Neonatal bone marrow transplantation in MPS IIIA mice

Patients with some neurological lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) exhibit improved clinical signs following bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The failure of mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type IIIA patients and adult mice with the condition to respond to this treatment may relate to factors such as impaired migration of donor-derived cells into the brain, insufficient enzyme production and/or secretion by the donor-derived microglial cells, or the age at which treatment is initiated. To explore these possibilities, we treated neonatal MPS IIIA mice with whole unfractionated bone marrow and observed that nucleated blood cell reconstitution occurred to a similar degree in MPS IIIA mice receiving green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing normal (treatment group) or MPS IIIA-GFP marrow (control group) and normal mice receiving normal-GFP marrow (control group). Further, similar distribution patterns of GFP+ normal or MPS IIIA donor–derived cells were observed throughout the MPS IIIA mouse brain. We demonstrate that N-sulfoglucosamine sulfohydrolase (SGSH), the enzyme deficient in MPS IIIA, is produced and secreted in a manner proportional to that of other lysosomal enzymes. However, despite this, overall brain SGSH activity was unchanged in MPS IIIA mice treated with normal marrow and the lysosomal storage burden in whole brain homogenates did not decrease, most likely due to donor-derived cells comprising <0.24% of total recipient brain cells in all groups. This suggests that the failure of MPS IIIA patients and mice to respond to BMT may occur as a result of insufficient donor-derived enzyme production and/or uptake by host brain cells.Adeline A Lau, N. Jannah Shamsani, Leanne K. Winner, Sofia Hassiotis, Barbara M. King, John J. Hopwood, Kim M. Hemsle

Insights into the critical role of NADPH oxidase(s) in the normal and dysregulated pancreatic beta cell

It is now widely accepted that reactive oxygen species (ROS) contribute to cell and tissue dysfunction and damage in diabetes. The source of ROS in the insulin secreting pancreatic beta cells has traditionally been considered to be the mitochondrial electron transport chain. While this source is undoubtedly important, we fully describe in this article recent information and evidence of NADPH oxidase-dependent generation of ROS in pancreatic beta cells and identify the various isoforms that contribute to O 2•- and H2O2 production in various conditions. While glucose-stimulated ROS generation may be important for acute regulation of insulin secretion, at higher levels ROS may disrupt mitochondrial energy metabolism. However, ROS may alter other cellular processes such as signal transduction, ion fluxes and/or cell proliferation/death. The various beta cell isoforms of NADPH oxidase (described in this review) may, via differences in the kinetics and species of ROS generated, positively and negatively regulate insulin secretion and cell survival. © 2009 Springer-Verlag