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- Chair of Experimental Biomedicine I (1)
Several cohort studies showed that obesity increases the risk of chronic disease such as T2DM, hypertension and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and various types of cancer. Different factors were described that might be involving in these diseases in obesity. Some of these suggested factors were chronic infection, elevated free fatty acids, increased ROS formation, mitochondrial dysfunction and raised NAPDH oxidase activity. Obesity is a multifactorial disease and it is very hard to distinguish between all of these factors. In this study, we wanted to focus on the association between obesity, oxidative stress and genomic damage in kidney, liver and colon, which are the most relevant organs for cancer risk according to the cohort studies. Our findings indicated elevated oxidative stress in kidney, liver and colon together with elevated lipid, RNA and DNA oxidation in the whole body. Additionally, we were able to show increased DNA damage in kidney, liver and colon.
Since obesity has become an epidemic all over the world, possible therapeutic applications such as life style changes (diet and sport), pharmacological supplements and various type of surgeries are increasing. As a second question, we focused on the effect of weight loss, which is supplied either by Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery or by caloric restriction designed in a way to provide the same extent of weight loss, on oxidative stress and genomic damage. Our results indicated that weight loss either by gastric bypass surgery or by caloric restriction led to reduced oxidative stress and genomic damage in kidney, liver and colon. We could not find any difference between the weight loss methods, except the DNA oxidation and repair marker urinary 8-oxodG, which was still elevated after RYGB, but not after caloric restriction.
It is known that hyperinsulinemia and in the long term T2DM are among the biggest concerns in obese individuals. Since we know the mutagenic potential of elevated insulin levels from previous data in our working group, the correlation between the highly mutagenic DNA DBSs marker, γ-H2AX and the plasma insulin level was tested and the findings indicated a positive correlation. In order to demonstrate the association between insulin-related oxidative stress and genomic damage, we used in vitro and in vivo models with Pten deficiency. In this part of study, the work was focused on liver.
Pten is a known negative regulator of the PI3K/Akt pathway, which is responsible for the elevated NADPH oxidase activity and mitochondrial dysfunction through elevated insulin levels. Pten inhibition or deficiency were used to sensitize the system to insulin. Non-transformed immortalized human hepatocytes were used to show the mutagenic potential of elevated insulin and these in vitro data revealed once more the link between insulin signaling, elevated oxidative stress and genomic damage. Since the metabolic function of the liver is not only due to the extent of the hepatic insulin response but is also affected by systemic interactions, a whole-body Pten haplodeficient mouse model with an additional Pten+/-/Akt2-/- group was utilized for in vivo investigation of insulin-mediated toxicity. Our findings in this model suggested that Pten deficiency alone can cause an increase in oxidative stress. HFD alone was sufficient to increase the expression of HO-1 and genomic damage significantly. Moreover, the combination (whole-body Pten haplodeficient mice fed with HFD) showed significantly elevated oxidative stress and genomic damage in mouse liver. However, Akt2 knockout could only reduce the oxidative stress and DNA damage in high fat diet fed mice significantly.
All these findings demonstrated that obesity can induce oxidative stress and genomic damage. Elevated insulin levels are associated with obesity-mediated oxidative stress and genomic damage. However, the underlying mechanisms are surely multifaceted and complicated. For example, Pten as oncogene might also induce other mechanisms besides the elevation of the PI3K/Akt pathway activity.
In conclusion, it is clear that oxidative stress and DNA damage are linked to obesity and that weight loss can reduce these two factors. Since DNA-damage is associated with an elevated cancer risk, it might be logical to use an antioxidant therapy in obese individuals to reduce the side effects and oxidative stress dependent mutagenicity and cancer risk in these individuals. However, much more research will be needed to support this idea experimentally.
The rotation of the earth around its own axis determines periodically changing environmental conditions, like alterations in light and temperature. For the purpose of adapting all organisms’ behavior, physiology and metabolism to recurring changes, endogenous clocks have evolved, which allow the organisms to anticipate environmental changes. In chronobiology, the scientific field dealing with the investigation of the underlying mechanisms of the endogenous clock, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster serves as a beneficial model organism. The fruit fly’s circadian clock exhibits a rather simple anatomical organization, but nevertheless constitutes homologies to the mammalian system. Thus also in this PhD-thesis the fruit fly was used to decipher general features of the circadian clock’s interneuronal communication.
Drosophila melanogaster’s circadian clock consists of about 150 clock neurons, which are located in the central nervous system of the fly. These clock neurons can be subdivided regarding to their anatomical position in the brain into the dorsal neurons (DN1s, DN2s, DN3s), as well as into the lateral neurons (LPNs, LNds, s-LNvs, l-LNvs). Functionally these clock neuron clusters can be classified as Morning- and Evening oscillators (M- and E- oscillators), driving different parts of the fly’s locomotor activity in light-dark conditions (LD). The Morning-oscillators are represented by the s-LNvs and are known to be the main pacemakers, driving the pace of the clock in constant conditions (constant darkness; DD). The group of Evening-oscillators consists of the LNds, the DN1s and the 5th s-LNv and is important for the proper timing of the evening activity in LD. All of these clock neurons are not functionally independent, but form complex neuronal connections, which are highly plastic in their response to different environmental stimuli (Zeitgebers), like light or temperature.
Even though a lot is known about the function and the importance of some clock neuron clusters, the exact interplay between the neurons is not fully known yet. To investigate the mechanisms, which are involved in communication processes among different clock neurons, we depolarized specific clock cells in a temporally and cell-type restricted manner using dTrpA1, a thermosensitive cation channel, which allows the depolarization of neurons by application of temperature pulses (TP) above 29°C to the intact and freely moving fly. Using different clock specific GAL4-driver lines and applying TPs at different time points within the circadian cycle in DD enabled us with the help of phase shift experiments to draw conclusions on the properties of the endogenous clock. The obtained phase shifts in locomotor behavior elicited by specific clock neuronal activation were plotted as phase response curves (PRCs).
The depolarization of all clock neurons shifted the phase of activity the strongest, especially in the delay zone of the PRC. The exclusive depolarization of the M oscillators together with the l-LNvs (PDF+ neurons: s-LNvs & l-LNvs) caused shifts in the delay and in the advance zone as well, however the advances were severely enhanced in their temporal occurrence ranging into the subjective day. We concluded that light might have inhibitory effects on the PDF+ cells in that particular part of the PRC, as typical light PRCs do not exhibit that kind of distinctive advances. By completely excluding light in the PRC-experiments of this PhD-thesis, this photic inhibitory input to the PDF+ neurons is missing, probably causing the broadened advance zone. These findings suggest the existence of an inhibitory light-input pathway to the PDF+ cells from the photoreceptive organs (Hofbauer-Buchner eyelet, photoreceptor cells of compound eyes, ocelli) or from other clock neurons, which might inhibit phase advances during the subjective day.
To get an impression of the molecular state of the clock in the delay and advance zone, staining experiments against Period (PER), one of the most important core clock components, and against the neuropeptide Pigment Dispersing Factor (PDF) were performed. The cycling of PER levels mirrored the behavioral phase shifts in experimental flies, whereas the controls were widely unaffected. As just those neurons, which had been depolarized, exhibited immediate shifted PER oscillations, this effect has to be rapidly regulated in a cell-autonomous manner.
However, the molecular link between clock neuron depolarization and shifts in the molecular clock’s cycling is still missing. This issue was addressed by CREB (cAMP responsive element binding protein) quantification in the large ventrolateral neurons (l-LNvs), as these neurons responded unexpectedly and strongest to the artificial depolarization exhibiting a huge increase in PER levels. It had been previously suggested that CREB is involved in circadian rhythms by binding to regulatory sequences of the period gene (Belvin et al., 1999), thus activating its transcription. We were able to show, that CREB levels in the l-LNvs are under circadian regulation, as they exhibit higher CREB levels at the end of the subjective night relative to the end of the subjective day. That effect was further reinforced by artificial depolarization, independently of the time point of depolarization. Furthermore the data indicate that rises in CREB levels are coinciding with the time point of increases of PER levels in the l-LNvs, suggesting CREB being the molecular link between the neuronal electrical state and the molecular clock.
Taking together, the results indicate that a temporal depolarization using dTrpA1 is able to significantly phase shift the clock on the behavioral and protein level. An artificial depolarization at the beginning of the subjective night caused phase delays, whereas a depolarization at the end of the subjective night resulted in advances. The activation of all clock neurons caused a PRC that roughly resembled a light-PRC. However, the depolarization of the PDF+ neurons led to a PRC exhibiting a shape that did not resemble that of a light-mediated PRC, indicating the complex processing ability of excitatory and inhibitory input by the circadian clock. Even though this experimental approach is highly artificial, just the exclusion of light-inputs enabled us to draw novel conclusions on the network communication and its light input pathways.
Effect of cytokine inhibition on peripheral memory B cells in patients with Rheumatoid arthtritis
(2015)
Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory autoimmune disease. Enhanced B cell activity has been proposed in the pathogenesis of RA along with different pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), critically involved in chronic inflammation. Biological agents targeting these cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α have considerably advanced treatment of autoimmunity. Enhanced B cell activity, particularly memory B cells gained particularly interest in evaluating response during therapies from biologics. Human peripheral memory B cells can be distinguished by the phenotypic expression of CD27 and IgD defining three major B cell subpopulations: CD27+IgD+ pre-switch, CD27+IgD- post-switch and CD27-IgD- double negative (DN) memory B cells. Therefore, we analyzed different memory populations during cytokine inhibition by using tocilizumab (anti-IL-6R, TCZ) and adalimumab (anti-TNF-α, ADA), with focus on DN B cells Suspended. DN B cells lacking the conventional memory marker CD27, but due to their mutational Ig repertoire (IgR) considered in the memory compartment. However, only scare data are available for this DN subpopulation in RA.
Methods: Phenotype analysis of activation markers (CD95 and ki-67) of B cell and their subsets were compared in RA patients (median age ~56 years) and in HD. DN memory B cells were phenotypically analyzed from RA patients during IL-6R or TNF-α inhibition at baseline week 12, week 24 and 1 year. Single B cell PCR approach was used to study Ig- receptors VH genes and isotype specific genes. Nonparametric Wilcoxon matched pair test and Mann-Whitney U test was used for statistical analysis by using GraphPadPrism 5. Univariate logistic regression was used to calculate odd ratios and correlation using Pearson r using SPSS statistics 22.
Results: Surface and intracellular staining of B cells showed a significantly higher percentage of CD95 and ki-67 expressions in RA, which was highest in post-switch memory B cells followed by pre-switch and DN memory B cells. During cytokines (IL-6R & TNF-α) inhibition, both CD95 and ki-67 expression were significantly reduced at week 12 and 24 along with reduction in their clinical parameters like DAS28, CRP, ESR. Furthermore, the phenotypic analysis in 107 RA patients and 49 healthy donors (HD) showed a significantly expanded population of DN B cells in RA which contain a heterogeneous mixture of IgA, IgG and IgM expressing cells with a clear dominance of IgG+ cells. Pre-therapy analysis of rearranged IgR sequences from patients (n=9) revealed that DN B cells carry rearranged heavy chain gene sequences with a diversified mutational pattern consistent with memory B cells. In contrast to tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibition, a significant reduction in mutational frequency of BCR gene rearrangements at week 12, 24 and 1 year (p < 0.0001) was observed by in vivo IL-6R inhibition. These changes were observed for all BCR isotypes IgG, IgA and IgM at week 12, 24 and 1 year (p < 0.0001). IgA-RF, IgA serum level and IgA+ DN B cells decreased significantly (p < 0.05) at week 12 and week 24 during TCZ. Patients with a good European league against rheumatism (EULAR) response to TCZ had less DN B cells at baseline as compared to moderate responders (p = 0.006). Univariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the frequency of DN B cells at baseline is inversely correlated to a subsequent good EULAR response (p = 0.024) with an odds ratio of 1.48 (95% confidence interval as 1.05-2.06).
Conclusion: Both anti-TNF-α and anti-IL-6R could reduce higher B cell activity and improve disease activity tremendously in RA patients. The heterogeneous DN B cell compartment is expanded in RA and dominated by IgG isotype. TCZ can modulate the mutational status of DN Ig isotype receptors over 1 year. Interestingly, the frequency of DN B cells in RA may serve as a baseline predictor of subsequent EULAR response to TCZ.
LASP1 reguliert die Genexpression und Sekretion von Matrix-Metalloproteasen in Brustkrebszellen
(2016)
Migration und Tumorzellinvasion erfordern die vorhergehende Degradation der umliegenden Extrazellulärmartrix (EZM). Dieser Umbauprozess erfolgt primär durch proteolytische Endopeptidasen, sog. Matrix-Metalloproteasen (MMPs). Damit diese ihre funktionelle Aktivität ausüben können, müssen sie zunächst rekrutiert und mit Hilfe podosomaler bzw. invadopodialer Strukturen in die EZM sezerniert werden.
Das LIM und SH3 Domänen Protein 1 (LASP1), ein neu in Podosomen von Makrophagen identifiziertes regulatorisches Gerüstprotein, beeinflusst, neben Größe, Anzahl und Beständigkeit von Podosomen, in hohem Maße die Matrixdegradationskapazität der Zelle.
Auch in invasiven Brustkrebszellen wurde eine Lokalisation von LASP1 an Invadopodien, den Podosomen-äquivalenten Strukturen, detektiert.
Das primäre Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war daher die funktionelle Charakterisierung von LASP1 in Invadopodien. Unter Etablierung eines Matrix-Degradations-Assays konnte gezeigt werden, dass eine Herunterregulation von LASP1 auch in der humanen Brustkrebszelllinie MDA-MB-231, die zuvor schon für Makrophagen gezeigte Matrixdegradation nachhaltig beeinträchtig.
Durch Analyse und Verifikation von zugänglichen Mikroarraydaten mittels qRT-PCR und Western Blot konnte ferner belegt werden, dass LASP1 in den Brustkrebszellen die Genexpression und Proteintranslation von MMP1, -3 und -9 positiv moduliert und somit das gesamt-invasive Potential der Zelle steigert. Darüber hinaus deuten Zymogramme und die Analyse des konditionierten Mediums darauf hin, dass LASP1 als Strukturprotein die vesikuläre Sekretion der inaktiven Zymogene (proMMPs) in die EZM fördert. Demzufolge modifiziert LASP1 während der Krebsprogression die zelluläre Mikroumgebung zugunsten einer erhöhten Metastasierungsrate.
Die neu identifizierte regulatorische Funktion von LASP1 auf die Transkription sowie Sekretion von Matrix-Metalloproteasen erklärt die in früheren Arbeiten beobachtete Korrelation zwischen einer erhöhten LASP1 Konzentration im Gewebe und dem vermehrten Auftreten von Metastasen, und damit einhergehend, schlechteren Überleben der Patientinnen.
Bei der Behandlung solider Tumoren spielen systemisch verabreichte Chemotherapeutika eine wich- tige Rolle. Allerdings akkumulieren diese Therapeutika besser in normalem Gewebe als in Tumoren. Als Ursache für diesen unzureichenden Transport von Medikamenten in den Tumor wurde bisher vor allem die dysfunktionale Tumorvaskulatur diskutiert. Diese befindet sich in einem chaotischen und unreifen Zustand ohne ausreichende Bedeckung der Gefäße mit stabilisierenden Perizyten. Aus dem Zustand der Vaskulatur resultierend erreichen Medikamente den Tumor nur in geringem Ausmaß und werden dort heterogen verteilt. Als Grund für den Zustand der Vaskulatur wur- de ein großer Überschuss an pro-angiogenetischen Faktoren im Tumor ausgemacht. Durch eine anti-angiogenetische Behandlung konnte in präklinischen Modellen für einen gewissen Zeitraum die Tumorvaskulatur „normalisiert“ werden. Dies zeichnete sich vor allem durch Veränderung von zwei wichtigen Parametern für die Medikamenteneinbringung aus: zum Einen kommt es zu einer Reduktion der Gefäßdichte. Zum Anderen zu einer Reifung der Blutgefäße. In einem Teil von Pati- enten scheint dabei der Effekt der Gefäßverbesserung zu überwiegen und es kann eine verbesserte Perfusion detektiert werden. Mutmaßlich führt dies auch zu einer verbesserten Einbringung von Therapeutika in den Tumor und so zu einer erhöhten Effizienz der Therapie. In einem weiteren Teil der Patienten scheint jedoch der Effekt der Gefäßreduktion zu überwiegen und die detektierte Perfusion im Tumor wird durch die Behandlung verringert.
Das in dieser Arbeit verwendete MT6-Fibrosarkom-Modell reagierte auf eine anti-angiogenetische Therapie nicht mit einer sonst in murinen Modellen beobachteten Wachstumsreduktion. Die- se ermöglichte eine so bisher nicht mögliche Untersuchung der sekundären Effekte einer anti- angiogenetischen Therapie wie die Medikamenteneinbringung in den Tumor. Die Vaskulatur in MT6-Tumoren zeigte dabei nach einer anti-angiogenetischen Vorbehandlung, die erwarteten Merk-male einer „normalisierten“ Vaskulatur wie eine Reduktion der Gefäßdichte bei gleichzeitiger Rei- fung der verbleibenden Gefäße. Dies führte jedoch nicht zu einer verbesserten Effizienz einer subsequenten Chemotherapie. Durch Vergleich mit einem weiteren Tumor-Modell, dem 4T1-Modell für ein metastasierendes Mammakarzinom, konnten signifikante Unterschiede im Gefäßbild beider Modelle ausgeschlossen werden. Durch mikroskopische Methoden konnte dabei beobachtet werden, dass die Diffusion von Medikamenten aus den Blutgefäßen des MT6-Modells im Vergleich zum 4T1-Modell verringert war. Weitere Untersuchungen deuten auf eine Differenz in der Qualität der extrazellulären Matrix der verwendeten Tumor-Modelle. Durch mRNA-Expressionsanalysen konnte die Enzymfamilie der Lysyloxidasen als mögliche Ursache für diesen Diffusionsunterschied identi- fiziert werden. Lysyloxidasen katalysieren vor allem die Quervernetzung von Proteinen der Extra- zellulärmatrix. Im Weiteren konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Quervernetzung von Matrixproteinen durch Lysyloxidasen ursächlich für die Diffusions-Inhibierung kleiner Moleküle wie das Chemo- therapeutikum Doxorubicin sein kann. Durch spezifische Inhibition der Lysyloxidasen mittels des Inhibitors βAPN konnte diese Diffusions-Inhibition sowohl in vitro als auch im MT6-Tumor-Modell nahezu vollständig verhindert werden. Die hohe Aktivität von Lysyloxidasen im MT6-Modell stell- te allerdings kein Alleinstellungsmerkmal dieses Modells dar. In weiteren Untersuchungen konnte gezeigt werden, dass Lysyloxidasen in einer Vielzahl von murinen und humanen Tumorzelllinien überexprimiert wird. Die Inhibition von Lysyloxidasen durch βAPN konnte dabei in allen unter- suchten Modellen die Einbringung von Medikamenten in den Tumor erhöhen und könnte so eine sinnvolle adjuvante Maßnahme zur Verbesserung bestehender Chemotherapien darstellen.
Structural and biochemical characterization of gephyrin and various gephyrin-ligand complexes
(2014)
Efficient synaptic neurotransmission requires the exact apposition of presynaptic terminals and matching neurotransmitter receptor clusters on the postsynaptic side. The receptors are embedded in the postsynaptic density, which also contains scaffolding and regulatory proteins that ensure high local receptor concentrations. At inhibitory synapses the cytosolic scaffolding protein gephyrin assumes an essential organizing role within the postsynaptic density by the formation of self-oligomers which provide a high density of binding sites for certain -amino butyric acid type A (GABAA) and the large majority of glycine receptors (GlyR). Gephyrin contains two oligomerization domains: In isolation, the 20 kDa N-terminal G domain (GephG) and the 46 kDa E domain (GephE) trimerize and dimerize, respectively. In the full-length protein the domains are interconnected by a central ~150 amino acid linker, and only GephG trimerization is utilized, whereas GephE dimerization is prevented, thus suggesting the need for a trigger to release GephE autoinhibition, which would pave the way for the formation of higher oligomers and for efficient receptor clustering. The structural basis for this GephE autoinhibition has remained elusive so far, but the linker was reported to be sufficient for autoinhibition. This work dealt with the biochemical and structural characterization of apo-gephyrin and gephyrin in complexes with ligands which are known to promote the formation of synaptic gephyrin clusters (collybistin and neuroligin 2) and reorganize them (dynein light chain 1).
For full-length gephyrin no structural information has been available so far. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses described in this thesis disclosed that the gephyrin trimer forms a highly flexible assembly, which, due to the long linker, can switch between compact and extended conformational states in solution, with a preference for compact states. This partial compaction and potentially GephE autoinhibition are achieved by interactions of parts of the linker with the G and E domains, as suggested by circular dichroism spectroscopy. However, the linker on its own cannot account for GephE blockage, as size exclusion chromatography experiments coupled with multi angle light scattering detection (SEC-MALS) and SAXS analyses revealed that a gephyrin variant only encompassing the linker and GephE (GephLE) forms dimers and not monomers as suggested by an earlier study. The oligomeric state of GephLE and the observation that several gephyrin variants, in which linker segments of varying length were deleted, predominantly formed trimers, suggested the presence of a linker independent mechanism of GephE dimerization blockade. Taken together, the data indicated that linker-dependent and linker-independent mechanisms mediate gephyrin autoinhibition.
In the second project gephyrin’s interaction with DYNLL1 (Dynein LC8 Light Chain 1) was characterized. DYNLL1 is a 25 kDa dimer incorporated into the dynein motor and provides two binding sites, each of which can accommodate an octapeptide derived from gephyrin’s linker region (referred to as GephDB). Originally, DYNLL1 was regarded as a cargo adaptor, linking gephyrin-GlyR complexes to the dynein motor, thus driving their retrograde transport and leading to a decrease of synaptic gephyrin-GlyR complexes.
Building on these studies, this thesis assessed the cargo hypothesis as well as the so far unclear stoichiometry of the gephyrin-DYNLL1 complex. The cargo scenario would require ternary complex formation between gephyrin, DYNLL1 and the dynein intermediate chain (DIC) of the dynein motor. However, such a complex could not be detected by analytical size exclusion chromatography (aSEC) experiments – presumably because gephyrin and DIC competed for a common binding site in DYNLL1. This finding was consistent with a single DYNLL1 dimer capturing two linker segments of a single gephyrin trimer as suggested by a 26 kDa mass increase of the gephyrin species in the presence of DYNLL1 in SEC-MALS experiments. aSEC experiments at even higher concentrations (~20 µM gephyrin and ~80 µM DYNLL1) indicated that the affinity of GephDB was significantly impaired in the context of full-length gephyrin but also in a variant that bears only GephG and the first 39 residues of the linker (GephGL220). Presumably due to avidity effects two linkers stably associated with a single DYNLL1 dimer, whereas the third DYNLL1 binding motif remained predominantly unoccupied unless high concentrations of GephGL220 (50 µM) and DYNLL1 (200 µM) were used. These findings indicate that an interplay between GephG and the N-terminal linker segment mediates the attenuation of GephDB affinity towards DYNLL1 and that preventing DYNLL1 from the induction of higher gephyrin oligomers is either advantageous for DYNLL1-mediated reorganization of gephyrin-GlyR clusters or that DYNLL1 exerts possibly two (concentration-dependent) actions on gephyrin.
The gephyrin-collybistin-neuroligin 2 complex was the subject of the third project. Previously, collybistin and gephyrin were observed to mutually trigger their translocation to the postsynaptic membrane, where the disordered cytoplasmic tail of the postsynaptic cell adhesion molecule NL2 (NL2cyt) causes the anchoring of collybistin 2 (CB2) by binding to its SH3 domain, thereby releasing SH3 domain mediated autoinhibiton of CB2 binding to the membrane phospholipid phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate. Critical for this event is the binding of gephyrin to both CB2 and NL2, presumably via GephE.
Following up on these previous studies biochemical data presented in this thesis confirm the formation of the ternary complex. Unexpectedly, analyses by means of native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis pointed to: (1) The existence of a complex containing NL2cyt and CB2 lacking the SH3 domain and consequently an additional NL2 binding site in CB2. (2) Attenuated gephyrin-collybistin complex formation in the presence of the SH3 domain. (3) A requirement for high NL2cyt concentrations (> 30 µM) during the formation of the ternary complex. This might allow for the regulation by other factors such as additional binding partners or posttranslational modifications. Although of preliminary character, these results provide a starting point for future studies, which will hopefully elucidate the interplay between gephyrin, collybistin, NL2 and certain GABAA receptors.
Die bipolare Störung ist eine psychische Erkrankung, die sich durch wiederkehrende depressive und (hypo-) manische Phasen auszeichnet. Neben Stimmungsschwankungen leiden viele Patienten unter kognitiven Beeinträchtigungen, die nicht nur während akuter Episoden, sondern auch in der Remission, d.h. in euthymer Stimmungslage persistieren. Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigte sich mit den klinischen Korrelaten von kognitiven Defiziten und der Effektivität eines kognitiven Trainings bei bipolaren Patienten (BP). In der ersten Teilstudie wurde untersucht, wie sich die kognitive Leistung der Patienten von der akuten Phase bis zur Remission verändert. Dazu wurden 55 akut depressive und (hypo-) manische BP und 55 gesunde Kontrollpersonen wiederholt mit einer neuropsychologischen Testbatterie untersucht. 29 Patienten konnten nach mindestens 3-monatiger Remission erneut getestet werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die akut kranken BP domänenübergreifend kognitive Störungen im Vergleich zu gesunden Kontrollen aufweisen, wobei die depressiven Patienten eher in der Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit, der Aufmerksamkeit und dem Gedächtnis beeinträchtigt waren. Die akut manischen Patienten hatten hingegen auffällige Defizite in den exekutiven Funktionen. Die Performanz der BP besserte sich zwar in der Remission, es waren aber weiterhin im Vergleich zu den Kontrollen Defizite in der psychomotorischen Geschwindigkeit, dem Arbeitsgedächtnis und dem verbalen Gedächtnis festzustellen. Es zeigte sich außerdem, dass die Verarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit, die Aufmerksamkeit und das verbale Gedächtnis in Zusammenhang mit subdepressiven Symptomen und Schlafstörungen standen, wohingegen die exekutiven Testmaße nicht mit diesen „State“-Faktoren assoziiert waren. Diese Ergebnisse lassen vermuten, dass die exekutiven Funktionen als Trait-Merkmale der bipolaren Störung in Frage kommen, wohingegen Aufmerksamkeit und Gedächtnis durch das Vorliegen von Residualsymptomen beeinträchtigt sind.
Ziel des zweiten Teils dieser Arbeit war es, eine kognitive Defizit- vs. Nondefizit Subgruppe innerhalb der BP zu identifizieren, um herauszufinden welche soziodemographischen oder krankheitsrelevanten Charakteristika mit kognitiven Störungen in Zusammenhang stehen. Dazu wurde die neuropsychologische Testleistung von 79 euthymen BP und 70 gesunden Kontrollen verglichen. Es zeigte sich erwartungsgemäß, dass die BP in der psychomotorischen Geschwindigkeit, der Aufmerksamkeit, dem Arbeitsgedächtnis, dem verbalen Gedächtnis, der Wortflüssigkeit und dem problemlösenden Denken trotz stabiler Remission signifikant schlechtere Leistungen erbrachten als die gesunden Kontrollen. Im Anschluss wurde die bipolare Stichprobe anhand ihrer Testleistung in eine Defizit- und eine Nondefizit Gruppe aufgeteilt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass 54% der BP in allen Tests eine völlig normgerechte Leistung erbrachten. Die Studie bestätigte demnach, dass nicht alle Patienten kognitive Defizite aufweisen, sondern Subgruppen bestehen, die sich in verschiedenen Variablen voneinander unterscheiden: Die Defizit-Subgruppe berichtete signifikant mehr subdepressive Symptome und es lagen häufiger persistierenden Schlafstörungen und die Diagnose einer komorbiden Erkrankung vor (Angststörung, ADHS und Migräne). Zudem zeigte sich ein Zusammenhang zwischen Polypharmazie und kognitiven Defiziten. Diese Ergebnisse demonstrieren, dass ein Teil der kognitiven Störungen bei BP durch eine nicht vollständige Remission und sekundäre Symptome bedingt sind. Es ergab sich keine Assoziation zwischen kognitiver Leistung und krankheitsrelevanten Variablen, wie z.B. Anzahl der Phasen, Bipolar-Subtyp oder Ersterkrankungsalter. Diese Daten widersprechen zwar nicht der Hypothese, dass kognitive Störungen durch neurodegenerative Prozesse bedingt sind, sie weisen jedoch darauf hin, dass bei der bipolaren Störung häufig Residualsymptome vorliegen, welche im Rahmen von Studie als auch bei der therapeutischen Arbeit stärker als bisher berücksichtigt werden müssen.
In beiden Teilstudien zeigte sich zudem, dass kognitive Störungen mit einem reduzierten psychosozialen Funktionsniveaus in Verbindung stehen. Dieses Ergebnis steht in Einklang mit bisherigen Untersuchungen, die berichten, dass Patienten mit kognitiven Defiziten soziale und berufliche Einschränkungen aufweisen, die wiederum mit einem schlechteren Krankheitsverlauf assoziiert ist. Aufgrund dessen wurde von einigen Autoren vorgeschlagen, mit Hilfe spezieller Interventionen wie der kognitiven Remediation (KR) die geistigen Funktionen zu rehabilitieren. In der vorliegenden Interventionsstudie wurde deshalb der Frage nachgegangen, ob die neurokognitive Leistungsfähigkeit und das psychosoziale Funktionsniveau der bipolaren Stichprobe durch KR verbessert werden kann. Zudem sollte untersucht werden, inwiefern kognitives Training zu Veränderungen der präfrontalen Hirnaktivität führt. Dafür wurde vor und nach dem Training eine Messung mit der Methode der funktionellen Nahinfrarotspektroskopie (fNIRS) durchgeführt. Das 3-monatige KR-Programm bestand aus einem computerisierten kognitiven Training und der Vermittlung von kognitiven Skills im Rahmen von 12-wöchentlichen Gruppensitzungen. Im Anschluss an das Training wurden die Teilnehmer (26 bipolare und als Vergleichsgruppe 13 unipolare Patienten) im Rahmen einer Post-Messung wiederholt untersucht. Zudem wurde zum Vergleich eine Kontrollgruppe von 10 BP im Abstand von 3 Monaten untersucht, die keine Intervention, sondern die Standardbehandlung erhielt. Aufgrund zahlreicher Drop-Outs konnten am Ende des Erhebungszeitraums die Daten von 16 bipolaren und 10 unipolar depressiven Patienten ausgewertet werden. Die Trainingsteilnehmer erbrachten im Gegensatz zu der Kontrollgruppe signifikante Leistungssteigerungen in den Tests zur Erfassung der psychomotorischen Geschwindigkeit, dem Arbeitsgedächtnisses, dem verbalen Gedächtnis und dem problemlösenden Denken. Zudem zeigte sich nach dem Training eine Verbesserung des psychosozialen Funktionsniveaus und eine Reduktion der subdepressiven Symptomatik. Eine Veränderung der präfrontalen Hirnaktivierung konnte jedoch nicht verifiziert werden. Die Ergebnisse lassen demnach schlussfolgern, dass Patienten mit affektiven Störungen von einem kognitiven Training profitieren, wobei die damit einhergehenden funktionalen Veränderungen der Hirnaktivität in Studien mit größeren Stichproben untersucht werden müssen.
Das Cochlea-Implantat (CI) ermöglichte bereits >300 000 hochgradig hörgeschädigten Menschen
weltweit eine grundsätzlich wiederhergestellte Hörfunktion. Es wird angenommen, dass sich das
Sprachverständnis von CI-Trägern verbessert, wenn die funktionale Trennung der CI-Kanäle erhöht
wird. Neben verschiedenen auf die auditorische Peripherie beschränkten Ansätzen gibt es Überlegungen, eine verbesserte Kanaltrennung durch die Rehabilitation taubheitsinduzierter Degenerationen in der spektralen Verarbeitung im zentralen auditorischen System zu erreichen. Es konnte in ertaubten Tieren bislang allerdings kein adäquates CI-Stimulationsmuster beschrieben werden, dass es erlaubte, eine gezielte neuronale Plastizität in der spektralen Verarbeitung zu induzieren.
Die Arbeitsgruppe um M.P. Kilgard (UT Dallas, USA) zeigte in mehreren Studien in hörenden Tieren,
dass auditorische Stimulation gepaart mit elektrischer Vagusnerv-Stimulation (VNS) zu einer gezielten kortikalen Plastizität führt. Diese gepaarte Stimulation konnte die spektrale Verarbeitung von Signalen im auditorischen Kortex (AC) gezielt beeinflussen und so z.B. pathologisch verbreiterte Repräsentationen von Tönen wieder verfeinern. Dieses hochgradige Potential für gezielte Plastizität im AC durch die gepaarte VNS scheint eine vielversprechende Lösung darzustellen, um die durch verbreiterte Repräsentation im ertaubten AC verminderte CI-Kanaltrennung zu verbessern. Vor diesem Hintergrund sollte in der vorliegenden Promotion die Übertragbarkeit dieses hochgradigen Potentials auf das ertaubte und CI-stimulierte auditorische System evaluiert werden.
Um die CI-Kanaltrennung zu untersuchen, wurde ein Multikanal-CI für die Mongolische Wüstenrennmaus (Gerbil) entwickelt. Trotz der kleinen Ausmaße von Cochlea und AC im Gerbil und der generell breiten neuronalen Erregung durch intracochleäre elektrische Stimulation konnte eine tonotop organisierte und selektive Repräsentation der neuronalen Antworten für mehrere CI-Kanäle im AC nachgewiesen werden. Für die gepaarte CI/VN-Stimulation wurden die Tiere zusätzlich mit einer Manschettenelektrode um den linken zervikalen Nervus vagus (VN) implantiert. Die chronischen Implantate erlaubten über mehrere Wochen hinweg eine stabile und zuverlässige elektrische Stimulation im frei-beweglichen Gerbil. Damit kombiniert das in dieser Promotion entwickelte Multikanal-CI-VNS-Modell die Vorteile einer tonotop selektiven und stabilen neuronalen Aktivierung mit den ethischen, kostenrelevanten und entwicklungsbezogenen Vorteilen, die der Einsatz von Kleinnagern bietet.
Als nächster Schritt wurde das grundsätzliche Potential der gepaarten CI/VN-Stimulation für gezielte plastische Veränderungen im AC des Gerbils getestet. Engineer et al. (2011) hatten bereits in akustischen Studien in hörenden Ratten die kortikale Überrepräsentation eines einzelnen chronisch mit VNS gepaarten Tones gezeigt. In der vorliegenden Promotion wurde versucht, die Ergebnisse aus der akustischen Studie in hörenden Ratten in zwei verschiedenen Studien im Gerbil zu reproduzieren. Analog zur gepaarten Ton/VN-Stimulation in der Ratte untersuchten wir zuerst in ertaubten Gerbils die Auswirkungen einkanaliger CI-Stimulation gepaart mit VNS. Im AC des Gerbils konnten keine Veränderung der zentralen Repräsentation des VNS gepaarten CI-Kanals festgestellt werden. Um speziesspezifische (Ratte vs. Gerbil) und stimulusspezifische (akustisch vs. elektrisch) Unterschiede zwischen den Studien als mögliche Gründe für das Ausbleiben der VNS induzierten Plastizität auszuschließen, wurde nun die gepaarte Ton/VN-Stimulation (Engineer et al., 2011) im hörenden Gerbil wiederholt. Eine kortikale Überrepräsentation des VNS gepaarten Signals konnte aber auch im hörenden Gerbil nicht reproduziert werden.
Mögliche Gründe für die Diskrepanz zwischen unseren Ergebnissen im Gerbil und den publizierten
Ergebnissen in der Ratte werden diskutiert. Die generelle Funktionsfähigkeit der VNS in den chronisch stimulierten Tieren wurde durch die Ableitung VNS evozierter Potentiale (VNEP) kontrolliert. Ein speziesspezifischer Unterschied erscheint bei der biologischen Nähe von Ratte und mongolischer Wüstenrennmaus unwahrscheinlich, kann allerdings durch die vorliegenden Studien nicht vollständig ausgeschlossen werden. Eine Abhängigkeit des plastischen Potentials der gepaarten VNS von der Stimulationsintensität ist bekannt. Da Ratten und Gerbils ähnliche VNEP-Schwellen zeigten und mit identischen VNS-Amplituden stimuliert wurden, gehen wir davon aus, dass Unterschiede im plastischen Potential gepaarter VNS zwischen beiden Spezies nicht auf die verwendete Stimulationsintensität zurückzuführen sind.
Die beschriebene Diskrepanz im Potential für kortikale Plastizität durch gepaarte VNS weckt Zweifel an der Übertragbarkeit des für die Ratte publizierten Potentials auf andere Spezies, einschließlich des Menschen.
Im Neuroblastom ist die Amplifikation des MYCN-Gens, das für den Transkriptionsfaktor N-Myc kodiert, der klinisch bedeutendste Faktor für eine schlechte Prognose. Als Mitglied der onkogenen Myc-Familie induziert N-Myc die Expression von Genen, die in vielen biologischen Prozessen wie Metabolismus, Zellzyklusprogression, Zellwachstum und Apoptose eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Die Deregulation der MYCN-Expression führt zu einem charakteristischen Genexpressionsprofil und einem aggressiven Phenotyp in den Tumorzellen.
In normalen neuronalen Vorläuferzellen wird N-Myc gewöhnlich sehr schnell proteasomal abgebaut. Während der Mitose wird N-Myc an Serin 62 phosphoryliert. Diese Phosphorylierung dient als Erkennungssignal für die Kinase GSK3β, die die Phosphorylierung an Threonin 58 katalysiert. Das Phosphodegron wird von Fbxw7, einer Komponente des E3-Ubiquitinligase-Komplex SCFFbxw7, erkannt. Die anschließende Ubiquitinierung induziert den proteasomalen Abbau des Proteins. Die Reduktion der N-Myc–Proteinlevel ermöglicht den neuronalen Vorläuferzellen den Austritt aus dem Zellzyklus und führt zu einer terminalen Differenzierung.
In einem shRNA Screen konnte AURKA als essentielles Gen für die Proliferation MYCN-amplifizierter Neuroblastomzellen identifiziert werden. Eine Aurora-A–Depletion hatte jedoch keinen Einfluss auf das Wachstum nicht-amplifizierter Zellen.
Während dieser Doktorarbeit konnte gezeigt werden, dass Aurora-A speziell den Fbxw7-vermittelten Abbau verhindert und dadurch N-Myc stabilisiert. Für die Stabilisierung ist zwar die Interaktion der beiden Proteine von entscheidender Bedeutung, überraschenderweise spielt die Kinaseaktivität von Aurora-A jedoch keine Rolle.
Zwei spezifische Aurora-A–Inhibitoren, MLN8054 und MLN8237, sind allerdings in der Lage, nicht nur die Kinaseaktivität zu hemmen, sondern auch die N-Myc-Proteinlevel zu reduzieren. Beide Moleküle induzieren eine Konformationsänderung in der Kinasedomäne von Aurora-A. Diese ungewöhnliche strukturelle Veränderung hat zur Folge, dass der N-Myc/Aurora-A–Komplex dissoziiert und N-Myc mit Hilfe von Fbxw7 proteasomal abgebaut werden kann. In MYCN-amplifizierten Zellen führt diese Reduktion an N-Myc zu einem Zellzyklusarrest in der G1-Phase. Die in vitro Daten konnten in einem transgenen Maus-Modell für das MYCN-amplifizierte Neuroblastom bestätigt werden. Die Behandlung mit MLN8054 und MLN8237 führte in den Tumoren ebenfalls zu einer N-Myc-Reduktion. Darüber hinaus konnte ein prozentualer Anstieg an differenzierten Zellen, die vollständige Tumorregression in der Mehrzahl der Neuroblastome und eine gesteigerte Lebenserwartung beobachtet werden.
Insgesamt zeigen die in vitro und in vivo Daten, dass die spezifischen Aurora-A–Inhibitoren ein hohes therapeutisches Potential gegen das MYCN-amplifizierte Neuroblastom besitzen.
Structural and Biochemical Characterization of the GABA(A) Receptor Interacting Protein Muskelin
(2015)
In a study from 2011, the protein muskelin was described as a central coordinator of the retrograde transport of GABA(A) receptors in neurons. As muskelin governs the transport along actin filaments as well as microtubules, it might be the first representative of a novel class of regulators, which coordinate cargo transport across the borders of these two independent systems of transport paths and their associated motorproteins. To establish a basis for understanding the mode of operation of muskelin, the aim of this thesis was an in-depth biochemical and structural characterization of muskelin and its interaction with the GABA(A) receptor.
One focus of the work was the analysis of the oligomerization of muskelin. As could be demonstrated, the oligomerization is based on two independent interactions mediated by different domains of the protein: a known interaction of the N-terminal discoidin domain with the C-terminal portion, termed head-to-tail interaction, and a dimerization of the LisH motif in muskelin that was so far neglected in the literature. For the detailed studies of both binding events, the solution of a crystal structure of a fragment of muskelin, comprising the Discoidin domain and the LisH motif, was an important basis. The fragment crystallized as a dimer, with dimerization being mediated solely by the LisH motif. Biochemical analysis corroborated that the LisH motif in muskelin serves as a dimerization element, and, moreover, showed that the C-terminal domain of the protein substantially stabilizes this dimerization. In addition, the crystal structure revealed the molecular composition of the surface of the head in the head-to-tail interaction, namely the discoidin domain. This information enabled to map the amino acids contributing to binding, which showed that the binding site of the head-to-tail interaction coincides with the generic ligand binding site of the discoidin domain.
As part of the analyses, residues that are critical for LisH-dimerization and the head-to-tail binding, respectively, were identified, whose mutation specifically interfered with each of the interactions separately. These mutations allowed to investigate the interplay of these interactions during oligomerization. It could be shown that recombinant muskelin assembles into a tetramer to which both interactions, the LisH-dimerization and the head-to-tail binding, contribute independently. When one of the two interactions was disturbed, only a dimer mediated via the respective other interaction could be formed; when both interactions were disturbed, the protein was present as monomer. Furthermore, Frank Heisler in the group of Matthias Kneussel was able to show the drastic impact of an impaired LisH-dimerization on muskelin in cells using these mutations. Disturbing the LisH-dimerization led to a complete redistribution of the originally cytoplasmic muskelin to the nucleus which was accompanied by a severe impairment of its function during GABA(A) receptor transport. Following up on these results in an analysis of muskelin variants, for which alterations of the subcellular localization had been published earlier, the crucial influence of LisH-dimerization to the subcellular localization and thereby the role of muskelin in the cell was confirmed.
The biochemical studies of the interaction of muskelin and the alpha1 subunit of the GABA(A) receptor demonstrated a direct binding with an affinity in the low micromolar range, which is mediated primarily by the kelch repeat domain in muskelin. For the binding site on the GABA(A) receptor, it was confirmed that the thirteen most C-terminal residues of the intracellular domain are critical for the binding of muskelin. In accordance with the strong conservation of these residues among the alpha subunits of the GABA(A) receptor, it could be shown that an interaction with muskelin in vitro is also possible for the alpha2 and alpha5 subunits. Based on the comparison of the binding sites between the homologous subunits, tentative conclusions can be drawn about the details of the binding, which may serve as a starting point for follow-up studies.
This thesis thereby makes valuable contributions to the understanding of muskelin, in particular the significance of its oligomerization. It furthermore provides an experimental framework for future studies that address related topics, such as the characterization of other muskelin interaction partners, or the questions raised in this work.
Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) could provide a muscle-independent communication channel to persons with severe paralysis by translating brain activity into device commands. As a means of communication, in particular BCIs based on event-related potentials (ERPs) as control signal have been researched. Most of these BCIs rely on visual stimulation and have been investigated with healthy participants in controlled laboratory environments. In proof-of-principle studies targeted end users gained control over BCI systems; however, these systems are not yet established as an assistive technology for persons who would most benefit from them. The main aim of this thesis is to advance the usability of ERP-BCIs for target users. To this end, five studies with BCIs have been conducted that enabled users to communicate by focusing their attention on external stimuli.
Two studies were conducted in order to demonstrate the advantages and to further improve the practical application of visual BCIs. In the first study, mental workload was experimentally manipulated during prolonged BCI operation. The study showed the robustness of the visual ERP-BCI since users maintained a satisfactory level of control despite constant distraction in the form of background noise. Moreover, neurophysiological markers that could potentially serve as indicators of high mental workload or fatigue were revealed. This is a first step towards future applications in which the BCI could adapt to the mental state of the user (e.g. pauses if high mental workload is detected to prevent false selections). In the second study, a head-mounted display (HMD), which assures that stimuli are presented in the field of view of the user, was evaluated. High accuracies and information transfer rates, similar to a conventional display, were achieved by healthy participants during a spelling task. Furthermore, a person in the locked-in state (LIS) gained control over the BCI using the HMD. The HMD might be particularly suited for initial communication attempts with persons in the LIS in situations, where mounting a conventional monitor is difficult or not feasible.
Visual ERP-BCIs could prove valuable for persons with residual control over eye muscles and sufficient vision. However, since a substantial number of target users have limited control over eye movements and/or visual impairments, BCIs based on non-visual modalities are required. Therefore, a main aspect of this thesis was to improve an auditory paradigm that should enable motor impaired users to spell by focusing attention on different tones. The two conducted studies revealed that healthy participants were able to achieve high spelling performance with the BCI already in the first session and stress the importance of the choice of the stimulus material. The employed natural tones resulted in an increase in performance compared to a previous study that used artificial tones as stimuli. Furthermore, three out of five users with a varying degree of motor impairments could gain control over the system within the five conducted sessions. Their performance increased significantly from the first to the fifth session - an effect not previously observed for visual ERP-BCIs. Hence, training is particularly important when testing auditory multiclass BCIs with potential users.
A prerequisite for user satisfaction is that the BCI technology matches user requirements. In this context, it is important to compare BCIs with already established assistive technology. Thus, the fifth study of this dissertation evaluated gaze dependent methods (EOG, eye tracking) as possible control signals for assistive technology and a binary auditory BCI with a person in the locked-in state. The study participant gained control over all tested systems and rated the ease of use of the BCI as the highest among the tested alternatives, but also rated it as the most tiring due to the high amount of attention that was needed for a simple selection. Further efforts are necessary to simplify operation of the BCI.
The involvement of end users in all steps of the design and development process of BCIs will increase the likelihood that they can eventually be used as assistive technology in daily life. The work presented in this thesis is a substantial contribution towards the goal of re-enabling communication to users who cannot rely on motor activity to convey their thoughts.
The honeybee Apis mellifera is a social insect well known for its complex behavior and the ability to learn tasks associated with central place foraging, such as visual navigation or to learn and remember odor-reward associations. Although its brain is smaller than 1mm² with only 8.2 x 105 neurons compared to ~ 20 x 109 in humans, bees still show amazing social, cognitive and learning skills. They express an age – related division of labor with nurse bees staying inside the hive and performing tasks like caring for the brood or cleaning, and foragers who collect food and water outside the hive. This challenges foragers with new responsibilities like sophisticated navigation skills to find and remember food sources, drastic changes in the sensory environment and to communicate new information to other bees. Associated with this plasticity of the behavior, the brain and especially the mushroom bodies (MBs) - sensory integration and association centers involved in learning and memory formation – undergo massive structural and functional neuronal alterations. Related to this background my thesis on one hand focuses on neuronal plasticity and underlying molecular mechanisms in the MBs that accompany the nurse – forager transition.
In the first part I investigated an endogenous and an internal factor that may contribute to the nurse - forager phenotype plasticity and the correlating changes in neuronal network in the MBs: sensory exposure (light) and juvenile hormone (JH). Young bees were precociously exposed to light and subsequently synaptic complexes (microglomeruli, MG) in the MBs or respectively hemolymph juvenile hormone (JH) levels were quantified. The results show that light input indeed triggered a significant decrease in MG density, and mass spectrometry JH detection revealed an increase in JH titer. Interestingly light stimulation in young bees (presumably nurse bees) triggered changes in MG density and JH levels comparable to natural foragers. This indicates that both sensory stimuli as well as the endocrine system may play a part in preparing bees for the behavioral transition to foraging.
Considering a connection between the JH levels and synaptic remodeling I used gene knockdown to disturb JH pathways and artificially increase the JH level. Even though the knockdown was successful, the results show that MG densities remained unchanged, showing no direct effect of JH on synaptic restructuring.
To find a potential mediator of structural synaptic plasticity I focused on the calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in the second part of my thesis. CaMKII is a protein known to be involved in neuronal and behavioral plasticity and also plays an important part in structural plasticity reorganizing synapses. Therefore it is an interesting candidate for molecular mechanisms underlying MG reorganization in the MBs in the honeybee. Corresponding to the high abundance of CaMKII in the learning center in vertebrates (hippocampus), CaMKII was shown to be enriched in the MBs of the honeybee. Here I first investigated the function of CaMKII in learning and memory formation as from vertebrate work CaMKII is known to be associated with the strengthening of synaptic connections inducing long term potentiation and memory formation. The experimental approach included manipulating CaMKII function using 2 different inhibitors and a specific siRNA to create a CaMKII knockdown phenotype. Afterwards bees were subjected to classical olfactory conditioning which is known to induce stable long-term memory. All bees showed normal learning curves and an intact memory acquisition, short-term and mid-term memory (1 hour retention). However, in all cases long-term memory formation was significantly disrupted (24 and 72 hour retention). These results suggests the necessity of functional CaMKII in the MBs for the induction of both early and late phases of long-term memory in honeybees. The neuronal and molecular bases underlying long-term memory and the resulting plasticity in behavior is key to understanding higher brain function and phenotype plasticity. In this context CaMKII may be an important mediator inducing structural synaptic and neuronal changes in the MB synaptic network.
The change of day and night is one of the challenges all organisms are exposed to, as they have to adjust their physiology and behavior in an appropriate way. Therefore so called circadian clocks have evolved, which allow the organism to predict these cyclic changes of day and night. The underlying molecular mechanism is oscillating with its endogenous period of approximately 24 hours in constant conditions, but as soon as external stimuli, so called Zeitgebers, are present, the clocks adjust their period to exactly 24h, which is called entrainment. Studies in several species, including humans, animals and plants, showed that light is the most important Zeitgeber synchronizing physiology and behavior to the changes of day and night. Nevertheless also other stimuli, like changes in temperature, humidity or social interactions, are powerful Zeitgebers for entraining the clock. This thesis will focus on the question, how light influences the locomotor behavior of the fly in general, including a particular interest on the entrainment of the circadian clock. As a model organism Drosophila melanogaster was used.
During the last years several research groups investigated the effect of light on the circadian clock and their results showed that several light input pathways to the clock contribute to wild-type behavior. Most of the studies focused on the photopigment Cryptochrome (CRY) which is expressed in about half of the 150 clock neurons in the fly. CRY is activated by light, degrades the clock protein Timeless (TIM) and hence entrains the clock to the light-dark (LD)-cycle resulting from changes of day and night. However, also flies lacking CRY are still able to entrain their clock mechanism as well as their activity-rest-rhythm to LD-cycles, clearly showing that the visual system of the fly also contributes to clock synchronization. The mechanism how light information from the visual system is transferred to the clock is so far still unknown. This is also true for so-called masking-effects which are changes in the behavior of the animal that are directly initiated by external stimuli and therefore independent of the circadian clock. These effects complement the behavior of the animals as they enable the fly to react quickly to changes in the environment even during the clock-controlled rest state.
Both of these behavioral features were analyzed in more detail in this study. On the one hand, we investigated the influence of the compound eyes on the entrainment of the clock neurons and on the other hand, we tried to separate clock-controlled behavior from masking. To do so "nature-like" light conditions were simulated allowing the investigation of masking and entrainment within one experiment. The simulation of moonlight and twilight conditions caused significant changes in the locomotor behavior. Moonlit nights increased nocturnal activity levels and shifted the morning (M) and evening (E) activity bouts into the night. The opposite was true for the investigation of twilight, as the activity bouts were shifted into the day. The simulation of twilight and moonlight within the same experiment further showed that twilight appears to dominate over moonlight, which is in accordance to the assumption that twilight in nature is one of the key signals to synchronize the clock as the light intensity during early dawn rises similarly in every season. By investigating different mutants with impaired visual system we showed that the compound eyes are essential for the observed behavioral adaptations. The inner receptor cells (R7 and R8) are important for synchronizing the endogenous clock mechanism to the changes of day and night. In terms of masking, a complex interaction of all receptor cells seems to adjust the behavioral pattern, as only flies lacking photopigments in inner and outer receptor cells lacked all masking effects. However, not only the compound eyes seem to contribute to rhythmic activity in moonlit nights. CRY-mutant flies shift their E activity bout even more into the night than wild-type flies do. By applying Drosophila genetics we were able to narrow down this effect to only four CRY expressing clock neurons per hemisphere. This implies that the compound eyes and CRY in the clock neurons have antagonistic effects on the timing of the E activity bout. CRY advances activity into the day, whereas the compound eyes delay it. Therefore, wild-type behavior combines both effects and the two light inputs might enable the fly to time its activity to the appropriate time of day.
But CRY expression is not restricted to the clock neurons as a previous study showed a rather broad distribution within the compound eyes. In order to investigate its function in the eyes we collaborated with Prof. Rodolfo Costa (University of Padova). In our first study we were able to show that CRY interacts with the phototransduction cascade and thereby influences visual behavior like phototaxis and optomotor response. Our second study showed that CRY in the eyes affects locomotor activity rhythms. It appears to contribute to light sensation without being a photopigment per se. Our results rather indicate that CRY keeps the components of the phototransduction cascade close to the cytoskeleton, as we identified a CRY-Actin interaction in vitro. It might therefore facilitate the transformation of light energy into electric signals.
In a further collaboration with Prof. Orie Shafer (University of Michigan) we were able to shed light on the significance of the extraretinal Hofbauer-Buchner eyelet for clock synchronization. Excitation of the eyelet leads to Ca2+ and cAMP increases in specific clock neurons, consequently resulting in a shift of the flies´ rhythmic activity.
Taken together, the experiments conducted in this thesis revealed new functions of different eye structures and CRY for fly behavior. We were furthermore able to show that masking complements the rhythmic behavior of the fly, which might help to adapt to natural conditions.
Untersuchung der Rolle von Rhodopsin 7 und Cryptochrom im Sehprozess von Drosophila melanogaster
(2015)
Ausgangspunkt für die Detektion von Licht ist im gesamten Tierreich die Absorption von Photonen durch photorezeptive Proteine, die sogenannten Opsine und in geringerem Ausmaß die Typ 1 Cryptochrome. Die Taufliege Drosophila melanogaster besitzt sechs eingehend charakterisierte, auch als Rhodopsine bezeichnete Opsine (Rh1-Rh6) und ein Cryptochrom (CRY). Neben den Ocellen und den Hofbauer-Buchner Äuglein werden die Rhodopsine in erster Linie in den Photorezeptorzellen der Komplexaugen, den Hauptorganen der Lichtperzeption exprimiert, wo sie der Vermittlung der visuellen Wahrnehmung dienen. Basierend auf Sequenzvergleichen wurde im Jahr 2000 ein neues Protein namens Rh7 zur Gruppe der Drosophila Opsine hinzugefügt. Bis heute fehlt allerdings jeglicher experimentelle Beleg für die photorezeptive Funktion dieses Proteins.
Im Gegensatz dazu wird Cryptochrom in erster Linie in einigen Uhrneuronen des Drosophila Gehirns exprimiert, wo es diesen Neuronen die Fähigkeit zur Lichtdetektion verleiht und das Photoentrainment der inneren Uhr lenkt. Neueren Untersuchungen zu folge spielt CRY allerdings auch bei der visuellen Wahrnehmung der Augen eine Rolle.
Die vorliegende Arbeit zielte nun darauf ab die potentielle Funktion von Rh7 als neuen Photorezeptor in Drosophila sowie die Rolle von CRY bei der visuellen Lichtperzeption zu untersuchen.
Die Aufnahmen der Elektroretinogramme (ERGs) von transgenen Fliegen, die Rh7 anstelle von oder zusammen mit dem dominanten Photorezeptor Rh1 in den Komplexaugen exprimieren, zeigen, dass Rh7 die Phototransduktionskaskade bei Belichtung mit Weißlicht nicht aktivieren kann. Die Abwesenheit von Rh7 sorgt allerdings trotzdem für eine Beeinträchtigung der lichtinduzierten Antwort der Rezeptorzellen im Komplexauge. So zeigen die Intensitäts-Response Kurven der ERG Rezeptorpotentialamplitude von rh7 Knockout-Fliegen unter Weißlicht niedriger und mittlerer Intensität nach einer anfänglichen Dunkeladaptation von 15min eine insgesamt, im Vergleich zur Kontrolle erhöhte Rezeptorpotentialamplitude. Der Verlauf dieser Kurven deutet außerdem darauf hin, dass die Zunahme der Rezeptorpotentialamplitude mit steigender Lichtintensität größer wird. Zudem
zeigt das Aktionsspektrum für die Rezeptorpotentialamplitude der rh7 Knockout-Fliegen, dass diese Empfindlichkeitszunahme im gesamten Bereich von 370-648nm auftritt. Diese Beeinträchtigung scheint jedoch zu fehlen, wenn die Fliegen vor Experimentbeginn nur 1min dunkeladaptiert wurden, oder wenn intensives Blaulicht zur Belichtung verwendet wird. Des weiteren ist auch das 4s nach Ende des Lichtpulses im ERG gemessene Nachpotential bei fehlendem Rh7 reduziert.
Zusammengenommen deuten diese Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass Rh7, wenn auch nicht als Photorezeptor, bei Belichtung mit Weißlicht niedriger und mittlerer Intensität die Lichtantwort in den Rezeptorzellen des Komplexauges in Abhängigkeit von Intensität und Adaptationszustand beeinflusst und dass dieser Einfluss scheinbar nicht durch Licht eines eng begrenzten Wellenlängenbereichs induziert wird. Des weiteren legt die Untersuchung des ERG Nachpotentials nahe, dass Rh7 möglicherweise für eine normale Beendigung der Lichtantwort benötigt wird. Die allgemeine Funktion von Rh7 als Photorezeptor in Drosophila sowie die Eigenschaften der endogenen Funktion von Rh7 werden diskutiert.
Unabhängig davon wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit auch gezeigt, dass Fliegen ohne CRY zwar nach 15-minütiger, nicht jedoch nach 1-minütiger Dunkeladaptation bei Belichtung mit Weißlicht niedriger Intensität eine insgesamt geringere ERG Rezeptorpotentialamplitude aufweisen. Dies könnte auf eine Beeinträchtigung der Dunkeladaptationsprozesse bei Abwesenheit von CRY hindeuten.
Die akute lymphatische Leukämie ist die häufigste maligne Erkrankung im Kindesalter. Trotz systematischer Erhebung und Auswertung von Daten im Rahmen der ALL-BFM-Studiengruppe und der damit verbundenen kontinuierlichen Verbesserung der Prognose hat man noch immer keine Ursache für eine ALL gefunden. Daher nimmt eine umfangreiche Risikostratifizierung eine zentrale Rolle in der Behandlungsplanung einer ALL ein. Basierend auf einer exakten Stratifizierung kann die Therapie risikoadaptiert und individualisiert werden, um eine Übertherapie zu vermeiden und letztlich die Heilungschancen zu verbessern.
Pro- und antiinflammatorische Zytokine kommt in den komplexen Wirkungsmechanismen des Immunsystems eine Schlüsselrolle zu. Viele Infektions-, Auto-immun- oder Tumorerkrankungen werden durch das Produktionsprofil der Zyto-kine beeinflusst. Da genetisch determinierte Zytokingenpolymorphismen Krank-heitsverläufe beeinflussen und verändern, wurde untersucht, ob Zytokine einen Einfluss auf pädiatrische Patienten mit einer ALL haben.
Im Zuge dieser Arbeit wurden 95 pädiatrische Patienten mit ALL auf Polymorphismen der Zytokine TNF-α, TGF-β1, IL-10, IL-6 und IFN-γ analysiert, die im Zeitraum vom 21.06.2004 bis zum 30.04.2014 an der Kinderklinik des Universitätsklinikums Würzburg behandelt wurden. Mittels DNA-Extraktion, sequenz-spezifischer PCR und Gelelektropherese wurden 35 Proben bei Erstdiagnose und 93 zum Zeitpunkt der Remission mit folgender zentralen Fragestellung untersucht:
Gibt es genetische Risikofaktoren, die Einfluss auf
• die Risikogruppe
• die Art der Leukämie
• die Genfrequenz
• die Rezidivrate und
• das Gesamtüberleben
einer akuten lymphatische Leukämie im Kindesalter haben und sich zudem durch Einzelnukleotidpolymorphismen in pro- und antiinflammatorischen Zytokinen auszeichnen?
Im Rahmen dieser Studie konnte festgestellt werden, dass das immunsuppressive Zytokin IL-10 einen Einfluss auf die Genfrequenz, die Risikogruppe, die Rezidivrate sowie die Prognose bei Kindern mit ALL hat. Patienten mit niedrigen Zytokinexpressionsraten (Genotypen ACC/ACC und ACC/ATA) wurden häufiger in der Hochrisikogruppe therapiert, hatten mehr Rezidive und eine schlechtere Prognose als Patienten mit hohen Zytokinexpressionsraten. Dar-über hinaus ist der Genotyp GCC/ACC signifikant häufiger bei ALL-Patienten anzutreffen als im gesunden Kollektiv. Beim immunsuppressiven IL-6 konnte festgestellt werden, dass der Genotyp C/C signifikant häufiger bei Patienten mit einer ALL auftritt als bei gesunden Patienten. Ferner zeigte sich, dass es so-wohl für IL-6 als auch für TNF-α eine Änderung des Genotyps zwischen Erstdiagnose und in Remission auftrat, die Hinweise auf einen blastenspezifischen „immune-escape“-Mechanismus geben. Ebenfalls konnte gezeigt werden, dass das immunmodulatorische Zytokin TGF-β1 einen Einfluss auf die Risikogruppe sowie die Rezidivrate hat. Patienten, die eine T/T Kombination am Codon 10 aufwiesen wurden häufiger im Hochrisikozweig therapiert als Patienten mit den Genotypen T/C oder C/C. Des Weiteren wurde demonstriert, dass Patienten mit einem C/C an Codon 25 häufiger an Rezidiven erkrankten als Patienten mit ei-nem G/C oder G/G. Für die TH1 Zytokine IFN-γ sowie TNF-α wurde kein Zusammenhang zwischen der Genfrequenz, der Risikogruppe, der Art der Leukämie, der Rezidivrate oder dem Gesamtüberleben gefunden.
Auch wenn man bisher noch nicht genau weiß, wie Zytokingenpolymorphismen Einfluss auf pädiatrische ALL nehmen, wird anhand dieser Arbeit gezeigt, dass Zytokine einen Beitrag zur Pathogenese der ALL leisten und daher zukünftig für eine umfassendere Risikostratifizierung geeignet sind. Darüber hinaus können diese Ergebnisse dazu beitragen, dass Zytokine als biologische Marker etabliert werden, um eine weniger toxische immunmodulierende bzw. -suppressive Therapie zu gewährleisten. Dies führt dazu, dass eine Therapie anhand des Risikoprofils individuell und prognoseverbessernd abgestimmt werden kann. Je-doch wäre für eine nachfolgende Untersuchung eine größere multizentrische Stichprobe sowie eine prospektive Evaluation der Daten erstrebenswert. Gera-de bei hereditären Erkrankungen haben einzelne Gene nur einen geringen Einfluss auf das Gesamtrisiko, sodass größere Fallzahlen erforderlich wären, um auch schwache Effekte zu detektieren.
The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei is the causal agent of sleeping sickness and besides its epidemiological importance it has been used as model organism for the study of many aspects of cellular and molecular biology especially the post-transcriptional control of gene expression.
Several studies in the last 30 years have shown the importance of mRNA processing and stability for gene regulation. In T. brucei genes are unusually arranged in polycistronic transcription units (PTUs) and a coupled process of trans-splicing and polyadenylation produces the mature mRNAs. Both processes, mRNA processing and stability, cannot completely explain the control of gene expression in the different life cycle stages analyzed in T. brucei so far.
In recent years, the relevance of expression regulation at the level of translation has become evident in other eukaryotes. Therefore, in the first part of my thesis I studied the impact of translational regulation by means of a genome-wide ribosome profiling approach. My data suggest that translational efficiencies vary between life cycle stages of the parasite as well as between genes within one life cycle stage. Furthermore, using ribosome profiling I was able to identify many new putative un-annotated coding sequences and to evaluate the coding potential of upstream open reading frames (uORF). Comparing my results with previously published proteomic and RNA interference (RNAi) target sequencing (RIT-seq) datasets allowed me to validate some of the new coding sequences and to evaluate their relevance for the fitness of the parasite.
In the second part of my thesis I used the transcriptomic and translatomic profiles obtained from the ribosome profiling analysis for the identification of putative non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). These results led to the analysis of the coding potential in the regions upstream and downstream of the expressed variant surface glycoprotein (VSG), which is outlined in the third part of the results section. The region upstream of the VSG, the co-transposed region (CTR), has been implicated in an increase of the in situ switching rate upon its deletion. The ribosome profiling results indicated moderate transcription but not translation in this region. These results raised the possibility that the CTR may be transcribed into ncRNA. Therefore, in the third part of my thesis, I performed a primary characterization of the CTR-derived transcripts based on northern blotting and RACE. The results suggested the presence of a unique transcript species of about 1,200 nucleotides (nt) and polyadenylated at the 3’-end of the sequence.
The deletion of the CTR sequence promoting and increase of the in situ switching rates was performed around 20 years ago by means of inserting reporter genes. With the recent development of endonuclease-based tools for genome editing, it is now possible to delete sequences in a marker-free way. In the fourth part of my thesis, I show the results on the implementation of the highly efficient genome-editing CRISPR-Cas9 system in T. brucei using episomes. As a proof of principle, I inserted the sequence coding for the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) at the end of the SCD6 coding sequence (CDS). Fluorescent cells were observed as early as two days after transfection. Therefore, after the successful set up of the CRISPR-Cas9 system it will be possible to modify genomic regions with more relevance for the biology of the parasite, such as the substitution of codons present in gene tandem arrays.
The implementation of ribosome profiling in T. brucei opens the opportunity for the study of translational regulation in a genome-wide scale, the re-annotation of the currently available genome, the search for new putative coding sequences, the detection of putative ncRNAs, the evaluation of the coding potential in uORFs and the role of unstranslated regions (UTRs) in the regulation of translation. In turn, the implementation of the CRISPR-Cas9 system offers the possibility to manipulate the genome of the parasite at a nucleotide resolution and without the need of including resistant makers. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a powerful tool for editing ncRNAs, UTRs, multicopy gene families and CDSs keeping their endogenous UTRs. Moreover, the system can be used for the modification of both alleles after just one round of transfection and of codons coding for amino acids carrying post-translational modifications (PTMs) among other possibilities.
Cuticles cover all above-ground primary plant organs and are lipoid in nature consisting of a cutin matrix with cuticular waxes embedded within or deposited on its surface. The foremost function of the plant cuticle is the limitation of transpirational water loss into the surrounding atmosphere. Transpiration of water vapour from plants differs between stomatal and cuticular transpiration. Stomatal closure minimises the stomatal water loss and the remaining, much lower water transpiration occurs through the plant cuticle.
Temperature influence on the transpiration barrier properties of intact leaves is not yet known, despite the importance of the cuticular transpiration especially under drought and heat conditions. The present study focuses on the temperature-dependent minimum water permeability of whole leaves, in comparison to the temperature effect on the cuticular permeance of isolated, astomatous cuticles (Chapter I - III).
The minimum water permeability was determined gravimetrically from leaf drying curves and represents the cuticular water permeability of intact, stomatous leaves under conditions of complete stomatal closure. The temperature effect on the transpiration barrier of the desert plant Rhazya stricta and the Mediterranean sclerophyll Nerium oleander exposed a continuous increase of minimum water permeabilities with an increase in temperature. In contrast to other published studies, no abrupt and steep increase of the water permeability at high temperatures was detected. This steep increase indicates structural changes of the barrier properties of isolated cuticular membranes with a drastic decrease of efficiency. A stabilising impact of the cell wall on the plant cuticle of intact leaves was proposed. This steadying effect was confirmed with different experimental approaches measuring the cuticular water permeability of Prunus laurocerasus intact leaves.
Physiological analysis of water transport on isolated, astomatous leaf cuticles indicated a drastic decline of the barrier properties at elevated temperatures for Prunus laurocerasus but not for Nerium oleander. Cuticular components were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed by gas chromatography with a flame ionisation detector and a mass spectrometric detector, respectively. A high accumulation of pentacyclic triterpenoids as cuticular wax components in relation to the cutin monomer coverage was detected for Nerium oleander and for Rhazya stricta leaves, too. Accordingly, reinforcing of the cutin matrix by triterpenoids was proposed to improve the mechanical strength and to reduce the extensibility of plant cuticles. Thus, structural changes of the cuticular barrier properties were potentially suppressed at elevated temperatures.
The function of the cuticular wax amount and/or wax composition and its relation with the cuticular water permeability remains to be elucidated. In the second part of this work the cuticular wax quantity and quality as well as its impact on the transpiration barrier properties was analysed in order to deduce a potential relation between chemistry and function of plant cuticles (Chapter IV - V).
Chemical analyses of the cuticular wax components of a wide range of plant species, including one tropical (Vanilla planifolia), temperate (Juglans regia, Plantago lanceolata), Mediterranean (Nerium oleander, Olea europaea) and one desert (Rhazya stricta) plant species, were conducted. The cuticular wax compositions of nine characteristic plant species from xeric limestone sites naturally located in Franconia (Southern Germany) were determined for the first time. The corresponding minimum or cuticular water permeabilities of both stomatous and astomatous leaf surfaces were measured to detect a potential relationship between the cuticular wax amount, wax composition and the cuticular barrier properties.
It was demonstrated that abundant cuticular wax amounts did not constitute more efficient transpiration barriers. However, 55% of the cuticular barrier function can be attributed to the very-long-chain aliphatic wax coverages. These new findings provide evidence that the acyclic wax constituents play a pivotal role establishing efficient transpiration barriers. Additionally, these findings strengthen the hypothesis that cyclic components, such as pentacyclic triterpenoids, do not hinder the water diffusion through plant cuticles as effectively as acyclic constituents. For the first time a relationship between the cuticular wax composition and the transpiration barrier properties of a wide range of plant species proved insights into the potential relation between chemistry and function of plant cuticles.
The Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway is a replication-dependent DNA repair mechanism which is essential for the removal of interstrand crosslink (ICL) DNA damages in higher eukaryotes (Moldovan and D’Andrea, 2009). Malfunctions in this highly regulated repair network lead to genome instability (Deans and West, 2011). Pathological phenotypes of the disease FA which is caused by mutations in the eponymous pathway are very heterogeneous, involving congenital abnormalities, bone-marrow failure, cancer predisposition and infertility (Auerbach, 2009). The FA pathway comprises a complex interaction network and to date 16 FA complementation groups and associated factors have been identified (Kottemann and Smogorzewska, 2013). Additionally, components of nucleotide excision repair (NER), homologous recombination repair (HRR), and translesion synthesis (TLS) are involved and coordinated by the FA proteins (Niedzwiedz et al., 2004; Knipscheer et al., 2009). One of the FA proteins is the DEAH helicase FANCM. In complex with its binding partners FAAP24 and MHF1/2 it binds the stalled replication fork and activates the FA damage response (Wang et al., 2013). However, the exact steps towards removal of the ICL damage still remain elusive.
To decipher the underlying process of FA initiation by FANCM, this thesis mainly focuses on the archaeal FANCM homolog helicase-associated endonuclease for fork-structured DNA (Hef). Hef from the archaeal organism Thermoplasma acidophilum (taHef) differs from other archaeal Hef proteins and exclusively comprises an N-terminal helicase entity with two RecA and a thumb-like domain while others additionally contain a nuclease portion at the C-terminus. I solved the crystal structure of full-length taHef at a resolution of 2.43 Å. In contrast to the crystal structure of the helicase domain of Hef from Pyrococcus furiosus (pfHef), taHef exhibits an extremely open conformation (Nishino et al., 2005b) which implies that a domain movement of the RecA-like helicase motor domains of 61° is possible thus highlighting the flexibility of helicases which is required to translocate along the DNA. However, small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements confirm an intermediate conformation of taHef in solution indicating that both crystal structures represent rather edge states. Most
importantly, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was identified as an interaction partner of Hef. This interaction is mediated by a highly conserved canonical PCNA interacting peptide (PIP) motif. Intriguingly, the presence of PCNA does not alter the ATPase nor the helicase activity of taHef, thus suggesting that the interaction is entirely dedicated to recruit taHef to the replication fork to fulfill its function. Due to a high level of flexibility the taHef-taPCNA complex could not be crystallized and therefore SAXS was utilized to determine a low-resolution model of this quaternary structure.
This newly discovered PCNA interaction could also be validated for the eukaryotic FANCM homolog Mph1 from the thermophilic fungus Chaetomium thermophilum (ctMph1). As the first step towards the characterization of this interaction I solved the crystal structure of PCNA from Chaetomium thermophilum (ctPCNA).
Furthermore, it was possible to achieve preliminary results on the putative interaction between the human proteins FANCM and PCNA (hsFANCM, hsPCNA). In collaboration with Detlev Schindler (Human Genetics, Würzburg) and Weidong Wang (National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, USA) co-immunoprecipitation (CoIP) experiments were performed using hsFANCM and hsPCNA expressed in HEK293 cells. Although an interaction was reproducibly observed in hydroxyurea stimulated cells
further experiments and optimization procedures are required and ongoing.
Use of polyhexanide and nanomedicine approach for effective treatments of cutaneous leishmaniasis
(2015)
Despite huge suffering caused by cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), there is no effective and affordable treatment strategy against CL and no licensed vaccines. The current treatments show limited efficacy and high toxicity. Improved therapies through discovery of novel drugs and/or an alternative treatment approaches are/is urgently needed. We aimed at identifying a novel antileishmanial agent and developing an innovative nanoparticle (NP) based platform for safe and effective treatments against CL. We discovered that polyhexanide (PHMB), a widely used antimicrobial polymer and wound antisepsis, shows an inherent antileishmanial activity at submicromolar concentrations. PHMB appears to kill L. major parasites via a dual mechanism involving disruption of membrane integrity and selective chromosome condensation. However, host chromosomes binding appear to be limited by exclusion from mammalian cell nuclei. Moreover, we attempted to establish effective drug delivery systems that overcome the various shortcomings in the present treatment of CL. In this scenario, we initially studied the cellular interactions of NPs and their uptake mechanisms into mammalian cells before applying them in drug delivery system. We obtained clear evidence for the involvement of multiple endocytic routes to internalize NPs. Physicochemical properties of NPs, cell type, temperature and pathogenesis of the target diseases were shown to be determinant factors. Thereafter, a mechanism based host- and pathogen-directed combination therapy comprising PHMB and CpG ODN immunomodulator was established for overall synergistic effect against CL. It simultaneously targets the pathogen and the host immunity with effective delivery system. The results show that PHMB binds to CpG ODN and form stable nanopolyplexes for efficient cell entry and therapy. The nanopolyplexes displayed enhanced cellular uptake and antileishmanial potency while drastically reducing the toxicity against mammalian cells. In conclusion, our findings clearly indicate that PHMB can be used as effective candidate drug against CL and as non-viral delivery of immunomodulatorynucleic acids. Moreover, our proof-of concept study showed nanomedicine approaches are effective strategy to challenge CL and other human diseases.
Studies on receptor signaling and regulation in platelets and T cells from genetically modified mice
(2014)
Receptors with tyrosine-based signaling motifs control essential functions of hematopoietic cells, including lymphocytes and platelets. Downstream of the platelet receptor glycoprotein (GP) VI and the T cell receptor (TCR) the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM) initiates a signaling cascade that involves kinases, adapter and effector proteins and finally leads to cellular activation. This thesis summarizes the results of three studies investigating different aspects of receptor signaling and regulation in platelets and T cells.
In the first part, the impact of constitutive Ca2+ influx on TCR signaling and T cell physiology was investigated using a transgenic mouse line with a mutation in the Ca2+ sensor stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1). The elevated cytoplasmic Ca2+ level resulted in an altered phosphorylation pattern of the key enzyme phospholipase (PL) Cγ1 in response to TCR stimulation, but without affecting its enzymatic activity. Withdrawal of extracellular Ca2+ or inhibition of the phosphatase calcineurin restored the normal phosphorylation pattern. In addition, there was a decrease in the release of Th2-type cytokines interleukin 4, 5 and 13 upon stimulation in vitro.
The second part of the thesis deals with the role of the adapter protein growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (Grb2) in platelets using a megakaryocyte/platelet-specific knockout mouse line. Loss of Grb2 severely impaired signaling of GPVI and C-type lectin-like receptor 2 (CLEC-2), a related hemITAM receptor. This was attributed to defective stabilization of the linker for activation of T cells (LAT) signalosome and resulted in reduced adhesion, aggregation, Ca2+ mobilization and procoagulant activity downstream of (hem)ITAM-coupled receptors in vitro. In contrast, the signaling pathways of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and the integrin αIIbβ3, which do not utilize the LAT signalosome, were unaffected. In vivo, the defective (hem)ITAM signaling caused prolonged bleeding times, however, thrombus formation was only affected under conditions where GPCR signaling was impaired (upon acetylsalicylic acid treatment). These results establish Grb2 as an important adapter protein in the propagation of GPVI- and CLEC-2-induced signals.
Finally, the proteolytic regulation of the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based switch motif (ITSM)-bearing receptor CD84 in platelets was investigated. This study demonstrated that in mice CD84 is cleaved by two distinct and independent proteolytic mechanisms upon platelet activation: shedding of the extracellular part, which is exclusively mediated by a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) 10 and cleavage of the intracellular C-terminus by the protease calpain. Finally, the analysis of soluble CD84 levels in the plasma of transgenic mice revealed that shedding of CD84 by ADAM10 occurs constitutively in vivo.