bims-pideca 2019-12-29 papers

bims-pideca

Biomed News

on Class IA PI3K signalling in development and cancer

Issue of 2019‒12‒29
thirteen papers selected by
Ralitsa Radostinova Madsen
University College London Cancer Institute

Inhibition of Growth of TSC2-Null Cells by a PI3K/mTOR Inhibitor but Not by a Selective MNK1/2 Inhibitor.
Phase 2 study of LY3023414 in patients with advanced endometrial cancer harboring activating mutations in the PI3K pathway.
Revisiting the tumorigenesis timeline with a data-driven generative model.
Podocytes maintain high basal levels of autophagy independent of mtor signaling.
Maximum Entropy Framework for Predictive Inference of Cell Population Heterogeneity and Responses in Signaling Networks.
Targeting of the Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4A Against Breast Cancer Stemness.
The Novel Adipokine Gremlin 1 Antagonizes Insulin Action and is Increased in Type 2 Diabetes and NAFLD/NASH.
SGLT2 inhibition slows tumor growth in mice by reversing hyperinsulinemia.
A Novel Model of Diabetic Complications: Adipocyte Mitochondrial Dysfunction Triggers Massive β-Cell Hyperplasia.
The Complex Landscape of PTEN mRNA Regulation.
Differential regulation of autophagy during metabolic stress in astrocytes and neurons.
In vivo hyperglycemia exposure elicits distinct period-dependent effects on human pancreatic progenitor differentiation, conveyed by oxidative stress.
PI3K activation prevents Aβ42-induced synapse loss and favors insoluble amyloid deposits formation.

Biomolecules. 2019 Dec 24. pii: E28. [Epub ahead of print]10(1):

Inhibition of Growth of TSC2-Null Cells by a PI3K/mTOR Inhibitor but Not by a Selective MNK1/2 Inhibitor.

Jilly F Evans, Ryan W Rue, Alexander R Mukhitov, Kseniya Obraztsova, Carly J Smith, Vera P Krymskaya.

  Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare metastatic cystic lung disease due to a mutation in a TSC tumor suppressor, resulting in hyperactive mTOR growth pathways. Sirolimus (rapamycin), an allosteric mTORC1 inhibitor, is a therapeutic option for women with LAM but it only maintains lung volume during treatment and does not provide benefit for all LAM patients. The two major mTORC1 protein synthesis pathways are via S6K/S6 or 4E-BP/eIF4E activation. We aimed to investigate rapamycin in combination with compounds that target associated growth pathways, with the potential to be additive to rapamycin. In this study we demonstrated that rapamycin, at a clinically tolerable concentration (10 nM), inhibited the phosphorylation of S6, but not the critical eIF4E releasing Thr 37/46 phosphorylation sites of 4E-BP1 in TSC2-deficient LAM-derived cells. We also characterized the abundant protein expression of peIF4E within LAM lesions. A selective MNK1/2 inhibitor eFT508 inhibited the phosphorylation of eIF4E but did not reduce TSC2-null cell growth. In contrast, a PI3K/mTOR inhibitor omipalisib blocked the phosphorylation of Akt and both S6K/S6 and 4E-BP/eIF4E branches, and additively decreased the growth of TSC2-null cells with rapamycin. Omipalisib, or another inhibitor of both major mTORC1 growth pathways and pAkt, might provide therapeutic options for TSC2-deficient cancers including, but not limited to, LAM.

Keywords:  4E-BP1/eIF4E; MNK1/2 inhibitor; PI3k/mTOR inhibitor; S6K/S6; TSC2-null; lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM); rapamycin

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/biom10010028
Cancer. 2019 Dec 27.

Phase 2 study of LY3023414 in patients with advanced endometrial cancer harboring activating mutations in the PI3K pathway.

Maria M Rubinstein, David M Hyman, Imogen Caird, Helen Won, Krysten Soldan, Kenneth Seier, Alexia Iasonos, William P Tew, Roisin E O'Cearbhaill, Rachel N Grisham, Martee L Hensley, Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, Paul Sabbatini, Joyce Guillen, S Duygu Selcuklu, Catherine Zimel, Jean Torrisi, Carol Aghajanian, Vicky Makker.

  BACKGROUND: PI3K pathway activation is common in endometrial cancer. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of the dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, LY3023414, in patients with advanced endometrial cancer harboring activating mutations in the PI3K pathway.METHODS: We conducted a single-arm phase 2 study of monotherapy LY3023414. Eligible patients had advanced endometrial cancer of any grade, prior management with 1-4 cytotoxic lines, and PI3K pathway activation prospectively defined as a loss-of-function PTEN alteration or activating alteration in PIK3CA, AKT1, PIK3R1, PIK3R2, or MTOR. The primary objective was best overall response rate (ORR) per RECIST 1.1.
RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients were treated; histologies included endometroid (39%), carcinosarcoma (25%), serous (21%), and mixed (14%). Patients were heavily pretreated, with a median of 2 prior cytotoxic lines (range, 1-3). The most common alterations involved PIK3CA (68%), PTEN (43%), and PIK3R1 (32%). In the 25 efficacy-evaluable patients, the ORR was 16% (90% CI, 7%-100%), and the clinical benefit rate was 28% (90% CI, 16%-100%). Four patients had a confirmed partial response, and 2 responses lasted for >9 months. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 2.5 months (95% CI, 1.2-3.0) and 9.2 months (95% CI, 5.0-15.9), respectively. The most common all-grade treatment-related adverse events were anemia (71%), hyperglycemia (71%), hypoalbuminemia (68%), and hypophosphatemia (61%). No correlation between molecular alterations and response was observed.
CONCLUSION: In patients with heavily pretreated advanced endometrial cancer prospectively selected for tumors with activating PI3K pathway mutations, LY3023414 demonstrated modest single-agent activity and a manageable safety profile.

Keywords:  LY3023414; PI3K pathway; advanced; dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor; endometrial cancer

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.32677
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Dec 27. pii: 201914589. [Epub ahead of print]

Revisiting the tumorigenesis timeline with a data-driven generative model.

Kamel Lahouel, Laurent Younes, Ludmila Danilova, Francis M Giardiello, Ralph H Hruban, John Groopman, Kenneth W Kinzler, Bert Vogelstein, Donald Geman, Cristian Tomasetti.

  Cancer is driven by the sequential accumulation of genetic and epigenetic changes in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. The timing of these events is not well understood. Moreover, it is currently unknown why the same driver gene change appears as an early event in some cancer types and as a later event, or not at all, in others. These questions have become even more topical with the recent progress brought by genome-wide sequencing studies of cancer. Focusing on mutational events, we provide a mathematical model of the full process of tumor evolution that includes different types of fitness advantages for driver genes and carrying-capacity considerations. The model is able to recapitulate a substantial proportion of the observed cancer incidence in several cancer types (colorectal, pancreatic, and leukemia) and inherited conditions (Lynch and familial adenomatous polyposis), by changing only 2 tissue-specific parameters: the number of stem cells in a tissue and its cell division frequency. The model sheds light on the evolutionary dynamics of cancer by suggesting a generalized early onset of tumorigenesis followed by slow mutational waves, in contrast to previous conclusions. Formulas and estimates are provided for the fitness increases induced by driver mutations, often much larger than previously described, and highly tissue dependent. Our results suggest a mechanistic explanation for why the selective fitness advantage introduced by specific driver genes is tissue dependent.

Keywords:  cancer; driver genes; fitness; mutations; tumorigenesis

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914589117
Autophagy. 2019 Dec 23. 1-17

Podocytes maintain high basal levels of autophagy independent of mtor signaling.

Tillmann Bork, Wei Liang, Kosuke Yamahara, Philipp Lee, Zhejia Tian, Shuya Liu, Christoph Schell, Kathrin Thedieck, Bjoern Hartleben, Ketan Patel, Pierre-Louis Tharaux, Olivia Lenoir, Tobias B Huber.

  While constant basal levels of macroautophagy/autophagy are a prerequisite to preserve long-lived podocytes at the filtration barrier, MTOR regulates at the same time podocyte size and compensatory hypertrophy. Since MTOR is known to generally suppress autophagy, the apparently independent regulation of these two key pathways of glomerular maintenance remained puzzling. We now report that long-term genetic manipulation of MTOR activity does in fact not influence high basal levels of autophagy in podocytes either in vitro or in vivo. Instead we present data showing that autophagy in podocytes is mainly controlled by AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and ULK1 (unc-51 like kinase 1). Pharmacological inhibition of MTOR further shows that the uncoupling of MTOR activity and autophagy is time dependent. Together, our data reveal a novel and unexpected cell-specific mechanism, which permits concurrent MTOR activity as well as high basal autophagy rates in podocytes. Thus, these data indicate manipulation of the AMPK-ULK1 axis rather than inhibition of MTOR as a promising therapeutic intervention to enhance autophagy and preserve podocyte homeostasis in glomerular diseases.Abbreviations: AICAR: 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide; AMPK: AMP-activated protein kinase; ATG: autophagy related; BW: body weight; Cq: chloroquine; ER: endoplasmic reticulum; ESRD: end stage renal disease; FACS: fluorescence activated cell sorting; GFP: green fluorescent protein; i.p.: intra peritoneal; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3; MTOR: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; NPHS1: nephrosis 1, nephrin; NPHS2: nephrosis 2, podocin; PLA: proximity-ligation assay; PRKAA: 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase catalytic subunit alpha; RPTOR/RAPTOR: regulatory associated protein of MTOR, complex 1; RFP: red fluorescent protein; TSC1: tuberous sclerosis 1; ULK1: unc-51 like kinase 1.

Keywords:  AMPK; LC3; MTOR; Raptor; Tsc1; autophagy; glomerulus; kidney; podocyte; rapamycin; signaling

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2019.1705007
Cell Syst. 2019 Dec 13. pii: S2405-4712(19)30430-2. [Epub ahead of print]

Maximum Entropy Framework for Predictive Inference of Cell Population Heterogeneity and Responses in Signaling Networks.

Purushottam D Dixit, Eugenia Lyashenko, Mario Niepel, Dennis Vitkup.

  Predictive models of signaling networks are essential for understanding cell population heterogeneity and designing rational interventions in disease. However, using computational models to predict heterogeneity of signaling dynamics is often challenging because of the extensive variability of biochemical parameters across cell populations. Here, we describe a maximum entropy-based framework for inference of heterogeneity in dynamics of signaling networks (MERIDIAN). MERIDIAN estimates the joint probability distribution over signaling network parameters that is consistent with experimentally measured cell-to-cell variability of biochemical species. We apply the developed approach to investigate the response heterogeneity in the EGFR/Akt signaling network. Our analysis demonstrates that a significant fraction of cells exhibits high phosphorylated Akt (pAkt) levels hours after EGF stimulation. Our findings also suggest that cells with high EGFR levels predominantly contribute to the subpopulation of cells with high pAkt activity. We also discuss how MERIDIAN can be extended to accommodate various experimental measurements.

Keywords:  maximum entropy; parameter inference; population heterogeneity; signaling networks

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2019.11.010
Front Oncol. 2019 ;9 1311

Targeting of the Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4A Against Breast Cancer Stemness.

Sangita Sridharan, Megan Robeson, Diwakar Bastihalli-Tukaramrao, Cory M Howard, Boopathi Subramaniyan, Augustus M C Tilley, Amit K Tiwari, Dayanidhi Raman.

  Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are intrinsically chemoresistant and capable of self-renewal. Following chemotherapy, patients can develop minimal residual disease due to BCSCs which can repopulate into a relapsed tumor. Therefore, it is imperative to co-target BCSCs along with the bulk tumor cells to achieve therapeutic success and prevent recurrence. So, it is vital to identify actionable molecular targets against both BCSCs and bulk tumor cells. Previous findings from our lab and others have demonstrated that inhibition of the emerging drug target eIF4A with Rocaglamide A (RocA) was efficacious against triple-negative breast cancer cells (TNBC). RocA specifically targets the pool of eIF4A bound to the oncogenic mRNAs that requires its helicase activity for their translation. This property enables specific targeting of tumor cells. The efficacy of RocA against BCSCs is unknown. In this study, we postulated that eIF4A could be a vulnerable node in BCSCs. In order to test this, we generated a paclitaxel-resistant TNBC cell line which demonstrated an elevated level of eIF4A along with increased levels of cancer stemness markers (ALDH activity and CD44), pluripotency transcription factors (SOX2, OCT4, and NANOG) and drug transporters (ABCB1, ABCG2, and ABCC1). Furthermore, genetic ablation of eIF4A resulted in reduced expression of ALDH1A1, pluripotency transcription factors and drug transporters. This pointed out that eIF4A is likely associated with selected set of proteins that are critical to BCSCs, and hence targeting eIF4A may eliminate BCSCs. Therefore, we isolated BCSCs from two TNBC cell lines: MDA-Bone-Un and SUM-159PT. Following RocA treatment, the self-renewal ability of the BCSCs was significantly reduced as determined by the efficiency of the formation of primary and secondary mammospheres. This was accompanied by a reduction in the levels of NANOG, OCT4, and drug transporters. Exposure to RocA also induced cell death of the BCSCs as evaluated by DRAQ7 and cell viability assays. RocA treatment induced apoptosis with increased levels of cleaved caspase-3. Overall, we identified that RocA is effective in targeting BCSCs, and eIF4A is an actionable molecular target in both BCSCs and bulk tumor cells. Therefore, anti-eIF4A inhibitors could potentially be combined synergistically with existing chemo-, radio- and/or immunotherapies.

Keywords:  ABC transporters; Rocaglamide A; Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC); actionable targets; breast cancer stemness; cell death; chemoresistance; eIF4A

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2019.01311
Diabetes. 2019 Dec 27. pii: db190701. [Epub ahead of print]

The Novel Adipokine Gremlin 1 Antagonizes Insulin Action and is Increased in Type 2 Diabetes and NAFLD/NASH.

Shahram Hedjazifar, Roxana Khatib Shahidi, Ann Hammarstedt, Laurianne Bonnet, Christopher Church, Jeremie Boucher, Matthias Blüher, Ulf Smith.

The BMP2/4 antagonist and novel adipokine, Gremlin 1, is highly expressed in human adipose cells and increased in hypertrophic obesity. As a secreted antagonist it inhibits the effect of BMP2/4 on adipose precursor cell commitment/differentiation. We examined mRNA levels of Gremlin in key target tissues for insulin and also measured tissue and serum levels in several carefully phenotyped human cohorts. Gremlin 1 expression was high in adipose tissue, higher in visceral than in subcutaneous tissue, increased in obesity and further increased in Type 2 diabetes (T2D). A similar high expression was seen in liver biopsies but expression was considerably lower in skeletal muscles. Serum levels were increased in obesity but most prominently in T2D. Transcriptional activation in both adipose tissue and liver as well as serum levels were strongly associated with markers of insulin resistance in vivo (euglycemic clamps and HOMA-IR), and the presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We also found Gremlin 1 to antagonize insulin signaling and action in human primary adipocytes, skeletal muscle and liver cells. Thus, Gremlin 1 is a novel secreted insulin antagonist and biomarker as well as potential therapeutic target in obesity and its complications T2D and NAFLD/NASH.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2337/db19-0701
Cancer Metab. 2019 ;7 10

SGLT2 inhibition slows tumor growth in mice by reversing hyperinsulinemia.

Ali R Nasiri, Marcos R Rodrigues, Zongyu Li, Brooks P Leitner, Rachel J Perry.

  Background: Obesity confers an increased risk and accelerates the progression of multiple tumor types in rodents and humans, including both breast and colon cancer. Because sustained weight loss is rarely achieved, therapeutic approaches to slow or prevent obesity-associated cancer development have been limited, and mechanistic insights as to the obesity-cancer connection have been lacking.Methods: E0771 breast tumors and MC38 colon tumors were treated in vivo in mice and in vitro with two mechanistically different insulin-lowering agents, a controlled-release mitochondrial protonophore (CRMP) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, and tumor growth and glucose metabolism were assessed. Groups were compared by ANOVA with Bonferroni's multiple comparisons test.
Results: Dapagliflozin slows tumor growth in two mouse models (E0771 breast cancer and MC38 colon adenocarcinoma) of obesity-associated cancers in vivo, and a mechanistically different insulin-lowering agent, CRMP, also slowed breast tumor growth through its effect to reverse hyperinsulinemia. In both models and with both agents, tumor glucose uptake and oxidation were not constitutively high, but were hormone-responsive. Restoration of hyperinsulinemia by subcutaneous insulin infusion abrogated the effects of both dapagliflozin and CRMP to slow tumor growth.
Conclusions: Taken together, these data demonstrate that hyperinsulinemia per se promotes both breast and colon cancer progression in obese mice, and highlight SGLT2 inhibitors as a clinically available means of slowing obesity-associated tumor growth due to their glucose- and insulin-lowering effects.

Keywords:  Glucose; Insulin; Obesity; Tumor metabolism

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s40170-019-0203-1
Diabetes. 2019 Dec 27. pii: db190327. [Epub ahead of print]

A Novel Model of Diabetic Complications: Adipocyte Mitochondrial Dysfunction Triggers Massive β-Cell Hyperplasia.

Christine M Kusminski, Alexandra L Ghaben, Thomas S Morley, Ricardo J Samms, Andrew C Adams, Yu An, Joshua A Johnson, Nolwenn Joffin, Toshiharu Onodera, Clair Crewe, William L Holland, Ruth Gordillo, Philipp E Scherer.

Obesity-associated type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) entails insulin resistance and loss of β-cell mass. Adipose tissue mitochondrial dysfunction is emerging as a key component in the etiology of T2DM. Identifying approaches to preserve mitochondrial function, adipose tissue integrity and β-cell mass during obesity is a major challenge. Mitochondrial ferritin (FtMT) is a mitochondrial matrix protein that chelates iron. We sought to determine whether perturbation of adipocyte mitochondria influences energy metabolism during obesity. We utilized an adipocyte-specific doxycycline-inducible mouse model of FtMT overexpression (FtMT-Adip mice). During dietary challenge, FtMT-Adip mice are leaner, however exhibit glucose intolerance, low adiponectin levels, increased ROS damage, elevated GDF15 and FGF21 levels; indicating metabolically dysfunctional fat. Paradoxically, despite harboring highly dysfunctional fat, transgenic mice display massive β-cell hyperplasia; reflecting a beneficial mitochondria-induced fat-to-pancreas inter-organ signaling axis. This identifies the unique and critical impact that adipocyte mitochondrial dysfunction has on increasing β-cell mass during obesity-related insulin resistance.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2337/db19-0327
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2019 Dec 23. pii: a036236. [Epub ahead of print]

The Complex Landscape of PTEN mRNA Regulation.

Erin Sellars, Martino Gabra, Leonardo Salmena.

Phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) is a key tumor suppressor in the development and progression of different tumor types. Emerging data indicate that small reductions in PTEN protein levels can promote cancer. PTEN protein levels are tightly controlled by a plethora of mechanisms beginning with epigenetic and transcriptional regulation and ending with control of protein synthesis and stability. PTEN messenger RNA (mRNA) is also subject to exquisite regulation by microRNAs, coding and long noncoding RNAs, and RNA-binding proteins. Additionally, PTEN mRNA is markedly influenced by alternative splicing and variable polyadenylation. Herein we provide a synoptic description of the current understanding of the complex regulatory landscape of PTEN mRNA regulation including several specific processes that modulate its stability and expression, in the context of PTEN loss-associated cancers.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a036236
Autophagy. 2019 Dec 26. 1-17

Differential regulation of autophagy during metabolic stress in astrocytes and neurons.

Aditi Kulkarni, Audrey Dong, Vineet Vinay Kulkarni, Jessica Chen, Olivia Laxton, Anip Anand, Sandra Maday.

  Macroautophagy/autophagy is a key homeostatic process that targets cytoplasmic components to the lysosome for breakdown and recycling. Autophagy plays critical roles in glia and neurons that affect development, functionality, and viability of the nervous system. The mechanisms that regulate autophagy in glia and neurons, however, are poorly understood. Here, we define the molecular underpinnings of autophagy in primary cortical astrocytes in response to metabolic stress, and perform a comparative study in primary hippocampal neurons. We find that inducing metabolic stress by nutrient deprivation or pharmacological inhibition of MTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase) robustly activates autophagy in astrocytes. While both paradigms of metabolic stress dampen MTOR signaling, they affect the autophagy pathway differently. Further, we find that starvation-induced autophagic flux is dependent on the buffering system of the starvation solution. Lastly, starvation conditions that strongly activate autophagy in astrocytes have less pronounced effects on autophagy in neurons. Combined, our study reveals the complexity of regulating autophagy in different paradigms of metabolic stress, as well as in different cell types of the brain. Our findings raise important implications for how neurons and glia may collaborate to maintain homeostasis in the brain.Abbreviations ACSF: artificial cerebrospinal fluid; baf A1: bafilomycin A1; EBSS: earle's balanced salt solution; GFAP: glial fibrillary acidic protein; Glc: glucose; GM: glial media; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3; MTOR: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; p-RPS6: phospho-RPS6; p-ULK1: phospho-ULK1; RPS6: ribosomal protein S6; SQSTM1/p62: sequestosome 1; ULK1: unc-51-like kinase 1.

Keywords:  Astrocytes; LC3; MTOR; SQSTM1; autophagy; glia; neurons; starvation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2019.1703354
Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2019 Dec 23. e13433

In vivo hyperglycemia exposure elicits distinct period-dependent effects on human pancreatic progenitor differentiation, conveyed by oxidative stress.

Thomas Aga Legøy, Luiza Ghila, Heidrun Vethe, Shadab Abadpour, Andreas F Mathisen, Joao A Paulo, Hanne Scholz, Helge Raeder, Simona Chera.

  AIM: The loss of insulin-secreting β-cells, ultimately characterizing most diabetes forms, demands the development of cell replacement therapies. The common endpoint for all ex vivo strategies is transplantation into diabetic patients. However, the effects of hyperglycemia environment on the transplanted cells were not yet properly assessed. Thus, the main goal of this study was to characterize global effect of brief and prolonged in vivo hyperglycemia exposure on the cell fate acquisition and maintenance of transplanted human pancreatic progenitors.METHODS: To rigorously study the effect of hyperglycemia, in vitro differentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)-derived pancreatic progenitors were xenotransplanted in normoglycemic and diabetic NSG RIP-DTR mice. The transplants were retrieved after one-week or one-month exposure to overt hyperglycemia and analyzed by large-scale microscopy or global proteomics. For this study we pioneer the use of the NSG RIP-DTR system in the transplantation of hiPSC, making use of its highly reproducible specific and absolute β-cell ablation property in the absence of inflammation or other organ toxicity.
RESULTS: Here we show for the first time that besides the presence of an induced oxidative stress signature, the cell fate and proteome landscape response to hyperglycemia was different, involving largely different mechanisms, according to the period spent in the hyperglycemic environment. Surprisingly, brief hyperglycemia exposure increased the bihormonal cell number by impeding the activity of specific islet lineage determinants. Moreover it activated antioxidant and inflammation protection mechanisms signatures in the transplanted cells. In contrast, the prolonged exposure was characterized by decreased numbers of hormone+ cells, low/absent detoxification signature, augmented production of oxygen reactive species and increased apoptosis.
CONCLUSION: Hyperglycemia exposure induced distinct, period-dependent, negative effects on xenotransplanted human pancreatic progenitor, affecting their energy homeostasis, cell fate acquisition and survival.

Keywords:  RIP-DTR; differentiation; endocrine progenitors; human iPSCs; hyperglycemia; xenotransplantation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/apha.13433
Mol Biol Cell. 2019 Dec 26. mbcE19050303

PI3K activation prevents Aβ42-induced synapse loss and favors insoluble amyloid deposits formation.

Mercedes Arnés, Ninovska Romero, Sergio Casas-Tintó, Ángel Acebes, Alberto Ferrús.

Excess of Aβ42 peptide is considered a hallmark of the disease. Here we express the human Aβ42 peptide to assay the neuroprotective effects of PI3K in adult Drosophila melanogaster. The neuronal expression of the human peptide elicits progressive toxicity in the adult fly. The pathological traits include reduced axonal transport, synapse loss, defective climbing ability and olfactory perception, as well as lifespan reduction. The Aβ42-dependent synapse decay does not involve transcriptional changes in the core synaptic protein encoding genes: bruchpilot, liprin and synaptobrevin. All toxicity features, however, are suppressed by the co-expression of PI3K. Moreover, PI3K activation induces a significant increase of 6E10 and Thioflavin-positive amyloid deposits. Mechanistically, we suggest that Aβ42-Ser26 could be a candidate residue for direct or indirect phosphorylation by PI3K. Along with these in vivo experiments we further analyze Aβ42 toxicity and its suppression by PI3K activation in in vitro assays with SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell cultures, where Aβ42 aggregation into large insoluble deposits is reproduced. Finally, we show that the Aβ42 toxicity syndrome includes the transcriptional shut down of PI3K expression. Taken together, these results uncover a potential novel pharmacological strategy against this disease through the restoration of PI3K activity.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E19-05-0303