TY - JOUR A1 - Galimberti, Daniela A1 - Dell'Osso, Bernardo A1 - Fenoglio, Chiara A1 - Villa, Chiara A1 - Cortini, Francesca A1 - Serpente, Maria A1 - Kittel-Schneider, Sarah A1 - Weigl, Johannes A1 - Neuner, Maria A1 - Volkert, Juliane A1 - Leonhard, C. A1 - Olmes, David G. A1 - Kopf, Juliane A1 - Cantoni, Claudia A1 - Ridolfi, Elisa A1 - Palazzo, Carlotta A1 - Ghezzi, Laura A1 - Bresolin, Nereo A1 - Altamura, A.C. A1 - Scarpini, Elio A1 - Reif, Andreas T1 - Progranulin Gene Variability and Plasma Levels in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia JF - PLoS One N2 - Basing on the assumption that frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BPD) might share common aetiological mechanisms, we analyzed genetic variation in the FTLD risk gene progranulin (GRN) in a German population of patients with schizophrenia (n=271) or BPD (n=237) as compared with 574 age-, gender-and ethnicity-matched controls. Furthermore, we measured plasma progranulin levels in 26 German BPD patients as well as in 61 Italian BPD patients and 29 matched controls. A significantly decreased allelic frequency of the minor versus the wild-type allele was observed for rs2879096 (23.2 versus 34.2%, P<0.001, OR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.49-0.80), rs4792938 (30.7 versus 39.7%, P=0.005, OR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.55-0.89) and rs5848 (30.3 versus 36.8, P=0.007, OR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.56-0.91). Mean +/- SEM progranulin plasma levels were significantly decreased in BPD patients, either Germans or Italians, as compared with controls (89.69 +/- 3.97 and 116.14 +/- 5.80 ng/ml, respectively, versus 180.81 +/- 18.39 ng/ml P<0.001) and were not correlated with age. In conclusion, GRN variability decreases the risk to develop BPD and schizophrenia, and progranulin plasma levels are significantly lower in BPD patients than in controls. Nevertheless, a larger replication analysis would be needed to confirm these preliminary results. KW - people KW - frontotemporal lobar degeneration KW - genome-wide association KW - Alzheimers disease KW - risk genes KW - dementia KW - GRN KW - mutation KW - families KW - linkage Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-131910 VL - 7 IS - 4 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yadav, Preeti A1 - Selvaraj, Bhuvaneish T. A1 - Bender, Florian L. P. A1 - Behringer, Marcus A1 - Moradi, Mehri A1 - Sivadasan, Rajeeve A1 - Dombert, Benjamin A1 - Blum, Robert A1 - Asan, Esther A1 - Sauer, Markus A1 - Julien, Jean-Pierre A1 - Sendtner, Michael T1 - Neurofilament depletion improves microtubule dynamics via modulation of Stat3/stathmin signaling JF - Acta Neuropathologica N2 - In neurons, microtubules form a dense array within axons, and the stability and function of this microtubule network is modulated by neurofilaments. Accumulation of neurofilaments has been observed in several forms of neurodegenerative diseases, but the mechanisms how elevated neurofilament levels destabilize axons are unknown so far. Here, we show that increased neurofilament expression in motor nerves of pmn mutant mice, a model of motoneuron disease, causes disturbed microtubule dynamics. The disease is caused by a point mutation in the tubulin-specific chaperone E (Tbce) gene, leading to an exchange of the most C-terminal amino acid tryptophan to glycine. As a consequence, the TBCE protein becomes instable which then results in destabilization of axonal microtubules and defects in axonal transport, in particular in motoneurons. Depletion of neurofilament increases the number and regrowth of microtubules in pmn mutant motoneurons and restores axon elongation. This effect is mediated by interaction of neurofilament with the stathmin complex. Accumulating neurofilaments associate with stathmin in axons of pmn mutant motoneurons. Depletion of neurofilament by Nefl knockout increases Stat3-stathmin interaction and stabilizes the microtubules in pmn mutant motoneurons. Consequently, counteracting enhanced neurofilament expression improves axonal maintenance and prolongs survival of pmn mutant mice. We propose that this mechanism could also be relevant for other neurodegenerative diseases in which neurofilament accumulation and loss of microtubules are prominent features. KW - Amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis KW - Transgenic mice KW - Mouse model KW - Alzheimers disease KW - Neurofilament KW - Progressive motor neuronopathy KW - Axonal transport KW - Intermediate filaments KW - Motoneuron disease KW - Lacking neurofilaments KW - Missense mutation KW - Axon degeneration KW - Microtubules KW - Stathmin KW - Stat3 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-188234 VL - 132 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reimann, Hauke A1 - Stopper, Helga A1 - Polak, Thomas A1 - Lauer, Martin A1 - Herrmann, Martin J. A1 - Deckert, Jürgen A1 - Hintzsche, Henning T1 - Micronucleus frequency in buccal mucosa cells of patients with neurodegenerative diseases JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Neurodegenerative diseases show an increase in prevalence and incidence, with the most prominent example being Alzheimer's disease. DNA damage has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis, but the exact mechanisms remain elusive. We enrolled 425 participants with and without neurodegenerative diseases and analyzed DNA damage in the form of micronuclei in buccal mucosa samples. In addition, other parameters such as binucleated cells, karyolytic cells, and karyorrhectic cells were quantified. No relevant differences in DNA damage and cytotoxicity markers were observed in patients compared to healthy participants. Furthermore, other parameters such as lifestyle factors and diseases were also investigated. Overall, this study could not identify a direct link between changes in buccal cells and neurogenerative diseases, but highlights the influence of lifestyle factors and diseases on the human buccal cytome. KW - peripheral-blood lymphocytes KW - Alzheimers disease KW - DNA damage KW - cognitive impairment KW - cytome biomarkers KW - diagnosis KW - association KW - assay KW - life Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-231430 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Baune, Bernhard T. A1 - Konrad, Carsten A1 - Grotegerd, Dominik A1 - Suslow, Thomas A1 - Birosova, Eva A1 - Ohrmann, Patricia A1 - Bauer, Jochen A1 - Arolt, Volker A1 - Heindel, Walter A1 - Domschke, Katharina A1 - Schöning, Sonja A1 - Rauch, Astrid V. A1 - Uhlmann, Christina A1 - Kugel, Harald A1 - Dannlowski, Udo T1 - Interleukin-6 gene (IL-6): a possible role in brain morphology in the healthy adult brain JF - Journal of Neuroinflammation N2 - Background: Cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) have been implicated in dual functions in neuropsychiatric disorders. Little is known about the genetic predisposition to neurodegenerative and neuroproliferative properties of cytokine genes. In this study the potential dual role of several IL-6 polymorphisms in brain morphology is investigated. Methodology: In a large sample of healthy individuals (N = 303), associations between genetic variants of IL-6 (rs1800795; rs1800796, rs2069833, rs2069840) and brain volume (gray matter volume) were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Selection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) followed a tagging SNP approach (e. g., Stampa algorigthm), yielding a capture 97.08% of the variation in the IL-6 gene using four tagging SNPs. Principal findings/results In a whole-brain analysis, the polymorphism rs1800795 (-174 C/G) showed a strong main effect of genotype (43 CC vs. 150 CG vs. 100 GG; x = 24, y = -10, z = -15; F(2,286) = 8.54, p(uncorrected) = 0.0002; p(AlphaSim-corrected) = 0.002; cluster size k = 577) within the right hippocampus head. Homozygous carriers of the G-allele had significantly larger hippocampus gray matter volumes compared to heterozygous subjects. None of the other investigated SNPs showed a significant association with grey matter volume in whole-brain analyses. Conclusions/significance: These findings suggest a possible neuroprotective role of the G-allele of the SNP rs1800795 on hippocampal volumes. Studies on the role of this SNP in psychiatric populations and especially in those with an affected hippocampus (e.g., by maltreatment, stress) are warranted. KW - aging brain KW - hippocampal neurogenesis KW - cholinergic neurons KW - neurothrophic factor KW - Alzheimers disease KW - neurite outgrowth KW - inflammatory cytokines KW - major depression KW - nervour system KW - dentate gyrus KW - genetics KW - inflammation KW - interleukin 6 KW - neuroprotection KW - voxel-based morphometry Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-130804 VL - 9 IS - 125 ER -