Niu et al report a diabetes-induced ISG15+ Müller glial subtype, triggered by microglial immune signaling, that weakens antioxidant defenses and contributes to early retinal vascular damage in murine diabetic retinopathy. The cover image shows murine retinal vasculature isolated using trypsin digestion followed by PAS staining, with acellular capillaries visible.
Filamin C (FLNC) is an essential cytoskeletal protein required for cardiomyocyte structural integrity and mechanotransduction. Truncating FLNC variants cause haploinsufficiency associated with dilated and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies, yet no therapies currently address the underlying defect of FLNC deficiency. Gene replacement is challenging because the approximately 8.2-kb FLNC coding sequence exceeds the packaging capacity of conventional adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors. Here, we engineered a triple-AAV strategy optimized for full-length FLNC reconstitution in the heart. Screening in HEK293 cells identified GP41-1 and IMPDH as a compatible orthogonal pair for efficient full-length FLNC reconstitution. In tamoxifen-inducible, cardiomyocyte-specific Flnc knockout mice, systemic delivery of optimized MyoAAV2A vectors restored full-length FLNC expression and re-established sarcomeric localization following cardiomyocyte FLNC depletion. A total vector dose of 1 × 10¹³ genome copies/kg restored FLNC to approximately endogenous abundance, preserved systolic function and ventricular dimensions, limited cardiac enlargement, attenuated fibrotic remodeling and prevented premature death. FLNC replacement also attenuated pathological transcriptional remodeling and compensatory changes in cytoskeletal and junction-associated proteins. These findings demonstrate that systemic split-intein-mediated reconstitution of full-length FLNC can preserve cardiac structure and function in vivo, providing preclinical support for a mutation-independent therapeutic strategy for FLNC-associated cardiomyopathy.
Zhen Jiang, Wei Feng, Zeyu Chen, Julius Bogomolovas, MengChen Li, Mao Ye, Yusu Gu, Xiaohai Zhou, Ju Chen
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Blake D. Jardin, Feiyan Liu, Li Li, Cheryl L. Smith, Jonathan A. Epstein
Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Breathing instability and exaggerated chemoreflex activation contribute to adverse HF outcomes, yet the central mechanisms linking respiratory control to cardiac dysfunction remain poorly defined. The retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) is a key brainstem chemosensory region regulating ventilatory and autonomic output, but whether glial dysfunction within this circuit contributes to HF pathophysiology is unknown. We hypothesized that loss of astrocytic glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) in the RTN disrupts glutamate homeostasis, producing chemoreflex hyperactivity and cardiorespiratory dysfunction in HF. In a rat model of nonischemic HF, reduced astrocytic GLT-1 expression in the RTN was accompanied by extracellular glutamate accumulation and heightened excitability of chemosensitive neurons. These changes were associated with exaggerated central chemoreflex responses, breathing instability, autonomic imbalance, and impaired cardiac function. Astrocyte-specific GLT-1 restoration normalized RTN glutamate levels, reduced central chemoreceptor neuron hyperexcitability, stabilized breathing, and improved cardiac performance. Systemic riluzole, an FDA-approved glutamate-modulating drug, similarly reduced RTN glutamate accumulation and attenuated chemoreflex-driven respiratory instability. These findings identify loss of astrocytic GLT-1-mediated glutamate homeostasis in the RTN as a mechanism contributing to cardiorespiratory dysfunction in HF and support pharmacological targeting of brainstem glutamate homeostasis as a therapeutic strategy requiring further investigation.
Esteban Diaz-Jara, Sinay C. Vicencio, Katherin V. Pereyra, Karla G. Schwarz, Fernando C. Ortiz, Camilo Toledo, Ignacio Bernal-Santander, Sandeep Kaur, Bisan El Dakkak, Rodrigo Del Rio
The use of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to enhance delivery and immunogenicity of mRNA vaccines raises safety concerns due to strong reactogenicity. Developing naked mRNA vaccines, which can be delivered through liquid jet-injection to the skin, may offer a safer alternative, but their immunogenicity has been limited. To address this challenge, we screened clinically relevant adjuvants to enhance the efficacy of N1-methyl-pseudouridine-modified naked mRNA jet-injection vaccines in mouse models. Although many adjuvants showed little or inhibitory effects on inducing humoral or cellular immunity—despite their known ability to potentiate conventional non-mRNA vaccine platforms—we identified a combination of aluminum phosphate and CpG oligonucleotide that substantially enhanced both humoral and cellular immune responses with increased IgG2a/IgG1 ratio. This adjuvanted naked mRNA vaccine induced IgG2a and cellular immunity at levels comparable to those achieved with LNPs but with lower local and systemic reactogenicity. Mechanistic investigations revealed key roles for type I interferon and interleukin-6 signaling during immunization. Notably, this vaccine formulation in mice virtually eliminated infection by both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus (A/California/7/2009 H1N1) in plaque-forming assays. Collectively, the adjuvanted naked mRNA jet-injection vaccine represents an effective, and safe platform against infectious diseases, with potential for clinic-ready translational applications.
Nan Qiao, Junichi Ishikawa, Fumihiko Yasui, Kaori Sano, Kei Miyakawa, Akimasa Hayashi, Ahmad Faisal Amiry, Haonan Liu, Xueyang Zhu, Naoko Takeda-Miyata, Motohiro Kojima, Taku Sato, Renata Pasqualini, Wadih Arap, Kazunori Kataoka, Hideki Hasegawa, Michinori Kohara, Satoshi Uchida
Primary central nervous system (CNS) vasculitis is a rare and devastating inflammatory cerebrovascular disease for which pathogenic mechanisms remain poorly defined, largely due to limited access to human tissue and the absence of validated experimental models. Here, we present a mouse model of CNS-restricted vasculitis based on inducible, endothelial-biased neoantigen expression, termed brain endothelial ovalbumin (BrEndO). In BrEndO mice, tamoxifen-induced ovalbumin (OVA) expression in cerebral endothelial cells (ECs) elicited a controlled endogenous CD8+ T cell response at the blood–brain barrier that remained clinically restrained. In contrast, peripheral immune activation through infection with OVA-expressing Listeria monocytogenes or systemic PD-L1 immune checkpoint blockade converted this regulated response into severe, CD8+ T cell–driven CNS vasculitis with vascular injury and parenchymal infiltration. Transcriptomic profiling of inflamed cerebral microvessels and spatial transcriptomic analyses demonstrated shared inflammatory and immune activation signatures between BrEndO mice and human primary CNS vasculitis brain biopsies. These findings identify antigen-specific endothelial immune recognition as a regulated process whose breakdown precipitates CNS-restricted vasculitis and establish BrEndO as an experimentally tractable platform to investigate mechanisms and modifiers of immune-mediated cerebrovascular inflammation.
Ines Sophie Schädlich, Du Huy Nguyen, Manja Wibke Thiem, Andreas Franzelin, Marcel Seungsu Woo, Alexandros Hadjilaou, Malte Borggrewe, Jiani Jiang, Mamta Panda, Enrico Maria Costanzo, Tina Fischer, Marco Er-Lukowiak, Yinghui Duan, Anne Rissiek, Alexander Winston Veltkamp, Friederike Raczkowski, Peter Ludewig, Markus Schwaninger, Dagmar Wirth, Gisa Tiegs, Thomas G. Oertner, Danny Schreier, Maike Frye, Amirrtavarshni Sivayoganathan, Christian F. Krebs, Sonja Johann, Barbara M. Braunger, Thomas Renné, Berta Puig, Anna Wiesner, Markus Glatzel, Hans-Willi Mittrücker, Björn Rissiek, Tim Magnus
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, with more than 2 million women diagnosed each year. This series of reviews, curated by Dr. Rinath Jeselsohn, highlights recent breakthroughs in therapeutic development that are changing the outlook for breast cancer patients, including improvements in immunotherapy, antibody-drug conjugates, endocrine therapies, and kinase inhibitors.
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