Publications by authors named "Jose J Lucas"

Article Synopsis
  • - Alternative splicing includes microexons in neuronal proteins, which are often linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
  • - A specific 24-nucleotide microexon in the RNA-binding protein CPEB4, previously shown to be less included in individuals with ASD, plays a critical role in regulating gene expression linked to neurodevelopment.
  • - The study finds that this microexon helps maintain the flexible regulation of CPEB4 during neuronal activation by preventing its aggregation, allowing it to switch from repressing to activating translation of genes.
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  • PolyQ diseases are serious brain disorders caused by a repeated section of DNA, and they currently have no good treatments.
  • Researchers tested many drugs and found that clofazimine, a medication used for leprosy, can help reduce the toxicity caused by a harmful protein related to Huntington's disease.
  • The study shows that clofazimine works by improving cell energy production and may help treat polyQ diseases in the future.
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We have generated using CRISPR/Cas9 technology a partially humanized mouse model of the neurometabolic disease phenylketonuria (PKU), carrying the highly prevalent PAH variant c.1066-11G>A. This variant creates an alternative 3' splice site, leading to the inclusion of 9 nucleotides coding for 3 extra amino acids between Q355 and Y356 of the protein.

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Objective: Posttranscriptional mechanisms are increasingly recognized as important contributors to the formation of hyperexcitable networks in epilepsy. Messenger RNA (mRNA) polyadenylation is a key regulatory mechanism governing protein expression by enhancing mRNA stability and translation. Previous studies have shown large-scale changes in mRNA polyadenylation in the hippocampus of mice during epilepsy development.

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  • Schizophrenia (SCZ) is influenced by genetic and environmental factors that may disrupt the regulation of gene expression, with the CPEB4 protein identified as a key player in both SCZ and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
  • Research revealed that SCZ individuals showed reduced usage of a specific microexon in CPEB4, which correlated with lower levels of targeted genes associated with SCZ, particularly in those not taking antipsychotics.
  • Experimental findings in mice with altered CPEB4 expression support the link between aberrant splicing of CPEB4 and disrupted gene expression related to SCZ, suggesting a potential mechanism for the disorder.
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Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the HTT gene for which no therapies are available. HTT mutation causes protein misfolding and aggregation, preferentially affecting medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the basal ganglia. Transcriptional perturbations in synaptic genes and neuroinflammation are key processes that precede MSN dysfunction and motor symptom onset.

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Article Synopsis
  • Huntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder with no current disease-modifying treatments, but researchers are investigating gene-silencing therapies and potential molecular mechanisms for drug targets.
  • An analysis of protein levels in HD patients and mouse models showed increased CPEB1 and decreased CPEB4, leading to significant changes in the transcriptome that affect neurodegeneration-associated genes.
  • Notably, a deficiency in thiamine and its active form, TPP, was observed in HD patients, and high-dose biotin and thiamine treatment in mouse models improved symptoms and could offer a new therapeutic option for HD.
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The aim of the study was to investigate the intramuscular pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin in black vultures (). The pharmacokinetics of a single intramuscular dose (10 mg/kg) of enrofloxacin was studied in six vultures. Plasma concentrations of enrofloxacin and its active metabolite, ciprofloxacin, were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLCuv).

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Tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with Tau pathology (FTLD-tau), are a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by Tau hyperphosphorylation. Post-translational modifications of Tau such as phosphorylation and truncation have been demonstrated to be an essential step in the molecular pathogenesis of these tauopathies. In this work, we demonstrate the existence of a new, human-specific truncated form of Tau generated by intron 12 retention in human neuroblastoma cells and, to a higher extent, in human RNA brain samples, using qPCR and further confirming the results on a larger database of human RNA-seq samples.

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The huntingtin (HTT) protein transports various organelles, including vesicles containing neurotrophic factors, from embryonic development throughout life. To better understand how HTT mediates axonal transport and why this function is disrupted in Huntington's disease (HD), we study vesicle-associated HTT and find that it is dimethylated at a highly conserved arginine residue (R118) by the protein arginine methyltransferase 6 (PRMT6). Without R118 methylation, HTT associates less with vesicles, anterograde trafficking is diminished, and neuronal death ensues-very similar to what occurs in HD.

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Article Synopsis
  • Correction of mis-splicing events is being explored as a therapeutic strategy for neurological diseases like spinal muscular atrophy and Huntington's disease, which arise from splicing-related mutations.
  • Next-generation RNA sequencing has enabled the detailed study of mis-spliced genes in diseases, although challenges exist in analyzing brain tissue due to cell loss and inflammation in neurodegenerative conditions.
  • The study utilized intersect-RNA-seq to identify common mis-splicing patterns in Huntington's disease, leading to potential new therapeutic targets related to the disease's progression.
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Tetracyclines are antibiotics widely used in human and veterinary medicine. Effects on the immune system and inflammatory response, including effects on blood leukocytes proliferation and function and in cytokines synthesis, have been described. Chemically modified tetracyclines (CMT) have lost their antimicrobial activity, but maintain these other properties.

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Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders that can be spontaneous, familial or acquired by infection. The conversion of the prion protein PrP to its abnormal and misfolded isoform PrP is the main event in the pathogenesis of prion diseases of all origins. In spontaneous prion diseases, the mechanisms that trigger the formation of PrP in the central nervous system remain unknown.

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The aim of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters of doxycycline in dogs and assess the efficacy of an oral drug dosage regimen of 10 mg/kg daily for 28 days through Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) target analysis based on Monte Carlo simulation, using previously published data for the zoonotic pathogen Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. After a multiple-dosage regimen, the accumulation index was 1.88 ± 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • Huntington's disease (HD) is a severe neurodegenerative disorder that impacts movement, cognition, and mental health, being inherited in an autosomal dominant manner due to mutations in the huntingtin gene.
  • The disease's mutation leads to an expanded polyglutamine stretch in the huntingtin protein, causing neuronal dysfunction and resulting in significant neuroinflammation, partly driven by the P2X7 receptor (P2X7R).
  • Research shows that P2X7R levels are increased in the brains of HD patients, with changes observed in its mRNA splicing, suggesting it could be a promising target for future HD therapies.
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Objective: Pharmacoresistance and the lack of disease-modifying actions of current antiseizure drugs persist as major challenges in the treatment of epilepsy. Experimental models of chemoconvulsant-induced status epilepticus remain the models of choice to discover potential antiepileptogenic drugs, but doubts remain as to the extent to which they model human pathophysiology. The aim of the present study was to compare the molecular landscape of the intra-amygdala kainic acid model of status epilepticus in mice with findings in resected brain tissue from patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).

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Temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common and refractory form of epilepsy in adults. Gene expression within affected structures such as the hippocampus displays extensive dysregulation and is implicated as a central pathomechanism. Post-transcriptional mechanisms are increasingly recognized as determinants of the gene expression landscape, but key mechanisms remain unexplored.

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Huntington's disease and X-linked dystonia parkinsonism are two monogenic basal ganglia model diseases. Huntington's disease is caused by a polyglutamine-encoding CAG repeat expansion in the Huntingtin (HTT) gene leading to several toxic interactions of both the expanded CAG-containing mRNA and the polyglutamine-containing protein, while X-linked dystonia parkinsonism is caused by a retrotransposon insertion in the TAF1 gene, which decreases expression of this core scaffold of the basal transcription factor complex TFIID. SRSF6 is an RNA-binding protein of the serine and arginine-rich (SR) protein family that interacts with expanded CAG mRNA and is sequestered into the characteristic polyglutamine-containing inclusion bodies of Huntington's disease brains.

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Since the early reports of neurofibrillary Tau pathology in brains of some Huntington's disease (HD) patients, mounting evidence of multiple alterations of Tau in HD brain tissue has emerged in recent years. Such Tau alterations range from increased total levels, imbalance of isoforms generated by alternative splicing (increased 4R-/3R-Tau ratio) or by post-translational modifications such as hyperphosphorylation or truncation. Besides, the detection in HD brains of a new Tau histopathological hallmark known as Tau nuclear rods (TNRs) or Tau-positive nuclear indentations (TNIs) led to propose HD as a secondary Tauopathy.

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Objective: To determine the pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin after IV administration in American black vultures , to compare clearance of enrofloxacin in American black vultures with clearance of this fluoroquinolone in other avian species, and to evaluate whether allometric scaling is an appropriate tool for dose extrapolation in avian species.

Animals: 6 healthy adult American black vultures.

Procedures: Enrofloxacin concentrations were quantified by use of high-performance liquid chromatography.

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Article Synopsis
  • Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetic, progressive neurodegenerative disorder leading to brain atrophy, particularly in the striatum, causing motor, cognitive, and psychiatric issues.
  • The study identifies a specific downregulation of Kidins220-C33 in HD patients and mouse models, indicating a possible neuroprotective role, as this isoform is selectively reduced while another variant, Kidins220-C32, remains unchanged.
  • The research suggests that the decrease in Kidins220-C33 is mediated by calpain activation, implying that this proteolytic process may influence the onset and progression of HD.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Recent findings link pathogenic mutations in the DYRK1A gene, associated with Down syndrome, to specific autism spectrum conditions, affecting its enzymatic function.
  • * Research shows that mice lacking one copy of the Dyrk1a gene exhibit symptoms similar to autism, including social deficits and abnormal neuron proportions, suggesting that disruptions in neuron development may lead to these neurological issues.
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Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the pathological aggregation of the microtubule-associated protein tau. These include more than 20 diseases, with Alzheimer's disease being the most frequent. While pathological and neurotoxic effects of tau are well documented, the mechanisms by which tau can promote neurodegeneration are less clear.

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Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is ubiquitously expressed throughout the brain and involved in vital molecular pathways such as cell survival and synaptic reorganization and has emerged as a potential drug target for brain diseases. A causal role for GSK-3, in particular the brain-enriched GSK-3β isoform, has been demonstrated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's, and in psychiatric diseases. Recent studies have also linked GSK-3 dysregulation to neuropathological outcomes in epilepsy.

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