Brian Feldman

An unexpected link: immune cells send muscle injury signal to activate stem cell regeneration

/ Todd Dubnicoff / Leave a comment

We’ve written many blogs over the years about research focused on muscle stem cell function . Those stories describe how satellite cells, another name for muscle stem cells, lay dormant but jump into action to grow new muscle cells in response to injury and damage. And when satellite function breaks down with aging as well as with diseases like muscular dystrophy, the satellite cells drop in number and/or lose their capacity to divide, leading to muscle degeneration.

Illustration of satellite cells within muscle fibers. Image source: APSU Biology

One thing those research studies don’t focus on is the cellular and molecular signals that cause the satellite cells to say, “Hey! We need to start dividing and regenerating!” A Stanford research team examining this aspect of satellite cell function reports this week in Nature Communications that immune cells play an unexpected role in satellite cell activation. This study, funded in part by CIRM, provides a fundamental understanding of muscle regeneration and repair that could aid the development of novel treatments for muscle disorders.

ADAMTS1: a muscle injury signal?
To reach this conclusion, the research team drew upon previous studies that indicated a gene called Adamts1 was turned on more strongly in the activated satellite cells compared to the dormant satellite cells. The ADAMTS1 protein is a secreted protein so the researchers figured it’s possible it could act as a muscle injury signal that activates satellites cells. When ADAMTS1 was applied to mouse muscle fibers in a petri dish, satellite cells were indeed activated.

Next, the team examined ADAMTS1 in a mouse model of muscle injury and found the protein clearly increased within one day after muscle injury. This timing corresponds to when satellite cells drop out of there dormant state after muscle injury and begin dividing and specializing into new muscle cells. But follow up tests showed the satellite cells were not the source of ADAMTS1. Instead, a white blood cell called a macrophage appeared to be responsible for producing the protein at the site of injury. Macrophages, which literally means “big eaters”, patrol our organs and will travel to sites of injury and infection to keep them clean and healthy by gobbling up dead cells, bacteria and viruses. They also secrete various proteins to alert the rest of the immune system to join the fight against infection.

Immune cell’s double duty after muscle injury: cleaning up the mess and signaling muscle regeneration
To confirm the macrophages’ additional role as the transmitter of this ADAMTS1 muscle injury signal, the researchers generated transgenic mice whose macrophages produce abnormally high levels of ADAMTS1. The activation of satellite cells in these mice was much higher than in normal mice lacking this boost of ADAMTS1 production. And four months after birth, the increased activation led to larger muscles in the transgenic mice. In terms of muscle regeneration, one-month old transgenic mice recovered from muscle injury faster than normal mice. Stanford professor Brian Feldman, MD, PhD, the senior author of the study, described his team’s initial reaction to their findings in an interview with Scope, Stanford Medicine’s blog:

“While, in retrospect, it might make intuitive sense that the same cells that are sent into a site of injury to clean up the mess also carry the tools and signals needed to rebuild what was destroyed, it was not at all obvious how, or if, these two processes were biologically coupled. Our data show a direct link in which the clean-up crew releases a signal to launch the rebuild. This was a surprise.”

Further experiments showed that ADAMTS1 works by chopping up a protein called NOTCH that lies on the surface of satellite cells. NOTCH provides signals to the satellite cell to stay in a dormant state. So, when ADAMTS1 degrades NOTCH, the dormancy state of the satellite cells is lifted and they begin to divide and transform into muscle cells.

A pathway to novel muscle disorder therapies?
One gotcha with the ADAMTS1 injury signal is that too much activation can lead to a depletion of satellite cells. In fact, after 8 months, muscle regeneration actually weakened in the transgenic mice that were designed to persistently produce the protein. Still, this novel role of macrophages in stimulating muscle regeneration via the secreted ADAMTS1 protein opens a door for the Stanford team to explore new therapeutic approaches to treating muscle disorders:

“We are excited to learn that a single purified protein, that functions outside the cell, is sufficient to signal to muscle stem cells and stimulate them to differentiate into muscle,” says Dr. Feldman. “The simplicity of that type of signal in general and the extracellular nature of the mechanism in particular, make the pathway highly tractable to manipulation to support efforts to develop therapies that improve health.”

Stem cell stories that caught our eye: How Zika may impact adult brains; Move over CRISPR there’s a new kid in town; How our bodies store fat

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment

Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun.

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Zika mosquito

Zika virus could impact adult brains

It’s not just a baby’s developing brain that is vulnerable to the Zika virus, adult brains may be too. A new study shows that some stem cells that help repair damage in the adult brain can be impacted by Zika. This is the first time we’ve had any indication this could be a problem in a fully developed brain.

The study, in the journal Cell Stem Cell, looked at neural progenitors, a  stem cell that plays an important role in helping replace or repair damaged neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain. The researchers exposed the cells to the Zika virus and found that it infected the cells, causing some of the cells to die, and also limited the ability of the cells to proliferate.

In an interview in Healthday, Sujan Shresta, a researcher at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology and one of the lead authors of the study, says although their work was done in adult mice, it may have implications for people:

“Zika can clearly enter the brains of adults and can wreak havoc. But it’s a complex disease, it’s catastrophic for early brain development, yet the majority of adults who are infected with Zika rarely show detectable symptoms. Its effect on the adult brain may be more subtle and now we know what to look for.”

Move over CRISPR, there’s a new gene-editing tool in town

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Jennifer Lopez: Photo courtesy MTV

For much of the last year the hottest topic in stem cell and gene editing research has been CRISPR and the ease with which it can be used to edit genes. It’s so hot that apparently it’s the title of an upcoming TV show starring Jeniffer Lopez.

But hold on J-Lo, a new study in Nature Communications says by the time the show is on the air it may be old hat. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon and Yale University have developed a new gene-editing system, one they claim is easier to use and more accurate than CRISPR. And to prove it, they say they have successfully cured a genetic blood disorder in mice, using a simple IV approach.

Tools like CRISPR use enzymes to cut open sections of DNA to edit a specific gene. It’s like using a pair of scissors to cut a piece of string that has a big knot in the middle; you cut out the knot then join the ends of the string together. The problem with CRISPR is that the enzymes it uses are quite large and hard to use in a living animal – let alone a human – so they have to remove the target cells from the body and do the editing in the lab. Another problem is that CRISPR sometimes cuts sections of DNA that the researchers don’t want cut and could lead to dangerous side effects.

Greater precision

The Carnegie Mellon/Yale team say their new method avoids both problems. They use nanoparticles that contain molecules made from peptide nucleic acid (PNA), a kind of artificial form of DNA. This PNA is engineered to be able to cut open DNA and bind to a specific target without cutting anything else.

The team used this approach to target the mutated gene in beta thalassemia, a blood disorder that can be fatal if left untreated. The therapy binds to the malfunctioning gene, enabling the body’s own DNA repair system to correct the problem.

In a news story in Science Daily Danith Ly, one of the lead authors on the study, says even though the technique was successful in editing the target genes just 7 percent of the time, that is way more than the 0.1 percent rate most other gene editing tools achieve.

“The effect may only be 7 percent, but that’s curative. In the case of this particular disease model, you don’t need a lot of correction. You don’t need 100 percent to see the phenotype return to normal.”

Hormone that controls if and when fat cells mature

Obesity is one of the fastest growing public health problems in the US and globally. Understanding the mechanisms behind how that happens could be key to finding ways to address it. Now researchers at Stanford University think they may have uncovered an important part of the answer.

Their findings, reported in Science Signaling, show that mature fat cells produce a hormone called Adamts1 which acts like a switch for surrounding stem cells, determining if they change into fat-storing cells.   People who eat a high-fat diet experience a change in their Adamst1 production, and that triggers the nearby stem cells to specialize and start storing fat.

There are still a lot of questions to be answered about Adamst1, including whether it acts alone or in conjunction with other as yet unknown hormones. But in an article in Health Canal, Brian Feldman, the senior author of the study, says they can now start looking at potential use of Adamst1 to fight obesity.

“That won’t be a simple answer. If you block fat formation, extra calories have to go somewhere in the body, and sending them somewhere else outside fat cells could be more detrimental to metabolism. We know from other researchers’ work that liver and muscle are both bad places to store fat, for example. We do think there are going to be opportunities for new treatments based on our discoveries, but not by simply blocking fat formation alone.”