@article{FoersterShityakovScheperetal.2022, author = {F{\"o}rster, Carola Y. and Shityakov, Sergey and Scheper, Verena and Lenarz, Thomas}, title = {Linking cerebrovascular dysfunction to age-related hearing loss and Alzheimer's disease — are systemic approaches for diagnosis and therapy required?}, series = {Biomolecules}, volume = {12}, journal = {Biomolecules}, number = {11}, issn = {2218-273X}, doi = {10.3390/biom12111717}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-297552}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with neurovascular dysfunction, cognitive decline, and the accumulation of amyloid β peptide (Aβ) in the brain and tau-related lesions in neurons termed neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Aβ deposits and NFT formation are the central pathological hallmarks in AD brains, and the majority of AD cases have been shown to exhibit a complex combination of systemic comorbidities. While AD is the foremost common cause of dementia in the elderly, age-related hearing loss (ARHL) is the most predominant sensory deficit in the elderly. During aging, chronic inflammation and resulting endothelial dysfunction have been described and might be key contributors to AD; we discuss an intriguing possible link between inner ear strial microvascular pathology and blood-brain barrier pathology and present ARHL as a potentially modifiable and treatable risk factor for AD development. We present compelling evidence that ARHL might well be seen as an important risk factor in AD development: progressive hearing impairment, leading to social isolation, and its comorbidities, such as frailty, falls, and late-onset depression, link ARHL with cognitive decline and increased risk of dementia, rendering it tempting to speculate that ARHL might be a potential common molecular and pathological trigger for AD. Additionally, one could speculate that amyloid-beta might damage the blood-labyrinth barrier as it does to the blood-brain barrier, leading to ARHL pathology. Finally, there are options for the treatment of ARHL by targeted neurotrophic factor supplementation to the cochlea to improve cognitive outcomes; they can also prevent AD development and AD-related comorbidity in the future.}, language = {en} } @article{FareedQasmiAzizetal.2022, author = {Fareed, Muhammad Mazhar and Qasmi, Maryam and Aziz, Shaan and V{\"o}lker, Elisabeth and F{\"o}rster, Carola Yvette and Shityakov, Sergey}, title = {The role of clusterin transporter in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease at the blood-brain barrier interface: a systematic review}, series = {Biomolecules}, volume = {12}, journal = {Biomolecules}, number = {10}, issn = {2218-273X}, doi = {10.3390/biom12101452}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-290279}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Alzheimer's disease (AD) is considered a chronic and debilitating neurological illness that is increasingly impacting older-age populations. Some proteins, including clusterin (CLU or apolipoprotein J) transporter, can be linked to AD, causing oxidative stress. Therefore, its activity can affect various functions involving complement system inactivation, lipid transport, chaperone activity, neuronal transmission, and cellular survival pathways. This transporter is known to bind to the amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide, which is the major pathogenic factor of AD. On the other hand, this transporter is also active at the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a barrier that prevents harmful substances from entering and exiting the brain. Therefore, in this review, we discuss and emphasize the role of the CLU transporter and CLU-linked molecular mechanisms at the BBB interface in the pathogenesis of AD.}, language = {en} } @article{ThalSmetakHayashietal.2022, author = {Thal, Serge C. and Smetak, Manuel and Hayashi, Kentaro and F{\"o}rster, Carola Y.}, title = {Hemorrhagic cerebral insults and secondary Takotsubo syndrome: findings in a novel in vitro model using human blood samples}, series = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, volume = {23}, journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences}, number = {19}, issn = {1422-0067}, doi = {10.3390/ijms231911557}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-288305}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Intracranial hemorrhage results in devastating forms of cerebral damage. Frequently, these results also present with cardiac dysfunction ranging from ECG changes to Takotsubo syndrome (TTS). This suggests that intracranial bleeding due to subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) disrupts the neuro-cardiac axis leading to neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy (NSC) of different degrees. Following this notion, SAH and secondary TTS could be directly linked, thus contributing to poor outcomes. We set out to test if blood circulation is the driver of the brain-heart axis by investigating serum samples of TTS patients. We present a novel in vitro model combining SAH and secondary TTS to mimic the effects of blood or serum, respectively, on blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity using in vitro monolayers of an established murine model. We consistently demonstrated decreased monolayer integrity and confirmed reduced Claudin-5 and Occludin levels by RT-qPCR and Western blot and morphological reorganization of actin filaments in endothelial cells. Both tight junction proteins show a time-dependent reduction. Our findings highlight a faster and more prominent disintegration of BBB in the presence of TTS and support the importance of the bloodstream as a causal link between intracerebral bleeding and cardiac dysfunction. This may represent potential targets for future therapeutic inventions in SAH and TTS.}, language = {en} } @article{SalvadorKesslerDomroeseetal.2022, author = {Salvador, Ellaine and Kessler, Almuth F. and Domr{\"o}se, Dominik and H{\"o}rmann, Julia and Schaeffer, Clara and Giniunaite, Aiste and Burek, Malgorzata and Tempel-Brami, Catherine and Voloshin, Tali and Volodin, Alexandra and Zeidan, Adel and Giladi, Moshe and Ernestus, Ralf-Ingo and L{\"o}hr, Mario and F{\"o}rster, Carola Y. and Hagemann, Carsten}, title = {Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) reversibly permeabilize the blood-brain barrier in vitro and in vivo}, series = {Biomolecules}, volume = {12}, journal = {Biomolecules}, number = {10}, issn = {2218-273X}, doi = {10.3390/biom12101348}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-288057}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Despite the availability of numerous therapeutic substances that could potentially target CNS disorders, an inability of these agents to cross the restrictive blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits their clinical utility. Novel strategies to overcome the BBB are therefore needed to improve drug delivery. We report, for the first time, how Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), approved for glioblastoma (GBM), affect the BBB's integrity and permeability. Here, we treated murine microvascular cerebellar endothelial cells (cerebEND) with 100-300 kHz TTFields for up to 72 h and analyzed the expression of barrier proteins by immunofluorescence staining and Western blot. In vivo, compounds normally unable to cross the BBB were traced in healthy rat brain following TTFields administration at 100 kHz. The effects were analyzed via MRI and immunohistochemical staining of tight-junction proteins. Furthermore, GBM tumor-bearing rats were treated with paclitaxel (PTX), a chemotherapeutic normally restricted by the BBB combined with TTFields at 100 kHz. The tumor volume was reduced with TTFields plus PTX, relative to either treatment alone. In vitro, we demonstrate that TTFields transiently disrupted BBB function at 100 kHz through a Rho kinase-mediated tight junction claudin-5 phosphorylation pathway. Altogether, if translated into clinical use, TTFields could represent a novel CNS drug delivery strategy.}, language = {en} } @article{BellutRaimondiHaarmannetal.2022, author = {Bellut, Maximilian and Raimondi, Anthony T. and Haarmann, Axel and Zimmermann, Lena and Stoll, Guido and Schuhmann, Michael K.}, title = {NLRP3 inhibition reduces rt-PA induced endothelial dysfunction under ischemic conditions}, series = {Biomedicines}, volume = {10}, journal = {Biomedicines}, number = {4}, issn = {2227-9059}, doi = {10.3390/biomedicines10040762}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-267261}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is a mainstay of acute ischemic stroke treatment but is associated with bleeding complications, especially after prolonged large vessel occlusion. Recently, inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome led to preserved blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity in experimental stroke in vivo. To further address the potential of NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition as adjunct stroke treatment we used immortalized brain derived endothelial cells (bEnd5) as an in vitro model of the BBB. We treated bEnd5 with rt-PA in combination with the NLRP3 specific inhibitor MCC950 or vehicle under normoxic as well as ischemic (OGD) conditions. We found that rt-PA exerted a cytotoxic effect on bEnd5 cells under OGD confirming that rt-PA is harmful to the BBB. This detrimental effect could be significantly reduced by MCC950 treatment. Moreover, under ischemic conditions, the Cell Index — a sensible indicator for a patent BBB — and the protein expression of Zonula occludens 1 stabilized after MCC950 treatment. At the same time, the extent of endothelial cell death and NLRP3 expression decreased. In conclusion, NLRP3 inhibition can protect the BBB from rt-PA-induced damage and thereby potentially increase the narrow time window for safe thrombolysis in stroke.}, language = {en} }