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Platelet activation induces cytoskeletal rearrangements involving a change from discoid to spheric shape, secretion, and eventually adhesion and spreading on immobilized ligands. Small GTPases of the Rho family, such as Rac1 and Cdc42, are known to be involved in these processes by facilitating the formation of lamellipodia and filopodia, respectively. This thesis focuses on the role Rac1 and Cdc42 for platelet function and formation from their precursor cells, the megakaryocytes (MKs), using conditional knock-out mice. In the first part of the work, the involvement of Rac1 in the activation of the enzyme phospholipase (PL) C2 in the signaling pathway of the major platelet collagen receptor glycoprotein (GP) VI was investigated. It was found that Rac1 is essential for PLC2 activation independently of tyrosine phosphorylation of the enzyme, resulting in a specific platelet activation defect downstream of GPVI, whereas signaling of other activating receptors remains unaffected. Since Rac1-deficient mice were protected from arterial thrombosis in two different in vivo models, the GTPase might serve as a potential target for the development of new drugs for the treatment and prophylaxis of cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases. The second part of the thesis deals with the first characterization of MK- and platelet-specific Cdc42 knock-out mice. Cdc42-deficient mice displayed mild thrombo-cytopenia and platelet production from mutant MKs was markedly reduced. Unexpectedly, Cdc42-deficient platelets showed increased granule content and release upon activation, leading to accelerated thrombus formation in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, Cdc42 was not generally required for filopodia formation upon platelet activation. Thus, these results indicate that Cdc42, unlike Rac1, is involved in multiple signaling pathways essential for proper platelet formation and function. Finally, the outcome of combined deletion of Rac1 and Cdc42 was studied. In contrast to single deficiency of either GTPase, platelet production from double-deficient MKs was virtually abrogated, resulting in dramatic macrothrombocytopenia in the animals. Formed platelets were largely non-functional leading to a severe hemostatic defect and defective thrombus formation in double-deficient mice in vivo. These results demonstrate for the first time a functional redundancy of Rac1 and Cdc42 in the hematopoietic system.
Effective T cell immunity was believed to occur by mature DC, whereas tolerogenicity was attributed strictly to immature DC phenotypes. However, intermediate DC maturation stages were identified conditioned by inflammatory mediators like TNF. Furthermore, the T cell tolerance mechanisms are dependent on distinct modes and intensities of co-stimulation. Therefore, in this study it was addressed how distinct DC maturation signatures instruct CD4+ T cell tolerance mechanisms. DC acquire antigens from apoptotic cells for self-peptide-MHC presentation and functionally adapt presumed tolerogenic DC phenotypes. Here, immature murine bone-marrow derived DC representing both inflammatory and conventional DC subsets adapted a maturationresistant DC signature upon apoptotic cell recognition but no additional tolerogenic features. Immature DC instruct CD4+ FoxP3+ regulatory T cells in a TGF-β prone micro-environment or generate anergic CD4+ T cells hampered in the TCR-induced proliferation and IL-2 secretion. Secondary stimulation of such anergic CD4+ T cells by immature DC increased primarily IL-10 production and conferred regulatory function. These IL-10+ regulatory T cells expressed high levels of CTLA-4, which is potently induced by immature DC in particular. Data in this work showed that anergic T cells can be re-programmed to become IL-10+ regulatory T cells upon ligation of CTLA-4 and CD28 signalling cascades by B7 costimulatory ligands on immature DC. In contrast, semi-mature DC phenotypes conditioned by the inflammatory mediator TNF prevented autoimmune disorders by induction of IL-10+ Th2 responses as demonstrated previously. Here, it was shown that TNF as an endogenous maturation stimulus and pathogenic Trypanosoma brucei variant-specific surface glycoproteins (VSG) induced highly similar DC gene expression signatures which instructed default effector Th2 responses. Repetitive administration of the differentially conditioned semi-mature DC effectively skewed T cell immunity to IL-10+ Th2 cells, mediating immune deviation and suppression. Collectively, the data presented in this work provide novel insights how immature and partially mature DC phenotypes generate T cell tolerance mechanisms in vitro, which has important implications for the design of effective DC-targeted vaccines. Unravelling the DC maturation signatures is central to the long-standing quest to break tolerance mimicked by malignant tumours or re-establish immune homeostasis in allergic or autoimmune disorders.
Imprinted genes play important roles in brain development. As the neural developmental capabilities of human parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (hpESCs) with only a maternal genome were not assessed in great detail, hence here the potential of hpESCs to differentiate into various neural subtypes was determined. In addition DNA methylation and expression of imprinted genes upon neural differentiation was also investigated. The results demonstrated that hpESC-derived neural stem cells (hpNSCs) showed expression of NSC markers Sox1, Nestin, Pax6, and Musashi1 (MS1), the silencing of pluripotency genes (Oct4, Nanog) and the absence of activation of neural crest (Snai2, FoxD3) and mesodermal (Acta1) markers. Moreover, confocal images of hpNSC cultures exhibited ubiquitous expression of NSC markers Nestin, Sox1, Sox2 and Vimentin. Differentiating hpNSCs for 28 days generated neural subtypes with neural cell type-specific morphology and expression of neuronal and glial markers, including Tuj1, NeuN, Map2, GFAP, O4, Tau, Synapsin1 and GABA. hpNSCs also responded to region-specific differentiation signals and differentiated into regional phenotypes such as midbrain dopaminergic- and motoneuron-type cells. hpESC-derived neurons showed typical neuronal Na+/K+ currents in voltage clamp mode, elicited multiple action potentials with a maximum frequency of 30 Hz. Cell depicted a typical neuron-like current pattern that responded to selective pharmacological blockers of sodium (tetrodotoxin) and potassium (tetraethylammonium) channels. Furthermore, in hpESCs and hpNSCs the majority of CpGs of the differentially methylated regions (DMRs) KvDMR1 were methylated whereas DMR1 (H19/Igf2 locus) showed partial or complete absence of CpG methylation, which is consistent with a parthenogenetic (PG) origin. Upon differentiation parent-of-origin-specific gene expression was maintained in hpESCs and hpNSCs as demonstrated by imprinted gene expression analyses. Together this shows that despite the lack of a paternal genome, hpNSCs are proficient in differentiating into glial- and neuron-type cells, which exhibit electrical activity similar to newly formed neurons. Moreover, maternal-specific gene expression and imprinting-specific DNA-methylation are largely maintained upon neural differentiation. hpESCs are a means to generate histocompatible and disease allele-free ESCs. Additionally, hpESCs are a unique model to study the influence of imprinting on neurogenesis.
XPD is a 5‘-3‘ helicase of the superfamily 2. As part of the transcription factor IIH it functions in transcription initiation and nucleotide excision repair. This work focus on the role of XPD in nucleotide excision repair. NER is a DNA repair pathway unique for its broad substrate range. In placental mammals NER is the only repair mechanism able to remove lesions induced by UV-light. NER can be divided into four different steps that are conserved between pro- and eukaryotes. Step 1 consists of the initial damage recognition, during step 2 the putative damage is verified, in step 3 the verified damage is excised and in the 4th and final step the resulting gap in the DNA is refilled. XPD was shown to be involved in the damage verification step. It was possible to solve the first apo XPD structure by a MAD approach using only the endogenous iron from the iron sulfur cluster. Based on the apo XPD structure several questions arise: where is DNA bound? Where is DNA separated? How is damage verification achieved? What is the role of the FeS cluster? These questions were addressed in this work. Hypothesis driven structure based functional mutagenesis was employed and combined with detailed biochemical characterization of the variants. The variants were analyzed by thermal unfolding studies to exclude the possibility that the overall stability could be affected by the point mutation. DNA binding assays, ATPase assays and helicase assays were performed to delineate amino acid residues important for DNA binding, helicase activity and damage recognition. A structure of XPD containing a four base pair DNA fragment was solved by molecular replacement. This structure displays the polarity of the translocated strand with respect to the helicase framework. Moreover the properties of the FeS cluster were studied by electron paramagnetic resonance to get insights into the role of the FeS cluster. Furthermore XPD from Ferroplasma acidarmanus was investigated since it was shown that it is stalled at CPD containing lesions. The data provide the first detailed insight into the translocation mechanism of a SF2B helicase and reveal how polarity is achieved. This provides a basis for further anlayses understanding the combined action of the helicase and the 4Fe4S cluster to accomplish damage verification within the NER cascade.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Effective vaccination strategies are urgently needed because of the emergence of drug-resistant parasites and severe side effects of chemotherapy. The research group of Heidrun Moll previously established a DC-based vaccination strategy to induce complete and long-lasting immunity to experimental leishmaniasis using LmAg-loaded and CpG ODN-activated DC as a vaccine carrier. Prevention of tissue damages at the site of L. major inoculation can be achieved if the BALB/c mice were systemically given LmAg-loaded BMDC that had been exposed to CpG ODN. The interest in further exploring the role of IL-4 aroused as previous studies allowed establishing that IL-4 was involved in the redirection of the immune response towards a type 1 profile. Thus, wt BALB/c mice or DC-specific CD11ccreIL-4Rα-/lox BALB/c mice were given either wt or IL-4Rα-deficient LmAg-loaded BMDC exposed or not to CpG ODN prior to inoculation of 2 x 105 stationary phase L. major promastigotes into the BALB/c footpad. The results provide evidence that IL4/IL-4Rα-mediated signaling in the vaccinating DC is required to prevent tissue damages at the site of L. major inoculation, as properly conditioned wt DC but not IL-4Rα-deficient DC were able to confer resistance. Furthermore, uncontrolled L. major population size expansion was observed in the footpad and the footpad draining LN in CD11ccreIL-4Rα-/lox mice immunized with CpG ODN-exposed LmAg-loaded IL-4Rα-deficient DC, indicating the influence of IL-4R-mediated signaling in host DC to control parasite replication. In addition, no footpad damage was observed in BALB/c mice that were systemically immunized with LmAg-loaded wt DC doubly exposed to CpG ODN and recombinant IL-4. Discussing these findings allow the assumption that triggering the IL4/IL4Rα signaling pathway could be a precondition when designing vaccines aimed to prevent damaging processes in tissues hosting intracellular microorganisms.
Dendritic cell-based vaccination is a well established technique for preventive and therapeutic instruction of the immune system where conservative vaccine formulations fail to cure or prevent diseases, respectively. Efficiency of this technique already was demonstrated in infectious diseases as well as for cancer in animal or human studies. Well controlled manipulation and antigen-loading of immature DC is most beneficial to this technique. But, time-consuming and cost-extensive procedures for preparation of DC precursors, expansion and stimulation of DC and inpatient administration are big disadvantages regarding vaccine development for pandemic infectious diseases that occur mainly in underdeveloped countries. Therefore vaccines are needed that are pathogen-tailored and able to induce equal immune responses as their DC-based vaccine models. For vaccination against Leishmania parasites such a DC-based vaccine is feasible and its efficacy to induce protective Th1-based immune responses was already demonstrated in several animal studies. But, one of our own studies indicated supportive activity of host cells exceeding the allocation of T cells to become activated by transferred DC. IL-12, an important cytokine for the induction of Th1-related immune responses, has to be produced by host cells. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of BMDC-based vaccination with regard to simplification of the vaccine formulation. Key questions that have been addressed are: Which cells process the information that is transferred by the injected DC and what are the key components of this information? Further more, it was looked at whether altered vaccine formulations are able to induce protective immunity and whether they share equal molecular mechanisms. The current paradigm of BMDC-based vaccination proposes direct interaction of transferred BMDC with host T cells. These BMDC have to be antigen-loaded for stimulation via antigen-peptide-MHC molecule-complexes and they have to be activated for proper co-stimulation of T cells. Here, this study demonstrates that neither activation for co-stimulation nor direct interaction with adequate MHC molecules is needed for the induction of protective immunity against infection with Leishmania-parasites. Disrupted antigen-loaded BMDC are able to induce protective immunity in BALB/c mice without pre-stimulation via CpG ODN. Beyond, if BMDC were used with a different MHC-background than recipient mice then the vaccine still would be efficient in terms of reduction of footpad swelling and parasite load in draining lymph nodes. Even more, DC-specific features are no key component that leads to protective immunity as vaccination with disrupted antigen-loaded MΦ shows equal properties than before mentioned vaccine formulations. Further more, it was found that host DC play a major role in transforming the incoming signal, received from transferred antigen-loaded DC, into Th1-related stimuli and Leishmania-antigen-specific T cell activation. Suspensions of disrupted antigen-loaded DC resemble a combination of laid off soluble molecules together with exosome-like vesicles that formed after disruption of membranes. Here it was shown that separation of the membranous and soluble fractions and subsequent transfer into BALB/c mice will lead to protection of these mice against infection with L. major promastigotes only if the membranous fraction is used as vaccine. More, this vaccine formulation takes advantage of easy storage at -80°C with no need of fresh production. This clearly demonstrates that the immunity-inducing principle of disrupted DC-based vaccination lies within the membrane enclosed fraction. On a molecular level, disrupted antigen-loaded DC induce Th1-related cytokines during vaccination and as response on pathogen encounter. In vivo assays revealed IL-12 production and antigen-specific T cell proliferation among splenocytes that were stimulated with disrupted antigen-loaded DC. Splenocytes of accordingly vaccinated mice produce tremendous amounts of IFNγ after stimulation with Leishmania parasites. In summary, disrupted antigen-loaded BMDC fulfil all characteristics of DC-based vaccination against Leishmania major. But, while purification of membranes of antigen-loaded DC and subsequent transfer to BALB/c mice leads to control of the disease in the animal model, only slight levels of Th1-related cytokines are seen in the in vivo assays. Whether this points towards a loss of vaccine activity on unseen levels or unknown sites where Th1-related immunity is induced by both, complete solution and purified membranes, still has to be determined.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that leads to the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells and consequently to hyperglycemia. In the last 60 years, the prevalence of type 1 diabetes has been increasing constantly and is predicted to continue rising. About 80% of the disease risk is attributable to the genetic variation. Thanks to genome wide association studies the number of known disease-associated polymorphisms climbed from five to 53 in the last 10 years. As these studies reveal possible candidate genes but not underlying mechanisms we strove to take the next step and explore the association of two genes suggested by these studies with type 1 diabetes. As a method of choice we decided to use lentiviral RNAi in non obese diabetic (NOD) mice, a widely-used model for type 1 diabetes, introducing a shRNA directed against the target message into the genome of this mouse strain via a lentivirus. This allowed us to study the partial loss-of-function of the target gene within the context of diabetes, directly seeing its effect on autoimmune mechanisms. In this thesis we examined two different genes in this manner, Ctla4 and Clec16a. A type 1 diabetes associated polymorphism in the CTLA4 gene had been found to alter the splicing ratio of its variants soluble CTLA-4 (sCTLA-4) and full length CTLA-4, the associated allele producing less sCTLA-4 than the protective allele. We mimicked this effect by specifically targeting the sCtla4 mRNA via lentiviral RNAi in the NOD model. As a result we could confirm the reduction of sCTLA-4 to accelerate type 1 diabetes development. Furthermore we could show a function of sCTLA-4 in regulatory T cells, more specifically at least partly in their ability to modulate costimulation by antigen presenting cells. The second candidate gene, Clec16a was targeted with the shRNA in a way that was designed to knock down most splice variants. As the gene function and the effect of the associated SUMMARY 10 polymorphism was unknown, we reasoned this method to be feasible to investigate its role in type 1 diabetes. The knockdown of Clec16a in NOD mice resulted in an almost complete protection from diabetes development that could be attributed to T cells dysfunction. However, as expression patterns and a study of the Drospophila orthologue suggested a possible role of CLEC16A in antigen presentation we also examined antigen presenting cells in the thymus and periphery. Although we did not detect any effect of the knockdown on peripheral antigen presenting cells, thymic epithelial cells were clearly affected by the loss of CLEC16A, rendering them more activated and shifting the ratio of cortical to medullary epithelial cells in favor of cortical cells. We therefore suggest a role of CLEC16A in the selection of T cells, that needs, however, to be further investigated. In this thesis we provided a feasible and fast method to study function of genes and even of single splice variants within the NOD mouse model. We demonstrate its usefulness on two candidate genes associated with type 1 diabetes by confirming and unraveling the cause of their connection to the disease.
Based on genetic association and functional imaging studies, reduced function of tryptophan hydroxylase-2 (TPH2) has been shown to be critically involved in the pathophysiology of anxiety-disorders and depression. In order to elucidate the impact of a complete neuronal 5-HT deficiency, mice with a targeted inactivation of the gene encoding Tph2 were generated. Interestingly, survival of Tph2-/- mice, the formation of serotonergic neurons and the pathfinding of their projections was not impaired. Within this thesis, I investigated the influence of 5-HT deficiency on the γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) system. The GABAergic system is implicated in the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. Therefore, measurement of GABA concentrations in different limbic brain regions was carried out. These measurements were combined with immunohistochemical estimation of GABAergic cell subpopulations in the dorsal hippocampus and amygdala. In Tph2-/- mice GABA concentrations were increased exclusively in the dorsal hippocampus. In heterozygous Tph2+/- mice concentrations of GABA were increased in the amygdala compared to Tph2-/- and wt control mice, while the reverse was found in the prefrontal cortex. The changes in GABA concentrations were accompanied by altered cell density of GABAergic neurons within the basolateral complex of the amygdala and parvalbumin (PV) neurons of the dorsal hippocampus and by adaptational changes of 5-HT receptors. Thus, adaptive changes during the development on the GABA system may reflect altered anxiety-like and depressive-like behavior in adulthood. Moreover, chronic mild stress (CMS) rescues the depressive-like effects induced by 5-HT deficiency. In contrast, 5-HT is important in mediating an increased innate anxiety-like behavior under CMS conditions. This is in line with a proposed dual role of 5-HT acting through different mechanisms on anxiety and depressive-like behavior, which is influenced by gene-environment interaction effects. Further research is needed to disentangle these complex networks in the future.
Early-life stress has been shown to influence the development of the brain and to increase the risk for psychiatric disorders later in life. Furthermore, variation in the human serotonin transporter (5-HTT, SLC6A4) gene is suggested to exert a modulating effect on the association between early-life stress and the risk for depression. At the basis of these gene x environment (G x E) interactions, epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA-methylation, seem to represent the primary biological processes mediating early-life programming for stress susceptibility or resilience, respectively. The exact molecular mechanisms however remain to be elucidated, though. In the present study, we used two different stress paradigms to assess the molecular mechanisms mediating the relationship between early-life stress and disorders of emotion regulation later in life. First, a 5-Htt x prenatal stress (PS) paradigm was applied to investigate whether the effects of PS are dependent on the 5-Htt genotype. For this purpose, the effects of PS on cognition and anxiety- / depression-related behavior were examined using a maternal restraint stress paradigm of PS in C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) and heterozygous 5-Htt deficient (5-Htt+/-) mice. Additionally, in female offspring, a genome-wide hippocampal gene expression and DNA methylation profiling was performed using the Affymetrix GeneChip® Mouse Genome 430 2.0 Array and the AffymetrixGeneChip® Mouse Promoter 1.0R Array. Some of the resulting candidate genes were validated by quantitative real-time PCR. Further, the gene expression of these genes was measured in other brain regions of the PS animals as well as in the hippocampus of offspring of another, 5-Htt x perinatal stress (PeS) paradigm, in which pregnant and lactating females were stressed by an olfactory cue indicating infanticide. To assess resilience to PS and PeS, correlation studies between gene expression and behaviour were performed based on an initial performance-based LIMMA analysis of the gene expression microarray. 5-Htt+/- offspring of the PS paradigm showed enhanced memory performance and signs of reduced anxiety as compared to WT offspring. In contrast, exposure of 5-Htt+/- mice to PS was associated with increased depression-like behavior, an effect that tended to be more pronounced in female offspring. Further, 5-Htt genotype, PS and their interaction differentially affected the expression and DNA methylation of numerous genes and related pathways within the female hippocampus. Specifically, MAPK and neurotrophin signaling were regulated by both the 5-Htt+/- genotype and PS exposure, whereas cytokine and Wnt signaling were affected in a 5-Htt genotype x PS manner, indicating a gene x environment interaction at the molecular level. The candidate genes of the expression array could be validated and their expression patterns were partly consistent in the prefrontal cortex and striatum. Furthermore, the genotype effect of XIAP associated factor 1 (Xaf1) was also detected in the mice of the PeS paradigm. Concerning resilience, we found that the expression of growth hormone (Gh), prolactin (Prl) and fos-induced growth factor (Figf) were downregulated in WTPS mice that performed well in the forced swim test (FST). At the same time, the results indicated that Gh and Prl expression correlated positively with adrenal weight, whereas Figf expression correlated positively with basal corticosteron concentration, indicating an intricate relationship between depression-like behavior, hippocampal gene expression and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Correlation studies in the PeS animals revealed a link between Gh / Prl expression and anxiety-like behavior. In conclusion, our data suggest that although the 5-Htt+/- genotype shows clear adaptive capacity, 5-Htt+/- mice, particularly females, appear to be more vulnerable to developmental stress exposure when compared to WT offspring. Moreover, hippocampal gene expression and DNA methylation profiles suggest that distinct epigenetic mechanisms at the molecular level mediate the behavioral effects of the 5-Htt genotype, PS exposure, and their interaction. Further, resilience to early-life stress might be conferred by genes whose expression is linked to HPA axis function.
PTPN22 encodes the lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase Lyp that can dephosphorylate Lck, ZAP-70 and Fyn to attenuate TCR signaling. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (C1858T) causes a substitution from arginine (R) to tryptophan (W) at 620 residue (R620W). Lyp-620W has been confirmed as a susceptible allele in multiple autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes (T1D). Several independent studies proposed that the disease-associated allele is a gain-of-function variant. However, a recent report found that in human cells and a knockin mouse containing the R620W homolog that Ptpn22 protein degradation is accelerated, indicating Lyp-620W is a loss-of-function variant. Whether Lyp R620W is a gain- or loss-of-function variant remains controversial. To resolve this issue, we generated two lines (P2 and P4) of nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice in which Ptpn22 can be inducibly silenced by RNAi. We found long term silencing of Ptpn22 increased spleen cellularity and regulatory T (Treg) cell numbers, replicating the effect of gene deletion reported in the knockout (KO) B6 mice. Notably, Ptpn22 silencing also increased the reactivity and apoptotic behavior of B lymphocytes, which is consistent with the reduced reactivity and apoptosis of human B cells carrying the alleged gain-of-function PTPN22 allele. Furthermore, loss of Ptpn22 protected P2 KD mice from spontaneous and Cyclophosphamide (CY) induced diabetes. Our data support the notion that Lyp-620W is a gain-of-function variant. Moreover, Lyp may be a valuable target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.