In Vivo Monitoring of Adult Neurogenesis in Health and Disease

Adult neurogenesis, i.e., the generation of new neurons in the adult brain, presents an enormous potential for regenerative therapies of the central nervous system. While 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine labeling and subsequent histology or immunohistochemistry for cell-type-specific markers is still the gold standard in studies of neurogenesis, novel techniques, and tools for in vivo imaging of neurogenesis have been recently developed and successfully applied. Here, we review the latest progress on these developments, in particular in the area of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and optical imaging. In vivo in situ labeling of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) with micron-sized iron oxide particles enables longitudinal visualization of endogenous progenitor cell migration by MRI. The possibility of genetic labeling for cellular MRI was demonstrated by using the iron storage protein ferritin as the MR reporter-gene. However, reliable and consistent results using ferritin imaging for monitoring endogenous progenitor cell migration have not yet been reported. In contrast, genetic labeling of NPCs with a fluorescent or bioluminescent reporter has led to the development of some powerful tools for in vivo imaging of neurogenesis. Here, two strategies, i.e., viral labeling of stem/progenitor cells and transgenic approaches, have been used. In addition, the use of specific promoters for neuronal progenitor cells such as doublecortin increases the neurogenesis-specificity of the labeling. Naturally, the ultimate challenge will be to develop neurogenesis imaging methods applicable in humans. Therefore, we certainly need to consider other modalities such as positron emission tomography and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS), which have already been implemented for both animals and humans. Further improvements of sensitivity and neurogenesis-specificity are nevertheless required for all imaging techniques currently available

MixUp-MIL: Novel Data Augmentation for Multiple Instance Learning and a Study on Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis

Multiple instance learning exhibits a powerful approach for whole slide image-based diagnosis in the absence of pixel- or patch-level annotations. In spite of the huge size of hole slide images, the number of individual slides is often rather small, leading to a small number of labeled samples. To improve training, we propose and investigate different data augmentation strategies for multiple instance learning based on the idea of linear interpolations of feature vectors (known as MixUp). Based on state-of-the-art multiple instance learning architectures and two thyroid cancer data sets, an exhaustive study is conducted considering a range of common data augmentation strategies. Whereas a strategy based on to the original MixUp approach showed decreases in accuracy, the use of a novel intra-slide interpolation method led to consistent increases in accuracy.Comment: MICCAI'23, https://gitlab.com/mgadermayr/mixupmi

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Promote Oligodendroglial Differentiation in Hippocampal Slice Cultures

We have previously shown that soluble factors derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) induce oligodendrogenic fate and differentiation in adult rat neural progenitors (NPCs) in vitro. Here, we investigated if this pro-oligodendrogenic effect is maintained after cells have been transplanted onto rat hippocampal slice cultures, a CNS-organotypic environment. We first tested whether NPCs, that were pre-differentiated in vitro by MSC-derived conditioned medium, would generate oligodendrocytes after transplantation. This approach resulted in the loss of grafted NPCs, suggesting that oligodendroglial pre-differentiated cells could not integrate in the tissue and therefore did not survive grafting. However, when NPCs together with MSCs were transplanted in situ into hippocampal slice cultures, the grafted NPCs survived and the majority of them differentiated into oligodendrocytes. In contrast to the prevalent oligodendroglial differentiation in case of the NPC/MSC co-transplantation, naive NPCs transplanted in the absence of MSCs differentiated predominantly into astrocytes. In summary, the pro-oligodendrogenic activity of MSCs was maintained only after co-transplantation into hippocampal slice cultures. Therefore, in the otherwise astrogenic milieu, MSCs established an oligodendrogenic niche for transplanted NPCs, and thus, co-transplantation of MSCs with NPCs might provide an attractive approach to re-myelinate the various regions of the diseased CNS. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base

Human in vitro reporter model of neuronal development and early differentiation processes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During developmental and adult neurogenesis, doublecortin is an early neuronal marker expressed when neural stem cells assume a neuronal cell fate. To understand mechanisms involved in early processes of neuronal fate decision, we investigated cell lines for their capacity to induce expression of doublecortin upon neuronal differentiation and develop <it>in vitro </it>reporter models using doublecortin promoter sequences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among various cell lines investigated, the human teratocarcinoma cell line NTERA-2 was found to fulfill our criteria. Following induction of differentiation using retinoic acid treatment, we observed a 16-fold increase in doublecortin mRNA expression, as well as strong induction of doublecortin polypeptide expression. The acquisition of a neuronal precursor phenotype was also substantiated by the establishment of a multipolar neuronal morphology and expression of additional neuronal markers, such as Map2, βIII-tubulin and neuron-specific enolase. Moreover, stable transfection in NTERA-2 cells of reporter constructs encoding fluorescent or luminescent genes under the control of the doublecortin promoter allowed us to directly detect induction of neuronal differentiation in cell culture, such as following retinoic acid treatment or mouse Ngn2 transient overexpression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Induction of doublecortin expression in differentiating NTERA-2 cells suggests that these cells accurately recapitulate some of the very early events of neuronal determination. Hence, the use of reporter genes under the control of the doublecortin promoter in NTERA-2 cells will help us to investigate factors involved early in the course of neuronal differentiation processes. Moreover the ease to detect the induction of a neuronal program in this model will permit to perform high throughput screening for compounds acting on the early neuronal differentiation mechanisms.</p

Doublecortin expression in CD8+ T-cells and microglia at sites of amyloid-β plaques:A potential role in shaping plaque pathology?

Abstract INTRODUCTION: One characteristic of Alzheimer's disease is the formation of amyloid-β plaques, which are typically linked to neuroinflammation and surrounded by inflammatory cells such as microglia and infiltrating immune cells. METHODS: Here, we describe nonneurogenic doublecortin (DCX) positive cells, DCX being generally used as a marker for young immature neurons, at sites of amyloid-β plaques in various transgenic amyloid mouse models and in human brains with plaque pathology. RESULTS: The plaque-associated DCX+ cells were not of neurogenic identity, instead most of them showed coexpression with markers for microglia (ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1) and for phagocytosis (CD68 and TREM2). Another subpopulation of plaque-associated DCX+ cells was negative for ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 but was highly positive for the pan-leukocyte marker CD45. These hematopoietic cells were identified as CD3-and CD8-positive and CD4-negative T-cells. DISCUSSION: Peculiarly, the DCX+/ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1+ microglia and DCX+/CD8+ T-cells were closely attached, suggesting that these two cell types are tightly interacting and that this interaction might shape plaque pathology

Pericytes Favor Oligodendrocyte Fate Choice in Adult Neural Stem Cells

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Upon demyelination, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) are activated and they proliferate, migrate and differentiate into myelin-producing oligodendrocytes. Besides OPCs, neural stem cells (NSCs) may respond to demyelination and generate oligodendrocytes. We have recently shown that CNS-resident pericytes (PCs) respond to demyelination, proliferate and secrete Laminin alpha2 (Lama2) that, in turn, enhances OPC differentiation. Here, we aimed to evaluate whether PCs influence the fate choice of NSCs in vitro, towards the production of new myelin-producing cells. Indeed, upon exposure to conditioned medium derived from PCs (PC-CM), the majority of NSCs gave rise to GalC- and myelin basic protein (MBP)-expressing oligodendrocytes at the expense of the generation of GFAP-positive astrocytes. Consistent with these findings, PC-CM induces an increase in the expression of the oligodendrocyte fate determinant Olig2, while the expression level of the astrocyte determinant ID2 is decreased. Finally, pre-incubation of PC-CM with an anti-Lama2 antibody prevented the generation of oligodendrocytes. Our findings indicate that PCs-derived Lama2 instructs NSCs to an oligodendrocyte fate choice favoring the generation of myelin-producing cells at the expense of astrocytes in vitro. Further studies aiming to reveal the role of PCs during remyelination may pave the way for the development of new therapies for the treatment of MS

Aging restricts the ability of mesenchymal stem cells to promote the generation of oligodendrocytes during remyelination.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that leads to severe neurological deficits. Due to their immunomodulatory and neuroprotective activities and their ability to promote the generation of oligodendrocytes, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are currently being developed for autologous cell therapy in MS. As aging reduces the regenerative capacity of all tissues, it is of relevance to investigate whether MSCs retain their pro-oligodendrogenic activity with increasing age. We demonstrate that MSCs derived from aged rats have a reduced capacity to induce oligodendrocyte differentiation of adult CNS stem/progenitor cells. Aging also abolished the ability of MSCs to enhance the generation of myelin-like sheaths in demyelinated cerebellar slice cultures. Finally, in a rat model for CNS demyelination, aging suppressed the capability of systemically transplanted MSCs to boost oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) differentiation during remyelination. Thus, aging restricts the ability of MSCs to support the generation of oligodendrocytes and consequently inhibits their capacity to enhance the generation of myelin-like sheaths. These findings may impact on the design of therapies using autologous MSCs in older MS patients.The authors would like to thank the following funding agencies for their support: Paracelsus Medical University PMU-FFF Long-Term Fellowship L-12/01/001-RIV (to and Stand-Alone Grant E-12/15/077-RIT (both to F.J.R.); Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT) FONDECYT Program Regular Grant Nº 1161787 (to F.J.R.), Regular Grant Nº 1141015 (to L.F.B.); Chilean CONICYT PCI Program Grant Nº REDES170233 (to F.J.R.), Grant Nº REDES180139 and Grant Nº REDI170037; Chilean CONICYT FONDEFIDeA Program Grant Nº ID17AM0043 (to M.E.S. and F.J.R.); European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreements N HEALTH-F2-2011-278850 (INMiND) and HEALTH-F2-2011-279288 (IDEA). The work in the Küry laboratory was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG; KU1934/2_1, KU1934/5-1) and the Christiane and Claudia Hempel Foundation for clinical and iBrain. The work in the Franklin laboratory was supported by grants from the UK Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Adelson Medical Research Foundation, and a core support grant from the Wellcome Trust and MRC to the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. In addition, the present work was supported by the state of Salzburg (to L.A.). We thank Armin Schneider, Sygnis Pharma AG Heidelberg, Germany, for the MBP promoter construct. We disclose any conflict of interest

Pericytes Favor Oligodendrocyte Fate Choice in Adult Neural Stem Cells.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Upon demyelination, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) are activated and they proliferate, migrate and differentiate into myelin-producing oligodendrocytes. Besides OPCs, neural stem cells (NSCs) may respond to demyelination and generate oligodendrocytes. We have recently shown that CNS-resident pericytes (PCs) respond to demyelination, proliferate and secrete Laminin alpha2 (Lama2) that, in turn, enhances OPC differentiation. Here, we aimed to evaluate whether PCs influence the fate choice of NSCs in vitro, towards the production of new myelin-producing cells. Indeed, upon exposure to conditioned medium derived from PCs (PC-CM), the majority of NSCs gave rise to GalC- and myelin basic protein (MBP)-expressing oligodendrocytes at the expense of the generation of GFAP-positive astrocytes. Consistent with these findings, PC-CM induces an increase in the expression of the oligodendrocyte fate determinant Olig2, while the expression level of the astrocyte determinant ID2 is decreased. Finally, pre-incubation of PC-CM with an anti-Lama2 antibody prevented the generation of oligodendrocytes. Our findings indicate that PCs-derived Lama2 instructs NSCs to an oligodendrocyte fate choice favoring the generation of myelin-producing cells at the expense of astrocytes in vitro. Further studies aiming to reveal the role of PCs during remyelination may pave the way for the development of new therapies for the treatment of MS.The authors would like to thank the following funding agencies for their support: Paracelsus Medical University PMU-FFF Long-Term Fellowship L-12/01/001-RIV (to and Stand-Alone Grant E-12/15/077-RIT (both to F.J.R.); Chilean FONDECYT Program CONICYT Grant Nº 1161787 (F.J.R.), Grant Nº 1141015 (L.F.B); Chilean PCI Program CONICYT Grant Nº REDES170233, Grant Nº REDES180139 and Grant Nº REDI170037 (all to F.J.R); Chilean FONDEF-IDeA Program Grant Nº ID17AM0043 (M.E.S. and F.J.R.); the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts (ForNeuroCell grant) (L.A.); the Germany Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF grants #0312134, #01GG0706 and #01GN0505); European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreements n° HEALTH-F2-2011-278850 (INMiND) and HEALTH-F2-2011-279288 (IDEA). The work in the Franklin laboratory was supported by a programme grant from the UK Multiple Sclerosis Society and Adelson Medical Research Foundation and a core support grant from the Wellcome Trust and MRC to the Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. In addition, the present work was supported by the state of Salzburg (to L.A.)

Transgenic mouse models to study the role of neurofilaments in motor neuron disease

Neurofilaments are the major type of intermediate filaments found in the adult nervous system of mammalians. Abnormalities of the neurofilament network constitute a common finding of many neurological disorders. For instance depositions of neurofilament aggregates in the perikarya and axons of motor neurons are observed in most amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cases, sporadic and familial. The impact of such accumulation of neurofilaments on the course of motor neuron disease remains to be fully elucidated.In order to investigate the role of neurofilaments in motor neuron disease, transgenic mice expressing a mutant form of the Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) were used as an animal model of familial ALS. Increasing the perikaryal neurofilament content in these mutant SOD1 mice slowed down the motor neuron disease progression and increased their life span by up to 65%. To date, this approach constitutes the most efficient way to increase the life span of mutant SOD1 mice. Moreover, increasing the axonal neurofilament content in mutant SOD1 mice by human neurofilament-light subunit (hNF-L) overexpression demonstrated that axonal neurofilaments do not constitute an exacerbating factor in the neurodegeneration caused by mutant SOD1.The pathogenicity of human neurofilament-heavy (hNF-H) proteins expressed in transgenic mice was also investigated. Two alleles of the NF-H gene are present in the normal human population. Expression of both alleles in transgenic mice provoked motor neuron dysfunction. The adverse property of NF-H overexpression is the result of an improper stoichiometry between the NF-L and the NF-H subunits. Restoration of an adequate stoichiometry, via the co-expression of NF-L and NF-H subunits, rescued mice from the motor neuron dysfunction. Finally, expression of the allele called NFH43, bearing less phosphorylation sites than the other allele called NFH44, was shown to be more pathogenic in transgenic mice

Spinal Cord Injury and Loss of Cortical Inhibition

After spinal cord injury (SCI), the destruction of spinal parenchyma causes permanent deficits in motor functions, which correlates with the severity and location of the lesion. Despite being disconnected from their targets, most cortical motor neurons survive the acute phase of SCI, and these neurons can therefore be a resource for functional recovery, provided that they are properly reconnected and retuned to a physiological state. However, inappropriate re-integration of cortical neurons or aberrant activity of corticospinal networks may worsen the long-term outcomes of SCI. In this review, we revisit recent studies addressing the relation between cortical disinhibition and functional recovery after SCI. Evidence suggests that cortical disinhibition can be either beneficial or detrimental in a context-dependent manner. A careful examination of clinical data helps to resolve apparent paradoxes and explain the heterogeneity of treatment outcomes. Additionally, evidence gained from SCI animal models indicates probable mechanisms mediating cortical disinhibition. Understanding the mechanisms and dynamics of cortical disinhibition is a prerequisite to improve current interventions through targeted pharmacological and/or rehabilitative interventions following SCI