Molecular Biology and Genetics / Moleküler Biyoloji ve Genetik

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 5
    Citation - Scopus: 5
    Sialidase Neu4 Deficiency Is Associated With Neuroinflammation in Mice
    (Springer, 2021) Timur, Zehra Kevser; İnci, Orhan Kerim; Akyıldız Demir, Seçil; Seyrantepe, Volkan
    Sialidases catalyze the removal of sialic acid residues from glycoproteins, oligosaccharides, and sialylated glycolipids. Sialidase Neu4 is in the lysosome and has broad substrate specificity. Previously generated Neu4-/- mice were viable, fertile and lacked gross morphological abnormalities, but displayed a marked vacuolization and lysosomal storage in lung and spleen cells. In addition, we showed that there is an increased level of GD1a ganglioside and a markedly decreased level of GM1 ganglioside in the brain of Neu4-/- mice. In this study, we further explored whether sialidase Neu4 deficiency causes neuroinflammation. We demostrated that elevated level of GD1a and GT1b is associated with an increased level of LAMP1-positive lysosomal vesicles and Tunel-positive neurons correlated with alterations in the expression of cytokines and chemokines in adult Neu4-/- mice. Astrogliosis and microgliosis were also significantly enhanced in the hippocampus, and cerebellum. These changes in brain immunity were accompanied by motor impairment in these mice. Our results indicate that sialidase Neu4 is a novel mediator of an inflammatory response in the mouse brain due to the altered catabolism of gangliosides.
  • Article
    Characterization of the Human Sialidase Neu4 Gene Promoter
    (TÜBİTAK - Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, 2014) Seyrantepe, Volkan; Delman, Murat
    There are 4 different sialidases that have been described in humans: lysosomal (Neu1), cytoplasmic (Neu2), plasma membrane (Neu3), and lysosomal/mitochondrial (Neu4). Previously, we have shown that Neu4 has a broad substrate specificity and is active against glyco-conjugates, including GM2 ganglioside, at the acidic pH of 3.2. An overexpression of Neu4 in transfected neuroglia cells from a Tay-Sachs patient shows a clearance of accumulated GM2, indicating the biological importance of Neu4. In this paper, we aimed to characterize a minimal promoter region of the human Neu4 gene in order to understand the molecular mechanism regulating its expression. We cloned 7 different DNA fragments from the human Neu4 promoter region into luciferase expression vectors for a reporter assay and also performed an electrophoretic mobility shift assay to demonstrate the binding of transcription factors. We demonstrated that -187 bp upstream of the Neu4 gene is a minimal promoter region for controlling transcription from the human Neu4 gene. The electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that the minimal promoter region recruits a c-myc transcription factor, which might be responsible for regulation of Neu4 gene transcription. The data we obtained might be useful to discover small molecules, which control selective high expression of the human Neu4 gene, resulting in the normal morphological phenotype in the lysosomes of Tay-Sachs patients.
  • Article
    Citation - Scopus: 8
    The Second Case of Saposin a Deficiency and Altered Autophagy
    (Springer Verlag, 2018) Köse, Melis; Akyıldız Demir, Seçil; Akıncı, Gülçin; Eraslan, Cenk; Yılmaz, Ünsal; Ceylaner, Serdar; Sözmen Yıldırım, Eser; Seyrantepe, Volkan
    Krabbe disease is a lysosomal storage disease caused by galactosylceramidase deficiency, resulting in neurodegeneration with a rapid clinical downhill course within the first months of life in the classic infantile form. This process may be triggered by the accumulation of galactosylceramide (GalCer) in nervous tissues. Both the enzyme galactosylceramidase and its in vivo activator molecule, saposin A, are essential during GalCer degradation. A clinical manifestation almost identical to Krabbe disease is observed when, instead of the galactosylceramidase protein, the saposin A molecule is defective. Saposin A results from posttranslational processing of the precursor molecule, prosaposin, encoded by the PSAP gene. Clinical and neuroimaging findings in a 7-month-old child strongly suggested Krabbe disease, but this condition was excluded by enzymatic and genetic testing. However, at whole exome sequencing, the previously undescribed homozygous, obviously pathogenic PSAP gene NM_002778.3: c.209T>G(p.Val70Gly) variant was determined in the saposin A domain of the PSAP gene. Fibroblast studies showed GalCer accumulation and the activation of autophagy for the first time in a case of human saposin A deficiency. Our patient represents the second known case in the literature and provides new information concerning the pathophysiology of saposin A deficiency and its intralysosomal effects.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 11
    Citation - Scopus: 11
    Mice With Catalytically Inactive Cathepsin a Display Neurobehavioral Alterations
    (Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2017) Çalhan, Osman Yipkin; Seyrantepe, Volkan
    The lysosomal carboxypeptidase A, Cathepsin A (CathA), is a serine protease with two distinct functions. CathA protects β-galactosidase and sialidase Neu1 against proteolytic degradation by forming a multienzyme complex and activates sialidase Neu1. CathA deficiency causes the lysosomal storage disease, galactosialidosis. These patients present with a broad range of clinical phenotypes, including growth retardation, and neurological deterioration along with the accumulation of the vasoactive peptide, endothelin-1, in the brain. Previous in vitro studies have shown that CathA has specific activity against vasoactive peptides and neuropeptides, including endothelin-1 and oxytocin. A mutant mouse with catalytically inactive CathA enzyme (CathAS190A) shows increased levels of endothelin-1. In the present study, we elucidated the involvement of CathA in learning and long-term memory in 3-, 6-, and 12-month-old mice. Hippocampal endothelin-1 and oxytocin accumulated in CathAS190A mice, which showed learning impairments as well as long-term and spatial memory deficits compared with wild-type littermates, suggesting that CathA plays a significant role in learning and in memory consolidation through its regulatory role in vasoactive peptide processing.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 14
    Citation - Scopus: 15
    Neuraminidase-1 Contributes Significantly To the Degradation of Neuronal B-Series Gangliosides but Not To the Bypass of the Catabolic Block in Tay-Sachs Mouse Models
    (Elsevier Ltd., 2015) Timur, Zehra Kevser; Akyıldız Demir, Seçil; Marsching, C.; Sandhoff, R.; Seyrantepe, Volkan
    TaySachs disease is a severe lysosomal storage disorder caused bymutations in the HEXA gene coding for? subunit of lysosomal β-Hexosaminidase A enzyme, which converts GM2 to GM3 ganglioside. HexA mice, depleted of the β-Hexosaminidase A iso-enzyme, remain asymptomatic up to 1 year of age because of a metabolic bypass by neuraminidase(s). These enzymes remove a sialic acid residue converting GM2 to GA2,which is further degraded by the still intact β-Hexosaminidase B iso-enzyme into lactosylceramide. A previously identified ganglioside metabolizing neuraminidase, Neu4, is abundantly expressed in the mouse brain and has activity against gangliosides like GM2 in vitro. Neu4 mice showed increased GD1a and decreased GM1 ganglioside in the brain suggesting the importance of the Neu4 in ganglioside catabolism. Mice with targeted disruption of both HexA and Neu4 genes showed accumulating GM2 ganglioside and epileptic seizures with 40% penetrance, indicating that the neuraminidase Neu4 is a modulatory gene, but may not be the only neuraminidase contributing to the metabolic bypass in HexA mice. Therefore, we elucidated the biological role of neuraminidase-1 in ganglioside degradation in mouse. Analysis of HexANeu1 and HexANeu4Neu1 mice models showed significant contribution of neuraminidase-1 on B-series ganglioside degradation in the brain. Therefore, we speculate that other neuraminidase/neuraminidases such as Neu2 and/or Neu3 might be also involved in the ganglioside degradation pathway in HexA mice.