| 1. |
- Aresh, Bejan, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization of preprodynorphin-expressing cells in the mouse nervous system
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Dynorphin is an endogenous opioid that has been implicated in maintaining chronic pain and gating of both itch and acute mechanical pain through acting on both opioid and non-opioid receptors. To improve our understanding of the complex and multifunctional population that expresses dynorphin, we have constructed a preprodynorphin Cre line (Pdyn-Cre) using BAC cloning. Single cell analysis of tdTomato;Pdyn-Cre cells revealed that 43% of the population expressed Pdyn mRNA, and no analyzed tdTomato;Pdyn-Cre negative cell expressed Pdyn mRNA, thus confirming that Cre had been inserted under the control of the Pdyn promoter. The Pdyn-Cre expressing population was found in the dorsal spinal cord, mainly in lamina II-IV and overlapped to 47% with Vglut2 mRNA, while co-expression with the inhibitory markers Viaat-egfp and Pax2 was 13% and 28%, respectively. The expression of Pdyn-Cre in the brain was extensive, marking virtually all cortical structures, including somatosensory and motor cortex. Furthermore, Pdyn-Cre was densely expressed in the striatum, amygdala and parts of the hippocampus, and expression was also observed in several pain and itch processing areas, including amygdala, lateral parabrachial nucleus, claustrum, insular cortex and raphe magnus nucleus. Our analysis indicates that the transgenic Pdyn-Cre line includes PDYN cells in the nervous system and will thus be useful as a transgenic tool for studies of the role and connectivity of the PDYN population.
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| 2. |
- Aresh, Bejan, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization of preproenkephalin expressing neurons in the nervous system using a transgenic line
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Here we have constructed a Cre line to target preproenkephalin expressing cells (Penk-Cre) using a BAC cloning strategy. By crossing our Penk-Cre line with the tdTomato reporter, tdTomato;Penk-Cre expressing cells could be visualized. Penk-Cre was expressed throughout the dorsal spinal cord, where approximately 50% of the neurons were residing within lamina III. Furthermore, single-cell analysis of spinal Penk-Cre expressing cells showed that 41% was positive for Penk mRNA and that a majority (94%) of the population expressed Vglut2 mRNA. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that only 7% and 13% expressed the inhibitory markers Viaat-egfp and Pax2, respectively, hence identifying spinal Penk-Cre expressing neurons as mainly excitatory. The expression of Penk-Cre in the brain was extensive, including dense expression in the striatum, nucleus accumbens and several amygdaloid nuclei. Furthermore, Penk-Cre expression was also shown in insular cortex, cingulated cortex, primary and secondary somatosensory cortices and the trigeminal nuclei. The Penk-Cre line represents a useful genetic tool for future analysis of PENK expressing neurons in the nervous system.
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| 3. |
- Aresh, Bejan, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Spinal Cord Interneurons Expressing the Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Receptor Convey Itch Through VGLUT2-Mediated Signaling
- 2017
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Ingår i: Pain. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0304-3959 .- 1872-6623. ; 158:5, s. 945-961
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Itch is a sensation that promotes the desire to scratch, which can be evoked by mechanical and chemical stimuli. In the spinal cord, neurons expressing the gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPR) have been identified as specific mediators of itch. However, our understanding of the GRPR population in the spinal cord, and thus how these neurons exercise their functions, is limited. For this purpose, we constructed a Cre line designed to target the GRPR population of neurons (Grpr-Cre). Our analysis revealed that Grpr-Cre cells in the spinal cord are predominantly excitatory interneurons that are found in the dorsal lamina, especially in laminae II-IV. Application of the specific agonist gastrin-releasing peptide induced spike responses in 43.3% of the patched Grpr-Cre neurons, where the majority of the cells displayed a tonic firing property. Additionally, our analysis showed that the Grpr-Cre population expresses Vglut2 mRNA, and mice ablated of Vglut2 in Grpr-Cre cells (Vglut2-lox; Grpr-Cre mice) displayed less spontaneous itch and attenuated responses to both histaminergic and nonhistaminergic agents. We could also show that application of the itch-inducing peptide, natriuretic polypeptide B, induces calcium influx in a subpopulation of Grpr-Cre neurons. To summarize, our data indicate that the Grpr-Cre spinal cord neural population is composed of interneurons that use VGLUT2-mediated signaling for transmitting chemical and spontaneous itch stimuli to the next, currently unknown, neurons in the labeled line of itch.
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| 4. |
- Blumel, Edda, et al.
(författare)
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Staphylococcal alpha-toxin tilts the balance between malignant and non-malignant CD4+ T cells in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma
- 2019
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Ingår i: Oncoimmunology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 2162-4011 .- 2162-402X. ; 8:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Staphylococcus aureus is implicated in disease progression in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Here, we demonstrate that malignant T cell lines derived from CTCL patients as well as primary malignant CD4+ T cells from Sézary syndrome patients are considerably more resistant to alpha-toxin-induced cell death than their non-malignant counterparts. Thus, in a subset of Sézary syndrome patients the ratio between malignant and non-malignant CD4+ T cells increases significantly following exposure to alpha-toxin. Whereas toxin-induced cell death is ADAM10 dependent in healthy CD4+ T cells, resistance to alpha-toxin in malignant T cells involves both downregulation of ADAM10 as well as other resistance mechanisms. In conclusion, we provide first evidence that Staphylococcus aureus derived alpha-toxin can tilt the balance between malignant and non-malignant CD4+ T cells in CTCL patients. Consequently, alpha-toxin may promote disease progression through positive selection of malignant CD4+ T cells, identifying alpha-toxin as a putative drug target in CTCL.
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| 5. |
- Buus, Terkild Brink, et al.
(författare)
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Single-cell heterogeneity in Sézary syndrome
- 2018
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Ingår i: Blood Advances. - : American Society of Hematology. - 2473-9529 .- 2473-9537. ; 2:16, s. 2115-2126
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sezary syndrome (SS) is an aggressive leukemic variant of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) with a median life expectancy of less than 4 years. Although initial treatment responses are often good, the vast majority of patients with SS fail to respond to ongoing therapy. We hypothesize that malignant T cells are highly heterogeneous and harbor subpopulations of SS cells that are both sensitive and resistant to treatment. Here, we investigate the presence of single-cell heterogeneity and resistance to histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) within primary malignant T cells from patients with SS. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and flow cytometry, we find that malignant T cells from all investigated patients with SS display a high degree of single-cell heterogeneity at both the mRNA and protein levels. We show that this heterogeneity divides the malignant cells into distinct subpopulations that can be isolated by their expression of different surface antigens. Finally, we show that treatment with HDACi (suberanilohydroxamic acid and romidepsin) selectively eliminates some subpopulations while leaving other subpopulations largely unaffected. In conclusion, we show that patients with SS display a high degree of single-cell heterogeneity within the malignant T-cell population, and that distinct subpopulations of malignant T cells carry HDACi resistance. Our data point to the importance of understanding the heterogeneous nature of malignant SS cells in each individual patient to design combinational and new therapies to counter drug resistance and treatment failure.
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| 6. |
- Fredholm, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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SATB1 in Malignant T Cells
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Investigative Dermatology. - : Elsevier. - 0022-202X .- 1523-1747. ; 138:8, s. 1805-1815
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Deficient expression of SATB1 hampers thymocyte development and results in inept T-cell lineages. Recent data implicate dysregulated SATB1 expression in the pathogenesis of mycosis fungoides, the most frequent variant of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Here, we report on a disease stage-associated decrease of SATB1 expression and an inverse expression of STAT5 and SATB1 in situ. STAT5 inhibited SATB1 expression through induction of microRNA-155. Decreased SATB1 expression triggered enhanced expression of IL-5 and IL-9 (but not IL-6 and IL-32), whereas increased SATB1 expression had the opposite effect, indicating that the microRNA-155 target SATB1 is a repressor of IL-5 and IL-9 in malignant T cells. In accordance, inhibition of STAT5 and its upstream activator JAK3 triggered increased SATB1 expression and a concomitant suppression of IL-5 and IL-9 expression in malignant T cells. In conclusion, we provide a mechanistic link between the proto-oncogenic JAK3/STAT5/microRNA-155 pathway, SATB1, and cytokines linked to CTCL severity and progression, indicating that SATB1 dysregulation is involved in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma pathogenesis.
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| 7. |
- Lindahl, Lise M., et al.
(författare)
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STAT5 induces miR-21 expression in cutaneous T cell lymphoma
- 2016
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Ingår i: Oncotarget. - : Impact Journals, LLC. - 1949-2553. ; 7:29, s. 45730-45744
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In cutaneous T cell lymphomas (CTCL), miR-21 is aberrantly expressed in skin and peripheral blood and displays anti-apoptotic properties in malignant T cells. It is, however, unclear exactly which cells express miR-21 and what mechanisms regulate miR-21. Here, we demonstrate miR-21 expression in situ in both malignant and reactive lymphocytes as well as stromal cells. qRT-PCR analysis of 47 patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) and Sezary Syndrome (SS) confirmed an increased miR- 21 expression that correlated with progressive disease. In cultured malignant T cells miR-21 expression was inhibited by Tofacitinib (CP-690550), a clinical-grade JAK3 inhibitor. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis showed direct binding of STAT5 to the miR-21 promoter. Cytokine starvation ex vivo triggered a decrease in miR-21 expression, whereas IL-2 induced an increased miR-21 expression in primary SS T cells and cultured cytokine-dependent SS cells (SeAx). siRNA-mediated depletion of STAT5 inhibited constitutive- and IL-2- induced miR-21 expression in cytokine- independent and dependent T cell lines, respectively. IL-15 and IL-2 were more potent than IL-21 in inducing miR-21 expression in the cytokine-dependent T cells. In conclusion, we provide first evidence that miR-21 is expressed in situ in CTCL skin lesions, induced by IL-2 and IL-15 cytokines, and is regulated by STAT5 in malignant T cells. Thus, our data provide novel evidence for a pathological role of IL-2Rg cytokines in promoting expression of the oncogenic miR-21 in CTCL.
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