Opioid-induced proliferation of vascular endothelial cells

Angiogenesis is an important issue in cancer research and opioids are often used to treat pain in cancer patients. Therefore it is important to know if the use of opioids is associated with an aberrant stimulation of tumor growth triggered by the stimulation of angiogenesis in cancer patients. Some studies in the literature have suggested the presence of the μ3 opioid receptor, known as the receptor for many opioids, on endothelial cells, which are key players in the process of angiogenesis. In this study we used endothelial cells known to express the μ3 opioid receptor (MOR3), to evaluate the effects of morphine on angiogenesis. We first investigated the effect of morphine on the proliferation of endothelial cells. We showed that morphine is able to stimulate vascular endothelial cell proliferation in vitro. This effect of morphine is mediated by the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway as pre-treatment with PD98059 inhibited this excessive proliferation. Because previous studies indicated nitric oxide (NO) as a downstream messenger we investigated the role of NO in the aberrant proliferation of endothelial cells. Our data could not confirm these findings using intracellular NO measurements and quantitative fluorescence microscopy. The potential use and pitfalls of opioids in cancer patients is discussed in light of these negative findings

Dysregulation of microtubule stability impairs morphofunctional connectivity in primary neuronal networks

Functionally related neurons assemble into connected networks that process and transmit electrochemical information. To do this in a coordinated manner, the number and strength of synaptic connections is tightly regulated. Synapse function relies on the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton, the dynamics of which are in turn controlled by a plethora of MT-associated proteins, including the MT-stabilizing protein Tau. Although mutations in the Tau-encodingMAPT gene underlie a set of neurodegenerative disorders, termed tauopathies, the exact contribution of MT dynamics and the perturbation thereof to neuronal network connectivity has not yet been scrutinized. Therefore, we investigated the impact of targeted perturbations of MT stability on morphological (e.g., neurite- and synapse density) and functional (e.g., synchronous calcium bursting) correlates of connectivity in networks of primary hippocampal neurons. We found that treatment with MT-stabilizing or -destabilizing compounds impaired morphofunctional connectivity in a reversible manner. We also discovered that overexpression of MAPT induced significant connectivity defects, which were accompanied by alterations in MT dynamics and increased resistance to pharmacological MT depolymerization. Overexpression of a MAPT variant harboring the P301L point mutation in the MT-binding domain did far less, directly linking neuronal connectivity with Tau's MT binding affinity. Our results show that MT stability is a vulnerable node in tauopathies and that its precise pharmacological tuning may positively affect neuronal network connectivity. However, a critical balance in MT turnover causes it to be a difficult therapeutic target with a narrow operating window

Sustained synchronized neuronal network activity in a human astrocyte co-culture system

Impaired neuronal network function is a hallmark of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease and is typically studied using genetically modified cellular and animal models. Weak predictive capacity and poor translational value of these models urge for better human derived in vitro models. The implementation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) allows studying pathologies in differentiated disease-relevant and patient-derived neuronal cells. However, the differentiation process and growth conditions of hiPSC-derived neurons are non-trivial. In order to study neuronal network formation and (mal) function in a fully humanized system, we have established an in vitro co-culture model of hiPSC-derived cortical neurons and human primary astrocytes that recapitulates neuronal network synchronization and connectivity within three to four weeks after final plating. Live cell calcium imaging, electrophysiology and high content image analyses revealed an increased maturation of network functionality and synchronicity over time for co-cultures compared to neuronal monocultures. The cells express GABAergic and glutamatergic markers and respond to inhibitors of both neurotransmitter pathways in a functional assay. The combination of this co-culture model with quantitative imaging of network morphofunction is amenable to high throughput screening for lead discovery and drug optimization for neurological diseases

Regional vulnerability and spreading of hyperphosphorylated tau in seeded mouse brain

We have exploited whole brain microscopy to map the progressive deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau in intact, cleared mouse brain. We found that the three-dimensional spreading pattern of hyperphosphorylated tau in the brain of an aging Tau.P301L mouse model did not resemble that observed in AD patients. Injection of synthetic or patient-derived tau fibrils in the CA1 region resulted in a more faithful spreading pattern. Atlas-guided volumetric analysis showed a connectome-dependent spreading from the injection site and also revealed hyperphosphorylated tau deposits beyond the direct anatomical connections. In fibril-injected brains, we also detected a persistent subpopulation of rod-like and swollen microglia. Furthermore, we showed that the hyperphosphorylated tau load could be reduced by intracranial co-administration of, and to a lesser extent, by repeated systemic dosing with an antibody targeting the microtubule-binding domain of tau. Thus, the combination of targeted seeding and in toto staging of tau pathology allowed assessing regional vulnerability in a comprehensive manner, and holds potential as a preclinical drug validation tool

Progressive tau aggregation does not alter functional brain network connectivity in seeded hTau.P301L mice

Progressive accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau is a hallmark of various neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease. However, to date, the functional effects of tau pathology on brain network connectivity remain poorly understood. To directly interrogate the impact of tau pathology on functional brain connectivity, we conducted a longitudinal experiment in which we monitored a fibril-seeded hTau.P301L mouse model using correlative whole-brain microscopy and resting-state functional MRI. Despite a progressive aggravation of tau pathology across the brain, the major resting-state networks appeared unaffected up to 15 weeks after seeding. Targeted analyses also showed that the connectivity of regions with high levels of hyperphosphorylated tau was comparable to that observed in controls. In line with the ostensible retention of connectivity, no behavioural changes were detected between seeded and control hTau.P301L mice as determined by three different paradigms. Our data indicate that seeded tau pathology, with accumulation of tau aggregates throughout different regions of the brain, does not alter functional connectivity or behaviour in this mouse model. Additional correlative functional studies on different mouse models should help determine whether this is a generalizable trait of tauopathies

Opioid-induced proliferation of vascular endothelial cells

Angiogenesis is a fundamental requirement for new organ development and for differentiation during embryogenesis, wound healing, and reproductive functions in adults. The vascular system is essential for supplying tissues with oxygen and nutrients and the removal of metabolic end products. Angiogenesis also takes place in some pathological conditions, such as tumor growth and metastasis. This complex process proceeds in several steps including degradation of the basement membrane, migration of endothelial cells towards an angiogenic stimulus, proliferation of endothelial cells, lumen formation and the formation of a new extracellular matrix. Because of the involvement of the endothelial cells in this blood vessel forming process, these cells become an important target in cancer research. Opioids are often used to treat pain in cancer patients. Therefore, it is necessary to know if there is any correlation between the use of specific opioids in cancer patients and the growth of a tumor as a result of the induction or stimulation of angiogenesis. Knowing that endothelial cells express the mu3 opioid receptor (MOR3), at which morphine can bind, we evaluated the effects of morphine on the proliferation behaviour of endothelial cells. Several proliferation experiments were done using the CellTiter - GloTM Luminescent Cell Viability Assay. It is a homogeneous method of determining the number of viable cells in culture based on quantitation of the ATP present, which signals the presence of metabolically active cells. Here, we showed that morphine is able to stimulate vascular endothelial cell proliferation in vitro. The MAPK – pathway seems to play a key role in this phenomenon. Doing Western Blots and proliferation experiments in the presence of a MAPK-inhibitor (PD98059) revealed the involvement of this pathway in the proliferative stimulus of morphine. Besides this, we also investigated the role of NO towards the underlying mechanisms of growth stimulation by morphine. However, we were not able to measure a significant increase of the amount NO via a fluorescence- technique, despite the positive results with the NO – donor SNAP. In conclusion, morphine can stimulate cell proliferation at medically relevant concentrations in this specific experimental approach with HUAEC cells. This might have some implications for the therapeutic use of morphine. On the one hand, an increase in blood vessels enables the tumor to grow, on the other hand, it enables the delivery of anti-cancer drugs to all the regions of the tumor. Based on additional other existing experiments, it is known that the effects observed here with morphine cannot be generalized to all other opioids, because they consist of different chemical classes with different binding profiles to the specific opiate receptors involved, nor to all various types of cancer tumors that exist.status: publishe