Brain organoids are highly complex multi-cellular tissue proxies, which have recently risen as novel tools to study neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). However, with ...increasing complexity of the system, usage of quantitative tools becomes challenging.
The primary objective of this study was to develop a neurotoxin-induced PD organoid model and to assess the neurotoxic effect on dopaminergic neurons using microscopy-based phenotyping in a high-content fashion.
We describe a pipeline for a machine learning-based analytical method, allowing for detailed image-based cell profiling and toxicity prediction in brain organoids treated with the neurotoxic compound 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA).
We quantified features such as dopaminergic neuron count and neuronal complexity and built a machine learning classifier with the data to optimize data processing strategies and to discriminate between different treatment conditions. We validated the approach with high content imaging data from PD patient derived midbrain organoids.
The here described model is a valuable tool for advanced in vitro PD modeling and to test putative neurotoxic compounds.
•We describe an interdisciplinary approach to assess the effect of 6-OHDA on dopaminergic neurons in midbrain organoids.•3D high-content screening of organoids was used to extract morphometric features of dopaminergic neurons.•Machine learning classifier was applied on the high-content data to predict neurotoxin-induced perturbations.
The mechanisms underlying Parkinson's disease (PD) etiology are only partially understood despite intensive research conducted in the field. Recent evidence suggests that early neurodevelopmental ...defects might play a role in cellular susceptibility to neurodegeneration. To study the early developmental contribution of GBA mutations in PD we used patient-derived iPSCs carrying a heterozygous N370S mutation in the GBA gene. Patient-specific midbrain organoids displayed GBA-PD relevant phenotypes such as reduction of GCase activity, autophagy impairment, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Genome-scale metabolic (GEM) modeling predicted changes in lipid metabolism which were validated with lipidomics analysis, showing significant differences in the lipidome of GBA-PD. In addition, patient-specific midbrain organoids exhibited a decrease in the number and complexity of dopaminergic neurons. This was accompanied by an increase in the neural progenitor population showing signs of oxidative stress-induced damage and premature cellular senescence. These results provide insights into how GBA mutations may lead to neurodevelopmental defects thereby predisposing to PD pathology.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a systemic disease clinically defined by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the brain. While alterations in the gut microbiome composition have been reported in ...PD, their functional consequences remain unclear. Herein, we addressed this question by an analysis of stool samples from the Luxembourg Parkinson's Study (n = 147 typical PD cases, n = 162 controls).
All individuals underwent detailed clinical assessment, including neurological examinations and neuropsychological tests followed by self-reporting questionnaires. Stool samples from these individuals were first analysed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Second, we predicted the potential secretion for 129 microbial metabolites through personalised metabolic modelling using the microbiome data and genome-scale metabolic reconstructions of human gut microbes. Our key results include the following. Eight genera and seven species changed significantly in their relative abundances between PD patients and healthy controls. PD-associated microbial patterns statistically depended on sex, age, BMI, and constipation. Particularly, the relative abundances of Bilophila and Paraprevotella were significantly associated with the Hoehn and Yahr staging after controlling for the disease duration. Furthermore, personalised metabolic modelling of the gut microbiomes revealed PD-associated metabolic patterns in the predicted secretion potential of nine microbial metabolites in PD, including increased methionine and cysteinylglycine. The predicted microbial pantothenic acid production potential was linked to the presence of specific non-motor symptoms.
Our results suggest that PD-associated alterations of the gut microbiome can translate into substantial functional differences affecting host metabolism and disease phenotype.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Background Parkinson's disease (PD), while often associated with its distinctive motor symptoms, can also exert a notable impact on the cardiovascular system due to the development of severe ...autonomic dysfunction. One of the initial indicators of PD is the appearance of cardiovascular dysautonomia. As such, it is vital to monitor and manage cardiovascular health of individuals with PD, as it may have clinical implications in the development of commonly recognized motor and non-motor aspects of the disease. To study the association of history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with occurrence and severity of PD, here, we lend data on the association of CVD history with the frequency and the occurrence of idiopathic PD (iPD) using data from the Luxembourg Parkinson’s study (iPD n = 676 patients and non-PD n = 874 controls). Results We report that patients with a history of CVD are at high risk of developing iPD (odds ratio; OR = 1.56, 95% confidence interval; CI 1.09–2.08). This risk is stronger in males and remains significant after adjustment with confounders (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.05–2.30). This increased susceptibility to iPD is linked to the severity of iPD symptoms mainly the non-motor symptoms of daily living (MDS-UPDRS I) and motor complications (MDS-UPDRS IV) in the affected individuals. Conclusion Individuals with history of CVD have a high risk of developing severe forms of iPD. This observation suggests that careful monitoring and management of patients with a history of cardiac problems may reduce the burden of iPD.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract MicroRNAs act via targeted suppression of messenger RNA translation in the DNA–RNA–protein axis. The dysregulation of microRNA(s) reflects the epigenetic changes affecting the cellular ...processes in multiple disorders. To understand the complex effect of dysregulated microRNAs linked to neurodegeneration, we performed a cross-sectional microRNA expression analysis in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (n = 367), progressive supranuclear palsy (n = 35) and healthy controls (n = 416) from the Luxembourg Parkinson's Study, followed by prediction modelling, enriched pathway analysis and target simulation of dysregulated microRNAs using probabilistic Boolean modelling. Forty-six microRNAs were identified to be dysregulated in Parkinson's disease versus controls and 16 in progressive supranuclear palsy versus controls with 4 overlapping significantly dysregulated microRNAs between the comparisons. Predictive power of microRNA subsets (including up to 100 microRNAs) was modest for differentiating Parkinson's disease or progressive supranuclear palsy from controls (maximal cross-validated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.76 and 0.86, respectively) and low for progressive supranuclear palsy versus Parkinson's disease (maximal cross-validated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.63). The enriched pathway analysis revealed natural killer cell pathway to be dysregulated in both, Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy versus controls, indicating that the immune system might play an important role in both diseases. Probabilistic Boolean modelling of pathway dynamics affected by dysregulated microRNAs in Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy revealed partially overlapping dysregulation in activity of the transcription factor EB, endoplasmic reticulum stress signalling, calcium signalling pathway, dopaminergic transcription and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1α activity, though involving different mechanisms. These findings indicated a partially convergent (sub)cellular end-point dysfunction at multiple levels in Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy, but with distinctive underlying molecular mechanisms.
Abstract
Several phenotypic differences observed in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have been linked to age at onset (AAO). We endeavoured to find out whether these differences are due to the ...ageing process itself by using a combined dataset of idiopathic PD (
n
= 430) and healthy controls (HC;
n
= 556) excluding carriers of known PD-linked genetic mutations in both groups. We found several significant effects of AAO on motor and non-motor symptoms in PD, but when comparing the effects of age on these symptoms with HC (using age at assessment, AAA), only positive associations of AAA with burden of motor symptoms and cognitive impairment were significantly different between PD vs HC. Furthermore, we explored a potential effect of polygenic risk score (PRS) on clinical phenotype and identified a significant inverse correlation of AAO and PRS in PD. No significant association between PRS and severity of clinical symptoms was found. We conclude that the observed non-motor phenotypic differences in PD based on AAO are largely driven by the ageing process itself and not by a specific profile of neurodegeneration linked to AAO in the idiopathic PD patients.