adhesion, migration, and capillary-like tubes formation on matrigel, which all resulted impaired by p75NTR. We identified that p75NTR inhibits the VEGF-A/Akt/eNOS/NO pro-angiogenesis/pro-EC survival pathway and reduces the mRNA contents of survivin and securin in EC. By Illumina technology and real-time PCR, we found that p75-NTR alters the expression of VEGF-A and beta-1 integrin, which are implicated in angiogenesis and cell survival. p75NTR transfer to ischemic murine limb muscles impaired neoangiogenesis and blood flow recovery and induced apoptosis of bone marrow Sca-1+/Lin- progenitor cells. Diabetes induced p75NTR in bone marrow Sca-1+/Lin- cells and this correlated with apoptosis. Finally, inhibition of p75NTR signaling in diabetic ischemic limb muscles restored proper muscular neovascularization and blood flow recovery. Keywords: Response to ectopic receptor expression on angiogenesis
Project description:Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs) extend long projections to multiple targets in the brain to regulate cognitive functions, and are compromised in numerous neurodegenerative disorders. Our previous study showed that injury to the target region of these neurons affects their viability in vivo. Moderate cortical injury in mice promoted a significant increase in proneurotrophins in the injured cortex, leading to the retrograde loss of BFCNs ipsilateral to the injury via the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR). We determined that stimulation of BFCN axon terminals with proNGF elicited retrograde degeneration of the axons leading to cell death of these neurons in vitro. Our current study investigates mechanisms of axonal p75NTR signaling, and shows that retrograde transport and local axonal protein synthesis are necessary for proNGF induced retrograde degeneration initiated at the axon terminal. Analysis of the nascent axonal proteome revealed numerous newly synthesized proteins after stimulation of axon terminals with proNGF. Pathway analysis showed that amyloid precursor protein (APP) was a key upstream regulator. Our results show a functional role for APP in promoting proNGF induced BFCN axonal degeneration and cell death.
Project description:Signalling by target-derived neurotrophins is essential for the correct development of the nervous system and its maintenance throughout life. Several aspects concerning the lifecycle of neurotrophins and their receptors, tropomyosin receptor kinases (Trks) and p75NTR, have been characterised over the years, including formation of activated ligand-receptor complexes, their endocytosis, trafficking and signalling. However, the molecular mechanisms directing the sorting of activated neurotrophin receptors to their final cellular destination are not completely understood. Previously, our laboratory identified Bicaudal-D1 (BICD1), a dynein motor adaptor, as a key factor for lysosomal degradation of BDNF-activated TrkB and p75NTR in motor neurons. Here, we deciphered the mechanism responsible for this sorting process. Using a proteomic approach, we identified protein tyrosine phosphatase, non-receptor type 23 (PTPN23), a member of the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) machinery, in the BICD1 interactome. Molecular mapping revealed that PTPN23 is not a canonical BICD1 cargo; instead, PTPN23 binds the N-terminus of BICD1, which is also essential for the recruitment of cytoplasmic dynein. In line with the BICD1 knockdown phenotype, loss of PTPN23 leads to increased accumulation of BDNF-activated p75NTR and TrkB in swollen vacuole-like compartments, suggesting that neuronal PTPN23 is a novel regulator of the endocytic sorting of neurotrophin receptors.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.
Project description:Translational research is commonly performed in the C57B6/J mouse strain, chosen for its genetic homogeneity and phenotypic uniformity. Here, we evaluate the suitability of the white-footed deer mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) as a model organism for aging research, offering a comparative analysis against C57B6/J and diversity outbred (DO) Mus musculus strains. Our study includes comparisons of body composition, skeletal muscle function, and cardiovascular parameters, shedding light on potential applications and limitations of P. leucopus in aging studies. Notably, P. leucopus exhibits distinct body composition characteristics, emphasizing reduced muscle force exertion and a unique metabolism, particularly in fat mass. Cardiovascular assessments showed changes in arterial stiffness, challenging conventional assumptions and highlighting the need for a nuanced interpretation of aging-related phenotypes. Our study also highlights inherent challenges associated with maintaining and phenotyping P. leucopus cohorts. Behavioral considerations, including anxiety-induced responses during handling and phenotyping assessment, pose obstacles in acquiring meaningful data. Moreover, the unique anatomy of P. leucopus necessitates careful adaptation of protocols designed for Mus musculus. While showcasing potential benefits, further extensive analyses across broader age ranges and larger cohorts are necessary to establish the reliability of P. leucopus as a robust and translatable model for aging studies.
Project description:BackgroundCopy number variation is an important dimension of genetic diversity and has implications in development and disease. As an important model organism, the mouse is a prime candidate for copy number variant (CNV) characterization, but this has yet to be completed for a large sample size. Here we report CNV analysis of publicly available, high-density microarray data files for 351 mouse tail samples, including 290 mice that had not been characterized for CNVs previously.ResultsWe found 9634 putative autosomal CNVs across the samples affecting 6.87% of the mouse reference genome. We find significant differences in the degree of CNV uniqueness (single sample occurrence) and the nature of CNV-gene overlap between wild-caught mice and classical laboratory strains. CNV-gene overlap was associated with lipid metabolism, pheromone response and olfaction compared to immunity, carbohydrate metabolism and amino-acid metabolism for wild-caught mice and classical laboratory strains, respectively. Using two subspecies of wild-caught Mus musculus, we identified putative CNVs unique to those subspecies and show this diversity is better captured by wild-derived laboratory strains than by the classical laboratory strains. A total of 9 genic copy number variable regions (CNVRs) were selected for experimental confirmation by droplet digital PCR (ddPCR).ConclusionThe analysis we present is a comprehensive, genome-wide analysis of CNVs in Mus musculus, which increases the number of known variants in the species and will accelerate the identification of novel variants in future studies.