TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lüningschrör, Patrick
A1  - Slotta, Carsten
A1  - Heimann, Peter
A1  - Briese, Michael
A1  - Weikert, Ulrich M.
A1  - Massih, Bita
A1  - Appenzeller, Silke
A1  - Sendtner, Michael
A1  - Kaltschmidt, Christian
A1  - Kaltschmidt, Barbara
T1  - Absence of Plekhg5 Results in Myelin Infoldings Corresponding to an Impaired Schwann Cell Autophagy, and a Reduced T-Cell Infiltration Into Peripheral Nerves
JF  - Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
N2  - Inflammation and dysregulation of the immune system are hallmarks of several neurodegenerative diseases. An activated immune response is considered to be the cause of myelin breakdown in demyelinating disorders. In the peripheral nervous system (PNS), myelin can be degraded in an autophagy-dependent manner directly by Schwann cells or by macrophages, which are modulated by T-lymphocytes. Here, we show that the NF-κB activator Pleckstrin homology containing family member 5 (Plekhg5) is involved in the regulation of both Schwann cell autophagy and recruitment of T-lymphocytes in peripheral nerves during motoneuron disease. Plekhg5-deficient mice show defective axon/Schwann cell units characterized by myelin infoldings in peripheral nerves. Even at late stages, Plekhg5-deficient mice do not show any signs of demyelination and inflammation. Using RNAseq, we identified a transcriptional signature for an impaired immune response in sciatic nerves, which manifested in a reduced number of CD4\(^+\) and CD8\(^+\) T-cells. These findings identify Plekhg5 as a promising target to impede myelin breakdown in demyelinating PNS disorders.
KW  - Schwann cells
KW  - autophagy
KW  - immune response
KW  - myelin
KW  - PLEKHG5
Y1  - 2020
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-207538
SN  - 1662-5102
VL  - 14
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Massih, Bita
A1  - Veh, Alexander
A1  - Schenke, Maren
A1  - Mungwa, Simon
A1  - Seeger, Bettina
A1  - Selvaraj, Bhuvaneish T.
A1  - Chandran, Siddharthan
A1  - Reinhardt, Peter
A1  - Sterneckert, Jared
A1  - Hermann, Andreas
A1  - Sendtner, Michael
A1  - Lüningschrör, Patrick
T1  - A 3D cell culture system for bioengineering human neuromuscular junctions to model ALS
JF  - Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
N2  - The signals that coordinate and control movement in vertebrates are transmitted from motoneurons (MNs) to their target muscle cells at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). Human NMJs display unique structural and physiological features, which make them vulnerable to pathological processes. NMJs are an early target in the pathology of motoneuron diseases (MND). Synaptic dysfunction and synapse elimination precede MN loss suggesting that the NMJ is the starting point of the pathophysiological cascade leading to MN death. Therefore, the study of human MNs in health and disease requires cell culture systems that enable the connection to their target muscle cells for NMJ formation. Here, we present a human neuromuscular co-culture system consisting of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived MNs and 3D skeletal muscle tissue derived from myoblasts. We used self-microfabricated silicone dishes combined with Velcro hooks to support the formation of 3D muscle tissue in a defined extracellular matrix, which enhances NMJ function and maturity. Using a combination of immunohistochemistry, calcium imaging, and pharmacological stimulations, we characterized and confirmed the function of the 3D muscle tissue and the 3D neuromuscular co-cultures. Finally, we applied this system as an in vitro model to study the pathophysiology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and found a decrease in neuromuscular coupling and muscle contraction in co-cultures with MNs harboring ALS-linked SOD1 mutation. In summary, the human 3D neuromuscular cell culture system presented here recapitulates aspects of human physiology in a controlled in vitro setting and is suitable for modeling of MND.
KW  - NMJ–neuromuscular junction
KW  - motoneuron (MN)
KW  - skeletal muscle
KW  - iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells)
KW  - 3D cell culture
Y1  - 2023
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-304161
SN  - 2296-634X
VL  - 11
ER  -