Gamma-Secretase Dependent Gene Expression

The causes of sporadic Alzheimer's Disease (AD), the most common form of dementia at old age, are still unknown. Familial early onset AD (FAD) is mainly caused by mutations of Presenilins (PS), the active subunits of γ-secretase. Processing of its substrate proteins by γ-secretase generates shorter fragments. In the case of the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) these are Aβ species, of which the ratio of Aβ40, which is 40 amino acids (aa) long and Aβ42, 42 aa in length respectively, has been connected with their aggregation and AD plaque formation. Another cleavage product of many γ-secretase substrate proteins are intracellular domains (ICDs), which enter the nucleus and alter gene transcription. Be it via statins, the levels of cAMP, the generation of which is also catalyzed by cilia specific Adenylyl-cyclase III (ACIII) or Wnt pathways, cilia can be connected with various AD relevant proteins, pathways and functions, but their physiological and thus pathological cerebral roles are not understood. We hypothesized that γ-secretase activity alterations impact transcription levels of specific genes and potentially signaling and functional pathways as well as cilia genes in ways relevant to AD. We determined the transcriptional impact of enhanced γ-secretase activity in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with a cDNA microarray experiment. Gene ontology cluster analysis of the 1981 genes reported by our microarray gave insights into functional groups represented. Matching of known physical protein-protein interactions as reported by the string 8.0 database for 21 genes, which were confirmed to be transcriptionally altered with γ-secretase activity, registered various members of three different Wnt pathways. Consistent with an hypothesized role of cilia, the array also reported two dozen of cilia-related genes. The most decreased transcript levels were of Anti-mitotic exit network homolog 1 (AMN1), a gene of predicted expression in the cilia of sensory olfactory neurons and for which protein data was available in yeast only. Our immunohistochemistry results confirm Amn1 protein expression in mammalian cells, specifically in murine and human brains. We showed that Amn1 protein is localized in cortical neurons and in sharply outlined intracellular structures close to motile cilia and the opposing cell pole of monocilia. Aged APPPS1 transgenic mice, which over express human APP and PS1 with FAD mutations, did neither show differences in lateral ventricular cilia range, cilia density, the percentage of ciliated hippocampal neurons nor ACIII protein levels. Consistently with previous reports of increased cAMP levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of AD patients, we detected significantly increased levels of ACIII protein in human AD cortex samples (AD n=11, non demented n=12). These results support a new focus on the role of cilia-related proteins in AD. They also suggest some limitations of the APPPS1 transgenic animal model. In recent years the impact and role of cilia-related proteins in various neurodegenerative diseases was demonstrated. This PhD thesis provides evidence that AD should be included in the list of neurodegenerative diseases which are being investigated for the impact and role of cilia-related proteins in their pathologies.

Gene expression profiling in cells with enhanced gamma-secretase activity

Patrick Fraering, Alexandra Marie-Isabelle Karoline Brigitte Magold

BACKGROUND: Processing by gamma-secretase of many type-I membrane protein substrates triggers signaling cascades by releasing intracellular domains (ICDs) that, following nuclear translocation, modulate the transcription of different genes regulating a diverse array of cellular and biological processes. Because the list of gamma-secretase substrates is growing quickly and this enzyme is a cancer and Alzheimer's disease therapeutic target, the mapping of gamma-secretase activity susceptible gene transcription is important for sharpening our view of specific affected genes, molecular functions and biological pathways. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To identify genes and molecular functions transcriptionally affected by gamma-secretase activity, the cellular transcriptomes of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with enhanced and inhibited gamma-secretase activity were analyzed and compared by cDNA microarray. The functional clustering by FatiGO of the 1,981 identified genes revealed over- and under-represented groups with multiple activities and functions. Single genes with the most pronounced transcriptional susceptibility to gamma-secretase activity were evaluated by real-time PCR. Among the 21 validated genes, the strikingly decreased transcription of PTPRG and AMN1 and increased transcription of UPP1 potentially support data on cell cycle disturbances relevant to cancer, stem cell and neurodegenerative diseases' research. The mapping of interactions of proteins encoded by the validated genes exclusively relied on evidence-based data and revealed broad effects on Wnt pathway members, including WNT3A and DVL3. Intriguingly, the transcription of TERA, a gene of unknown function, is affected by gamma-secretase activity and was significantly altered in the analyzed human Alzheimer's disease brain cortices. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Investigating the effects of gamma-secretase activity on gene transcription has revealed several affected clusters of molecular functions and, more specifically, 21 genes that hold significant potential for a better understanding of the biology of gamma-secretase and its roles in cancer and Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Public Library of Science2009

Quantitative single cell dynamics of signaling and transcriptional response in mammalian cells

Onur Tidin

Cells live in ever-changing environments, thereby facing a variety of dynamic environmental signals. Environmental stimuli elicit intracellular responses through signaling pathways, which converge on transcriptional activation or repression of target genes. Despite intensive research, dissecting the complex interactions between pathway components that modulate mRNA and protein production still remains a difficult task. To this end, single-cell approaches provide unique insights into intracellular processes and cell responses to environmental stimuli, otherwise inaccessible with traditional bulk studies. Single-cell measurements have revealed that isogenic cells sharing the same environment display substantial heterogeneity in both transcript and protein level. As the initial step in gene expression, transcription is an important source of such variability in eukaryotic cells due to low number of molecules involved, transcription factor dynamics and the discrete nature of biochemical reactions. Notably, production of mRNA during transcription occurs in short periods of activity, termed as transcriptional bursts, followed by longer periods of inactivity. Despite widespread observations of transcriptional dynamics in mammals, upstream molecular mechanisms shaping the eukaryotic transcription remained elusive. In this study, we quantitatively linked upstream factors and transcriptional kinetics by developing an experimental system to temporally monitor, simultaneously, inputs (transcription factors) and outputs (target gene expression) in mammalian cells, in response to stimulus. We established two Tet-On inducible stable cell lines each expressing a fusion protein of a luminescence (Nanoluciferase) reporter to either SMAD4 or SMAD2, the two main transcrip- tion factors downstream of the TGF-Î² pathway. These cell lines that also contain a short-lived firefly luciferase reporter for the expression of the target endogenous connective tissue growth factor (ctgf ) gene allowed us to quantitatively link nuclear accumulation of SMADs upon TGF-Î² stimulation to the target gene expression in real-time single cell measurements. Time- lapse luminescence microscopy and image analysis with the custom developed CAST (Cell Automated Segmentation and Tracking platform) platform provided quantitative single-cell data to link the upstream transcription factor profile to its target gene activity. The data revealed weak single-cell correlations between translocation level and the target gene expression response which suggests a mechanism in which the translocation of SMADs initiates the transcriptional response but affects the response amplitude minimally. However, SMAD4 expression levels influenced the target gene response dynamics such that cells with high SMAD4 abundance favored to respond in a more sustained and even oscillatory manner. This suggests a mechanism consisting of a dynamic interplay between the transcriptional activators and feedback mechanisms in TGF-Î² signaling. We explored further the effect of different factors such as ligand concentration, ligand type on both signaling and target gene response. Taken together, this study proposes an experimental and quantitative framework that dissect mechanisms underlying transcriptional response to stimulus.

EPFL2018

Assessing the role of Hes1 and identification of target genes in human and murine T-ALL

Silvia Wirth

The Notch signalling pathway is an ancient cell signalling mechanism that enables short-range communications between cells and controls a broad spectrum of cell fates and developmental processes. In the haematopoietic system Notch signalling has been linked to physiological, but also to pathological phenotypes of T cell development. Identification of numerous activating mutations within the NOTCH1 receptor in human T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) patient samples demonstrated that aberrant activation of this signalling pathway is a frequent event in T-ALL. Active Notch signalling leads to the expression of a plethora of genes that might be drivers or passengers in tumorigenesis including Hes1, which encodes a transcriptional repressor. We have therefore studied Hes1 in the context of T-ALL in mouse models that mimic human disease and in human T-ALL cell lines with the aim to evaluate whether Hes1 affects disease development and disease maintenance and to characterize its function on a molecular level. The first part of this study is dedicated to the functional characterisation of Hes1 in vivo in T-ALL mouse models and in vitro in human T-ALL cell lines. Using a retroviral bone marrow transplant model of T-ALL in which progenitor cells are transduced with a retrovirus expressing constitutive active Notch1 intracellular domain (NICD) we could show that Hes1 is not required in established, late stage T-ALL cells, but that it promotes tumour progression in the early stages of the disease. We have also investigated the function of HES1 in human T-ALL and can show that the overexpression of dominant negative versions of Hes1 in two patient derived cell lines (T-ALL1, CUTLL-1) does not affect proliferation or apoptosis, emphasising that HES1 does not affect cell viability once cells are fully transformed to the leukemic state. In the second part of the study we set out to systematically delineate the gene regulatory networks down-stream of Hes1 by combining RNA-seq and ChIP-seq analysis. Comparing the gene expression of murine premalignant, early stage NICD induced CD4+CD8+ DP cells in the presence and absence of Hes1 by RNA-seq, we unexpectedly found a predominant upregulation of genes in cells expressing Hes1 indicating that Hes1 might rather act as a positive regulator of transcription than as a transcriptional repressor of distinct target genes. Hes1 might influence transcription through secondary or indirect effects as combinatorial analysis of RNA-seq and ChIP-seq led to the identification of only a small number of potential direct target genes that are transcriptionally regulated by Hes1. In summary, the role of Hes1 in promoting the early stages of the disease appears to be highly complex and is likely to involve both direct and indirect control of gene regulatory networks.

EPFL2014