Benefits of Maternal choline supplementation on aged basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in a mouse model of Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease
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PROVIDER: PRJNA1257787 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
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Project description:Down syndrome (DS) stemming from triplication of chromosome 21 causes intellectual disability, with early onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology in mid-life. Early intervention studies to reduce cognitive impairments and onset of pathology are lacking. One such treatment, maternal choline supplementation (MCS), has shown beneficial effects on behavior and gene expression in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases in rodent models including DS mouse models. Basal forebrain cholinergic neuron (BFCN) degeneration and enlarged endosomal phenotype is reduced due to maternal choline supplementation (MCS) in a mouse model of Down Syndrome (Ts65Dn) with concomitant beneficial behavioral effects. However, the underlying mechanisms and gene expression alterations during aging and BFCN degeneration are understudied. We postulate cellular mechanisms driving these alterations will be elucidated with novel therapeutic targets identified by examining the modulation in MCS treated aged DS mice. Immunohistochemical ChAT staining in the medial septal/ventral diagonal band area of the basal forebrain in ~11 MO DS and control (2N) mice with and without MCS was performed. Approximately 500 cholinergic positive neurons per animal were microisolated for RNA-sequencing. Bioinformatic analysis elucidated gene expression alterations in the aged DS mouse model compared to controls which were attenuated by MCS treatment in the DS and control animals, including cognitive impairment and NAD signaling pathway. In conclusion, MCS treatment shows moderate effects on gene expression in aged BFCNs, indicating that MCS prolongs the healthspan in this DS mouse model, but does not eliminate disease onset.
2025-08-05 | GSE296095 | GEO
Project description:Basal forebrain cholinergic neuron (BFCN) degeneration is a hallmark of Down syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Current therapeutics in these disorders have been unsuccessful in slowing disease progression, likely due to poorly understood complex pathological interactions and dysregulated pathways. The Ts65Dn trisomic mouse model recapitulates both cognitive and morphological deficits of DS and AD, including BFCN degeneration and has shown lifelong behavioral changes due to maternal choline supplementation (MCS). To test the impact of MCS on trisomic BFCN, we performed laser capture microdissection to individually isolate choline acetyltransferase-immunopositive neurons in Ts65Dn and disomic littermates, in conjunction with MCS at the onset of BFCN degeneration. We utilized single population RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to interrogate transcriptomic changes within medial septal nucleus (MSN) BFCN. Leveraging multiple bioinformatic analysis programs on differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by genotype and diet, we identified key canonical pathways and altered physiological functions within Ts65Dn MSN BFCN, which were attenuated by MCS in trisomic offspring, including the cholinergic, glutamatergic and GABAergic pathways. We linked differential gene expression bioinformatically to multiple neurological functions, including motor dysfunction/movement disorder, early onset neurological disease, ataxia and cognitive impairment via Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. DEGs within these identified pathways may underlie aberrant behavior in the DS mice, with MCS attenuating the underlying gene expression changes. We propose MCS ameliorates aberrant BFCN gene expression within the septohippocampal circuit of trisomic mice through normalization of principally the cholinergic, glutamatergic, and GABAergic signaling pathways, resulting in attenuation of underlying neurological disease functions.
2023-10-30 | GSE246245 | GEO
Project description:Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons are vulnerable in a mouse model of Down syndrome and their molecular fingerprint is rescued by maternal choline supplementation
| PRJNA1032114 | ENA
Project description:Epilepsy is a common neurological disease, manifested in unprovoked recurrent seizures. Epileptogenesis may develop due to genetic or pharmacological origins or following injury, but it remains unclear how the unaffected brain escapes this susceptibility to seizures. Here, we report that dynamic changes in forebrain microRNA (miR)-211 in the mouse brain shift the threshold for spontaneous and pharmacologically-induced seizures alongside changes in the cholinergic pathway genes, implicating this miR in the avoidance of seizures. We identified miR-211 as a putative attenuator of cholinergic-mediated seizures by intersecting forebrain miR profiles that were Ago-precipitated, synaptic vesicle target-enriched or differentially expressed under pilocarpine-induced seizures, and validated TGFBR2 and the nicotinic anti-inflammatory acetylcholine receptor nAChRa7 as murine and human miR-211 targets, respectively. To explore the link between miR-211 and epilepsy, we engineered dTg-211 mice with doxycycline-suppressible forebrain overexpression of miR-211. These mice reacted to doxycycline exposure by spontaneous electrocorticography-documented non-convulsive seizures, accompanied by forebrain accumulation of the convulsive seizures-mediating miR-134. RNA-sequencing demonstrated in doxycycline-treated dTg-211 cortices over-representation of synaptic activity, Ca2+ transmembrane transport, TGFβR-II signaling and cholinergic synapse pathways. Additionally, a cholinergic dis-regulated mouse model over-expressing a miR-refractory acetylcholinesterase-R splice variant showed a parallel propensity for convulsions, miR-211 decreases and miR-134 elevation. Our findings demonstrate that in mice, dynamic miR-211 decreases induce hyper-synchronization, non-convulsive and convulsive seizures, accompanied by expression changes in cholinergic and TGFBR2 pathways as well as in miR-134. Realizing the importance of miR-211 dynamics opens new venues for translational diagnosis of and interference with epilepsy.
2017-05-26 | GSE99307 | GEO
Project description:Women are twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s disease (AD) than men and multiparity has been suggested to be a risk factor for dementia. The present study evaluated whether the lack of certain nutrients during pregnancy influences cognition while pregnant and in old age in mouse model. Non-targeted NMR analysis revealed significantly lower levels of numerous plasma nutrients and metabolites including choline and its derivatives on gestation day 7 compared to day 1. Novel object recognition and Morris Water Maze tests revealed impaired cognition in pregnant mice compared to nonpregnant controls. Choline deprivation worsened the cognitive impairment during pregnancy and choline supplementation alleviated it. Furthermore, choline availability during pregnancy affected cognition and general health in old age, with mice given a choline-deficient diet during pregnancy performed more poorly. RNA-Seq analysis indicates lasting effect of choline intake during pregnancy on hippocampal gene signatures in old age. Choline deprivation was associated with more upregulation of proinflammatory genes, whereas choline supplementation showed upregulation of neuroprotective genes such as Prl, Gh, and hemoglobin (Hba and Hbb subunits). Together the study shows that choline supplement benefits women’s cognitive health during pregnancy and at the old age.
2025-09-04 | GSE293570 | GEO
Project description:Liver fibrosis is a critical global health challenge, often leading to severe liver diseases without timely intervention. Choline deficiency has been linked to metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and liver fibrosis, suggesting choline supplementation as a potential therapeutic approach. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic potential of choline supplementation in liver fibrosis resolution and its effects on cholesterol homeostasis using a mouse model with induced liver fibrosis. Our findings reveal that choline supplementation significantly decreases blood lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) levels. Transcriptome analysis showed that choline supplementation primarily induces genes related to cholesterol homeostasis, suggesting a significant impact on liver cholesterol synthesis. However, choline supplementation did not significantly alter the expression of fibrosis-related, choline metabolism-related, or epigenetics-related genes. This study provides novel insights into the role of choline in liver health and cholesterol metabolism, potentially informing treatments for liver fibrosis and related conditions.
2024-09-04 | GSE261310 | GEO
Project description:The nucleus basalis, also known as the nucleus basalis of Meynert (nbM), which is considered to be one of the major cholinergic output of basal forebrain, have been found to dynamically modulate activity in the cortex. Dysfunction of nucleus basalis-cortical cholinergic circuit led to cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Down syndrome (DS). Human nucleus basalis cholinergic neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells provide powerful tools to study cholinergic neurons-associated diseases and cell therapy. Previous studies reported the generation of 2D human basal forebrain cholinergic neurons which failed to recapitulate the spatial organization, cellular diversity, and crosstalk between different regions. Therefore, a better model to recapitulate human nucleus basalis and cholinergic projections in nbM-cortical is desired. Here we developed a approach for differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into nucleus basalis of Meynert organoids (hnbMOs). We reconstructed hnbM-cortex cholinergic projection by transplanting hnbMOs into immunodeficiency mice to construct chimeric brains and coculturing with human fetal brain. Then we fused hnbMOs with cerebral cortex organoids (hCOs) to form hnbMO-hCO assembloids. We validate the structural and functional connectivity of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons to the cortex in assembloids. An assembloid-chimeric brain was constructed innovatively by transplanting corresponding organoids in the cortex and nbM region to establish a complete human cholinergic projection system. Futhermore, we identified the defects in projection of cholinergic neurons at the morphological and transcriptomic level in Down syndrome patient iPSC-derived assembloids as well as Down syndrome fetal brain tissue. Our work establishes new approach for the study of neurological disorders associated with nbM and nbM-cortical cholinergic neuron circuit.
2025-10-25 | GSE286235 | GEO
Project description:Down syndrome (DS) is marked by intellectual disability (ID) and early-onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology, including basal forebrain cholinergic neuron (BFCN) degeneration. The present study tested the hypothesis that maternal choline supplementation (MCS) improves spatial mapping and protects against BFCN degeneration in the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS and AD. During pregnancy and lactation, dams were assigned to either a choline sufficient (1.1g/kg choline chloride) or choline supplemented (5.0g/kg choline chloride) diet. Between 13 and 17months of age, offspring were tested in the radial arm water maze (RAWM) to examine spatial mapping followed by unbiased quantitative morphometry of BFCNs. Spatial mapping was significantly impaired in unsupplemented Ts65Dn mice relative to normal disomic (2N) littermates. Additionally, a significantly lower number and density of medial septum (MS) hippocampal projection BFCNs was also found in unsupplemented Ts65Dn mice. Notably, MCS significantly improved spatial mapping and increased number, density, and size of MS BFCNs in Ts65Dn offspring. Moreover, the density and number of MS BFCNs correlated significantly with spatial memory proficiency, providing support for a functional relationship between these behavioral and morphometric effects of MCS for trisomic offspring. Thus, increasing maternal choline intake during pregnancy may represent a safe and effective treatment approach for expectant mothers carrying a DS fetus, as well as a possible means of BFCN neuroprotection during aging for the population at large.
| S-EPMC4133151 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Acetylcholine (ACh) and its receptors (AChRs) are widely produced by various kinds of immune cells and fine-tune both innate and adaptive immune responses. However, whether cholinergic signaling regulates immune cell development is unclear. Here, we show that mouse CD4+CD8+ double-positive (DP) thymocytes express high levels of a9 nicotinic (n) AChR, and that this receptor controls the negative selection of thymocytes. Knock-out mice lacking a9 nAChR show an altered TCR repertoire and reduced CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in a mixed bone marrow chimera setting. Although thymic tuft cells, B cells, and a portion of T cells were all found to express choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and so are sources of ACh in mouse thymus, T cell-derived ACh plays a more important regulatory role. Our results thus reveal a new mechanism of immune cell development control that involves lymphocyte-mediated cholinergic signaling.
2025-03-17 | GSE260947 | GEO