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- Braunstein, Kerstin E., et al.
(author)
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A point mutation in the dynein heavy chain gene leads to striatal atrophy and compromises neurite outgrowth of striatal neurons
- 2010
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In: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 19:22, s. 4385-4398
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The molecular motor dynein and its associated regulatory subunit dynactin have been implicated in several neurodegenerative conditions of the basal ganglia, such as Huntington's disease (HD) and Perry syndrome, an atypical Parkinson-like disease. This pathogenic role has been largely postulated from the existence of mutations in the dynactin subunit p150(Glued). However, dynactin is also able to act independently of dynein, and there is currently no direct evidence linking dynein to basal ganglia degeneration. To provide such evidence, we used here a mouse strain carrying a point mutation in the dynein heavy chain gene that impairs retrograde axonal transport. These mice exhibited motor and behavioural abnormalities including hindlimb clasping, early muscle weakness, incoordination and hyperactivity. In vivo brain imaging using magnetic resonance imaging showed striatal atrophy and lateral ventricle enlargement. In the striatum, altered dopamine signalling, decreased dopamine D1 and D2 receptor binding in positron emission tomography SCAN and prominent astrocytosis were observed, although there was no neuronal loss either in the striatum or substantia nigra. In vitro, dynein mutant striatal neurons displayed strongly impaired neuritic morphology. Altogether, these findings provide a direct genetic evidence for the requirement of dynein for the morphology and function of striatal neurons. Our study supports a role for dynein dysfunction in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders of the basal ganglia, such as Perry syndrome and HD.
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| 3. |
- Dorst, Johannes, et al.
(author)
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Metabolic alterations precede neurofilament changes in presymptomatic ALS gene carriers
- 2023
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In: EBioMedicine. - : Elsevier. - 2352-3964. ; 90
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The emergence of potentially effective new therapies for genetic forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) necessitates the identification of biomarkers to facilitate early treatment, prior to the onset of motor symptoms. Here, we sought to investigate whether metabolic alterations are detectable in presymptomatic ALS gene mutation carriers, and whether such alterations precede neurofilament light chain (NfL) changes in serum.Methods: Between 02/2014 and 11/2021, we prospectively studied 60 presymptomatic ALS gene mutation carriers (40% male, age 48.7 ± 14.9; 28 C9orf72, 22 SOD1, 10 other) compared to 73 individuals from the same families (47% male, age 47.4 ± 12.9) without pathogenic mutations as controls. Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) and indirect calorimetry were performed, and Body Mass Index (BMI), Fat Mass (FM), Body Fat Percentage, Body Water (BW), Lean Body Mass (LBM), Extracellular Mass (ECM), Body Cell Mass (BCM), ECM/BCM ratio, Cells Percentage, Phase Angle, Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), Metabolic Ratio (MR), and NfL were measured. Participants and evaluators were blinded regarding gene carrier status.Findings: Presymptomatic ALS gene carriers showed reduced LBM (p = 0.02), BCM (p = 0.004), Cells Percentage (p = 0.04), BW (p = 0.02), Phase Angle (p = 0.04), and increased ECM/BCM ratio (p = 0.04), consistently indicating a loss of metabolically active body cells. While in C9orf72 mutation carriers all tissue masses were reduced, only metabolically active tissue was affected in SOD1 mutation carriers. Unexpectedly, RMR (p = 0.009) and MR (p = 0.01) were lower in presymptomatic ALS gene carriers compared to non-carriers. NfL serum levels were similar in mutation carriers and non-carriers (p = 0.60).Interpretation: The observed metabolic phenomena might reflect reduced physical activity and/or preemptive, insufficient compensatory mechanisms to prepare for the later hypermetabolic state. As pre-symptomatic biomarkers we propose ECM/BCM ratio and Phase Angle for SOD1, and a 4-compartment affection in BIA for C9orf72 mutation carriers.
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| 5. |
- Dupuis, Luc, et al.
(author)
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Thermoregulation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- 2018
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In: Handbook of Clinical Neurology. - 0072-9752 .- 2212-4152. ; 157, s. 749-760
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the major adult-onset motor neuron disease, and is clinically, pathologically, and genetically associated with frontotemporal dementia, the second cause of dementia in the elderly. Here, we review the evidence linking thermoregulation and ALS. Indeed, while ALS is not classically associated with defective thermoregulatory function, its progression severely affects key brain regions controlling body temperature and impacts multiple sensors and effectors of this homeostatic function. Furthermore, animal models of ALS display disturbed thermoregulation as a consequence of disrupted energy homeostasis. All these lines of indirect evidence call for studies directly addressing the body temperature regulatory system, both as a potential biomarker and as a possible modifier of disease progression in ALS.
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| 6. |
- Eschbach, Judith, et al.
(author)
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PGC-1 is a male-specific disease modifier of human and experimental amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- 2013
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In: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 22:17, s. 3477-3484
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating, adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder of the upper and lower motor systems. It leads to paresis, muscle wasting and inevitably to death, typically within 35 years. However, disease onset and survival vary considerably ranging in extreme cases from a few months to several decades. The genetic and environmental factors underlying this variability are of great interest as potential therapeutic targets. In ALS, men are affected more often and have an earlier age of onset than women. This gender difference is recapitulated in transgenic rodent models, but no underlying mechanism has been elucidated. Here we report that SNPs in the brain-specific promoter region of the transcriptional co-activator PGC-1, a master regulator of metabolism, modulate age of onset and survival in two large and independent ALS populations and this occurs in a strictly male-specific manner. In complementary animal studies, we show that deficiency of full-length (FL) Pgc-1 leads to a significantly earlier age of onset and a borderline shortened survival in male, but not in female ALS-transgenic mice. In the animal model, FL Pgc-1-loss is associated with reduced mRNA levels of the trophic factor Vegf-A in males, but not in females. In summary, we indentify PGC-1 as a novel and clinically relevant disease modifier of human and experimental ALS and report a sex-dependent effect of PGC-1 in this neurodegenerative disorder.
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| 7. |
- Gorges, Martin, et al.
(author)
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Hypothalamic atrophy is related to body mass index and age at onset in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- 2017
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In: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. - : BMJ. - 0022-3050 .- 1468-330X. ; 88:12, s. 1033-1041
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: Our objective was to study the hypothalamic volume in a cohort of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) including symptomatic and presymptomatic ALS mutation carriers.Methods: High-resolution three-dimensional T1-weighted MRI datasets from 251 patients with sporadic ALS, 19 symptomatic and 32 presymptomatic ALS mutation carriers and 112 healthy controls (HC) were retrospectivally registered for manual delineation of the hypothalamus. The volume of the hypothalamus, in total or subdivided, was normalised to the intracranial volume and adjusted to age. Correlation analyses were performed with clinical and metabolic outcomes. Pathologically defined ALS stages were determined in vivo by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).Results: We observed a severe atrophy of the hypothalamus both in patients with sporadic ALS (-21.8%, p<0.0001) and symptomatic ALS mutation carriers (-13.4%, p<0.001). The atrophy in patients with sporadic ALS was observed in both the anterior (-27.6% p<0.0001) and the posterior parts of the hypothalamus (-17.7%, p<0.0001). Notably, this atrophy was also observed in presymptomatic ALS mutation carriers (-15.5%, p<0.001) and was unrelated to whole brain volume atrophy or disease stage as assessed using DTI or functional status. Hypothalamic volume was correlated with body mass index (BMI) in patients with sporadic ALS (p=0.0434, Ρ=+0.1579), and this correlation was much stronger in patients with familial ALS (fALS) (p=0.0060, Ρ=+0.6053). Anterior hypothalamic volume was correlated with age at onset, but not with survival after MRI.Conclusions: Hypothalamus is atrophied in ALS, even in premorbid stages, and correlates with BMI, especially in fALS. Decreased anterior hypothalamic volume is associated with earlier onset of disease.
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| 8. |
- Megat, Salim, et al.
(author)
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Integrative genetic analysis illuminates ALS heritability and identifies risk genes
- 2023
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In: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 14:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has substantial heritability, in part shared with fronto-temporal dementia (FTD). We show that ALS heritability is enriched in splicing variants and in binding sites of 6 RNA-binding proteins including TDP-43 and FUS. A transcriptome wide association study (TWAS) identified 6 loci associated with ALS, including in NUP50 encoding for the nucleopore basket protein NUP50. Independently, rare variants in NUP50 were associated with ALS risk (P = 3.71.10−03; odds ratio = 3.29; 95%CI, 1.37 to 7.87) in a cohort of 9,390 ALS/FTD patients and 4,594 controls. Cells from one patient carrying a NUP50 frameshift mutation displayed a decreased level of NUP50. Loss of NUP50 leads to death of cultured neurons, and motor defects in Drosophila and zebrafish. Thus, our study identifies alterations in splicing in neurons as critical in ALS and provides genetic evidence linking nuclear pore defects to ALS.
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| 10. |
- Nettleton, Jennifer A., et al.
(author)
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Meta-Analysis Investigating Associations Between Healthy Diet and Fasting Glucose and Insulin Levels and Modification by Loci Associated With Glucose Homeostasis in Data From 15 Cohorts
- 2013
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In: American Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0002-9262 .- 1476-6256. ; 177:2, s. 103-115
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Whether loci that influence fasting glucose (FG) and fasting insulin (FI) levels, as identified by genome-wide association studies, modify associations of diet with FG or FI is unknown. We utilized data from 15 US and European cohort studies comprising 51,289 persons without diabetes to test whether genotype and diet interact to influence FG or FI concentration. We constructed a diet score using study-specific quartile rankings for intakes of whole grains, fish, fruits, vegetables, and nuts/seeds (favorable) and red/processed meats, sweets, sugared beverages, and fried potatoes (unfavorable). We used linear regression within studies, followed by inverse-variance-weighted meta-analysis, to quantify 1) associations of diet score with FG and FI levels and 2) interactions of diet score with 16 FG-associated loci and 2 FI-associated loci. Diet score (per unit increase) was inversely associated with FG ( 0.004 mmol/L, 95 confidence interval: 0.005, 0.003) and FI ( 0.008 ln-pmol/L, 95 confidence interval: 0.009, 0.007) levels after adjustment for demographic factors, lifestyle, and body mass index. Genotype variation at the studied loci did not modify these associations. Healthier diets were associated with lower FG and FI concentrations regardless of genotype at previously replicated FG- and FI-associated loci. Studies focusing on genomic regions that do not yield highly statistically significant associations from main-effect genome-wide association studies may be more fruitful in identifying diet-gene interactions.
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