Neurons Expressing Pathological Tau Protein Trigger Dramatic Changes in Microglial Morphology and Dynamics

International audienceMicroglial cells, the resident macrophages of the brain, are important players in the pathological process of numerous neurodegenerative disorders, including tauopathies, a heterogeneous class of diseases characterized by intraneuronal Tau aggregates. However, microglia response in Tau pathologies remains poorly understood. Here, we exploit a genetic zebrafish model of tauopathy, combined with live microglia imaging, to investigate the behavior of microglia in vivo in the disease context. Results show that while microglia were almost immobile and displayed long and highly dynamic branches in a wild-type context, in presence of diseased neurons, cells became highly mobile and displayed morphological changes, with highly mobile cell bodies together with fewer and shorter processes. We also imaged, for the first time to our knowledge, the phagocytosis of apoptotic tauopathic neurons by microglia in vivo and observed that microglia engulfed about as twice materials as in controls. Finally, genetic ablation of microglia in zebrafish tauopathy model significantly increased Tau hyperphosphorylation, suggesting that microglia provide neuroprotection to diseased neurons. Our findings demonstrate for the first time the dynamics of microglia in contact with tauopathic neurons in vivo and open perspectives for the real-time study of microglia in many neuronal diseases

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Etude du comportement de la microglie dans un modèle de tauopathie chez le poisson-zèbre

Dans le système nerveux central, les cellules gliales longtemps catégorisées uniquement comme support des cellules neuronales, font l’objet d’un regain d’intérêt au cours des dernières années, en raison de leur implication dans l’évolution des maladies neuronales. Parmi celles-ci, la microglie, qui représente plus d’un dixième de toutes les cellules du cerveau des mammifères, est la cellule immunitaire résidente assurant le maintien de l’homéostasie. Malgré ses multiples fonctions prépondérantes dans le cerveau dès le développement embryonnaire, elle se retrouve impliquée dans la neuroinflammation observée dans plusieurs maladies neuronales, notamment les maladies neurodégénératives. Elle se présente ainsi sous des identités pouvant être globalement nocives ou protectrices vis-à-vis des neurones. La compréhension du comportement de la microglie dans ces contextes pathologiques est donc nécessaire pour mettre au point des outils thérapeutiques permettant de la moduler vers des états neuroprotecteurs.Mon travail de thèse avait pour but d’étudier le comportement de la microglie en présence de neurones pathologiques en utilisant un modèle de tauopathie chez le poisson zèbre. Dans ce modèle, nous avons montré pour la première fois l’interaction entre les cellules microgliales et les neurones pathologiques dans un cerveau vivant intact. Nous avons montré qu’en présence de neurones pathologiques, les cellules microgliales changent de phénotype et de comportement. Elles passent d’un phénotype ramifié à un phénotype amiboïde plus dynamique, qui phagocyte de manière accrue les neurones pathologiques apoptotiques. Cependant, dans le cerveau de ces embryons modélisant une tauopathie, on y observe un nombre plus important de neurones apoptotiques non phagocytés par rapport à un cerveau en condition physiologique, ceci indique une capacité phagocytique de la microglie, qui est saturée et n’arrive pas à éliminer tous les neurones pathologiques apoptotiques. Ces résultats permettent ainsi de mettre en évidence le comportement plus dynamique de la microglie dans ce contexte pathologique, mais qui semble néanmoins insuffisant et permet d’imaginer la modulation de l’activité phagocytique de la microglie afin d’améliorer son efficacité à éliminer les neurones pathologiques apoptotiques et protéger ainsi le reste des neurones vivants de l’exposition aux agrégats toxiques.In the central nervous system, glial cells, long categorized only as carriers of neuronal cells, have been the subject of renewed interest in recent years, due to their involvement in the evolution of neuronal diseases. Among these, microglia, which represents more than a tenth of all mammalian brain cells, is the resident immune cell ensuring the maintenance of homeostasis. Despite its multiple preponderant functions in the brain from embryonic development, it is involved in the neuroinflammation observed in several neuronal diseases, in particular neurodegenerative diseases. It thus presents itself under identities that can be globally harmful or protective vis-à-vis neurons. Understanding the behavior of microglia in these pathological contexts is therefore necessary to develop therapeutic tools to modulate it towards neuroprotective states.My thesis work aimed to study the behavior of microglia in the presence of pathological neurons using a tauopathy model in zebrafish. In this model, we showed for the first time the interaction between microglial cells and pathological neurons in an intact living brain. We have shown that in the presence of pathological neurons, microglial cells change phenotype and behavior. They switch from a branched phenotype to a more dynamic amoeboid phenotype, which engulfs pathological apoptotic neurons to an increased extent. However, in the brain of these embryos modeling a tauopathy, we observe a greater number of apoptotic neurons not phagocytosed compared to a brain in physiological condition, this indicates a phagocytic capacity of the microglia, which is saturated and does not arrive to eliminate all pathological apoptotic neurons.These results thus make it possible to highlight the more dynamic behavior of microglia in this pathological context, but which nevertheless seems insufficient and makes it possible to imagine the modulation of the phagocytic activity of microglia in order to improve its efficiency in eliminating neurons. apoptotic pathology and thus protect the rest of living neurons from exposure to toxic aggregates

Bixafen, a succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor fungicide, causes microcephaly and motor neuron axon defects during development

International audienceSuccinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs), the most widely used fungicides in agriculture today, act by blocking succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), an essential and evolutionarily conserved component of mitochondrial respiratory chain. Recent results showed that several SDHIs used as fungicides not only inhibit the SDH activity of target fungi but also block this activity in human cells in in vitro models, revealing a lack of specificity and thus a possible health risk for exposed organisms, including humans. Despite the frequent detection of SDHIs in the environment and on harvested products and their increasing use in modern agriculture, their potential toxic effects in vivo, especially on neurodevelopment, are still under-evaluated. Here we assessed the neurotoxicity of bixafen, one of the latest-generation SDHIs, which had never been tested during neurodevelopment. For this purpose, we used a well-known vertebrate model for toxicity testing, namely zebrafish transparent embryos, and live imaging using transgenic lines labelling the brain and spinal cord. Here we show that bixafen causes microcephaly and defects on motor neuron axon outgrowth and their branching during development. Our findings show that the central nervous system is highly sensitive to bixafen, thus demonstrating in vivo that bixafen is neurotoxic in vertebrates and causes neurodevelopmental defects. This work adds to our knowledge of the toxic effect of SDHIs on neurodevelopment and may help us take appropriate precautions to ensure protection against the neurotoxicity of these substances

Defective Excitatory/Inhibitory Synaptic Balance and Increased Neuron Apoptosis in a Zebrafish Model of Dravet Syndrome

International audienceDravet syndrome is a type of severe childhood epilepsy that responds poorly to current anti-epileptic drugs. In recent years, zebrafish disease models with Scn1Lab sodium channel deficiency have been generated to seek novel anti-epileptic drug candidates, some of which are currently undergoing clinical trials. However, the spectrum of neuronal deficits observed following Scn1Lab depletion in zebrafish larvae has not yet been fully explored. To fill this gap and gain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying neuron hyperexcitation in Scn1Lab-depleted larvae, we analyzed neuron activity in vivo using combined local field potential recording and transient calcium uptake imaging, studied the distribution of excitatory and inhibitory synapses and neurons as well as investigated neuron apoptosis. We found that Scn1Lab-depleted larvae displayed recurrent epileptiform seizure events, associating massive synchronous calcium uptakes and ictal-like local field potential bursts. Scn1Lab-depletion also caused a dramatic shift in the neuronal and synaptic balance toward excitation and increased neuronal death. Our results thus provide in vivo evidence suggesting that Scn1Lab loss of function causes neuron hyperexcitation as the result of disturbed synaptic balance and increased neuronal apoptosis

A Fast, Simple, and Affordable Technique to Measure Oxygen Consumption in Living Zebrafish Embryos

International audienceIn all animal species, oxygen consumption is a key process that is partially impaired in a large number of pathological situations and thus provides informative details on the physiopathology of the disease. In this study, we describe a simple and affordable method to precisely measure oxygen consumption in living zebrafish larvae using a spectrofluorometer and the MitoXpress Xtra Oxygen Consumption Assay. In addition, we used zebrafish larvae treated with mitochondrial respiratory chain inhibitors, antimycin A or rotenone, to verify that our method enables precise and reliable measurements of oxygen consumption

γ-Aminobutyric acid receptor alpha 1 subunit loss of function causes genetic generalized epilepsy by impairing inhibitory network neurodevelopment

International audienceObjective: In humans, mutations of the γ-aminobutyric acid receptor subunit 1 (GABRA1) cause either mild or severe generalized epilepsy. Although these epilepsy causing mutations have been shown to disrupt the receptor activity in vitro, their in vivo consequences on brain development and activity are not known. Here, we aim at unraveling the epileptogenesis mechanisms of GABRA1 loss of function. Methods: We generated a gabra1 −/− zebrafish mutant line displaying highly pen-etrant epileptic seizures. We sought to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms through unbiased whole transcriptomic assay of gabra1 −/− larval brains. Results: Interestingly, mutant fish show fully penetrant seizures at juvenile stages that accurately mimic tonic-clonic generalized seizures observed in patients. Moreover , highly penetrant seizures can be induced by light stimulation, thus providing us with the first zebrafish model in which evident epileptic seizures can be induced by nonchemical agents. Our transcriptomic assay identified misregulated genes in several pathways essential for correct brain development. More specifically, we show that the early development of the brain inhibitory network is specifically affected. Although the number of GABAergic neurons is not altered, we observed a drastic reduction in the number of inhibitory synapses and a decreased complexity of the GABAergic network. This is consistent with the disruption in expression of many genes involved in axon guidance and synapse formation. Significance: Together with the role of GABA in neurodevelopment, our data identify a novel aspect of epileptogenesis, suggesting that the substratum of GABRA1-deficiency epilepsy is a consequence of early brain neurodevelopmental defects, in particular at the level of inhibitory network wiring.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made

Surfen and oxalyl surfen decrease tau hyperphosphorylation and mitigate neuron deficits in vivo in a zebrafish model of tauopathy

Abstract Background Tauopathies comprise a family of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease for which there is an urgent and unmet need for disease-modifying treatments. Tauopathies are characterized by pathological tau hyperphosphorylation, which has been shown to correlate tightly with disease progression and memory loss in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. We recently demonstrated an essential requirement for 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate in pathological tau hyperphosphorylation in zebrafish, a prominent model organism for human drug discovery. Here, we investigated whether in vivo treatment with surfen or its derivatives oxalyl surfen and hemisurfen, small molecules with heparan sulfate antagonist properties, could mitigate tau hyperphosphorylation and neuronal deficits in a zebrafish model of tauopathies. Results In vivo treatment of Tg[HuC::hTauP301L; DsRed] embryos for 2 days with surfen or oxalyl surfen significantly reduced the accumulation of the pThr181 tau phospho-epitope measured by ELISA by 30% and 51%, respectively. Western blot analysis also showed a significant decrease of pThr181 and pSer396/pSer404 in embryos treated with surfen or oxalyl surfen. Immunohistochemical analysis further confirmed that treatment with surfen or oxalyl surfen significantly decreased the AT8 tau epitope in spinal motoneurons. In addition, in vivo treatment of Tg[HuC::hTauP301L; DsRed] embryos with surfen or oxalyl surfen significantly rescued spinal motoneuron axon-branching defects and, as a likely consequence, the impaired stereotypical touch-evoked escape response. Importantly, treatment with hemisurfen, a surfen derivative devoid of heparan sulfate antagonist activity, does not affect tau hyperphosphorylation, nor neuronal or behavioural deficits in Tg[HuC::hTauP301L; DsRed] embryos. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate for the first time that surfen, a well-tolerated molecule in clinical settings, and its derivative, oxalyl surfen, could mitigate or delay neuronal defects in tauopathies, including Alzheimer’s disease

Surfen and oxalyl surfen decrease tau hyperphosphorylation and mitigate neuron deficits in vivo in a zebrafish model of tauopathy

BackgroundTauopathies comprise a family of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease for which there is an urgent and unmet need for disease-modifying treatments. Tauopathies are characterized by pathological tau hyperphosphorylation, which has been shown to correlate tightly with disease progression and memory loss in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. We recently demonstrated an essential requirement for 3-O-sulfated heparan sulfate in pathological tau hyperphosphorylation in zebrafish, a prominent model organism for human drug discovery. Here, we investigated whether in vivo treatment with surfen or its derivatives oxalyl surfen and hemisurfen, small molecules with heparan sulfate antagonist properties, could mitigate tau hyperphosphorylation and neuronal deficits in a zebrafish model of tauopathies.ResultsIn vivo treatment of Tg[HuC::hTauP301L; DsRed] embryos for 2 days with surfen or oxalyl surfen significantly reduced the accumulation of the pThr181 tau phospho-epitope measured by ELISA by 30% and 51%, respectively. Western blot analysis also showed a significant decrease of pThr181 and pSer396/pSer404 in embryos treated with surfen or oxalyl surfen. Immunohistochemical analysis further confirmed that treatment with surfen or oxalyl surfen significantly decreased the AT8 tau epitope in spinal motoneurons. In addition, in vivo treatment of Tg[HuC::hTauP301L; DsRed] embryos with surfen or oxalyl surfen significantly rescued spinal motoneuron axon-branching defects and, as a likely consequence, the impaired stereotypical touch-evoked escape response. Importantly, treatment with hemisurfen, a surfen derivative devoid of heparan sulfate antagonist activity, does not affect tau hyperphosphorylation, nor neuronal or behavioural deficits in Tg[HuC::hTauP301L; DsRed] embryos.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate for the first time that surfen, a well-tolerated molecule in clinical settings, and its derivative, oxalyl surfen, could mitigate or delay neuronal defects in tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease