Distinct transthyretin oxidation isoform profile in spinal fluid from patients with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment

Background

Transthyretin (TTR), an abundant protein in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), contains a free, oxidation-prone cysteine residue that gives rise to TTR isoforms. These isoforms may reflect conditions in vivo. Since increased oxidative stress has been linked to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) it is of interest to characterize CSF-TTR isoform distribution in AD patients and controls. Here, TTR isoforms are profiled directly from CSF by an optimized immunoaffinity-mass spectrometry method in 76 samples from patients with AD (n = 37), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 17)), and normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH, n = 15), as well as healthy controls (HC, n = 7). Fractions of three specific oxidative modifications (S-cysteinylation, S-cysteinylglycinylation, and S-glutathionylation) were quantitated relative to the total TTR protein. Results were correlated with diagnostic information and with levels of CSF AD biomarkers tau, phosphorylated tau, and amyloid β_1-42 peptide.

Results

Preliminary data highlighted the high risk of artifactual TTR modification due to ex vivo oxidation and thus the samples for this study were all collected using strict and uniform guidelines. The results show that TTR is significantly more modified on Cys(10) in the AD and MCI groups than in controls (NPH and HC) (p ≤ 0.0012). Furthermore, the NPH group, while having normal TTR isoform distribution, had significantly decreased amyloid β peptide but normal tau values. No obvious correlations between levels of routine CSF biomarkers for AD and the degree of TTR modification were found.

Conclusions

AD and MCI patients display a significantly higher fraction of oxidatively modified TTR in CSF than the control groups of NPH patients and HC. Quantitation of CSF-TTR isoforms thus may provide diagnostic information in patients with dementia symptoms but this should be explored in larger studies including prospective studies of MCI patients. The development of methods for simple, robust, and reproducible inhibition of in vitro oxidation during CSF sampling and sample handling is highly warranted. In addition to the diagnostic information the possibility of using TTR as a CSF oxymeter is of potential value in studies monitoring disease activity and developing new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases.     

A Simulation Study of Truncation Selection for a Quantitative Trait Opposed by Natural Selection

A quantitative character controlled at one locus with two alleles was submitted to artificial (mass) selection and to three modes of opposing natural selection (directional selection, overdominance and underdominance) in a large random-mating population. The selection response and the limits of the selective process were studied by deterministic simulation. The lifetime of the process was generally between 20 and 100 generations and did not appear to depend on the mode of natural selection. However, depending on the values of the parameters (initial gene frequency, selection intensity, ratio of the effect of the gene to the environmental standard deviation, fitness values) the following outcomes of selection were observed: fixation of the allele favored by artificial selection, stable nontrivial equilibrium, unstable equilibrium and loss of the allele favored by artificial selection. Finally, the results of the simulation were compared to the results of selection experiments.     

EDC3 phosphorylation regulates growth and invasion through controlling P‐body formation and dynamics

Regulation of mRNA stability and translation plays a critical role in determining protein abundance within cells. Processing bodies (P‐bodies) are critical regulators of these processes. Here, we report that the Pim1 and 3 protein kinases bind to the P‐body protein enhancer of mRNA decapping 3 (EDC3) and phosphorylate EDC3 on serine (S)161, thereby modifying P‐body assembly. EDC3 phosphorylation is highly elevated in many tumor types, is reduced upon treatment of cells with kinase inhibitors, and blocks the localization of EDC3 to P‐bodies. Prostate cancer cells harboring an EDC3 S161A mutation show markedly decreased growth, migration, and invasion in tissue culture and in xenograft models. Consistent with these phenotypic changes, the expression of integrin β1 and α6 mRNA and protein is reduced in these mutated cells. These results demonstrate that EDC3 phosphorylation regulates multiple cancer‐relevant functions and suggest that modulation of P‐body activity may represent a new paradigm for cancer treatment.     

Sequence and expression of the chicken calcitonin gene

The avian calcitonin gene was isolated and sequenced; two mRNAs are expressed by tissue-specific alternate splicing. The peptides encoded by the mRNAs are the protein precursors of either calcitonin or calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). Calcitonin is expressed predominantly in ultimobranchial bodies and CGRP in brain.     

Selective gray matter staining of human brain slices: optimized use of cadaver materials

We report a novel staining technique for human brain slices that distinguishes clearly gray from white matter. Previously described techniques using either Prussian blue (Berlin blue) or phthalocyanine dyes usually have included a hot phenol pretreatment to prevent white matter staining. The technique we describe here does not require hot phenol pretreatment and allows the use of brains stored for postmortem periods of one to two years prior to staining. Our technique involves staining with copper(II) phthalocyanine-tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt 1% in water for 2 h followed by acetic acid treatment; this produces excellent blue staining of gray matter with little white matter staining. The stained brain slices are excellent for teaching human brain anatomy and/or pathology, or for research purposes.     

Hes1 Increases the Invasion Ability of Colorectal Cancer Cells via the STAT3-MMP14 Pathway

The Notch pathway contributes to self-renewal of tumor-initiating cell and inhibition of normal colonic epithelial cell differentiation. Deregulated expression of Notch1 and Jagged1 is observed in colorectal cancer. Hairy/enhancer of split (HES) family, the most characterized targets of Notch, involved in the development of many cancers. In this study, we explored the role of Hes1 in the tumorigenesis of colorectal cancer. Knocking down Hes1 induced CRC cell senescence and decreased the invasion ability, whereas over-expression of Hes1 increased STAT3 phosphorylation activity and up-regulated MMP14 protein level. We further explored the expression of Hes1 in human colorectal cancer and found high Hes1 mRNA expression is associated with poor prognosis in CRC patients. These findings suggest that Hes1 regulates the invasion ability through the STAT3-MMP14 pathway in CRC cells and high Hes1 expression is a predictor of poor prognosis of CRC.     

Testing homology of loci for two plumage colors, "lavender" and "recessive white," with chicken and Japanese quail hybrids

Homology for two plumage color loci was studied by hybridization between chickens and Japanese quail. First, chicken-quail hybrids were produced from homozygous "lavender" chicken cocks and "bleu" Japanese quail, and all 30 hybrids had the same parental slate blue plumage color. On the other hand, no hybrids with this plumage were obtained out of 18 progeny from the same cocks and wild-type quail. These results show that the slate blue plumage color is determined by homologous loci in Japanese quail and chickens. Second, all (n = 25) chicken-quail hybrids hatched from homozygous "recessive white" cocks and "recessive white" (n = 8) or "wild-type" (n = 17) quail had the same pattern of plumage color, with white feathers on the ventral face and colored feathers elsewhere. These results indicate that the recessive white mutations are not homologous in Japanese quail and chickens.     

CCP II: a novel calcitonin carboxy terminal peptide is expressed in normal thyroid tissue.

We have recently identified in medullary thyroid carcinoma the existence of a second calcitonin messenger, generated by a splicing between the 3' coding region of exon 4 and exon 5 of Calc I gene. It differs from the first one in its 3' coding sequence and codes for a calcitonin precursor which generates the same N terminal peptide, calcitonin and a specific 21 amino acid carboxy terminal peptide differing from Katacalcin by its 8 last amino acids. We searched for the expression of this new messenger in normal human thyroid tissue by Northern and by polymerase chain reaction techniques. This second calcitonin messenger was expressed in 4/4 normal thyroids and 4/5 medullary thyroid carcinoma tissue samples. The expression of this second messenger is apparently a common occurrence in C cells whether normal or tumoral.     

Definition of receptor binding sites on human interleukin-11 by molecular modeling-guided mutagenesis.

Interleukin-11 (IL-11) belongs to the interleukin-6 (IL-6)-type subfamily of long-chain helical cytokines including IL-6, ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M, and cardiotrophin-1, which all share the glycoprotein gp130 as a signal transducing receptor component. IL-11 acts on cells expressing gp130 and the IL-11 receptor (IL-11R) alpha-subunit (IL-11Ralpha). The structural epitopes of IL-11 required for the recruitment of the individual receptor subunits have not yet been defined. Based on the structure of CNTF, a three-dimensional model of human IL-11 was built. Using this model, 10 surface exposed amino acid residues of IL-11 were selected for mutagenesis using analogies to the well-characterized receptor recruitment sites of IL-6, CNTF, and LIF. The respective mutants of human IL-11 were expressed as soluble fusion proteins in bacteria. Their biological activities were determined on HepG2 and Ba/F3-130-11alpha cells. Several mutants with substantially decreased bioactivity and one hyperagonistic mutant were identified and further analyzed with regard to recruitment of IL-11Ralpha and gp130. The low-activity mutant I171D still binds IL-11Ralpha but fails to recruit gp130, whereas the hyperagonistic variant R135E more efficiently engages the IL-11R subunits. The low-activity mutants R190E and L194D failed to bind to IL-11Ralpha. These findings reveal a common mechanism of receptor recruitment in the family of IL-6-type cytokines and offer considerable perspectives for the rational design of IL-11 antagonists and hyperagonists.