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Recent studies indicate that neurodegenerative processes that appear during childhood and adolescence in individuals with Wolfram syndrome (WS) occur in addition to early brain development alteration, which is clinically silent. Underlying pathological mechanisms are still unknown. We have used induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural cells from individuals affected by WS in order to reveal their phenotypic and molecular correlates. We have observed that a subpopulation of Wolfram neurons displayed aberrant neurite outgrowth associated with altered expression of axon guidance genes. Selective inhibition of the ATF6α arm of the unfolded protein response prevented the altered phenotype, although acute endoplasmic reticulum stress response-which is activated in late Wolfram degenerative processes-was not detected. Among the drugs currently tried in individuals with WS, valproic acid was the one that prevented the pathological phenotypes. These results suggest that early defects in axon guidance may contribute to the loss of neurons in individuals with WS., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2021 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are produced by Clostridium botulinum and are responsible for botulism, a fatal disorder of the nervous system mostly induced by food poisoning. Despite being one of the most potent families of poisonous substances, BoNTs are used for both aesthetic and therapeutic indications from cosmetic reduction of wrinkles to treatment of movement disorders. The increasing understanding of the biology of BoNTs and the availability of distinct toxin serotypes and subtypes offer the prospect of expanding the range of indications for these toxins. Engineering of BoNTs is considered to provide a new avenue for improving safety and clinical benefit from these neurotoxins. Robust, high-throughput, and cost-effective assays for BoNTs activity, yet highly relevant to the human physiology, have become indispensable for a successful translation of engineered BoNTs to the clinic. This review presents an emerging family of cell-based assays that take advantage of newly developed human pluripotent stem cells and neuronal function analyses technologies.

Translation of pharmacological results from in vitro cell testing to clinical trials is challenging. One of the causes that may underlie these discrepant results is the lack of the phenotypic or species-specific relevance of the tested cells; today, this lack of relevance may be reduced by relying on cells differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells. To analyse the benefits provided by this approach, we chose to focus on Friedreich ataxia, a neurodegenerative condition for which the recent clinical testing of two compounds was not successful. These compounds, namely, resveratrol and nicotinamide, were selected because they had been shown to stimulate the expression of frataxin in fibroblasts and lymphoblastoid cells. Our results indicated that these compounds failed to do so in iPSC-derived neurons generated from two patients with Friedreich ataxia. By comparing the effects of both molecules on different cell types that may be considered to be non-relevant for the disease, such as fibroblasts, or more relevant to the disease, such as neurons differentiated from iPSCs, a differential response was observed; this response suggests the importance of developing more predictive in vitro systems for drug discovery. Our results demonstrate the value of utilizing human iPSCs early in drug discovery to improve translational predictability.

Specification of cell identity during development depends on exposure of cells to sequences of extrinsic cues delivered at precise times and concentrations. Identification of combinations of patterning molecules that control cell fate is essential for the effective use of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) for basic and translational studies. Here we describe a scalable, automated approach to systematically test the combinatorial actions of small molecules for the targeted differentiation of hPSCs. Applied to the generation of neuronal subtypes, this analysis revealed an unappreciated role for canonical Wnt signaling in specifying motor neuron diversity from hPSCs and allowed us to define rapid (14 days), efficient procedures to generate spinal and cranial motor neurons as well as spinal interneurons and sensory neurons. Our systematic approach to improving hPSC-targeted differentiation should facilitate disease modeling studies and drug screening assays.

Decreased expression of neuronal genes such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is associated with several neurological disorders. One molecular mechanism associated with Huntington disease (HD) is a discrete increase in the nuclear activity of the transcriptional repressor REST/NRSF binding to repressor element-1 (RE1) sequences. High-throughput screening of a library of 6,984 compounds with luciferase-assay measuring REST activity in neural derivatives of human embryonic stem cells led to identify two benzoimidazole-5-carboxamide derivatives that inhibited REST silencing in a RE1-dependent manner. The most potent compound, X5050, targeted REST degradation, but neither REST expression, RNA splicing nor binding to RE1 sequence. Differential transcriptomic analysis revealed the upregulation of neuronal genes targeted by REST in wild-type neural cells treated with X5050. This activity was confirmed in neural cells produced from human induced pluripotent stem cells derived from a HD patient. Acute intraventricular delivery of X5050 increased the expressions of BDNF and several other REST-regulated genes in the prefrontal cortex of mice with quinolinate-induced striatal lesions. This study demonstrates that the use of pluripotent stem cell derivatives can represent a crucial step toward the identification of pharmacological compounds with therapeutic potential in neurological affections involving decreased expression of neuronal genes associated to increased REST activity, such as Huntington disease., (© AlphaMed Press.)

One puzzling observation in patients affected with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), who overall exhibit systemic and dramatic premature aging, is the absence of any conspicuous cognitive impairment. Recent studies based on induced pluripotent stem cells derived from HGPS patient cells have revealed a lack of expression in neural derivatives of lamin A, a major isoform of LMNA that is initially produced as a precursor called prelamin A. In HGPS, defective maturation of a mutated prelamin A induces the accumulation of toxic progerin in patient cells. Here, we show that a microRNA, miR-9, negatively controls lamin A and progerin expression in neural cells. This may bear major functional correlates, as alleviation of nuclear blebbing is observed in nonneural cells after miR-9 overexpression. Our results support the hypothesis, recently proposed from analyses in mice, that protection of neural cells from progerin accumulation in HGPS is due to the physiologically restricted expression of miR-9 to that cell lineage., (Copyright © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD) is the selective loss of dopamine neurons in the ventral midbrain. Although the cause of neurodegeneration in PD is unknown, a Mendelian inheritance pattern is observed in rare cases, indicating a genetic factor. Furthermore, pathological analyses of PD substantia nigra have correlated cellular oxidative stress and altered proteasomal function with PD. Homozygous mutations in DJ-1 were recently described in two families with autosomal recessive Parkinsonism, one of which is a large deletion that is likely to lead to loss of function. Here we show that embryonic stem cells deficient in DJ-1 display increased sensitivity to oxidative stress and proteasomal inhibition. The accumulation of reactive oxygen species in toxin-treated DJ-1-deficient cells initially appears normal, but these cells are unable to cope with the consequent damage that ultimately leads to apoptotic death. Furthermore, we find that dopamine neurons derived from in vitro-differentiated DJ-1-deficient embryonic stem cells display decreased survival and increased sensitivity to oxidative stress. These data are consistent with a protective role for DJ-1, and demonstrate the utility of genetically modified embryonic stem cell-derived neurons as cellular models of neuronal disorders., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no conflicts of interest exist.

Mutations in parkin, which encodes a RING domain protein associated with ubiquitin ligase activity, lead to autosomal recessive Parkinson's disease characterized by midbrain dopamine neuron loss. Here we show that parkin functions in a multiprotein ubiquitin ligase complex that includes the F-box/WD repeat protein hSel-10 and Cullin-1. HSel-10 serves to target the parkin ubiquitin ligase activity to cyclin E, an hSel-10-interacting protein previously implicated in the regulation of neuronal apoptosis. Consistent with the notion that cyclin E is a substrate of the parkin ubiquitin ligase complex, parkin deficiency potentiates the accumulation of cyclin E in cultured postmitotic neurons exposed to the glutamatergic excitotoxin kainate and promotes their apoptosis. Furthermore, parkin overexpression attenuates the accumulation of cyclin E in toxin-treated primary neurons, including midbrain dopamine neurons, and protects them from apoptosis.

The strains of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus, a picornavirus, are divided into two groups according to their neurovirulence after intracerebral inoculation. The highly virulent GDVII strain causes an acute, fatal encephalomyelitis, whereas the DA strain causes a mild encephalomyelitis followed by a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease associated with viral persistence. Studies with recombinant viruses showed that the capsid plays the major role in determining these phenotypes. However, the molecular basis for the effect of the capsid on neurovirulence is still unknown. In this paper, we describe a large difference in the patterns of infection of primary neuron cultures by the GDVII and DA strains. Close to 90% of the neurons were infected 12 h after inoculation with the GDVII strain, and the cytopathic effect was complete 24 h postinoculation. In contrast, with the DA strain, viral antigens were not detected in neurons until 24 h postinoculation. Infected neurons accounted for only 2% of the total number of neurons, even 6 days after inoculation. No cytopathic effect was visible, and the cultures could be kept for the same length of time as the noninfected controls. Because the neurovirulence of the GDVII strain has been mapped to the capsid, we examined the role of the capsid in this difference of phenotype. We showed, using recombinant viruses, that the capsid was indeed responsible for the pattern of infection observed in vitro, most likely through its role in viral entry. Thus, the levels of neurovirulence of the GDVII and DA strains correlate with their abilities to infect cultured neurons, and this ability is controlled by the capsid.