Human neuronal loss occurs through different cellular mechanisms, mainly studied in vitro. Here, we characterized neuronal death in B. schlosseri, a marine colonial tunicate that shares substantial genomic homology with mammals and has a life history in which controlled neurodegeneration happens simultaneously in the brains of adult zooids during a cyclical phase named takeover. Using an ultrastructural and transcriptomic approach, we described neuronal death forms in adult zooids before and during the takeover phase while comparing adult zooids in takeover with their buds where brains are refining their structure. At takeover, we found in neurons clear morphologic signs of apoptosis (i.e., chromatin condensation, lobed nuclei), necrosis (swollen cytoplasm) and autophagy (autophagosomes, autolysosomes and degradative multilamellar bodies). These results were confirmed by transcriptomic analyses that highlighted the specific genes involved in these cell death pathways. Moreover, the presence of tubulovesicular structures in the brain medulla alongside the over-expression of prion disease genes in late cycle suggested a cell-to-cell, prion-like propagation recalling the conformational disorders typical of some human neurodegenerative diseases. We suggest that improved understanding of how neuronal alterations are regulated in the repeated degeneration–regeneration program of B. schlosseri may yield mechanistic insights relevant to the study of human neurodegenerative diseases.

Multiple Forms of Neural Cell Death in the Cyclical Brain Degeneration of A Colonial Chordate / C. Anselmi, F. Caicci, T. Bocci, M. Guidetti, A. Priori, V. Giusti, T. Levy, T. Raveh, A. Voskoboynik, I.L. Weissman, L. Manni. - In: CELLS. - ISSN 2073-4409. - 12:7(2023), pp. 1041.1-1041.26. [10.3390/cells12071041]

Multiple Forms of Neural Cell Death in the Cyclical Brain Degeneration of A Colonial Chordate

T. Bocci;M. Guidetti;A. Priori;
2023

Abstract

Human neuronal loss occurs through different cellular mechanisms, mainly studied in vitro. Here, we characterized neuronal death in B. schlosseri, a marine colonial tunicate that shares substantial genomic homology with mammals and has a life history in which controlled neurodegeneration happens simultaneously in the brains of adult zooids during a cyclical phase named takeover. Using an ultrastructural and transcriptomic approach, we described neuronal death forms in adult zooids before and during the takeover phase while comparing adult zooids in takeover with their buds where brains are refining their structure. At takeover, we found in neurons clear morphologic signs of apoptosis (i.e., chromatin condensation, lobed nuclei), necrosis (swollen cytoplasm) and autophagy (autophagosomes, autolysosomes and degradative multilamellar bodies). These results were confirmed by transcriptomic analyses that highlighted the specific genes involved in these cell death pathways. Moreover, the presence of tubulovesicular structures in the brain medulla alongside the over-expression of prion disease genes in late cycle suggested a cell-to-cell, prion-like propagation recalling the conformational disorders typical of some human neurodegenerative diseases. We suggest that improved understanding of how neuronal alterations are regulated in the repeated degeneration–regeneration program of B. schlosseri may yield mechanistic insights relevant to the study of human neurodegenerative diseases.
English
apoptosis; autophagy; colonial chordate; lysosomal cell death; necroptosis
Settore MED/26 - Neurologia
Articolo
Sì, ma tipo non specificato
Pubblicazione scientifica
2023
MDPI
12
7
1041
1
26
26
Pubblicato
Periodico con rilevanza internazionale
scopus
crossref
Aderisco
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Multiple Forms of Neural Cell Death in the Cyclical Brain Degeneration of A Colonial Chordate / C. Anselmi, F. Caicci, T. Bocci, M. Guidetti, A. Priori, V. Giusti, T. Levy, T. Raveh, A. Voskoboynik, I.L. Weissman, L. Manni. - In: CELLS. - ISSN 2073-4409. - 12:7(2023), pp. 1041.1-1041.26. [10.3390/cells12071041]
open
Prodotti della ricerca::01 - Articolo su periodico
11
262
Article (author)
Periodico con Impact Factor
C. Anselmi, F. Caicci, T. Bocci, M. Guidetti, A. Priori, V. Giusti, T. Levy, T. Raveh, A. Voskoboynik, I.L. Weissman, L. Manni
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/977071
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