Altered GPM6A/M6 Dosage Impairs Cognition and Causes Phenotypes Responsive to Cholesterol in Human and Drosophila

Glycoprotein M6A (GPM6A) is a neuronal transmembrane protein of the PLP/DM20 (proteolipid protein) family that associates with cholesterol‐rich lipid rafts and promotes filopodia formation. We identified a de novo duplication of the GPM6A gene in a patient with learning disability and behavioral anomalies. Expression analysis in blood lymphocytes showed increased GPM6A levels. An increase of patient‐derived lymphoblastoid cells carrying membrane protrusions supports a functional effect of this duplication. To study the consequences of GPM6A dosage alterations in an intact nervous system, we employed Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. We found that knockdown of Drosophila M6, the sole member of the PLP family in flies, in the wing, and whole organism causes malformation and lethality, respectively. These phenotypes as well as the protrusions of patient‐derived lymphoblastoid cells with increased GPM6A levels can be alleviated by cholesterol supplementation. Notably, overexpression as well as loss of M6 in neurons specifically compromises long‐term memory in the courtship conditioning paradigm. Our findings thus indicate a critical role of correct GPM6A/M6 levels for cognitive function and support a role of the GPM6A duplication for the patient's phenotype. Together with other recent findings, this study highlights compromised cholesterol homeostasis as a recurrent feature in cognitive phenotypes.     

急性淋巴细胞白血病最新治疗策略(下)

4分子治疗分析肿瘤细胞中的分子遗传性变异及后天变异的方法正在快速成熟起来。这些方法通常涉及基因组学、转录特征性识别及蛋白质组学,有利于更深入地了解ALL的发病机理,使用于临床评估的靶向治疗全面发展。最终,这些层出不穷的新技术将营造出一个全新的个性化分子医学时代,创造出效果更好而毒性更低的治疗方案。尽管治疗方案均显示了药物介入控制细胞周期进程、基因转录、细胞运动、凋亡及细胞代谢信号通路的可行性(图1),但针对ALL的分子治疗情况(表1)仍差强人意。我们将从众多正处于临床前期或早期临床研究的分子治疗方案中,选择出那…     

Delivery of a hammerhead ribozyme specifically down-regulates the production of fibrillin-1 by cultured dermal fibroblasts

The hammerhead ribozyme is a small catalytic RNA molecule. Potential hammerhead ribozymes that possess a catalytic domain and flanking sequence complementary to a target mRNA can cleave in trans at a putative cleavage site within the target molecule. We have investigated the potential of hammerhead ribozymes to down-regulate the product of the fibrillin-1 gene (FBN1). Fibrillin is a 347 kDa glycoprotein that is a major constituent of the elastin-associated microfibrils. Mutations in the FBN1 gene are responsible for Marfan syndrome (MFS), a common systemic disorder of the connective tissue. Many FBN1 mutations responsible for MFS appear to act in a dominant-negative fashion, raising the possibility that reduction of the amount of product from the mutant FBN1 allele might be a valid therapeutic approach for MFS. A trans-acting hammerhead ribozyme (FBN1-RZ1) targeted to the 5' end of the human FBN1 mRNA has been designed and synthesized, and shown to cleave its target efficiently in vitro. FBN1-RZ1 cleavage is magnesium dependent and efficient at both 37 and 50 degrees C. Delivery of the FBN1-RZ1 ribozyme into cultured dermal fibroblasts, by receptor- mediated endocytosis of a ribozyme-transferrin-polylysine complex, specifically reduces both cellular FBN1 mRNA and the deposition of fibrillin in the extracellular matrix. These results suggest that the use of hammerhead ribozymes is a valid approach to the study of fibrillin gene expression and possibly to the development of a therapeutic approach to MFS.      

PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CO-EXPRESSION OF p53 AND c-erbB-2 PROTEINS IN BREAST CANCER

The immunohistochemical expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 gene proteins was examined in a series of 130 breast adenocarcinomas. This study intended to investigate whether the frequency of the altered expression of the tumour suppressor gene p53 and the overexpression of the oncogene c-erbB-2 in breast cancer tissue cells correlated with other variables known to affect the biological behaviour of these tumours and the overall survival of the patients (median follow-up time: 6 years). The expression of p53 protein and c-erbB-2 gene product was evaluated immunohistochemically. Expression of p53 protein was detected in 30 (23 per cent) of the neoplasms examined, while 26 (20 per cent) out of the 130 cases demonstrated positive c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity. There was a statistically significant association between p53 protein expression and primary tumour size, lymph node involvement, and oestrogen receptor positivity. The incidence of c-erbB-2 positivity was significantly correlated with high tumour grade, axillary node invasion, large tumour size, and the absence of steroid receptors. p53 immuno-expression was clearly associated with c-erbB-2 protein overexpression. Concomitant p53 and c-erbB-2 positive immunolabelling, which emerged in 14 out of the 130 cases (10·7 per cent), was clearly associated with high grade, large size, positive nodal status, ductal infiltrating (NOS) histological type, and low values of progesterone receptors. Overall survival of patients was not significantly related to the immunoreactivity of either p53 or c-erbB-2 considered separately, whereas there was a clearly significant trend to worse overall prognosis in cancers with double p53/c-erbB-2 positive phenotype. The simultaneous immunodetection of p53/c-erbB-2 appears to have greater negative prognostic relevance than their separate expression.     

Nerve growth factor receptor (p75 NTR) and pattern of invasion predict poor prognosis in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Aims:  To evaluate the expression of p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75^NTR) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The results were related to tumour node metastasis (TNM) stage, World Health Organization (WHO) grade, invasive front grading (IFG) and prognosis.
Methods and results:  Immunohistochemically, the expression of p75^NTR was assessed in 53 T1-T2 OSCCs. Clinical data were recorded prospectively. The end-point was disease-free survival. All tumours expressed p75^NTR, and this expression, both in central/superficial tumour areas and at the invasive front, was associated with poor prognosis ( P  = 0.03 and P  = 0.02) (log rank test). Tumours with marked cellular dissociation (IFG parameter) had more recurrences than tumours with collective tumour cell invasion ( P  = 0.03). In tumours showing both p75^NTR at the invasive front and marked tumour cell dissociation, the average risk of recurrence was increased about 17 times (Cox regression analysis) compared with tumours with low p75^NTR expression and collective invasion. Traditional prognostic systems were of no prognostic significance.
Conclusion:  p75^NTR was expressed in all OSCCs. p75^NTR expression and the pattern of invasion were significantly associated with a poor prognosis in OSCCs, and both were better prognostic factors than traditional prognostic parameters. The combination of p75^NTR expression and the pattern of invasion strongly increased precision in the identification of tumours with poor disease-free survival.