Temporal Deregulation of Genes and Micrornas in Neurons During Prion-Induced Neurodegeneration
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Temporal Deregulation of Genes and MicroRNAs in Neurons during Prion-Induced Neurodegeneration By ANNA MAJER A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Medical Microbiology College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba © Anna Majer, October 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ 10 ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 12 LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... 15 LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ 19 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 20 1.1 Common Elements of Neurodegenerative Diseases ........................................................... 21 1.2 Rodent Models for Neurodegeneration ............................................................................... 22 1.3 Prion Diseases ..................................................................................................................... 25 1.3.1 Human Prion Diseases .......................................................................................................... 27 1.3.2 Diagnosis of Human Prion Diseases ..................................................................................... 30 1.3.3 A Treatment Strategy for Human Prion Diseases ................................................................. 31 1.4 Two Major Prion Protein Isoforms ..................................................................................... 34 1.4.1 The Cellular Prion Protein (PrPC) ......................................................................................... 35 1.4.1a Potential Physiological Roles of PrPC in Neurons ................................................. 38 1.4.2 Infectious Prion Protein (PrPSc) ............................................................................................ 41 1.5 Routes of PrPSc Infection and Spread to the CNS ............................................................... 42 1.6 PrPSc Formation and Propagation ........................................................................................ 45 1.7 Prion Strains ........................................................................................................................ 47 1.8 The Species Barrier ............................................................................................................. 48 1.9 Neurotoxicity of PrPSc: Mechanisms of Neuronal Degeneration ........................................ 49 1.9.1 Initiation of Degeneration by PrPSc ....................................................................................... 49 1.9.2 Mechanisms of Neuronal Death ............................................................................................ 51 1.10 Synaptic and Dendritic Alterations during Prion Disease ................................................. 53 1.11 Unraveling the Molecular Processes Involved in Prion-Induced Neurodegeneration: A Transcriptomic Approach .......................................................................................................... 54 1.12 Previous Gene Expression Profiling Studies Performed in Prion Mouse Models Lack Neuronal Representation ........................................................................................................... 55 2 1.12.1 Immune Response and Related Genes ................................................................................ 58 1.12.2 Endosome/Lysosome and Proteolysis ................................................................................. 58 1.12.3 Oxidative and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress .................................................................... 59 1.12.4 Calcium Signaling and Neuronal-Specific Genes ............................................................... 60 1.13 Neuronal Conundrum: Necessity for Enrichment Strategies ............................................ 62 1.14 Gene Regulators ................................................................................................................ 62 1.15 MicroRNAs ....................................................................................................................... 63 1.15.1 MiRNA Biogenesis and Function ....................................................................................... 63 1.15.2 Global Disruption of the miRNA Biogenesis Pathway Results in Neurodegeneration ...... 66 1.15.3 Activity-Mediated Dynamics of miRNAs at the Synapse .................................................. 67 1.15.4 The Function of miRNAs at Synaptic Structures ................................................................ 68 1.16 Rationale and Statement of Project Goals, Hypotheses and Aims .................................... 69 Overall Goal .............................................................................................................................. 70 Overall Hypothesis .................................................................................................................... 70 Hypotheses and Aims ................................................................................................................ 70 2.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS ............................................................................................ 71 2.1 Ethics Statement .................................................................................................................. 72 2.2 Mouse Model of Prion Disease ........................................................................................... 72 2.3 Cell Culturing ...................................................................................................................... 73 2.3.1 HEK293T and HeLa Culture Maintenance and Counting .................................................... 73 2.3.2 Culturing Primary Mouse Hippocampal Neurons................................................................. 74 2.4 Laser Capture Microdissection of Cell Bodies from CA1 Hippocampal Neurons ............. 75 2.5 Extraction of Total RNA ..................................................................................................... 76 2.5.1 Total RNA Extraction from LCM Samples .......................................................................... 76 2.5.2 Total RNA Extraction from Cultures .................................................................................... 77 2.6 Whole Genome Transcriptional Profiling and Analysis ..................................................... 78 2.7 Detection and Analysis of mRNAs using qRT-PCR .......................................................... 79 2.8 TaqMan® Low Density Array (TLDA) miRNA Profiling and Analysis ........................... 80 2.9 Detection and Analysis of Mature miRNAs using qRT-PCR ............................................. 81 2.10 MiRNA Target Prediction using Bioinformatics .............................................................. 82 3 2.11 In situ hybridization .......................................................................................................... 82 2.12 Immunohistochemistry Staining of Brain Tissue .............................................................. 84 2.12.1 Staining for Microglial Cells .............................................................................................. 84 2.12.2 Staining for PrPSc Deposits ................................................................................................. 85 2.12.3 Staining for Total CREB and pCREB................................................................................. 86 2.13 Immunofluorescence ......................................................................................................... 86 2.13.1 Staining for Astrocytes within in Brain Tissue ................................................................... 87 2.13.2 Flouro-Jade® C Staining to Detect Degenerating Neurons within Brain Tissue ................ 87 2.13.3 Immunostaining of Primary Mouse Hippocampal Cultures and Image Analysis ............... 87 2.14 Immunohistochemical Image Acquisition and Analysis of In Vivo Material ................... 89 2.15 Stimulating Neuroprotection in Primary Mouse Hippocampal Cultures .......................... 89 2.16 Lentiviral Preparation and Titre Determination ................................................................ 90 2.17 Cell Death Assay - Lactate Dehydrogenase ...................................................................... 91 2.18 Single Cell Image Analysis ............................................................................................... 92 3.0 RESULTS ............................................................................................................................... 94 3.1 Gene Expression Profiling of LCM-Isolated CA1 Hippocampal Neurons ......................... 95 3.1.1 Mouse Model of Prion-Induced Neurodegeneration............................................................