Hydroxyapatite-calcium sulfate-hyaluronic acid composite encapsulated with collagenase as bone substitute for alveolar bone regeneration.

Periodontitis is a very severe inflammatory condition of the periodontium that progressively damages the soft tissue and destroys the alveolar bone that supports the teeth. The bone loss is naturally irreversible because of limited reparability of the teeth. Advancement in tissue engineering provides an effective regeneration of osseous defects with suitable dental implants or tissue-engineered constructs. This study reports a hydroxyapatite, calcium sulfate hemihydrate and hyaluronic acid laden collagenase (HAP/CS/HA-Col) as a bone substitute for the alveolar bone regeneration. The composite material was mechanically tested and the biocompatibility was evaluated by WST-1 assay. The in vivo bone formation was assessed in rat with alveolar bone defects and the bone augmentation by the HAP/CS/HA-Col composite was confirmed by micro-CT images and histological examination. The mechanical strength of 6.69 MPa with excellent biocompatibility was obtained for the HAP/CS/HA-Col composite. The collagenase release profile had facilitated the acceleration of bone remodeling process and it was confirmed by the findings of micro-CT and H&E staining. The bone defects implanted with HAP/CS/HA composite containing 2 mg/mL type I collagenase have shown improved new bone formation with matured bone morphology in comparison with the HAP/CS/HA composite that lacks the collagenase and the porous hydroxyapatite (p-HAP) granules. The said findings demonstrated that the collagenase inclusion in HAP/CS/HA composite is a feasible approach for the alveolar bone regeneration and the same design can also be applied to other defective tissues.

Insulin and LiCl synergistically rescue myogenic differentiation of FoxO1 over-expressed myoblasts.

Most recent studies reported that FoxO1 transcription factor was a negative regulator of myogenesis under serum withdrawal condition, a situation not actually found in vivo. Therefore, the role of FoxO1 in myogenesis should be re-examined under more physiologically relevant conditions. Here we found that FoxO1 was preferentially localized to nucleus in proliferating (PMB) and confluent myoblasts (CMB) and its nuclear exclusion was a prerequisite for formation of multinucleated myotubes (MT). The nuclear shuttling of FoxO1 in PMB could be prevented by leptomycin B and we further found that cytoplasmic accumulation of FoxO1 in myotubes was caused by the blockade of its nuclear import. Although over-expression of wildtype FoxO1 in C2C12 myoblasts significantly blocked their myogenic differentiation under serum withdrawal condition, application of insulin and LiCl, an activator of Wnt signaling pathway, to these cells successfully rescued their myogenic differentiation and generated myotubes with larger diameters. Interestingly, insulin treatment significantly reduced FoxO1 level and also delayed nuclear re-accumulation of FoxO1 triggered by mitogen deprivation. We further found that FoxO1 directly repressed the promoter activity of myogenic genes and this repression can be relieved by insulin and LiCl treatment. These results suggest that FoxO1 inhibits myogenesis in serum withdrawal condition but turns into a hypertrophy potentiator when other myogenic signals, such as Wnt and insulin, are available.

TDP-43 regulates the mammalian spinogenesis through translational repression of Rac1.

Impairment of learning and memory is a significant pathological feature of many neurodegenerative diseases including FTLD-TDP. Appropriate regulation and fine tuning of spinogenesis of the dendrites, which is an integral part of the learning/memory program of the mammalian brain, are essential for the normal function of the hippocampal neurons. TDP-43 is a nucleic acid-binding protein implicated in multi-cellular functions and in the pathogenesis of a range of neurodegenerative diseases including FTLD-TDP and ALS. We have combined the use of single-cell dye injection, shRNA knockdown, plasmid rescue, immunofluorescence staining, Western blot analysis and patch clamp electrophysiological measurement of primary mouse hippocampal neurons in culture to study the functional role of TDP-43 in mammalian spinogenesis. We found that depletion of TDP-43 leads to an increase in the number of protrusions/spines as well as the percentage of matured spines among the protrusions. Significantly, the knockdown of TDP-43 also increases the level of Rac1 and its activated form GTP-Rac1, a known positive regulator of spinogenesis. Clustering of the AMPA receptors on the dendritic surface and neuronal firing are also induced by depletion of TDP-43. Furthermore, use of an inhibitor of Rac1 activation negatively regulated spinogenesis of control hippocampal neurons as well as TDP-43-depleted hippocampal neurons. Mechanistically, RT-PCR assay and cycloheximide chase experiments have indicated that increases in Rac1 protein upon TDP-43 depletion is regulated at the translational level. These data together establish that TDP-43 is an upstream regulator of spinogenesis in part through its action on the Rac1 â†’ GTP-Rac1 â†’ AMPAR pathway. This study provides the first evidence connecting TDP-43 with the GTP-Rac1 â†’ AMPAR regulatory pathway of spinogenesis. It establishes that mis-metabolism of TDP-43, as occurs in neurodegenerative diseases with TDP-43 proteinopathies, e.g., FTLD-TDP, would alter its homeostatic cellular concentration, thus leading to impairment of hippocampal plasticity.

Elevated expression of TDP-43 in the forebrain of mice is sufficient to cause neurological and pathological phenotypes mimicking FTLD-U.

TDP-43 is a multifunctional DNA/RNA-binding factor that has been implicated in the regulation of neuronal plasticity. TDP-43 has also been identified as the major constituent of the neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions (NCIs) that are characteristic of a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including the frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin(+) inclusions (FTLD-U) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We have generated a FTLD-U mouse model (CaMKII-TDP-43 Tg) in which TDP-43 is transgenically overexpressed in the forebrain resulting in phenotypic characteristics mimicking those of FTLD-U. In particular, the transgenic (Tg) mice exhibit impaired learning/memory, progressive motor dysfunction, and hippocampal atrophy. The cognitive and motor impairments are accompanied by reduced levels of the neuronal regulators phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase and phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein and increased levels of gliosis in the brains of the Tg mice. Moreover, cells with TDP-43(+), ubiquitin(+) NCIs and TDP-43-deleted nuclei appear in the Tg mouse brains in an age-dependent manner. Our data provide direct evidence that increased levels of TDP-43 protein in the forebrain is sufficient to lead to the formation of TDP-43(+), ubiquitin(+) NCIs and neurodegeneration. This FTLD-U mouse model should be valuable for the mechanistic analysis of the role of TDP-43 in the pathogenesis of FTLD-U and for the design of effective therapeutic approaches of the disease.