小胶质细胞在帕金森病病理进展中的作用

帕金森病是中老年人常见的中枢神经系统退行性疾病,研究表明小胶质细胞的活化及其介导的神经炎症在帕金森病的病程进展中发挥重要作用,适度干预小胶质细胞的活化有望延缓帕金森病的进程。小胶质细胞是中枢神经系统固有的巨噬细胞,Notch信号途径可以调控小鼠外周巨噬细胞的分化及功能。Notch通路也参与调控小胶质细胞的激活、细胞因子的表达、吞噬活性的变化等,而这与活化的小胶质细胞介导的帕金森病等神经退行性疾病的病情进展相关。因此,本文将综述Notch信号途径与小胶质细胞介导的相关疾病的研究进展。     

HMGB1 in Development and Diseases of the Central Nervous System

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is widely expressed in cells of vertebrates in two forms: a nuclear "architectural" factor and a secreted inflammatory factor. During early brain development, HMGB1 displays a complex temporal and spatial distribution pattern in the central nervous system. It facilitates neurite outgrowth and cell migration critical for processes, such as forebrain development. During adulthood, HMGB1 serves to induce neuroinflammation after injury, such as lesions in the spinal cord and brain. Receptor for advanced glycation end products and Toll-like receptors signal transduction pathways mediate HMGB1-induced neuroinflammation and necrosis. Increased levels of endogenous HMGB1 have also been detected in neurodegenerative diseases. However, in Huntington's disease, HMGB1 has been reported to protect neurons through activation of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease and 5'-flap endonuclease-1, whereas in other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis, HMGB1 serves as a risk factor for memory impairment, chronic neurodegeneration, and progression of neuroinflammation. Thus, HMGB1 plays important and double-edged roles during neural development and neurodegeneration. The HMGB1-mediated pathological mechanisms have remained largely elusive. Knowledge of these mechanisms is likely to lead to therapeutic targets for neurological diseases.     

Lipid Rafts in Neurodegeneration and Neuroprotection

The collective properties of the lipids that form biological membranes give rise to a very high level of lateral organization within the membranes. Lipid-driven membrane organization allows the segregation of membrane-associated components into specific lipid rafts, which function as dynamic platforms for signal transduction, protein processing, and membrane turnover. A number of events essential for the functional integrity of the nervous system occur in lipid rafts and depend on lipid raft organization. Alterations of lipid composition that lead to abnormal lipid raft organization and consequent deregulation of lipid raft-dependent signaling are often associated with neurodegenerative diseases. The amyloidogenic processing of proteins involved in the pathogenesis of major nervous system diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, requires lipid raft-dependent compartmentalization at the membrane level. Improved understanding of the forces that control lipid raft organization will facilitate the development of novel strategies for the effective prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative and age-related brain diseases.     

Genetic Evidence Linking Age-Dependent Attenuation of the 26S Proteasome with the Aging Process

The intracellular accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins is believed to contribute to aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases. However, the links between age-dependent proteotoxicity and cellular protein degradation systems remain poorly understood. Here, we show that 26S proteasome activity and abundance attenuate with age, which is associated with the impaired assembly of the 26S proteasome with the 19S regulatory particle (RP) and the 20S proteasome. In a genetic gain-of-function screen, we characterized Rpn11, which encodes a subunit of the 19S RP, as a suppressor of expanded polyglutamine-induced progressive neurodegeneration. Rpn11 overexpression suppressed the age-related reduction of the 26S proteasome activity, resulting in the extension of flies'' life spans with suppression of the age-dependent accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins. On the other hand, the loss of function of Rpn11 caused an early onset of reduced 26S proteasome activity and a premature age-dependent accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins. It also caused a shorter life span and an enhanced neurodegenerative phenotype. Our results suggest that maintaining the 26S proteasome with age could extend the life span and suppress the age-related progression of neurodegenerative diseases.Ubiquitin-conjugated, misfolded protein aggregates are observed in the brain during normal aging and in late-onset human neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer''s, Parkinson''s, and polyglutamine diseases (e.g., Huntington''s disease or spinocerebellar ataxias) (9). Many of the mutations that cause dominantly inherited neurodegenerative diseases dramatically increase the amount of protein aggregates in vitro and in vivo, supporting the widely accepted hypothesis that proteotoxicity caused by the aggregates underlies the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases (32). Proteotoxicity can have many effects, including disruption of microtubule-dependent axonal transport (10), perturbation of membrane permeability (23), and impaired function of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) (1, 17). Aggregation-mediated toxicity has also been suggested in normal aging, because recent reports show that the impairment of autophagy in the central nervous system causes accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and leads to neurodegenerative diseases (12, 21). These observations suggest that the continuous clearance of misfolded proteins through cellular degradation systems, including the UPS and autophagy, is important for preventing aggregation-mediated proteotoxicity both in age-related neurodegenerative diseases and in normal aging.Clinical symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases generally do not appear or progress until advanced ages, not only in sporadic forms but also in inherited forms of neurodegenerative diseases (26). These observations suggest that aggregation-mediated toxicity appears in a late-onset manner both in normal aging and in neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, a link between the aging process and aggregation-mediated proteotoxicity has been suggested by evidence that Huntington''s disease-associated proteotoxicity was ameliorated when the aging process slowed, that is, the life span extension via decreased insulin/insulin growth factor-1-like signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans (13, 31).A possible mechanism for the late onset of aggregation-mediated toxicity is age-related impairment of the UPS, because loss-of-function mutations in genes encoding UPS components can enhance the cytotoxicity of protein aggregation in dominantly inherited neurodegenerative diseases (4, 5, 18). In addition, an age-related decline of proteasome activity has been observed in the tissues of humans and other mammals (8) and in aged flies (36). Considering the role of the proteasome in neuroprotection and the age dependence of most neurodegenerative diseases, the age-related decline of proteasome activity could well be a key factor both in normal aging and in the late onset and/or progression of neurodegenerative diseases. However, the mechanism underlying the age-related decline of proteasome activity remains to be elucidated, and there is no direct genetic evidence showing that the age-related decline of proteasome activity causes age-related aggregation-mediated toxicity in normal aging and in age-related neurodegenerative diseases.Here, we studied the age-related decline of proteasome activity by using Drosophila melanogaster and found age-related attenuation of the 26S proteasome activity and abundance that was associated with impaired assembly of the 26S proteasome with the 19S regulatory particle (RP) and the 20S proteasome. In a genetic gain-of-function screen, we identified Rpn11, which encodes one of the lid subunits in the 19S RP, as a suppressor of the age-dependent progression of a polyglutamine-induced neurodegenerative phenotype. The overexpression of Rpn11 prevented the age-related reduction of the 26S proteasome activity, which suppressed the age-dependent accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and extended the life span. On the other hand, the loss of function of Rpn11 enhanced the age-related reduction of 26S proteasome activity, leading to a shorter life span, a premature age-dependent accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins, and an early onset of a neurodegenerative phenotype. Our results demonstrate for the first time that the age-related reduction of the 26S proteasome activity is a key factor in the induction of certain age-related biological changes and in the increased risk for the onset or progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Our findings imply that improving the amount and/or activity of the 26S proteasome by overexpressing a lid subunit, such as Rpn11, could provide an extension to the mean life span and prevent the age-dependent onset or progression of neurodegeneration.     

A prepared anti-MSTN polyclonal antibody reverses insulin resistance of diet-induced obese rats via regulation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR&FoxO1 signal pathways

Suppression of myostatin (MSTN) is associated with skeletal muscle atrophy and insulin resistance. However, the mechanisms by which MSTN regulates insulin resistance are not well known. We have explored the signaling pathways through which MSTN regulates insulin resistance in diet-induced obese rats using a polyclonal antibody for MSTN. The anti-MSTN polyclonal antibody significantly improved insulin resistance and whole-body insulin sensitivity, decreased MSTN protein expression in muscle samples by 39 % in diet-induced obese rats. Furthermore, the anti-MSTN polyclonal antibody significantly enhanced PI3K activity (140 %), Akt phosphorylation (86 %), GLUT4 protein expression (23 %), the phosphorylation of mTOR (21 %), and inhibited the phosphorylation of FoxO1 (57 %), but did not affect the phosphorylation of GSK-3β. Thus, suppression of MSTN by the anti-MSTN polyclonal antibody reverses insulin resistance of diet-induced obesity via MSTN/PI3K/Akt/mTOR and MSTN/PI3K/Akt/FoxO1 signaling pathways.     

Minocycline as a potential therapeutic agent in neurodegenerative disorders characterised by protein misfolding

Many neurodegenerative disorders share common features including the accumulation of aggregated misfolded proteins, neuroinflammation and the induction of apoptosis. While the contributions of each of these individual elements to neuronal death remain unclear, a commonly used antibiotic, minocycline, has been shown to reduce the progression and severity of disease in several models of neurodegeneration by variously downregulating these molecular pathways. Here we discuss the evidence for the potential of minocycline as a broad-specificity therapeutic agent for those neurodegenerative diseases that are characterized by the presence of misfolded proteins.Key words: minocycline, protein aggregation, neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, protein misfolding     

小胶质细胞在帕金森病病理进展中的作用

帕金森病是中老年人常见的中枢神经系统退行性疾病,研究表明小胶质细胞的活化及其介导的神经炎症在帕金森病的病程进展中发挥重要作用,适度干预小胶质细胞的活化有望延缓帕金森病的进程。小胶质细胞是中枢神经系统固有的巨噬细胞,Notch信号途径可以调控小鼠外周巨噬细胞的分化及功能。Notch通路也参与调控小胶质细胞的激活、细胞因子的表达、吞噬活性的变化等,而这与活化的小胶质细胞介导的帕金森病等神经退行性疾病的病情进展相关。因此,本文将综述Notch信号途径与小胶质细胞介导的相关疾病的研究进展。     

Lipid Integration in Neurodegeneration: An Overview of Alzheimer’s Disease

Various types of lipids and their metabolic products associated with the biological membrane play a crucial role in signal transduction, modulation, and activation of receptors and as precursors of bioactive lipid mediators. Dysfunction in the lipid homeostasis in the brain could be a risk factor for the many types of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These neurodegenerative disorders are marked by extensive neuronal apoptosis, gliosis, and alteration in the differentiation, proliferation, and development of neurons. Sphingomyelin, a constituent of plasma membrane, as well as its primary metabolite ceramide acts as a potential lipid second messenger molecule linked with the modulation of various cellular signaling pathways. Excessive production of reactive oxygen species associated with enhanced oxidative stress has been implicated with these molecules and involved in the regulation of a variety of different neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders. Studies have shown that alterations in the levels of plasma lipid/cholesterol concentration may result to neurodegenerative diseases. Alteration in the levels of inflammatory cytokines and mediators in the brain has also been found to be implicated in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. Although several mechanisms involved in neuronal apoptosis have been described, the molecular mechanisms underlying the correlation between lipid metabolism and the neurological deficits are not clearly understood. In the present review, an attempt has been made to provide detailed information about the association of lipids in neurodegeneration especially in Alzheimer’s disease.     

Caspase blockade induces RIP3-mediated programmed necrosis in Toll-like receptor-activated microglia

Microglia are the resident immune cells in the central nervous system and key players against pathogens and injury. However, persistent microglial activation often exacerbates pathological damage and has been implicated in many neurological diseases. Despite their pivotal physiological and pathophysiological roles, how the survival and death of activated microglia is regulated remains poorly understood. We report here that microglia activated through Toll-like receptors (TLRs) undergo RIP1/RIP3-dependent programmed necrosis (necroptosis) when exposed to the pan caspase inhibitor zVAD-fmk. Although zVAD-fmk and the caspase-8 inhibitor IETD-fmk had no effect on unstimulated primary microglia, they markedly sensitized microglia to TLR1/2,3,4,7/8 ligands or TNF treatment, triggering programmed necrosis that was completely blocked by R1P1 kinase inhibitor necrostatin-1. Interestingly, necroptosis induced by TLR ligands and zVAD was restricted to microglial cells and was not observed in astrocytes, neurons or oligodendrocytes even though they are known to express certain TLRs. Deletion of genes encoding TNF or TNFR1 failed to prevent lipopolysaccharide- and poly(I:C)-induced microglial necroptosis, unveiling a TNF-independent programmed necrosis pathway in TLR3- and TLR4-activated microglia. Microglia from mice lacking functional TRIF were fully protected against TLR3/4 activation and zVAD-fmk-induced necrosis, and genetic deletion of rip3 also prevented microglia necroptosis. Activation of c-jun N-terminal kinase and generation of specific reactive oxygen species were downstream signaling events required for microglial cell death execution. Taken together, this study reveals a robust RIP3-dependent necroptosis signaling pathway in TLR-activated microglia upon caspase blockade and suggests that TLR signaling and programmed cell death pathways are closely linked in microglia, which could contribute to neuropathology and neuroinflammation when dysregulated.     

Neuroprotection of Atractylenolide III from Atractylodis macrocephalae Against Glutamate-Induced Neuronal Apoptosis Via Inhibiting Caspase Signaling Pathway

Glutamate-induced excitotoxicity appears to play a crucial role in neurological disorders. Neuroprotection against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity has been proposed as a therapeutic strategy for preventing and/or treating these excitotoxicity-mediated diseases. In the present study, atractylenolide III, which exhibited significantly neuroprotective effect against glutamate-induced neuronal apoptosis, was isolated from Atractylodes macrocephala by means of bioactivity-guided fractionation. The inhibitory effect of atractylenolide III on glutamate-induced neuronal apoptosis was in a concentration-dependent manner. The anti-apoptotic property of atractylenolide III might be mediated, in part, via inhibiting caspase signaling pathway. Atractylenolide III may have therapeutic potential in excitotoxicity-mediated neurological diseases.     

Role of insulin receptor and insulin signaling on αPS2CβPS integrins’ lateral diffusion

Integrins are ubiquitous transmembrane receptors with adhesion and signaling properties. The influence of insulin receptor and insulin signaling on αPS2CβPS integrins’ lateral diffusion was studied using single particle tracking in S2 cells before and after reducing the insulin receptor expression or insulin stimulation. Insulin signaling was monitored by Western blotting for phospho-Akt expression. The expression of the insulin receptor was reduced using RNA interference (RNAi). After insulin receptor RNAi, four significant changes were measured in integrin diffusion properties: (1) there was a 24 % increase in the mobile integrin population, (2) 14 % of the increase was represented by integrins with Brownian diffusion, (3) for integrins that reside in confined zones of diffusion, there was a 45 % increase in the diameter of the confined zone, and (4) there was a 29 % increase in the duration integrins spend in confined zones of diffusion. In contrast to reduced expression of the insulin receptor, which alters integrin diffusion properties, insulin stimulation alone or insulin stimulation under conditions of reduced insulin receptor expression have minimal effects on altering the measured integrin diffusion properties. The differences in integrin diffusion measured after insulin receptor RNAi in the presence or absence of insulin stimulation may be the result of other insulin signaling pathways that are activated at reduced insulin receptor conditions. No change in the average integrin diffusion coefficient was measured for any conditions included in this study.     

Toll样受体在肝脏疾病中的功能

Toll样受体(Toll-like receptors,TLR)是一类可以识别病原体并迅速启动天然免疫反应的跨膜蛋白,它们也可以调节机体的获得性免疫及组织的炎症反应,是机体感知、抵御及清除病原体的关键分子。近来发现TLR在多种肝脏疾病的发生、发展及恢复过程中起着重要的调节作用,这方面的研究为许多慢性肝病的治疗提供了新的线索。该文综述了TLR在酒精性肝病、脂肪肝、病毒性肝炎、肝硬化以及肝细胞癌的病理生理学中的作用,展望了将来需重点研究的问题。     

Neurodegenerative diseases and therapeutic strategies using iron chelators

This review will summarise the current state of our knowledge concerning the involvement of iron in various neurological diseases and the potential of therapy with iron chelators to retard the progression of the disease. We first discuss briefly the role of metal ions in brain function before outlining the way by which transition metal ions, such as iron and copper, can initiate neurodegeneration through the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. This results in protein misfolding, amyloid production and formation of insoluble protein aggregates which are contained within inclusion bodies. This will activate microglia leading to neuroinflammation. Neuroinflammation plays an important role in the progression of the neurodegenerative diseases, with activated microglia releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines leading to cellular cell loss. The evidence for metal involvement in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease as well as Friedreich's ataxia and multiple sclerosis will be presented. Preliminary results from trials of iron chelation therapy in these neurodegenerative diseases will be reviewed.     

Mitofusin 2 deficiency leads to oxidative stress that contributes to insulin resistance in rat skeletal muscle cells

Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) is a dynamin-like protein anchored in the outer mitochondrial membrane that plays a crucial role in ensuring optimal mitochondrial morphological homeostasis. It has been shown that reduced expression of Mfn2 is associated with insulin resistance, but the mechanism is still unclear. We investigated whether Mfn2 deficiency leads to impaired insulin sensitivity via elevated oxidative stress. L6 skeletal muscle cells were treated with palmitate and Mfn2 expression was repressed by transfection with antisense Mfn2. Levels of antioxidant enzymes, reactive oxygen species (ROS), the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψ_m) were measured. The results showed palmitate-induced insulin resistance of skeletal muscle cells was accompanied by Mfn2 repression. Meanwhile, the cells had decreased Δψ_m and activity of antioxidant enzymes which could increase production of ROS, phosphorylation of JNK and NF-κB. When Mfn2 was up-regulated in palmitate-treated cells, oxidative stress and insulin resistance was alleviated. Furthermore, knock-down of Mfn2 in control cells enhanced oxidative stress. Mfn2 deficiency led to increased superoxide concentration and activation of JNK as well as NF-κB associated with insulin signaling. In conclusion, Mfn2 is a potent repressor for oxidative stress and regulation of Mfn2 expression may prove to be a potential method to circumvent insulin resistance.     

Role of Platelets in Neuroinflammatory Disorders. A Review

Platelets, or thrombocytes, are important players in inflammation, wound healing, initiation of immune response and regeneration in the organism. Disruption of the blood-brain barrier occurs during certain neurological disorders, such as brain trauma, Alzheimer’s disease or stroke, when blood cells including platelets can invade nervous tissue. However, the role of platelets in the context of neuroinflammation remains understudied. Recent studies have shown that activated platelets release a wide set of coagulative and vascular factors during neurovascular pathologies in the central nervous system. Moreover, platelets stimulate immunity and regulate inflammation in the central nervous system. Trophic and growth factors stored in platelets may play a role in neuronal regeneration. Activated platelets release neurotransmitters, serotonin, dopamine, histamine, and glutamate, and can modify neuronal cell activity in neuropathologies. This review focuses on the major aspects and mechanisms of platelet functions in neuroinflammation, and therapeutic potential of platelets for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.     

Analyses of the Similarity and Difference of Global Gene Expression Profiles in Cortex Regions of Three Neurodegenerative Diseases: Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (sCJD), Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI), and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)

Neurodegenerative disease is a general designation for the disorders that are progressive loss of structure or function and final death of neurons, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, prion diseases, etc. In this study, we comparatively analyzed 21 individual microarray data sets of the cortex tissues from 11 sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), 3 fatal familial insomnia (FFI), 3 Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and 4 normal controls. After normalization, a collection of 730 differently expressed sets (DESets) were obtained by comparison of the data of three diseases with their original controls. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed a background-related distribution within the groups of FFI, AD, and normal control, but two apparently different subgroups within the group of sCJD were observed. Review of the clinical materials of 11 sCJD patients identified the difference in brain PrP^Sc deposits between two subgroups. Hierarchical cluster analysis illustrated the relatively independent clusters of normal controls, FFIs, six sCJD cases (subgroup 1) with more PrP^Sc deposits, respectively, while an overlapped cluster of five cases of sCJD2 (subgroup 2) with less PrP^Sc deposits and AD patients. Despite of the presence of special gene expressions, many common features were found among those neurodegenerative diseases. The most commonly changed biological processes (BPs) were signal transduction, synaptic transmission, and neuropeptide signaling pathway. The most commonly changed pathways were MAPK signaling pathway, Parkinson’s disease, and oxidative phosphorylation. Our data here provide the similarity and difference in global gene expressions among the patients with sCJD, FFI, and AD, which may help to understand the common mechanism of neurodegenerative diseases.     

Age-related changes in the distribution of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 channel (TRPV4) in the central nervous system of rats

Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 4 (TRPV4) channels are expressed in the central nervous system, but their role in regulating the aging process under physiological and pathological conditions is still largely unknown. To identify age-related changes in the TRPV4 channel that contribute to the central nervous system, we investigated the distribution of TRPV4 in the brain and spinal cord regions of adult and aged rats. The expression of TRPV4 in the brain and spinal cord of adult and aged Sprague–Dawley rats was compared using immunohistochemistry performed with antibodies recognizing TRPV4 on free floating sections and western blotting analysis. TRPV4 immunoreactivity was significantly increased in the cerebral cortex, hippocampal formation, thalamus, basal nuclei, cerebellum and spinal cord of aged rats compared with adult control rats. In the cerebral cortex, TRPV4 immunoreactivity was significantly increased in pyramidal cells of aged rats. In addition, TRPV4 immunoreactivity was increased in the spinal cord, hippocampal formation, thalamus, basal nuclei and cerebellum of aged rats. This first demonstration of age-related increases in TRPV4 expression in the brain and spinal cord may provide useful data for investigating the pathogenesis of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. The exact regulatory mechanism and its functional significance require further elucidation.     

Insulin resistance and amyloidogenesis as common molecular foundation for type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease

Characterized as a peripheral metabolic disorder and a degenerative disease of the central nervous system respectively, it is now widely recognized that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) share several common abnormalities including impaired glucose metabolism, increased oxidative stress, insulin resistance and amyloidogenesis. Several recent studies suggest that this is not an epiphenomenon, but rather these two diseases disrupt common molecular pathways and each disease compounds the progression of the other. For instance, in AD the accumulation of the amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ), which characterizes the disease and is thought to participate in the neurodegenerative process, may also induce neuronal insulin resistance. Conversely, disrupting normal glucose metabolism in transgenic animal models of AD that over-express the human amyloid precursor protein (hAPP) promotes amyloid-peptide aggregation and accelerates the disease progression. Studying these processes at a cellular level suggests that insulin resistance and Aβ aggregation may not only be the consequence of excitotoxicity, aberrant Ca²⁺ signals, and proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, but may also promote these pathological effectors. At the molecular level, insulin resistance and Aβ disrupt common signal transduction cascades including the insulin receptor family/PI3 kinase/Akt/GSK3 pathway. Thus both disease processes contribute to overlapping pathology, thereby compounding disease symptoms and progression.