Investigation of the independent role of a rare APOE variant (L28P; APOE*4Pittsburgh) in late-onset Alzheimer disease.

A rare missense APOE variant (L28P; APOE*4Pittsburgh), which is present only in populations with European ancestry, has been reported to be a risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). However, due to the complete linkage disequilibrium of L28P with APOE*4 (C112R), its independent genetic association is uncertain. The original association study implicating L28P with LOAD risk was carried out in a relatively small sample size. In the current study, we have re-evaluated this association in a large case-control sample of 15,762 White U.S. subjects and investigated its independent effect in APOE 3/4 subjects, as L28P has been observed only in the heterozygous state of APOE*4 carriers and 3/4 is the most common genotype containing the APOE*4 allele. The heterozygous carrier frequency of L28P, all with APOE*4, was about 3-fold higher in AD cases than in cognitively intact controls (0.845% vs. 0.277%). The age- and sex-adjusted meta-analysis odds ratio (OR) was 2.87 (95% CI: 1.34 - 6.13; = 0.0066). Among APOE 3/4 subjects, age- and sex-adjusted meta-analysis OR was 1.53 (95% CI: 0.70 - 3.36; p = 0.28), indicating its effect was independent of APOE*4. The lack of statistical significance appears mainly due to the low power of 4138 subjects with the 3/4 genotype (12% power at α= 0.05) compared to the required sample of 139,088 subjects with the 3/4 genotype to detect an OR of 1.5 at α= 0.05 and 80% power. Our data suggesting that L28P has an independent genetic effect on AD risk is reinforced by earlier experimental findings showing that this mutation leads to significant structural and conformational changes in the ApoE4 molecule and can induce functional defects associated with neuronal Aß42 accumulation and oxidative stress. Additional functional studies in cell-based systems and animal models will help to delineate its functional significance in the etiology of AD.

iPSC-Derived Neurons from Patients with POLG Mutations Exhibit Decreased Mitochondrial Content and Dendrite Simplification.

Mutations in POLG, the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase gamma, result in clinical syndromes characterized by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) depletion in affected tissues with variable organ involvement. The brain is one of the most affected organs, and symptoms include intractable seizures, developmental delay, dementia, and ataxia. Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide opportunities to explore mechanisms in affected cell types and potential therapeutic strategies. Fibroblasts from two patients were reprogrammed to create new iPSC models of POLG-related mitochondrial diseases. Compared with iPSC-derived control neurons, mtDNA depletion was observed upon differentiation of the POLG-mutated lines to cortical neurons. POLG-mutated neurons exhibited neurite simplification with decreased mitochondrial content, abnormal mitochondrial structure and function, and increased cell death. Expression of the mitochondrial kinase PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1) mRNA was decreased in patient neurons. Overexpression of PINK1 increased mitochondrial content and ATP:ADP ratios in neurites, decreasing cell death and rescuing neuritic complexity. These data indicate an intersection of polymerase gamma and PINK1 pathways that may offer a novel therapeutic option for patients affected by this spectrum of disorders.

Rickettsia and Anaplasma species in Dermacentor andersoni ticks from Washington.

Dermacentor andersoni, the Rocky Mountain wood tick, occurs predominantly in the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada. There are relatively few contemporary data to evaluate the occurrence of Rickettsia and Anaplasma species in D. andersoni in western North America, and even less information about these associations in the state of Washington, where this tick species is widely distributed and often bites humans. We used PCR assays to detect DNA of Rickettsia and Anaplasmataceae bacteria in 203 adult D. andersoni ticks collected from 17 sites in 9 counties of Washington between May 2012 and May 2015. Of these, 56 (27.6 %) were infected with a Rickettsia species and 3 (5.4 %) with a member of the Anaplasmataceae family. Rickettsia peacockii, R. bellii and R. rhipicephali were found in 17.7 %, 4.9 %, and 4.4 % of the Rickettsia positive ticks, respectively. Coinfections of R. bellii with R. peacockii or R. rhipicephali were identified in 6 ticks. Of the Anaplasmataceae-positive ticks, one was identified as being infected with Anaplasma phagocytophilum AP-Variant 1. No ticks were infected with a recognized human or animal pathogen, including R. rickettsii, A. phagocytophilum-ha, A. bovis, or A. marginale.

Mitochondrion: A Promising Target for Nanoparticle-Based Vaccine Delivery Systems.

Vaccination is one of the most popular technologies in disease prevention and eradication. It is promising to improve immunization efficiency by using vectors and/or adjuvant delivery systems. Nanoparticle (NP)-based delivery systems have attracted increasing interest due to enhancement of antigen uptake via prevention of vaccine degradation in the biological environment and the intrinsic immune-stimulatory properties of the materials. Mitochondria play paramount roles in cell life and death and are promising targets for vaccine delivery systems to effectively induce immune responses. In this review, we focus on NPs-based delivery systems with surfaces that can be manipulated by using mitochondria targeting moieties for intervention in health and disease.

Modulation of chemokines in the tumor microenvironment enhances oncolytic virotherapy for colorectal cancer.

An oncolytic poxvirus such as vvDD-CXCL11 can generate potent systemic antitumor immunity as well as targeted oncolysis, yet the antitumor effect is limited probably due to limited homing to and suppressed activity of tumor-specific adaptive immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). We reasoned that a chemokine modulating (CKM) drug cocktail, consisting of IFN-α, poly I:C, and a COX-2 inhibitor, may skew the chemokine (CK) and cytokine profile into a favorable one in the TME, and this pharmaceutical modulation would enhance both the trafficking into and function of antitumor immune cells in the TME, thus increasing therapeutic efficacy of the oncolytic virus. In this study we show for the first time in vivo that the CKM modulates the CK microenvironment but it does not modulate antitumor immunity by itself in a MC38 colon cancer model. Sequential treatment with the virus and then CKM results in the upregulation of Th1-attracting CKs and reduction of Treg-attracting CKs (CCL22 and CXCL12), concurrent with enhanced trafficking of tumor-specific CD8+ T cells and NK cells into the TME, thus resulting in the most significant antitumor activity and long term survival of tumor-bearing mice. This novel combined regimen, with the oncolytic virus (vvDD-CXCL11) inducing direct oncolysis and eliciting potent antitumor immunity, and the CKM inducing a favorable chemokine profile in the TME that promotes the trafficking and function of antitumor Tc1/Th1 and NK cells, may have great utility for oncolytic immunotherapy for cancer.

Complement Inhibition: A Novel Form of Immunotherapy for Colon Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Complement is a central part of both the innate and adaptive immune response and its activation has traditionally been considered part of the immunosurveillance response against cancer. Its pro-inflammatory role and its contribution to the development of many illnesses associated with inflammatory states implicate complement in carcinogenesis. METHODS: We evaluated the role of three protein inhibitors of complement-cobra venom factor, humanized cobra venom factor, and recombinant staphylococcus aureus superantigen-like protein 7-in the setting of a transplantable murine colon cancer model. Outcomes were evaluated by monitoring tumor growth, and flow cytometry, ELISPOT, and quantitative real-time PCR were used to determine the impact of complement inhibition on the host immune response. RESULTS: Complement inhibitors were effective at depleting complement component C3 in tumor bearing mice and this was temporally correlated with a decreased rate of tumor growth during the establishment of tumors. Treatment with cobra venom factor resulted in increased CD8(+) T cells as a percentage of tumor-infiltrating cells as well as a reduced immunosuppressive environment evidenced by decreased myeloid derived suppressor cells in splenocytes of treated mice. Complement inhibition resulted in increased expression of the chemoattractive cytokines CCL5, CXCL10, and CXCL11. DISCUSSION: Complement depletion represents a promising mode of immunotherapy in cancer by its ability to impair tumor growth by increasing the host's effective immune response to tumor and diminishing the immunosuppressive effect created by the tumor microenvironment and ultimately could be utilized as a component of combination immunotherapy.

Ablation of specific expression domains reveals discrete functions of ectoderm- and endoderm-derived FGF8 during cardiovascular and pharyngeal development.

Fibroblast growth factor 8 (Fgf8) is expressed in many domains of the developing embryo. Globally decreased FGF8 signaling during murine embryogenesis results in a hypomorphic phenotype with a constellation of heart, outflow tract, great vessel and pharyngeal gland defects that phenocopies human deletion 22q11 syndromes, such as DiGeorge. We postulate that these Fgf8 hypomorphic phenotypes result from disruption of local FGF8 signaling from pharyngeal arch epithelia to mesenchymal cells populating and migrating through the third and fourth pharyngeal arches. To test our hypothesis, and to determine whether the pharyngeal ectoderm and endoderm Fgf8 expression domains have discrete functional roles, we performed conditional mutagenesis of Fgf8 using novel Crerecombinase drivers to achieve domain-specific ablation of Fgf8 gene function in the pharyngeal arch ectoderm and endoderm. Remarkably, ablating FGF8 protein in the pharyngeal arch ectoderm causes failure of formation of the fourth pharyngeal arch artery that results in aortic arch and subclavian artery anomalies in 95% of mutants; these defects recapitulate the spectrum and frequency of vascular defects reported in Fgf8 hypomorphs. Surprisingly, no cardiac, outflow tract or glandular defects were found in ectodermal-domain mutants, indicating that ectodermally derived FGF8 has essential roles during pharyngeal arch vascular development distinct from those in cardiac, outflow tract and pharyngeal gland morphogenesis. By contrast, ablation of FGF8 in the third and fourth pharyngeal endoderm and ectoderm caused glandular defects and bicuspid aortic valve, which indicates that the FGF8 endodermal domain has discrete roles in pharyngeal and valvar development. These results support our hypotheses that local FGF8 signaling from the pharyngeal epithelia is required for pharyngeal vascular and glandular development, and that the pharyngeal ectodermal and endodermal domains of FGF8 have separate functions.