Since the discovery of adult neural stem cells, their exact identity is still under discussion. Moreover, the lack of a reproducible procedure to purify neural stem cells prospectively rather than by growing them in vitro has so far precluded their study at the transcriptome level. Here we demonstrate a novel procedure to prospectively isolate neural stem cells from the adult mouse subependymal zone on the basis of their GFAP- and prominin1-expression by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. All self-renewing, multipotent stem cells are contained in this fraction at 70% purity. The stem cell identity of these double-positive cells is further demonstrated in vivo, by using a novel split-Cre-technology for fate mapping.
In vivo fate mapping and expression analysis reveals molecular hallmarks of prospectively isolated adult neural stem cells.
Specimen part
View SamplesWNT1/beta-catenin signaling plays a crucial role in the generation of mesodiencephalic dopaminergic (mdDA) neurons including the Substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) subpopulation, whose degeneration is a hallmark of Parkinsons Disease (PD). However, the precise functions of WNT/beta-catenin signaling in this context remain unknown. Using mutant mice, primary ventral midbrain (VM) cells and pluripotent stem cells (mouse embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells), we show that Dickkopf 3 (DKK3), a secreted glycoprotein that modulates WNT/beta-catenin signaling, is specifically required for the correct differentiation of a rostrolateral mdDA precursor subset into SNc DA neurons.
Dickkopf 3 Promotes the Differentiation of a Rostrolateral Midbrain Dopaminergic Neuronal Subset In Vivo and from Pluripotent Stem Cells In Vitro in the Mouse.
Specimen part
View SamplesThe experiment aims to identify transcriptional effects differences between periimplantitis, Parodontitis and healthy gingival tissue
Peri-implantitis versus periodontitis: functional differences indicated by transcriptome profiling.
Specimen part
View SamplesHere we show that oral creatine (Cr) supplementation leads to increased life span in mice. Treated mice showed improved neurobehavioral performance, decreased accumulation of the aging pigment lipofuscin and upregulation of anti-aging genes in brain. As Cr is virtually free of adverse effects, it may be a promising food supplement for healthy aging in man.
Creatine improves health and survival of mice.
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View SamplesThe choroid plexuses (ChPs) are the main regulators of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) composition and thereby also control the composition of a principal source of signaling molecules that is in direct contact with neural stem cells in the developing brain. The regulators of ChP development mediating the acquisition of a fate that differs from the neighboring neuroepithelial cells are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate in mice a crucial role for the transcription factor Otx2 in the development and maintenance of ChP cells. Deletion of Otx2 by the Otx2-CreERT2 driver line at E9 resulted in a lack of all ChPs, whereas deletion by the Gdf7-Cre driver line affected predominately the hindbrain ChP, which was reduced in size, primarily owing to an increase in apoptosis upon Otx2 deletion. Strikingly, Otx2 was still required for the maintenance of hindbrain ChP cells at later stages when Otx2 deletion was induced at E15, demonstrating a central role of Otx2 in ChP development and maintenance. Moreover, the predominant defects in the hindbrain ChP mediated by Gdf7-Cre deletion of Otx2 revealed its key role in regulating early CSF composition, which was altered in protein content, including the levels of Wnt4 and the Wnt modulator Tgm2. Accordingly, proliferation and Wnt signaling levels were increased in the distant cerebral cortex, suggesting a role of the hindbrain ChP in regulating CSF composition, including key signaling molecules. Thus, Otx2 acts as a master regulator of ChP development, thereby influencing one of the principal sources of signaling in the developing brain, the CSF.
The transcription factor Otx2 regulates choroid plexus development and function.
Sex
View SamplesPurpose: We purified whole brain microglia of MFP2 knockout mice and control mice utilizing percoll gradient and FACS sorting, followed by microarray analysis to define the molecular changes in MFP2 knockout mice at the endstage of the disease. We compared the microglia transcriptome of Mfp2-/- microglia to that of SOD1-G93A microglia isolated from spinal cord to define the microglia signature associated with a non-neurodegenerative environment. Results and conclusions: Mfp2-/- microglia acquire an activation state characterized by activation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). In addition, activated microglia display reduced expression of genes that are normally highly expressed by surveillant microglia in steady-state conditions. The immunological profile of is heterogeneous and encompasses upregulation of both pro- and anti-inflammatory genes. In contrast to the neurodegeneration-specific microglia profile in SOD1-G93A mice, Mfp2-/- microglia do not induce genes associated with phagocytosis, lysosomal activation and neurotoxicity.
Identification of a chronic non-neurodegenerative microglia activation state in a mouse model of peroxisomal β-oxidation deficiency.
Sex, Age, Specimen part
View SamplesMissense mutations in coding region of PDX1 predispose to type-2 diabetes mellitus as well as cause MODY through largely unexplored mechanisms. Here, we screened a large cohort of subjects with increased risk for diabetes and identified two subjects with impaired glucose tolerance carrying heterozygous missense mutations in the PDX1 coding region leading to single amino acid exchanges (P33T, C18R) in its transactivation domain. We generated iPSCs from patients with heterozygous PDX1P33T/+, PDX1C18R/+ mutations and engineered isogenic cell lines carrying homozygous PDX1P33T/P33T, PDX1C18R/C18R mutations and a heterozygous PDX1 loss-of-function mutation (PDX1+/-). Using an in vitro ß-cell differentiation protocol, we demonstrated that both PDX1P33T/+, PDX1C18R/+ and PDX1P33T/P33T, PDX1C18R/C18R mutations impair ß-cell differentiation and function. Furthermore, PDX1+/- and PDX1P33T/P33T mutations reduced differentiation efficiency of pancreatic progenitors (PPs), due to downregulation of PDX1-bound genes, including transcription factors MNX1 and PDX1 as well as insulin resistance gene CES1. Additionally, both PDX1P33T/+ and PDX1P33T/P33T mutations in PPs reduced the expression of PDX1-bound genes including the long-noncoding RNA, MEG3 and the imprinted gene NEURONATIN, both involved in insulin synthesis and secretion. Our results reveal mechanistic details of how diabetes-associated PDX1 point mutations impair human pancreatic endocrine lineage formation and ß-cell function and contribute to pre-disposition for diabetes. Overall design: We performed RNA-seq of control and isogenic PDX1 mutant cell lines at PP stage
Point mutations in the PDX1 transactivation domain impair human β-cell development and function.
Subject
View SamplesWe report here mRNA-seq data of adult male Drosophila head tissues. We compare two different ages: young and midlife as well as chm/chameau (CG5229) heterozygous mutants. Overall design: Comparison of ageing effect (young vs. midlife) in wild-type and mutant.
Life span extension by targeting a link between metabolism and histone acetylation in Drosophila.
Sex, Subject
View SamplesObjective: Physical exercise and vitamin E are considered effective treatments of nonalcoholic fatty liver and other metabolic diseases. However, vitamin E has also been shown to interfere with the adaptation to exercise training, in particular for the skeletal muscle. Here, we studied the hypothesis that vitamin E also interferes with the metabolic adaptation of the liver to acute exercise.
A Vitamin E-Enriched Antioxidant Diet Interferes with the Acute Adaptation of the Liver to Physical Exercise in Mice.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesAg recognition via the TCR is necessary for the expansion of specific T cells that then contribute to adaptive immunity as effector and memory cells. Because CD4+ and CD8+ T cells differ in terms of their priming APCs and MHC ligands we compared their requirements of Ag persistence during their expansion phase side by side. Proliferation and effector differentiation of TCR transgenic and polyclonal mouse T cells were thus analyzed after transient and continuous TCR signals. Following equally strong stimulation, CD4+ T cell proliferation depended on prolonged Ag presence, whereas CD8+ T cells were able to divide and differentiate into effector cells despite discontinued Ag presentation. CD4+ T cell proliferation was neither affected by Th lineage or memory differentiation nor blocked by coinhibitory signals or missing inflammatory stimuli. Continued CD8+ T cell proliferation was truly independent of self-peptide/MHC-derived signals. The subset divergence was also illustrated by surprisingly broad transcriptional differences supporting a stronger propensity of CD8+ T cells to programmed expansion. These T cell data indicate an intrinsic difference between CD4+ and CD8+ T cells regarding the processing of TCR signals for proliferation. We also found that the presentation of a MHC class IIrestricted peptide is more efficiently prolonged by dendritic cell activation in vivo than a class I bound one. In summary, our data demonstrate that CD4+ T cells require continuous stimulation for clonal expansion, whereas CD8+ T cells can divide following a much shorter TCR signal.
Differential kinetics of antigen dependency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.
Specimen part, Treatment
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