Microglia are tissue macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS) that control tissue homeostasis, and as such they are crucially important for organ integrity. Microglia dysregulation is thought to be causal for a group of neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases, called microgliopathies. However, how the intracellular stimulation machinery in microglia is controlled is poorly understood. By using expression studies, we identified the ubiquitin-specific protease (Usp) 18 in white matter microglia that essentially contributes to microglial quiescence under homeostatic conditions. We further found that microglial Usp18 negatively regulated the activation of STAT1 and concomitant induction of interferon-induced genes thereby disabling the termination of IFN signalling. Unexpectedly, the Usp18-mediated feedback loop was independent from the catalytic domain of the protease but instead required the interacting region of Ifnar2. Additionally, the absence of Ifnar1 completely rescued microglial activation indicating a tonic IFN signal mediated by receptor interactions under non-diseased conditions. Finally, conditional depletion of Usp18 only in myeloid cells significantly enhanced the disease burden in a mouse model of CNS autoimmunity, increased axonal and myelin damage and determined the spatial distributions of CNS lesions that shared the same STAT1 signature as myeloid cells found in active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. These results identify Usp18 as novel negative regulator of microglia activation, demonstrate a protective role of the IFNAR pathway for microglia and establish Usp18 as potential therapeutic target for the treatment of MS.
USP18 lack in microglia causes destructive interferonopathy of the mouse brain.
Specimen part
View SamplesMicroglia are tissue macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS) that control tissue homeostasis, and as such they are crucially important for organ integrity. Microglia dysregulation is thought to be causal for a group of neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases, called microgliopathies. However, how the intracellular stimulation machinery in microglia is controlled is poorly understood. By using expression studies, we identified the ubiquitin-specific protease (Usp) 18 in white matter microglia that essentially contributes to microglial quiescence under homeostatic conditions. We further found that microglial Usp18 negatively regulated the activation of STAT1 and concomitant induction of interferon-induced genes thereby disabling the termination of IFN signalling. Unexpectedly, the Usp18-mediated feedback loop was independent from the catalytic domain of the protease but instead required the interacting region of Ifnar2. Additionally, the absence of Ifnar1 completely rescued microglial activation indicating a tonic IFN signal mediated by receptor interactions under non-diseased conditions. Finally, conditional depletion of Usp18 only in myeloid cells significantly enhanced the disease burden in a mouse model of CNS autoimmunity, increased axonal and myelin damage and determined the spatial distributions of CNS lesions that shared the same STAT1 signature as myeloid cells found in active multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. These results identify Usp18 as novel negative regulator of microglia activation, demonstrate a protective role of the IFNAR pathway for microglia and establish Usp18 as potential therapeutic target for the treatment of MS.
USP18 lack in microglia causes destructive interferonopathy of the mouse brain.
Specimen part
View SamplesThis SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
USP18 lack in microglia causes destructive interferonopathy of the mouse brain.
Specimen part
View SamplesSmall RNA libraries from total RNA isolated from adult ovaries Overall design: Small RNA libraries were derived from Ovaries of the Founder strain and their offspring and their reciprocal offspring. RNA from 5 individual ovaries was pooled .
piRNA dynamics in divergent zebrafish strains reveal long-lasting maternal influence on zygotic piRNA profiles.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesC.elegans small RNAs from HA::ALG-1, HA::ALG-2 and HA::RDE-1 IP and rde-1 mutants Overall design: Small RNAs were cloned from transgenic or mutant C. elegans adults. Sequencing was performed using 454 and Illumina platforms.
MicroRNA-directed siRNA biogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Cell line, Subject
View SamplesSo far, the majority of research on piRNAs was carried out in popular model organisms such as fruit fly and mouse, which however do not closely reflect human PIWI biology. Thus, we high-throughput sequenced and computationally analyzed piRNAs expressed in the adult testis of the pig owing to its full set of mammalian Piwi paralogs, availability for repeat experiments and the existence of elementary data from previous studies on the porcine PIWI/piRNA system. We provide an exhaustive characterization of porcine piRNAs and genomic piRNA clusters. In addition, we reveal that a considerable proportion of piRNAs matches protein coding genes, exhibiting characteristics that point to a biogenesis within the post-transcriptional silencing mechanism of the PIWI/piRNA pathway, commonly referred to as ping pong cycle. We further show that the majority of identified piRNA clusters spans exonic sequences of protein-coding genes or pseudogenes, which indicates the existence of different mechanisms for the generation of piRNAs directed against mRNA. Our data provides evidence that spliced mRNAs, derived from such loci, are not only targeted by piRNAs but are also subject to ping pong cycle processing. Finally, we demonstrate that homologous genes are targeted by piRNAs in pig, mouse and human. Altogether, this strongly suggests a role for mammalian piRNA clusters in gene regulation alongside of TE repression.
piRNAs from Pig Testis Provide Evidence for a Conserved Role of the Piwi Pathway in Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation in Mammals.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesThe RNA-binding protein FUS is implicated in transcription, alternative splicing of neuronal genes and DNA repair. Mutations in FUS have been linked to human neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). We genetically disrupted fus in zebrafish (Danio rerio) using the CRISPR-Cas9 system. The fus knockout animals are fertile and did not show any distinctive phenotype. Mutation of fus induces mild changes in gene expression on the transcriptome and proteome level in the adult brain. We observed a significant influence of genetic background on gene expression and 3’UTR usage, which could mask the effects of loss of Fus. Unlike published fus morphants, maternal zygotic fus mutants do not show motoneuronal degeneration and exhibit normal locomotor activity. Overall design: We performed paired-end sequencing (100bp reads) of the polyA+ transcriptome from brains of five individuals with Fus-/- genotype and four with Fus wild type genotype. Note on RNA-Seq replicates: after performing first RNA sequencing on four replicates of Fus-/- and WT (labeled with the prefix "Sample_imb_ketting_2014_13_") we received a notice from Illumina stating a problem with the library preparation kit lot that was used to prepare the libraries. Due to that, we performed RNA sequencing a second time, using the same input RNA, except for the Fus knockout replicate #3, because there was not enough input RNA left. Instead, a different Fus knockout replicate (#1) was sequenced. However, we compared the mapped reads from sequencing run 1 and sequencing run 2 using plotCorrelaction from DeepTools, and the samples are highly correlated (at least 0.97 and 0.95, Spearman and Pearson correlation respectively). Therefore, we considered first ("Sample_imb_ketting_2014_13_") and second sequencing runs as technical replicates.
Characterization of genetic loss-of-function of Fus in zebrafish.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesHigh throughput sequencing to derive function of cde-1 in endogenous RNAi in C. elegans Overall design: Small RNAs were cloned from C. elegans adults, following removal of tri-phosphate groups from 5'' end. Sequencing was performed using the Illumina 1G platform.
CDE-1 affects chromosome segregation through uridylation of CSR-1-bound siRNAs.
Specimen part, Subject
View Samplessmall RNA libraries from total RNA isolated from young adult animals Overall design: Wild-type and rem-1 mutant animals were used for RNA isolation. Regular libraries were made using adaptor ligations at both ends. In addition, librraies were made from oxidised and TAP treated RNA.
Differential impact of the HEN1 homolog HENN-1 on 21U and 26G RNAs in the germline of Caenorhabditis elegans.
Cell line, Subject
View Samplessmall RNA libraries from wild-type and Hen1 mutant testes were made with either polyA tailing (VASAGFPHen1minus/plus) or adapter ligation (Hen1Testis and WTTestis) and sequenced on an Illumina GAII platform. Overall design: RNA was isolated from total testis tissue of both Hen1 wildtype and Hen1 mutant animals. After size selection from gel, the small RNA libraries wre made.
Hen1 is required for oocyte development and piRNA stability in zebrafish.
No sample metadata fields
View Samples