| 1. |
- Annelies, Nonneman, et al.
(författare)
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Astrocyte-derived Jagged-1 mitigates deleterious Notch signaling in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- 2018
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Academic Press. - 0969-9961 .- 1095-953X. ; 119, s. 26-40
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a late-onset devastating degenerative disease mainly affecting motor neurons. Motor neuron degeneration is accompanied and aggravated by oligodendroglial pathology and the presence of reactive astrocytes and microglia. We studied the role of the Notch signaling pathway in ALS, as it is implicated in several processes that may contribute to this disease, including axonal retraction, microgliosis, astrocytosis, oligodendrocyte precursor cell proliferation and differentiation, and cell death. We observed abnormal activation of the Notch signaling pathway in the spinal cord of SOD1(G93A) mice, a well-established model for ALS, as well as in the spinal cord of patients with sporadic ALS (sALS). This increased activation was particularly evident in reactive GFAP-positive astrocytes. In addition, one of the main Notch ligands, Jagged-1, was ectopically expressed in reactive astrocytes in spinal cord from ALS mice and patients, but absent in resting astrocytes. Astrocyte-specific inactivation of Jagged-1 in presymptomatic SOD1(G93A) mice further exacerbated the activation of the Notch signaling pathway and aggravated the course of the disease in these animals without affecting disease onset. These data suggest that aberrant Notch signaling activation contributes to the pathogenesis of ALS, both in sALS patients and SOD1(G93A) mice, and that it is mitigated in part by the upregulation of astrocytic Jagged-1.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Hagberg, Henrik, 1955, et al.
(författare)
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Perinatal brain damage: The term infant.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-953X .- 0969-9961. ; 92 (Pt A), s. 102-12
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)
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| 5. |
- Helmfors, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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Protective properties of lysozyme on β-amyloid pathology : implications for Alzheimer disease
- 2015
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier. - 0969-9961 .- 1095-953X. ; 83, s. 122-133
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The hallmarks of Alzheimer disease are amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles accompanied by signs of neuroinflammation. Lysozyme is a major player in the innate immune system and has recently been shown to prevent the aggregation of amyloid-β1-40 in vitro. In this study we found that patients with Alzheimer disease have increased lysozyme levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and lysozyme co-localized with amyloid-β in plaques. In Drosophila neuronal co-expression of lysozyme and amyloid-β1-42 reduced the formation of soluble and insoluble amyloid-β species, prolonged survival and improved the activity of amyloid-β1-42 transgenic flies. This suggests that lysozyme levels rise in Alzheimer disease as a compensatory response to amyloid-β increases and aggregation. In support of this, in vitro aggregation assays revealed that lysozyme associates with amyloid-β1-42 and alters its aggregation pathway to counteract the formation of toxic amyloid-β species. Overall, these studies establish a protective role for lysozyme against amyloid-β associated toxicities and identify increased lysozyme in patients with Alzheimer disease. Therefore, lysozyme has potential as a new biomarker as well as a therapeutic target for Alzheimer disease.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Lopez-Font, Inmaculada, et al.
(författare)
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Decreased circulating ErbB4 ectodomain fragments as a read-out of impaired signaling function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
- 2019
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-953X .- 0969-9961. ; 124:April, s. 428-438
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ErbB4 is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase that binds to neuregulins to activate signaling. Proteolytic cleavage of ErbB4 results in release of soluble fragments of ErbB4 into the interstitial fluid. Disruption of the neuregulin-ErbB4 pathway has been suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This study assesses whether soluble proteolytic fragments of the ErbB4 ectodomain (ecto-ErbB4) can be detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma, and if the levels are altered in ALS. Immunoprecipitation combined with mass spectrometry or western blotting analyses confirmed the presence of ecto-ErbB4 in human CSF. Several anti-ErbB4-reactive bands, including a 55kDa fragment, were detected in CSF. The bands were generated in the presence of neuregulin-1 (Nrg1) and were absent in plasma from ErbB4 knockout mice. Ecto-ErbB4 levels were decreased in CSF from ALS patients (n=20) and ALS with concomitant frontotemporal dementia patients (n=10), compared to age-matched controls (n=13). A similar decrease was found for the short ecto-ErbB4 fragments in plasma of the same subjects. Likewise, the 55-kDa ecto-ErbB4 fragments were decreased in the plasma of the two transgenic mouse models of ALS (SOD1G93A and TDP-43A315T). Intracellular ErbB4 fragments were decreased in the frontal cortex from SOD1G93A mice, indicating a reduction in Nrg-dependent induction of ErbB4 proteolytic processing, and suggesting impaired signaling. Accordingly, overexpression of Nrg1 induced by an adeno-associated viral vector increased the levels of the ecto-ErbB4 fragment in the SOD1G93A mice. We conclude that the determination of circulating ecto-ErbB4 fragments could be a tool to evaluate the impairment of the ErbB4 pathway and may be a useful biomarker in ALS.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Ruiz-Riquelme, A., et al.
(författare)
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Larger aggregates of mutant seipin in Celia's Encephalopathy, a new protein misfolding neurodegenerative disease
- 2015
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier. - 0969-9961 .- 1095-953X. ; 83, s. 44-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Celia's Encephalopathy (MIM #. 615924) is a recently discovered fatal neurodegenerative syndrome associated with a new BSCL2 mutation (c.985C>T) that results in an aberrant isoform of seipin (Celia seipin). This mutation is lethal in both homozygosity and compounded heterozygosity with a lipodystrophic BSCL2 mutation, resulting in a progressive encephalopathy with fatal outcomes at ages 6-8. Strikingly, heterozygous carriers are asymptomatic, conflicting with the gain of toxic function attributed to this mutation. Here we report new key insights about the molecular pathogenic mechanism of this new syndrome. Intranuclear inclusions containing mutant seipin were found in brain tissue from a homozygous patient suggesting a pathogenic mechanism similar to other neurodegenerative diseases featuring brain accumulation of aggregated, misfolded proteins. Sucrose gradient distribution showed that mutant seipin forms much larger aggregates as compared with wild type (wt) seipin, indicating an impaired oligomerization. On the other hand, the interaction between wt and Celia seipin confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation (CoIP) assays, together with the identification of mixed oligomers in sucrose gradient fractionation experiments can explain the lack of symptoms in heterozygous carriers. We propose that the increased aggregation and subsequent impaired oligomerization of Celia seipin leads to cell death. In heterozygous carriers, wt seipin might prevent the damage caused by mutant seipin through its sequestration into harmless mixed oligomers.
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| 12. |
- Schuster, Jens, Assistant Professor, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Transcriptomes of Dravet syndrome iPSC derived GABAergic cells reveal dysregulated pathways for chromatin remodeling and neurodevelopment
- 2019
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961 .- 1095-953X. ; 132
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dravet syndrome (DS) is an early onset refractory epilepsy typically caused by de novo heterozygous variants in SCN1A encoding the a-subunit of the neuronal sodium channel Na(v)1.1. The syndrome is characterized by age related progression of seizures, cognitive decline and movement disorders. We hypothesized that the distinct neurodevelopmental features in DS are caused by the disruption of molecular pathways in Na(v)1.1 haploinsufficient cells resulting in perturbed neural differentiation and maturation. Here, we established DS-patient and control induced pluripotent stem cell derived neural progenitor cells (iPSC NPC) and GABAergic interneuronal (iPSC GABA) cells. The DS-patient iPSC GABA cells showed a shift in sodium current activation and a perturbed response to induced oxidative stress. Transcriptome analysis revealed specific dysregulations of genes for chromatin structure, mitotic progression, neural plasticity and excitability in DS-patient iPSC NPCs and DS-patient iPSC GABA cells versus controls. The transcription factors FOXM1 and E2F1, positive regulators of the disrupted pathways for histone modification and cell cycle regulation, were markedly up-regulated in DS-iPSC GABA lines. Our study highlights transcriptional changes and disrupted pathways of chromatin remodeling in Na(v)1.1 haploinsufficient GABAergic cells, providing a molecular framework that overlaps with that of neurodevelopmental disorders and other epilepsies.
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| 13. |
- Sjögren, Marie, et al.
(författare)
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Leptin deficiency reverses high metabolic state and weight loss without affecting central pathology in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease
- 2019
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961 .- 1095-953X. ; 132
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2019 Body weight has been shown to be a predictor of clinical progression in Huntington's disease (HD). Alongside widespread neuronal pathology, both HD patients and the R6/2 mouse model of HD exhibit weight loss and increased energy expenditure, providing a rationale for targeting whole-body energy metabolism in HD. Leptin-deficient mice display low energy expenditure and increased body weight. We therefore hypothesized that normalizing energy metabolism in R6/2 mice, utilizing leptin- deficiency, would lead to a slower disease progression in the R6/2 mouse. In this study, we show that R6/2 mice on a leptin-deficient genetic background display increased body weight and increased fat mass compared to R6/2 mice, as well as wild type littermates. The increased body weight was accompanied by low energy expenditure, illustrated by a reduction in respiratory exchange rate. Leptin-deficient R6/2 mice had large white adipocytes with white adipocyte gene expression characteristics, in contrast to white adipose tissue in R6/2 mice, where white adipose tissue showed signs of browning. Leptin-deficient R6/2 mice did not exhibit improved neuropathological measures. Our results indicate that lowering energy metabolism in HD, by increasing fat mass and reducing respiratory exchange rate, is not sufficient to affect neuropathology. Further studies targeting energy metabolism in HD are warranted.
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Tingaud-Sequeira, Angèle, et al.
(författare)
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Functional validation of ABHD12 mutations in the neurodegenerative disease PHARC
- 2017
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier. - 0969-9961 .- 1095-953X. ; 98, s. 36-51
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ABHD12 mutations have been linked to neurodegenerative PHARC (polyneuropathy, hearing loss, ataxia, retinitis pigmentosa, and early-onset cataract), a rare, progressive, autosomal, recessive disease. Although ABHD12 is suspected to play a role in the lysophosphatidylserine and/or endocannabinoid pathways, its precise functional role(s) leading to PHARC disease had not previously been characterized. Cell and zebrafish models were designed to demonstrate the causal link between an identified new missense mutation p.T253R, characterized in ABHD12 from a young patient, the previously characterized p.T202I and p.R352* mutations, and the associated PHARC. Measuring ABHD12 monoacylglycerol lipase activity in transfected HEK293 cells demonstrated inhibition with mutated isoforms. Both the expression pattern of zebrafish abhd12 and the phenotype of specific antisense morpholino oligonucleotide gene knockdown morphants were consistent with human PHARC hallmarks. High abhd12 transcript levels were found in the optic tectum and tract, colocalized with myelin basic protein, and in the spinal cord. Morphants have myelination defects and concomitant functional deficits, characterized by progressive ataxia and motor skill impairment. A disruption of retina architecture and retinotectal projections was observed, together with an inhibition of lens clarification and a low number of mechanosensory hair cells in the inner ear and lateral line system. The severe phenotypes in abhd12 knockdown morphants were rescued by introducing wild-type human ABHD12 mRNA, but not by mutation-harboring mRNAs. Zebrafish may provide a suitable vertebrate model for ABHD12 insufficiency and the study of functional impairment and potential therapeutic rescue of this rare, neurodegenerative disease.
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| 16. |
- Aldrin-Kirk, Patrick, et al.
(författare)
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Chemogenetic modulation of cholinergic interneurons reveals their regulating role on the direct and indirect output pathways from the striatum
- 2018
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 109, s. 148-162
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The intricate balance between dopaminergic and cholinergic neurotransmission in the striatum has been thoroughly difficult to characterize. It was initially described as a seesaw with a competing function of dopamine versus acetylcholine. Recent technical advances however, have brought this view into question suggesting that the two systems work rather in concert with the cholinergic interneurons (ChIs) driving dopamine release. In this study, we have utilized two transgenic Cre-driver rat lines, a choline acetyl transferase ChAT-Cre transgenic rat and a novel double-transgenic tyrosine hydroxylase TH-Cre/ChAT-Cre rat to further elucidate the role of striatal ChIs in normal motor function and in Parkinson's disease. Here we show that selective and reversible activation of ChIs using chemogenetic (DREADD) receptors increases locomotor function in intact rats and potentiate the therapeutic effect of L-DOPA in the rats with lesions of the nigral dopamine system. However, the potentiation of the L-DOPA effect is accompanied by an aggravation of L-DOPA induced dyskinesias (LIDs). These LIDs appear to be driven primarily through the indirect striato-pallidal pathway since the same effect can be induced by the D2 agonist Quinpirole. Taken together, the results highlight the intricate regulation of balance between the two output pathways from the striatum orchestrated by the ChIs.
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| 17. |
- Ali, Idrish, et al.
(författare)
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Role of fractalkine-CX3CR1 pathway in seizure-induced microglial activation, neurodegeneration, and neuroblast production in the adult rat brain.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 74, s. 194-203
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Temporal lobe seizures lead to an acute inflammatory response in the brain primarily characterized by activation of parenchymal microglial cells. Simultaneously, degeneration of pyramidal cells and interneurons is evident together with a seizure-induced increase in the production of new neurons within the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. We have previously shown a negative correlation between the acute seizure-induced inflammation and the survival of newborn hippocampal neurons. Here, we aimed to evaluate the role of the fractalkine-CX3CR1 pathway for these acute events. Fractalkine is a chemokine expressed by both neurons and glia, while its receptor, CX3CR1 is primarily expressed on microglia. Electrically-induced partial status epilepticus (SE) was induced in adult rats through stereotaxically implanted electrodes in the hippocampus. Recombinant rat fractalkine or CX3CR1 antibody was infused intraventricularly during one week post-SE. A significant increase in the expression of CX3CR1, but not fractalkine, was observed in the dentate gyrus at one week. CX3CR1 antibody treatment resulted in a reduction in microglial activation, neurodegeneration, as well as neuroblast production. In contrast, fractalkine treatment had only minor effects. This study provides evidence for a role of the fractalkine-CX3CR1 signaling pathway in seizure-induced microglial activation and suggests that neuroblast production following seizures may partly occur as a result of microglial activation.
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| 18. |
- Bez, Francesco, et al.
(författare)
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Dramatic differences in susceptibility to L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia between mice that are aged before or after a nigrostriatal dopamine lesion
- 2016
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 94, s. 213-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mice with striatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions are widely used as a model to study the effects of neurorestorative, symptomatic, or antidyskinetic treatments for Parkinson's disease (PD). The standard praxis is to utilize young adult mice with relatively acute 6-OHDA lesions. However, long post-lesion intervals may be required for longitudinal studies of treatment interventions, and the long-term stability of the model's behavioral and cellular phenotypes is currently unknown. In this study, C57Bl/6J mice sustained unilateral striatal 6-OHDA lesions at approx. 2 months of age, and were allowed to survive for 1, 10 or 22 months. Another group of mice sustained the lesion at the age of 23 months and survived for one month thereafter. Baseline and drug-induced motor behaviors were examined using a battery of tests (utilizing also a novel video-based methodology). The extent of nigral dopamine cell loss was stable across post-lesion intervals and ages. However, a prominent sprouting of both dopaminergic and serotonergic fibers was detected in the caudate-putamen in animals that survived until 10 and 22 months post-lesion. This phenomenon was associated with a recovery of baseline motor deficits, and with a lack of dyskinetic responses upon treatment with either L-DOPA or apomorphine. By contrast, mice sustaining the lesion at 23 months of age showed a striking susceptibility to the dyskinetic effects of both L-DOPA and apomorphine, which was associated with a pronounced drug-induced upregulation of ∆FosB in the ventrolateral striatum. The results reveal a remarkable compensatory capacity of a damaged nigrostriatal pathway in ageing mice, and how this impacts on the response to dopaminergic therapies for PD.
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| 19. |
- Buck, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Ser129 phosphorylation of endogenous α-synuclein induced by overexpression of polo-like kinases 2 and 3 in nigral dopamine neurons is not detrimental to their survival and function.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 78:Mar 25, s. 100-114
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Phosphorylation of the α-synuclein (α-syn) protein at Ser129 [P(S129)-α-] was found to be the most abundant form in intracellular inclusions in brains from Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. This finding suggests that P(S129)-α-syn plays a central role in the pathogenesis of PD. However, it is at present unclear whether P(S129)-α-syn is pathogenic driving the neurodegenerative process. Rodent studies using neither the phosphomimics of human α-syn nor co-expression of human wild-type α-syn and kinases phosphorylating α-syn at Ser129 gave consistent results. One major concern in interpreting these findings is that human α-syn was expressed above physiological levels inducing neurodegeneration in rat nigral neurons. In order to exclude this confounding factor, we took a different approach and increased the phosphorylation level of endogenous α-syn. For this purpose, we took advantage of recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors to deliver polo-like kinase 2 (PLK2) or PLK3 in the substantia nigra and investigated whether increased levels of P(S129)-α-syn compromised the function and survival of nigral dopaminergic neurons. Interestingly, we observed that hyperphosphorylated α-syn did not induce nigral dopaminergic cell death, as assessed at 1 and 4months. Furthermore, histological analysis did not show any accumulation of α-syn protein or formation of inclusions. Using in vivo microdialysis, we found that the only measurable functional alteration was the depolarisation-induced release of dopamine, while the in vivo synthesis rate of DOPA and dopamine baseline release remained unaltered. Taken together, our results suggest that phosphorylation of α-syn at Ser129 does not confer a toxic gain of function per se.
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| 20. |
- Cenci Nilsson, Angela, et al.
(författare)
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Rodent models of impulsive compulsive behaviors in Parkinson's disease: how far have we reached?
- 2015
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 82:aug 29, s. 561-573
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is increasing awareness that the medications used to treat the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) contribute to the development of behavioral addictions, which have been clinically defined as impulsive compulsive behaviors (ICBs). These features include pathological gambling, compulsive sexual behavior, binge eating, compulsive shopping, excessive hobbyism or punding, and the excessive use of dopaminergic medication. ICBs frequently have devastating effects on the social and occupational function of the affected individuals as well as their families. Although ICBs are an important clinical problem in PD, the number of studies in which these symptoms have been modeled in rodents is still limited. This may depend on uncertainties regarding, on one hand, the pathophysiology of these behaviors and, on the other hand, the experimental paradigms with which similar features can be induced in rodents. To help compose these uncertainties, we will here review the characteristics of ICBs in PD patients and then describe behavioral methods to approximate them in rodents. We will discuss both the challenges and the possibilities of applying these methods to animals with PD-like lesions, and review the recent progress made to this end. We will finally highlight important questions deserving further investigation. Rodent models having both face validity and construct validity to parkinsonian ICBs will be essential to further pathophysiological and therapeutic investigations into this important area.
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| 21. |
- Chapman, Katie, et al.
(författare)
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Inflammation without neuronal death triggers striatal neurogenesis comparable to stroke.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 83:Aug 20, s. 1-15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ischemic stroke triggers neurogenesis from neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) in the subventricular zone (SVZ) and migration of newly formed neuroblasts towards the damaged striatum where they differentiate to mature neurons. Whether it is the injury per se or the associated inflammation that gives rise to this endogenous neurogenic response is unknown. Here we showed that inflammation without corresponding neuronal loss caused by intrastriatal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection leads to striatal neurogenesis in rats comparable to that after a 30min middle cerebral artery occlusion, as characterized by striatal DCX+ neuroblast recruitment and mature NeuN+/BrdU+ neuron formation. Using global gene expression analysis, changes in several factors that could potentially regulate striatal neurogenesis were identified in microglia sorted from SVZ and striatum of LPS-injected and stroke-subjected rats. Among the upregulated factors, one chemokine, CXCL13, was found to promote neuroblast migration from neonatal mouse SVZ explants in vitro. However, neuroblast migration to the striatum was not affected in constitutive CXCL13 receptor CXCR5(-/-) mice subjected to stroke. Infarct volume and pro-inflammatory M1 microglia/macrophage density were increased in CXCR5(-/-) mice, suggesting that microglia-derived CXCL13, acting through CXCR5, might be involved in neuroprotection following stroke. Our findings raise the possibility that the inflammation accompanying an ischemic insult is the major inducer of striatal neurogenesis after stroke.
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| 22. |
- Cisbani, G, et al.
(författare)
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Cystamine/cysteamine rescues the dopaminergic system and shows neurorestorative properties in an animal model of Parkinson's disease.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 82, s. 430-444
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The neuroprotective properties of cystamine identified in pre-clinical studies have fast-tracked this compound to clinical trials in Huntington's disease, showing tolerability and benefits on motor symptoms. We tested whether cystamine could have such properties in a Parkinson's disease murine model and now provide evidence that it can not only prevent the neurodegenerative process but also can reverse motor impairments created by a 6-hydroxydopamine lesion 3weeks post-surgery. Importantly, we report that cystamine has neurorestorative properties 5weeks post-lesion as seen on the number of nigral dopaminergic neurons which is comparable with treatments of cysteamine, the reduced form of cystamine used in the clinic, as well as rasagiline, increasingly prescribed in early parkinsonism. All three compounds induced neurite arborization of the remaining dopaminergic cells which was further confirmed in ex vivo dopaminergic explants derived from Pitx3-GFP mice. The disease-modifying effects displayed by cystamine/cysteamine would encourage clinical testing.
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| 23. |
- Guerreiro, R., et al.
(författare)
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Heritability and genetic variance of dementia with Lewy bodies
- 2019
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 127, s. 492-501
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent large-scale genetic studies have allowed for the first glimpse of the effects of common genetic variability in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), identifying risk variants with appreciable effect sizes. However, it is currently well established that a substantial portion of the genetic heritable component of complex traits is not captured by genome-wide significant SNPs. To overcome this issue, we have estimated the proportion of phenotypic variance explained by genetic variability (SNP heritability) in DLB using a method that is unbiased by allele frequency or linkage disequilibrium properties of the underlying variants. This shows that the heritability of DLB is nearly twice as high as previous estimates based on common variants only (31% vs 59.9%). We also determine the amount of phenotypic variance in DLB that can be explained by recent polygenic risk scores from either Parkinson's disease (PD) or Alzheimer's disease (AD), and show that, despite being highly significant, they explain a low amount of variance. Additionally, to identify pleiotropic events that might improve our understanding of the disease, we performed genetic correlation analyses of DLB with over 200 diseases and biomedically relevant traits. Our data shows that DLB has a positive correlation with education phenotypes, which is opposite to what occurs in AD. Overall, our data suggests that novel genetic risk factors for DLB should be identified by larger GWAS and these are likely to be independent from known AD and PD risk variants. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.
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| 24. |
- Jimenez, Itzia, et al.
(författare)
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Allelic difference in Mhc2ta confers altered microglial activation and susceptibility to α-synuclein-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration
- 2017
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 106, s. 279-290
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a complex and heterogeneous neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and pathological intracellular accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn). In the vast majority of PD patients, the disease has a complex etiology, defined by multiple genetic and environmental risk factors. Common genetic variants in the human leukocyte-antigen (HLA) region have been associated to PD risk and the carriage of these can double the risk to develop PD. Among these common genetic variants are the ones that modulate the expression of MHCII genes. MHCII molecules encoded in the HLA-region are responsible for antigen presentation to the adaptive immune system and have a key role in inflammatory processes. In addition to cis‑variants affecting MHCII expression, a transactivator encoded by the Mhc2ta gene is the major regulator of MHCII expression. We have previously identified variations in the promoter region of Mhc2ta, encoded in the VRA4 region, to regulate MHCII expression in rats. The expression of MHCII is known to be required in the response to α-syn. However, how the expression of MHCII affects the activation of microglial or the impact of physiological, differential Mhc2ta expression on degeneration of dopaminergic neurons has not previously been addressed. Here we addressed the implications of common genetic allelic variants of the major regulator of MHCII expression on α-syn-induced microglia activation and the severity of the dopaminergic neurodegeneration. We used a viral vector technology to overexpress α-syn in two rat strains; Dark agouti (DA) wild type and DA.VRA4-congenic rats. The congenic strain carries PVG alleles in the VRA4 locus and therefore displays lower Mhc2ta expression levels compared to DA rats. We analyzed the impact of this physiological differential Mhc2ta expression on gliosis, inflammation, degeneration of the nigro-striatal dopamine system and behavioral deficits after α-syn overexpression. We report that allelic variants of Mhc2ta differently modified the microglial activation in response to overexpression of human α-syn in rats. Overexpression of α-syn led to a larger denervation of the nigro-striatal system and significant behavioral deficits in DA.VRA4 congenic rats with lower Mhc2ta expression compared to DA rats. These results indicate that Mhc2ta is a key upstream regulator of the inflammatory response in PD pathology.
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| 25. |
- Kirik, Deniz, et al.
(författare)
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Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease : Disease modification by GDNF family of ligands
- 2017
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 97, s. 179-188
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gene transfer is a promising drug delivery method of advanced therapeutic entities for Parkinson's disease. One advantage over conventional therapies, such as peripheral delivery of the dopamine pre-cursor L-DOPA, is site-specific expression of proteins with regenerative, disease-modifying and potentially neuroprotective capacity. Several clinical trials have been performed to test the capacity of glial-cell line derived neurotrophic factor and neurturin to rescue degenerating dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and their axon terminals in the striatum by delivery of these neurotrophic factors either as purified protein or by means of viral vector mediated gene delivery to the brain. Although gene therapy approaches tested so far have been shown to be safe, none met their primary endpoints in phase II clinical trials designed and powered to test the efficacy of the intervention. Within the scope of this review we aim to describe the state-of-the-art in the field, how different technical parameters were translated from pre-clinical studies in non-human primates to clinical trials, and what these trials taught us regarding important factors that may pave the way to the success of gene therapy for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
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