Objective
Despite the increasing number of genes associated with Charcot–Marie‐Tooth (CMT) disease, many patients currently still lack appropriate genetic diagnosis for this disease. Autosomal ...dominant mutations in aminoacyl‐tRNA synthetases (ARSs) have been implicated in CMT. Here, we describe causal missense mutations in the gene encoding seryl‐tRNA synthetase 1 (SerRS) for 3 families affected with CMT.
Methods
Whole‐exome sequencing was performed in 16 patients and 14 unaffected members of 3 unrelated families. The functional impact of the genetic variants identified was investigated using bioinformatic prediction tools and confirmed using cellular and biochemical assays.
Results
Combined linkage analysis for the 3 families revealed significant linkage (Zmax LOD = 6.9) between the genomic co‐ordinates on chromosome 1: 108681600–110300504. Within the linkage region, heterozygous SerRS missense variants segregated with the clinical phenotype in the 3 families. The mutant SerRS proteins exhibited reduced aminoacylation activity and abnormal SerRS dimerization, which suggests the impairment of total protein synthesis and induction of eIF2α phosphorylation.
Interpretation
Our findings suggest the heterozygous SerRS variants identified represent a novel cause for autosomal dominant CMT. Mutant SerRS proteins are known to impact various molecular and cellular functions. Our findings provide significant advances on the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms associated with ARS‐related CMT. ANN NEUROL 2023;93:244–256
Background. Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneu) is a leading cause of gram-negative pneumonia, which requires effective treatment. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell- (ADSC-) derived exosomal ...microRNAs (miRNAs) have presented the inhibitory effect of multiple diseases. However, the function of ADSC-derived exosomal miRNAs in K. pneu remains unclear. Aim. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of ADSC-derived exosomal miR-181-5p on K. pneu infection-induced lung injury. Methods. C57BL/6 mouse model was established by infection of K. pneu. ADSCs and exosomes were extracted and characterized in vitro. The translocation of ADSC-derived exosomes to bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) was detected. The level of miR-181a-5p was detected by real-time PCR. The secretion of inflammatory factors was determined by ELISA. The interaction between miR-181a-5p with STAT3 was identified. Results. We successfully isolated the ADSCs that express positive markers CD90 and CD105 rather than CD31 and CD45. The exosomal miR-181a-5p secreted by ADSCs were internalized by BMDM and K. pneu infection stimulated the miR-181a-5p level in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and BMDM. ADSC-derived exosomal miR-181a-5p repressed pulmonary outgrowth and dissemination of K. pneu infection in mice, repressed cellular infiltration in lung tissue, and attenuated the inflammasome activity and the levels of IL-1β and IL-18 in the lung. Mechanically, miR-181a-5p was able to inhibit STAT3 expression at posttranscriptional levels and repressed Nlrp3 and Asc expression in BMDM. Conclusion. Consequently, we concluded that ADSC-derived exosomal miR-181a-5p alleviated Klebsiella pneumonia infection-induced lung injury by targeting STAT3 signaling. ADSC-derived exosomal miR-181a-5p may serve as a potential candidate for the treatment of Klebsiella pneumonia infection-induced lung injury.
Although early life stress (ELS) can increase susceptibility to adulthood psychiatric disorders and produce a greater inflammatory response in a stressful event, targeted preventive and therapeutic ...drugs still remain scarce. Ganoderma lucidum triterpenoids (GLTs) can exert anti-inflammatory effects in the periphery and central nervous systems. This study employed a combined model of "childhood maternal separation + adulthood sub-stress" to explore whether GLTs may alleviate anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in male and female mice by mitigating inflammation. Male and female pups were separated from their mothers for four hours per day from postnatal day 1 (PND 1) to PND 21; starting from PND 56, GLTs were administered intraperitoneally once daily for three weeks and followed by three days of sub-stress. Results showed that maternal separation increased the anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in both male and female mice, which disappeared after the preemptive GLTs treatment (40 mg/kg) before adulthood sub-stress. Maternal separation up-regulated the pro-inflammatory markers in the periphery and brain, and activated microglia in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. All the abnormalities were reversed by GLTs administration, with no adverse effects on immune organ indices, liver, and renal function. Our findings suggest that GLTs can be a promising candidate in treating ELS-induced psychiatric disorders.
An 8 week feeding trial was carried out to investigate the effects of dietary nucleotides on growth performance, intestinal morphology, immune response and disease resistance of juvenile largemouth ...bass, Micropterus salmoides. Five grades of dietary nucleotide levels were designed as 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 g kg−1, respectively. Each group had 3 replicates, with 40 fish in each replicate. After the feeding experiment, 15 fish from each tank were infected with Aeromonas hydrophila for 14 days. The results indicated that fish fed the diets containing 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 g kg−1 nucleotides had higher growth performance and feed utilization than those fed the control diet. Nonetheless, there were no significant differences in survival between all the groups, although fish fed the diets with all‐level nucleotides obtained higher survival than those fed the control diet. Dietary nucleotides significantly affected the superoxide dismutase, acid phosphatase and catalase activities in serum but not the malondialdehyde content. Fish fed the 0.4 g kg−1 nucleotide diets had the highest fold height, enterocyte height and muscular layer thickness significantly. The average mortality of largemouth bass infected with A. hydrophila was significantly influenced by dietary nucleotides. The mortality was significantly higher in the control group (91.11%) and 0.02% nucleotide group (73.11%) followed by the other groups and lowest in the 0.8 g kg−1 nucleotide group. In summary, dietary 0.4–0.8 g kg−1 nucleotides promoted growth performance, enhanced immunity and improved intestinal morphology and disease resistance of largemouth bass.
Oxidative stress plays an important role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative conditions. Glutathione (GSH), the major antioxidant in the central nervous system, ...is primarily synthesized and released by astrocytes. We determined if β‐amyloid (Aβ42), crucially involved in Alzheimer's disease, affected GSH release. Monomeric Aβ (mAβ) stimulated GSH release from cultured cortical astrocytes more effectively than oligomeric Aβ (oAβ) or fibrillary Aβ (fAβ). Monomeric Aβ increased the expression of the transporter ABCC1 (also referred to as MRP1) that is the main pathway for GSH release. GSH release from astrocytes, with or without mAβ stimulation, was reduced by pharmacological inhibition of ABCC1. Astrocytes robustly express connexin proteins, especially connexin43 (Cx43), and mAβ also stimulated Cx43 hemichannel‐mediated glutamate and GSH release. Aβ‐stimulation facilitated hemichannel opening in the presence of normal extracellular calcium by reducing astrocyte cholesterol level. Aβ treatment did not alter the intracellular concentration of reduced or oxidized glutathione. Using a mouse model of AD with early onset Aβ deposition (5xFAD), we found that cortical ABCC1 was significantly increased in temporal register with the surge of Aβ levels in these mice. ABCC1 levels remained elevated from 1.5 to 3.5 months of age in 5xFAD mice, before plunging to subcontrol levels when amyloid plaques appeared. Similarly, in cultured astrocytes, prolonged incubation with aggregated Aβ, but not mAβ, reduced induction of ABCC1 expression. These results support the hypothesis that in the early stage of AD pathogenesis, less aggregated Aβ increases GSH release from astrocytes (via ABCC1 transporters and Cx43 hemichannels) providing temporary protection from oxidative stress which promotes AD development. GLIA 2015;63:2208–2219
Main Points
Monomeric β‐amyloid stimulated astrocytic glutathione release by increasing ABCC1 transporter expression and connexin hemichannel opening.
Astrocyte glutathione release would reduce oxidative stress that promotes Alzheimer's disease.
By studying the expression in patients and cell modeling in vitro, antimicrobial peptides for Klebsiella were screened. Killing curve and membrane permeability experiments are used to study the ...antibacterial effect of antimicrobial peptides in vitro. Cytotoxicity‐related indicators including lipopolysaccharide (LPS), capsule polysaccharide (CPS), and outer membrane protein expression were measured. Intranasal inoculation of pneumoconiosis was used to construct a mouse infection model, and the survival rate and cytokine expression level were tested. Human neutrophil peptide 1 (HNP‐1) showed a significant antibacterial effect, which improved the permeability of the outer membrane of K. pneumoniae. Moreover, HNP‐1 decreased LPS, CPS content, and outer membrane proteins. K. pneumoniae infection decreased antimicrobial peptide, oxidative stress, and autophagy‐related genes, while HNP‐1 increased these genes. After coculture with macrophages, the endocytosis of macrophages is enhanced and the bacterial load is greater in the K. pneumoniae + peptide group. Besides, higher levels of pp38 and pp65 in the K. pneumoniae + peptide group. HNP‐1 rescued the cytotoxicity induced by K. pneumoniae. The survival rate is significantly improved after K. pneumoniae is treated by HNP‐1. All cytokines in the peptide group were significantly higher. HNP‐1 promotes immune sterilization by reducing the virulence of multidrug‐resistant K. pneumoniae and increasing the ability of macrophages.
Screening of antimicrobial peptides against Klebsiella.
Thanks to the agility and mobility features, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been applied for a wide range of civil and military missions. To remotely control and monitor UAVs, mission-related ...data such as location and trajectory information are transmitted over wireless channels. However, UAV networks are vulnerable to eavesdropping attacks due to: 1) the broadcasting nature of wireless channels; 2) the broad coverage in aerial environments. In this paper, we investigate the potential security threats in UAV networks with passive attackers who aim to eavesdrop and decode encrypted locations by using machine learning techniques. We show that a neural network of two hidden layers is able to decode the encrypted locations if using the existing location protection methods. To defend against such machine learning based attacks, we suggest a location protection approach based on the random linear network coding with encryption keys being randomly permuted. We prove that our proposed approach allows for a low attacker's success probability and provides untraceability property. Our simulation results indicate that our approach significantly outperforms the existing location protection methods in terms of attacker's bit error rate, even with a small number of UAVs.
Summary
Objective
To investigate changes in the functional connectivity (FC) pattern in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with mild cognitive impairment and ...dementia by employing resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS‐fMRI).
Methods
Twenty‐seven PD patients with different cognitive status and 9 healthy control subjects (control group) were enrolled for RS‐fMRI. The RS‐fMRI data were analyzed with DPARSF and REST software. Regions with changed functional connectivity were determined by the seed‐based voxelwise method and compared between groups. Correlation between the intensity of FC and the MoCA scores of PD group was analyzed.
Results
Parametric maps showed statistical increases in PCC functional connectivity in PD‐MCI patients and decreases in PCC connectivity in PDD patients. The latter group of patients also showed evidence for increased connectivity between prefrontal cortices and posterior cerebellum. A significant positive correlation was found between the MoCA scores and the strength of PCC connectivity in the angular gyrus and posterior cerebellum and a negative correlation between MoCA scores and PCC connectivity in all other brain regions.
Conclusion
When patients transition from PD‐NCI to PD‐MCI, there appears to be an increase in functional connectivity in the PCC, suggesting an expansion of the cortical network. Another new network (a compensatory prefrontal cortical‐cerebellar loop) later develops during the transition from PD‐MCI to PDD.
Reactive microglia are associated with β-amyloid (Aβ) deposit and clearance in Alzhiemer's Disease (AD). Paradoxically, entocranial resident microglia fail to trigger an effective phagocytic response ...to clear Aβ deposits although they mainly exist in an "activated" state. Oligomeric Aβ (oAβ), a recent target in the pathogenesis of AD, can induce more potent neurotoxicity when compared with fibrillar Aβ (fAβ). However, the role of the different Aβ forms in microglial phagocytosis, induction of inflammation and oxidation, and subsequent regulation of phagocytic receptor system, remain unclear.
We demonstrated that Aβ(1-42) fibrils, not Aβ(1-42) oligomers, increased the microglial phagocytosis. Intriguingly, the pretreatment of microglia with oAβ(1-42) not only attenuated fAβ(1-42)-triggered classical phagocytic response to fluorescent microspheres but also significantly inhibited phagocytosis of fluorescent labeled fAβ(1-42). Compared with the fAβ(1-42) treatment, the oAβ(1-42) treatment resulted in a rapid and transient increase in interleukin 1β (IL-1β) level and produced higher levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and intracellular superoxide anion (SOA). The further results demonstrated that microglial phagocytosis was negatively correlated with inflammatory mediators in this process and that the capacity of phagocytosis in fAβ(1-42)-induced microglia was decreased by IL-1β, lippolysaccharide (LPS) and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP). The decreased phagocytosis could be relieved by pyrrolidone dithiocarbamate (PDTC), a nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) inhibitor, and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), a free radical scavenger. These results suggest that the oAβ-impaired phagocytosis is mediated through inflammation and oxidative stress-mediated mechanism in microglial cells. Furthermore, oAβ(1-42) stimulation reduced the mRNA expression of CD36, integrin β1 (Itgb1), and Ig receptor FcγRIII, and significantly increased that of formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2) and scavenger receptor class B1 (SRB1), compared with the basal level. Interestingly, the pre-stimulation with oAβ(1-42) or the inflammatory and oxidative milieu (IL-1β, LPS or t-BHP) significantly downregulated the fAβ(1-42)-induced mRNA over-expression of CD36, CD47 and Itgb1 receptors in microglial cells.
These results imply that Aβ oligomers induce a potent inflammatory response and subsequently disturb microglial phagocytosis and clearance of Aβ fibrils, thereby contributing to an initial neurodegenerative characteristic of AD. Antiinflammatory and antioxidative therapies may indeed prove beneficial to delay the progression of AD.
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