Project description:Exposure to Propylthiouracil in Pregnant Mice Potentiates the Transcriptional Response to Thyroid Hormone in the Fetal Cerebral Cortex
Project description:Astrocytes mediate the action of thyroid hormone in the brain on other neural cells through the production of the active hormone triiodothyronine (T3) from its precursor thyroxine (T4). T3 has also many effects on the astrocytes in vivo and in culture, but whether these actions are directly mediated by transcriptional regulation is not clear. In this work, we have analyzed the genomic response to T3 of cultured astrocytes isolated from the postnatal mouse cerebral cortex, using RNA sequencing. Cultured astrocytes express relevant genes of thyroid hormone metabolism and action encoding type 2 deiodinase (Dio2), Mct8 transporter (Slc16a2), T3 receptors (Thra1 and Thrb), and nuclear corepressor (Ncor1) and coactivator (Ncoa1). T3 changed the expression of 668 genes (4.5% of expressed genes), of which 117 genes (0.8% of expressed genes) were primary, transcriptional responses. The Wnt and Notch pathways were down-regulated at the post-transcriptional level. Comparison with the effect of T3 on astrocyte-enriched genes in mixed cerebrocortical cultures isolated from fetal cortex revealed that the response to T3 is influenced by the degree of astrocyte maturation, and that in agreement with its physiological effects, T3 promotes the transition between the fetal and adult patterns of gene expression.
Project description:Maternal low thyroxine (T4) serum levels during the first trimester of pregnancy correlate with cerebral cortex volume and mental development of the progeny, but why neural cells during early fetal brain development are vulnerable to maternal T4 levels remains unknown. In this study, using iPSCs obtained from a boy with a loss-of-function mutation in MCT8—a transporter previously identified as critical for thyroid hormone uptake and action in neural cells—we demonstrate that thyroid hormones induce transcriptional changes that promote the progression of human neural precursor cells along the dorsal projection trajectory. Consistent with these findings, single-cell, spatial, and bulk transcriptomics from MCT8-deficient cerebral organoids and cultures of human neural precursor cells underscore the necessity for optimal thyroid hormone levels for these cells to differentiate into neurons. The controlled intracellular activation of T4 signaling occurs through the transient expression of the enzyme type 2 deiodinase, which converts T4 into its active form, T3, alongside the coordinated expression of thyroid hormone nuclear receptors. The intracellular activation of T4 in NPCs results in transcriptional changes important for their division mode and cell cycle progression. Thus, T4 is essential for fetal neurogenesis, highlighting the importance of adequate treatment for mothers with hypothyroidism.
Project description:Maternal low thyroxine (T4) serum levels during the first trimester of pregnancy correlate with cerebral cortex volume and mental development of the progeny, but why neural cells during early fetal brain development are vulnerable to maternal T4 levels remains unknown. In this study, using iPSCs obtained from a boy with a loss-of-function mutation in MCT8—a transporter previously identified as critical for thyroid hormone uptake and action in neural cells—we demonstrate that thyroid hormones induce transcriptional changes that promote the progression of human neural precursor cells along the dorsal projection trajectory. Consistent with these findings, single-cell, spatial, and bulk transcriptomics from MCT8-deficient cerebral organoids and cultures of human neural precursor cells underscore the necessity for optimal thyroid hormone levels for these cells to differentiate into neurons. The controlled intracellular activation of T4 signaling occurs through the transient expression of the enzyme type 2 deiodinase, which converts T4 into its active form, T3, alongside the coordinated expression of thyroid hormone nuclear receptors. The intracellular activation of T4 in NPCs results in transcriptional changes important for their division mode and cell cycle progression. Thus, T4 is essential for fetal neurogenesis, highlighting the importance of adequate treatment for mothers with hypothyroidism.
Project description:Maternal low thyroxine (T4) serum levels during the first trimester of pregnancy correlate with cerebral cortex volume and mental development of the progeny, but why neural cells during early fetal brain development are vulnerable to maternal T4 levels remains unknown. In this study, using iPSCs obtained from a boy with a loss-of-function mutation in MCT8—a transporter previously identified as critical for thyroid hormone uptake and action in neural cells—we demonstrate that thyroid hormones induce transcriptional changes that promote the progression of human neural precursor cells along the dorsal projection trajectory. Consistent with these findings, single-cell, spatial, and bulk transcriptomics from MCT8-deficient cerebral organoids and cultures of human neural precursor cells underscore the necessity for optimal thyroid hormone levels for these cells to differentiate into neurons. The controlled intracellular activation of T4 signaling occurs through the transient expression of the enzyme type 2 deiodinase, which converts T4 into its active form, T3, alongside the coordinated expression of thyroid hormone nuclear receptors. The intracellular activation of T4 in NPCs results in transcriptional changes important for their division mode and cell cycle progression. Thus, T4 is essential for fetal neurogenesis, highlighting the importance of adequate treatment for mothers with hypothyroidism.
Project description:Animals adapt to environmental conditions by modifying the function of their internal organs, including the brain. To be adaptive, alterations in behavior must be coordinated with the functional state of organs throughout the body. Here we find that thyroid hormone--a regulator of metabolism in many peripheral organs--directly activates cell-type specific transcriptional programs in frontal cortex of adult male mice. These programs are enriched for axon-guidance genes in glutamatergic projection neurons, synaptic regulatory genes in both astrocytes and neurons, and pro-myelination factors in oligodendrocytes, suggesting widespread plasticity of cortical circuits. Indeed, whole-cell electrophysiology revealed that thyroid hormone alters excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission, an effect that requires thyroid hormone-induced gene regulatory programs in presynaptic neurons. Furthermore, thyroid hormone action in frontal cortex regulates innate exploratory behaviors and causally promotes exploratory decision-making. Thus, thyroid hormone acts directly on cerebral cortex in males to coordinate exploratory behaviors with whole-body metabolic state.
Project description:In a recent egg injection study, we showed that in ovo exposure to perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) affects the pipping success of developing chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) embryos. We also found evidence of thyroid hormone (TH) pathway interference at multiple levels of biological organization (i.e. somatic growth, mRNA expression and circulating free thyroxine levels). Based on these findings, we hypothesize that PFHxS exposure interferes with TH-dependent neurodevelopmental pathways. The present study investigates global transcriptional profiles of cerebral cortex tissue from chicken embryos following exposure to a solvent control, 890 or 38,000 ng PFHxS/g egg (n=4-5 per group); doses which lead to the adverse effects above. PFHxS significantly alters the expression (≥1.5-fold, p≤0.001) of 11 transcripts at the low dose (LD; 890 ng/g) and 101 transcripts at the high dose (HD; 38,000 ng/g). Functional enrichment analysis shows that PFHxS affects genes involved in tissue development and morphology, cellular assembly and organization, and cell-to-cell signalling. Pathway and interactome analyses suggest that genes may be affected through several potential regulatory molecules, including integrin receptors, myelocytomatosis viral oncogene and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein. This study identifies key functional and regulatory modes of PFHxS action involving TH-dependent and -independent neurodevelopmental pathways. Some of these TH-dependent mechanisms that occur during embryonic development include tight junction formation, signal transduction and integrin signaling, while TH-independent mechanisms include gap junction intercellular communication. Reference Design. Reference = pool of equal parts of all control and treated samples. Control groups and 2 treatment groups. Control samples were chicken embryonic cerebral cortex exposed DMSO only (solvent). Treatments were: chicken embryonic cerebral cortex exposed to 890 ng/g PFHxS (LD) and 38,000 ng/g PFHxS (HD).
Project description:Timed pregnant C57Bl6 mice were exposed to ethanol during a critical period, gestational day 15 to 18, of cerebral cortical development to identify gene expression changes in the cerebral cortex of developing fetus due to this ethanol exposure Keywords: Compared animals exposed to ethanol (alcohol fed group) to a pair-fed control group and both groups were normalized to a control group (animals fed adlibitum)
Project description:Transient hypoxia in pregnancy stimulates a physiological reflex response that redistributes blood flow and defends oxygen delivery to the fetal brain. The chemoreceptor reflex that is responsible for this physiological response is dependent on glutamatergic neurotransmission which, in times of vigorous activity, could produce cell death secondary to calcium uptake. We designed the present experiment to test the hypotheses that transient hypoxia produces damage of the cerebral cortex and that ketamine, an antagonist of NMDA receptors, reduces the damage. Late-gestation, chronically catheterized fetal sheep were subjected to a 30 min period of ventilatory hypoxia that decreased fetal PaO2 from 17±1 to 10±1 mm Hg, or normoxia (PaO2 17±1 mm Hg), with or without pretreatment (10 min before hypoxia/normoxia) with ketamine (3 mg/kg, iv). One day (24 h) after hypoxia/normoxia, fetal cerebral cortex was removed and mRNA extracted for transcriptomics and systems biology analysis. Hypoxia stimulated a transcriptomics response consistent with a reduction in cellular metabolism and an increase in inflammation. Ketamine pretreatment reduced both of these responses. The inflammation response modeled with transcriptomic system biology was validated by immunohistochemistry and showed increased abundance of microglia/macrophages after hypoxia in the cerebral cortical tissue that ketamine significantly reduced. We conclude that transient hypoxia produces inflammation of the fetal cerebral cortex and that ketamine, in a standard clinical dose, reduces the inflammation response. 4 groups: hypoxia, hypoxia plus ketamine, normoxia, normoxia plus ketamine. Hypoxia produced by low PO2 in maternal inspired gas for 30 min, followed by normoxia recovery for 23.5 hours. Control fetuses maintained at normoxia for 30 min, followed by another 23.5 h of normoxia. Fetal frontal cerebral cortex collected for mRNA at end of 23.5 h recovery period.
Project description:Background: Prenatal exposure to air pollutants is associated with increased risk for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. However, few studies have identified transcriptional changes related to air pollutant exposure. Methods: RNA sequencing was used to examine transcriptomic changes in blood and cerebral cortex of three male and three female mouse neonates prenatally exposed to traffic-related nano-sized particulate matter (nPM) compared to three male and three female mouse neonates prenatally exposed to control filter air. Results: We identified 19 nPM-associated differentially expressed genes (nPM-DEGs) in blood and 124 nPM-DEGs in cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex transcriptional responses to nPM suggested neuroinflammation involvement, including CREB1, BDNF, and IFN γ genes. Both blood and brain tissues showed nPM transcriptional changes related to DNA damage, oxidative stress, and immune responses. Three blood nPM-DEGs showed a canonical correlation of 0.98 with 14 nPM-DEGS in the cerebral cortex, suggesting a convergence of gene expression changes in blood and cerebral cortex. Exploratory sex-stratified analyses suggested a higher number of nPM-DEGs in female cerebral cortex than male cerebral cortex. The sex-stratified analyses identified 2 nPM-DEGs (Rgl2 and Gm37534) shared between blood and cerebral cortex in a sex-dependent manner. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that prenatal nPM exposure induces transcriptional changes in the cerebral cortex, some of which are also observed in blood. Further research is needed to replicate nPM-induced transcriptional changes with additional biologically relevant time points for brain development.