Genome-wide association studies have identified a link between genetic variation at the human chromosomal locus 1p13.3 and coronary artery disease. The gene encoding sortilin (
Martin B. Mortensen, Mads Kjolby, Stine Gunnersen, Jakob V. Larsen, Johan Palmfeldt, Erling Falk, Anders Nykjaer, Jacob F. Bentzon
Many patients who undergo general anesthesia and surgery experience cognitive dysfunction, particularly memory deficits that can persist for days to months. The mechanisms underlying this postoperative cognitive dysfunction in the adult brain remain poorly understood. Depression of brain function during anesthesia is attributed primarily to increased activity of γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAARs), and it is assumed that once the anesthetic drug is eliminated, the activity of GABAARs rapidly returns to baseline and these receptors no longer impair memory. Here, using a murine model, we found that a single in vivo treatment with the injectable anesthetic etomidate increased a tonic inhibitory current generated by α5 subunit–containing GABAARs (α5GABAARs) and cell-surface expression of α5GABAARs for at least 1 week. The sustained increase in α5GABAAR activity impaired memory performance and synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. Inhibition of α5GABAARs completely reversed the memory deficits after anesthesia. Similarly, the inhaled anesthetic isoflurane triggered a persistent increase in tonic current and cell-surface expression of α5GABAARs. Thus, α5GABAAR function does not return to baseline after the anesthetic is eliminated, suggesting a mechanism to account for persistent memory deficits after general anesthesia.
Agnieszka A. Zurek, Jieying Yu, Dian-Shi Wang, Sean C. Haffey, Erica M. Bridgwater, Antonello Penna, Irene Lecker, Gang Lei, Tom Chang, Eric W.R. Salter, Beverley A. Orser
Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body and has a unique combination of hardness and fracture toughness that protects teeth from dental caries, the most common chronic disease worldwide. In addition to a high mineral content, tooth enamel comprises organic material that is important for mechanical performance and influences the initiation and progression of caries; however, the protein composition of tooth enamel has not been fully characterized. Here, we determined that epithelial hair keratins, which are crucial for maintaining the integrity of the sheaths that support the hair shaft, are expressed in the enamel organ and are essential organic components of mature enamel. Using genetic and intraoral examination data from 386 children and 706 adults, we found that individuals harboring known hair disorder–associated polymorphisms in the gene encoding keratin 75 (KRT75), KRT75A161T and KRT75E337K, are prone to increased dental caries. Analysis of teeth from individuals carrying the KRT75A161T variant revealed an altered enamel structure and a marked reduction of enamel hardness, suggesting that a functional keratin network is required for the mechanical stability of tooth enamel. Taken together, our results identify a genetic locus that influences enamel structure and establish a connection between hair disorders and susceptibility to dental caries.
Olivier Duverger, Takahiro Ohara, John R. Shaffer, Danielle Donahue, Patricia Zerfas, Andrew Dullnig, Christopher Crecelius, Elia Beniash, Mary L. Marazita, Maria I. Morasso
Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is well recognized as an adverse event associated with implantable medical devices that contain allergenic materials like nickel; however, other cutaneous consequences of chronic exposure to allergens in implanted devices are not well understood. Here, we present a clinical case of Marjolin’s ulcer, an invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) that developed in response to chronic ACD caused by an orthopedic implant. We used a standard murine model of contact hypersensitivity to determine whether chronic ACD promotes skin carcinogenesis. Chronic application of 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNFB) to carcinogen-treated skin led to the development of papillomas and aggressive SCC. DNFB-driven chronic ACD was marked by type 2 inflammation, which mediated skin carcinogenesis, as mice unable to mount an inflammatory response were less likely to develop skin tumors. Importantly, we found similar tumor-promoting inflammation surrounding the SCC in our patient. Our findings demonstrate that chronic ACD caused by constant exposure to an allergen can promote tumorigenesis at skin sites with preexisting cancer-initiated cells. Moreover, our results suggest that patients with implantable devices placed in close proximity to the skin should be monitored for ACD and highlight the importance of patch testing prior to the placement of such devices.
Shadmehr Demehri, Trevor J. Cunningham, Eva A. Hurst, Andras Schaffer, David M. Sheinbein, Wayne M. Yokoyama
The intracellular scaffold protein IQGAP1 supports protein complexes in conjunction with numerous binding partners involved in multiple cellular processes. Here, we determined that IQGAP1 modulates airway smooth muscle contractility. Compared with WT controls, at baseline as well as after immune sensitization and challenge,
Mallar Bhattacharya, Aparna Sundaram, Makoto Kudo, Jessica Farmer, Previn Ganesan, Amin Khalifeh-Soltani, Mehrdad Arjomandi, Kamran Atabai, Xiaozhu Huang, Dean Sheppard
Patients with cerebral small-vessel disease (CSVD) exhibit perturbed end-artery function and have an increased risk for stroke and age-related cognitive decline. Here, we used targeted genome-wide association (GWA) analysis and defined a CSVD locus adjacent to the forkhead transcription factor
Curtis R. French, Sudha Seshadri, Anita L. Destefano, Myriam Fornage, Corey R. Arnold, Philip J. Gage, Jonathan M. Skarie, William B. Dobyns, Kathleen J. Millen, Ting Liu, William Dietz, Tsutomu Kume, Marten Hofker, Derek J. Emery, Sarah J. Childs, Andrew J. Waskiewicz, Ordan J. Lehmann
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are highly susceptible to ionizing radiation–mediated death via induction of ROS, DNA double-strand breaks, and apoptotic pathways. The development of therapeutics capable of mitigating ionizing radiation–induced hematopoietic toxicity could benefit both victims of acute radiation sickness and patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation. Unfortunately, therapies capable of accelerating hematopoietic reconstitution following lethal radiation exposure have remained elusive. Here, we found that systemic administration of pleiotrophin (PTN), a protein that is secreted by BM-derived endothelial cells, substantially increased the survival of mice following radiation exposure and after myeloablative BM transplantation. In both models, PTN increased survival by accelerating the recovery of BM hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in vivo. PTN treatment promoted HSC regeneration via activation of the RAS pathway in mice that expressed protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor-zeta (PTPRZ), whereas PTN treatment did not induce RAS signaling in PTPRZ-deficient mice, suggesting that PTN-mediated activation of RAS was dependent upon signaling through PTPRZ. PTN strongly inhibited HSC cycling following irradiation, whereas RAS inhibition abrogated PTN-mediated induction of HSC quiescence, blocked PTN-mediated recovery of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and abolished PTN-mediated survival of irradiated mice. These studies demonstrate the therapeutic potential of PTN to improve survival after myeloablation and suggest that PTN-mediated hematopoietic regeneration occurs in a RAS-dependent manner.
Heather A. Himburg, Xiao Yan, Phuong L. Doan, Mamle Quarmyne, Eva Micewicz, William McBride, Nelson J. Chao, Dennis J. Slamon, John P. Chute
Transport of oxygen by red blood cells (rbc) is critical for life and embryogenesis. Here, we determined that provision of the lipid mediator sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) to the systemic circulation is an essential function of rbc in embryogenesis. Mice with rbc-specific deletion of sphingosine kinases 1 and 2 (
Yuquan Xiong, Peiying Yang, Richard L. Proia, Timothy Hla
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness, afflicting more than 60 million people worldwide. Increased intraocular pressure (IOP) due to impaired aqueous humor drainage is a major risk factor for the development of glaucoma. Here, we demonstrated that genetic disruption of the angiopoietin/TIE2 (ANGPT/TIE2) signaling pathway results in high IOP, buphthalmos, and classic features of glaucoma, including retinal ganglion degeneration and vision loss. Eyes from mice with induced deletion of
Benjamin R. Thomson, Stefan Heinen, Marie Jeansson, Asish K. Ghosh, Anees Fatima, Hoon-Ki Sung, Tuncer Onay, Hui Chen, Shinji Yamaguchi, Aris N. Economides, Ann Flenniken, Nicholas W. Gale, Young-Kwon Hong, Amani Fawzi, Xiaorong Liu, Tsutomu Kume, Susan E. Quaggin
Recently, patient mutations that activate PI3K signaling have been linked to a primary antibody deficiency. Here, we used whole-exome sequencing and characterized the molecular defects in 4 patients from 3 unrelated families diagnosed with hypogammaglobulinemia and recurrent infections. We identified 2 different heterozygous splice site mutations that affect the same splice site in
Marie-Céline Deau, Lucie Heurtier, Pierre Frange, Felipe Suarez, Christine Bole-Feysot, Patrick Nitschke, Marina Cavazzana, Capucine Picard, Anne Durandy, Alain Fischer, Sven Kracker
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