A xenograft and cell line model of SDH-deficient pheochromocytoma derived from Sdhb+/- rats.

Tumors caused by loss-of-function mutations in genes encoding TCA cycle enzymes have been recently discovered and are now of great interest. Mutations in succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) subunits cause pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PCPG) and syndromically associated tumors, which differ phenotypically and clinically from more common SDH-intact tumors of the same types. Consequences of SDH deficiency include rewired metabolism, pseudohypoxic signaling and altered redox balance. PCPG with SDHB mutations are particularly aggressive, and development of treatments has been hampered by lack of valid experimental models. Attempts to develop mouse models have been unsuccessful. Using a new strategy, we developed a xenograft and cell line model of SDH-deficient pheochromocytoma from rats with a heterozygous germline Sdhb mutation. The genome, transcriptome and metabolome of this model, called RS0, closely resemble those of SDHB-mutated human PCPGs, making it the most valid model now available. Strategies employed to develop RS0 may be broadly applicable to other SDH-deficient tumors.

Common tolerance mechanisms, but distinct cross-reactivities associated with gp41 and lipids, limit production of HIV-1 broad neutralizing antibodies 2F5 and 4E10.

Developing an HIV-1 vaccine has been hampered by the inability of immunogens to induce broadly neutralizing Abs (BnAbs) that protect against infection. Previously, we used knockin (KI) mice expressing a prototypical gp41-specific BnAb, 2F5, to demonstrate that immunological tolerance triggered by self-reactivity of the 2F5 H chain impedes BnAb induction. In this study, we generate KI models expressing H chains from two other HIV-1 Abs, 4E10 (another self-/polyreactive, anti-gp41 BnAb) and 48d (an anti-CD4 inducible, nonpolyreactive Ab), and find a similar developmental blockade consistent with central B cell deletion in 4E10, but not in 48d VH KI mice. Furthermore, in KI strains expressing the complete 2F5 and 4E10 Abs as BCRs, we find that residual splenic B cells arrest at distinct developmental stages, yet exhibit uniformly low BCR densities, elevated basal activation, and profoundly muted responses to BCR ligation and, when captured as hybridoma mAb lines, maintain their dual (gp41/lipid) affinities and capacities to neutralize HIV-1, establishing a key role for anergy in suppressing residual 2F5- or 4E10-expressing B cells. Importantly, serum IgGs from naive 2F5 and 4E10 KI strains selectively eliminate gp41 and lipid binding, respectively, suggesting B cells expressing 2F5 or 4E10 as BCRs exhibit specificity for a distinct spectrum of host Ags, including selective interactions by 2F5 BCR(+) B cells (i.e., and not 4E10 BCR(+) B cells) with those mimicked by its gp41 neutralization epitope.

Genetic knock-down of HDAC3 does not modify disease-related phenotypes in a mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion of a CAG/polyglutamine repeat for which there are no disease modifying treatments. In recent years, transcriptional dysregulation has emerged as a pathogenic process that appears early in disease progression and has been recapitulated across multiple HD models. Altered histone acetylation has been proposed to underlie this transcriptional dysregulation and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, such as suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), have been shown to improve polyglutamine-dependent phenotypes in numerous HD models. However potent pan-HDAC inhibitors such as SAHA display toxic side-effects. To better understand the mechanism underlying this potential therapeutic benefit and to dissociate the beneficial and toxic effects of SAHA, we set out to identify the specific HDAC(s) involved in this process. For this purpose, we are exploring the effect of the genetic reduction of specific HDACs on HD-related phenotypes in the R6/2 mouse model of HD. The study presented here focuses on HDAC3, which, as a class I HDAC, is one of the preferred targets of SAHA and is directly involved in histone deacetylation. To evaluate a potential benefit of Hdac3 genetic reduction in R6/2, we generated a mouse carrying a critical deletion in the Hdac3 gene. We confirmed that the complete knock-out of Hdac3 is embryonic lethal. To test the effects of HDAC3 inhibition, we used Hdac3(+/-) heterozygotes to reduce nuclear HDAC3 levels in R6/2 mice. We found that Hdac3 knock-down does not ameliorate physiological or behavioural phenotypes and has no effect on molecular changes including dysregulated transcripts. We conclude that HDAC3 should not be considered as the major mediator of the beneficial effect induced by SAHA and other HDAC inhibitors in HD.

Rescue from excitotoxicity and axonal degeneration accompanied by age-dependent behavioral and neuroanatomical alterations in caspase-6-deficient mice.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a cellular pathway involved in normal cell turnover, developmental tissue remodeling, embryonic development, cellular homeostasis maintenance and chemical-induced cell death. Caspases are a family of intracellular proteases that play a key role in apoptosis. Aberrant activation of caspases has been implicated in human diseases. In particular, numerous findings implicate Caspase-6 (Casp6) in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease (AD) and Huntington disease (HD), highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of Casp6 biology and its role in brain development. The use of targeted caspase-deficient mice has been instrumental for studying the involvement of caspases in apoptosis. The goal of this study was to perform an in-depth neuroanatomical and behavioral characterization of constitutive Casp6-deficient (Casp6-/-) mice in order to understand the physiological function of Casp6 in brain development, structure and function. We demonstrate that Casp6-/- neurons are protected against excitotoxicity, nerve growth factor deprivation and myelin-induced axonal degeneration. Furthermore, Casp6-deficient mice show an age-dependent increase in cortical and striatal volume. In addition, these mice show a hypoactive phenotype and display learning deficits. The age-dependent behavioral and region-specific neuroanatomical changes observed in the Casp6-/- mice suggest that Casp6 deficiency has a more pronounced effect in brain regions that are involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as the striatum in HD and the cortex in AD.

Rescue of HIV-1 broad neutralizing antibody-expressing B cells in 2F5 VH x VL knockin mice reveals multiple tolerance controls.

The HIV-1 broadly neutralizing Ab (bnAb) 2F5 has been shown to be poly-/self-reactive in vitro, and we previously demonstrated that targeted expression of its VDJ rearrangement alone was sufficient to trigger a profound B cell developmental blockade in 2F5 V(H) knockin (KI) mice, consistent with central deletion of 2F5 H chain-expressing B cells. In this study, we generate a strain expressing the entire 2F5 bnAb specificity, 2F5 V(H) × V(L) KI mice, and find an even higher degree of tolerance control than observed in the 2F5 V(H) KI strain. Although B cell development was severely impaired in 2F5 V(H) × V(L) KI animals, we demonstrate rescue of their B cells when cultured in IL-7/BAFF. Intriguingly, even under these conditions, most rescued B cell hybridomas produced mAbs that lacked HIV-1 Envelope (Env) reactivity due to editing of the 2F5 L chain, and the majority of rescued B cells retained an anergic phenotype. Thus, when clonal deletion is circumvented, κ editing and anergy are additional safeguards preventing 2F5 V(H)/V(L) expression by immature/transitional B cells. Importantly, 7% of rescued B cells retained 2F5 V(H)/V(L) expression and secreted Env-specific mAbs with HIV-1-neutralizing activity. This partial rescue was further corroborated in vivo, as reflected by the anergic phenotype of most rescued B cells in 2F5 V(H) × V(L) KI × Eµ-Bcl-2 transgenic mice and significant (yet modest) enrichment of Env-specific B cells and serum Igs. The rescued 2F5 mAb-producing B cell clones in this study are the first examples, to our knowledge, of in vivo-derived bone marrow precursors specifying HIV-1 bnAbs and provide a starting point for design of strategies aimed at rescuing such B cells.

Autoreactivity in an HIV-1 broadly reactive neutralizing antibody variable region heavy chain induces immunologic tolerance.

We previously reported that some of the rare broadly reactive, HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies are polyreactive, leading to the hypothesis that induction of these types of neutralizing antibody may be limited by immunologic tolerance. However, the notion that such antibodies are sufficiently autoreactive to trigger B cell tolerance is controversial. To test directly whether rare neutralizing HIV-1 antibodies can activate immunologic tolerance mechanisms, we generated a knock-in mouse in which the Ig heavy chain (HC) variable region rearrangement (V(H)DJ(H)) from the polyreactive and broadly neutralizing human monoclonal antibody 2F5 was targeted into the mouse Igh locus. In vitro, this insertion resulted in chimeric human/mouse 2F5 antibodies that were functionally similar to the human 2F5 antibody, including comparable reactivity to human and murine self-antigens. In vivo, the 2F5 V(H)DJ(H) insertion supported development of large- and small pre-B cells that expressed the chimeric human/mouse Igmu chain but not the production of immature B cells expressing membrane IgM. The developmental arrest exhibited in 2F5 V(H)DJ(H) knock-in mice is characteristic of other knock-in strains that express the Ig HC variable region of autoreactive antibodies and is consistent with the loss of immature B cells bearing 2F5 chimeric antibodies to central tolerance mechanisms. Moreover, homozygous 2F5 V(H)DJ(H) knock-in mice support reduced numbers of residual splenic B cells with low surface IgM density, severely diminished serum IgM levels, but normal to elevated quantities of serum IgGs that did not react with autoantigens. These features are consistent with elimination of 2F5 HC autoreactivity by additional negative selection mechanism(s) in the periphery.

Targeted disruption of tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase-2, an enzyme that catalyzes post-translational protein tyrosine O-sulfation, causes male infertility.

Tyrosine O-sulfation is a post-translational modification mediated by one of two Golgi tyrosylprotein sulfotransferases (TPST-1 and -2) expressed in all mammalian cells. Tyrosine sulfation plays an important role in the function of some known TPST substrates by enhancing protein-protein interactions. To explore the role of these enzymes in vivo and gain insight into other potential TPST substrates, TPST-2-deficient mice were generated by targeted disruption of the Tpst2 gene. Tpst2(+/-) mice appear normal and, when interbred, yield litters of normal size with a Mendelian distribution of the targeted mutation. Tpst2(-/-) mice have moderately delayed growth but appear healthy and attain normal body weight by 10 weeks of age. In contrast to Tpst1(-/-) males that have normal fertility, Tpst2(-/-) males are infertile. Tpst2(-/-) sperm are normal in number, morphology, and motility in normal media and appear to capacitate and undergo acrosomal exocytosis normally. However, they are severely defective in their motility in viscous media and in their ability to fertilize zona pellucida-intact eggs. Adhesion of Tpst2(-/-) sperm to the egg plasma membrane is reduced compared with wild type sperm, but sperm-egg fusion is similar or even increased. These data strongly suggest that tyrosine sulfation of unidentified substrate(s) play a crucial role in these processes and document for the first time the critical importance of post-translational tyrosine sulfation in male fertility.

Reduced body weight and increased postimplantation fetal death in tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase-1-deficient mice.

Tyrosine sulfation is mediated by one of two Golgi isoenzymes, called tyrosylprotein sulfotransferases (TPST-1 and TPST-2). A relatively small number of proteins are known to undergo tyrosine sulfation, including certain adhesion molecules, G-protein-coupled receptors, coagulation factors, serpins, extracellular matrix proteins, and hormones. As one approach to explore the role of these enzymes in vivo and how they might interact in biological systems, we have generated TPST-1-deficient mice by targeted disruption of the Tpst1 gene. Tpst1(+/-) mice appear normal and, when interbred, yield litters of normal size with a Mendelian genetic distribution and an equal sex distribution. Tpst1(-/-) mice appear healthy but have approximately 5% lower average body weight than Tpst1(+/+) controls. In addition, we show that although fertility of Tpst1(-/-) males and females per se is normal, Tpst1(-/-) females have significantly smaller litters because of fetal death between 8.5 and 15.5 days postcoitum. These findings suggest that there are proteins involved in regulation of body weight and reproductive physiology, which require tyrosine sulfation for optimal function that are yet to be described. Our findings also strongly support the conclusion that TPST-1 and TPST-2 have distinct biological roles that may reflect differences in their macromolecular substrate specificity.

Grap negatively regulates T-cell receptor-elicited lymphocyte proliferation and interleukin-2 induction.

Grb-2-related adaptor protein (Grap) is a Grb2-like SH3-SH2-SH3 adaptor protein with expression restricted to lymphoid tissues. Grap(-/-) lymphocytes isolated from targeted Grap-deficient mice exhibited enhanced proliferation, interleukin-2 production, and c-fos induction in response to mitogenic T-cell receptor (TCR) stimulation, compared to wild-type cells. Ectopic expression of Grap led to a suppression of Elk-1-directed transcription induced by the Ras/Erk pathway, without having effects on gene expression mediated by Jnk and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases. Together, these data suggest that Grap, unlike Grb2, acts as a negative regulator of TCR-stimulated intracellular signaling by downregulating signal relay through the Ras/Erk pathway.

Tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase inhibitors generated by combinatorial target-guided ligand assembly.

Tyrosylprotein sulfotransferases (TPSTs) catalyze the sulfation of tyrosine residues within secreted and membrane-bound proteins. The modification modulates protein-protein interactions in the extracellular environment. Here we use combinatorial target-guided ligand assembly to discover the first known inhibitors of human TPST-2.