Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the most frequent cause of inherited intellectual disability and autism. It is caused by the absence of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene product, FMRP, an RNA-binding protein involved in the regulation of translation of a subset of brain mRNAs. In Fmr1 knockout (KO) mice, the absence of FMRP results in elevated protein synthesis in the brain as well as increased signaling of many translational regulators. Whether protein synthesis is also dysregulated in FXS patients is not firmly established. Here, we demonstrate that fibroblasts from FXS patients have significantly elevated rates of basal protein synthesis along with increased levels of phosphorylated mechanistic target of rapamycin (p-mTOR), phosphorylated extracellular signal regulated kinase 1/2 (p-ERK 1/2) and phosphorylated p70 ribosomal S6 kinase 1 (p-S6K1). Treatment with small molecules that inhibit S6K1, and a known FMRP target, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) catalytic subunit p110β, lowered the rates of protein synthesis in both control and patient fibroblasts. Our data thus demonstrate that fibroblasts from FXS patients may be a useful in vitro model to test the efficacy and toxicity of potential therapeutics prior to clinical trials, as well as for drug screening and designing personalized treatment approaches.

The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) latency-associated transcript (LAT) gene is essential for the high spontaneous and induced reactivation phenotype of HSV-1 in the rabbit ocular model and for the high induced reactivation phenotype in the mouse ocular model. Recently we showed that LAT has an antiapoptosis function, and we hypothesized that LAT's ability to inhibit apoptosis played an important role in LAT's ability to enhance the reactivation phenotype. Expression of just the first 1.5 kb of the 8.3-kb LAT gene is sufficient for both inhibition of apoptosis in an in vitro transient-transfection assay and the high spontaneous reactivation phenotype in vivo. Here we show the results of more complex mapping studies in which inhibition of apoptosis and the enhanced spontaneous reactivation phenotype also appear to be linked. The HSV-1 mutant virus dLAT371 has a high spontaneous reactivation phenotype in rabbits, suggesting that the LAT region deleted in this mutant (LAT nucleotides 76 to 447) is not required for this phenotype. The LAT3.3A viral mutant (which expresses LAT nucleotides 1 to 1499) also has a high spontaneous reactivation phenotype, suggesting that the region of LAT not expressed by this mutant (LAT nucleotide 1500 to the end of LAT) is also not required for this phenotype. Surprisingly, LAT2.9A, which is a combination of dLAT371 and LAT3.3A (i.e., it expresses LAT nucleotides 1 to 76 and 447 to 1499), has a low spontaneous reactivation phenotype indistinguishable from that of LAT null mutants. We report here that consistent with the low spontaneous reactivation phenotype of LAT2.9A, a plasmid expressing the identical LAT RNA did not inhibit caspase 9-induced apoptosis. In contrast, plasmids containing the same deletion but able to transcribe up to or past LAT nucleotide 2850 (rather than just up to LAT nucleotide 1499) inhibited caspase 9-induced apoptosis, consistent with the high spontaneous reactivation phenotype of dLAT371. Thus, LAT2.9A may have a low spontaneous reactivation phenotype because the LAT RNA that is made cannot block apoptosis, and dLAT371 apparently has a high spontaneous reactivation phenotype because the LAT RNA made has significant antiapoptosis activity. Furthermore, LAT appeared to have at least two regions capable of interfering with caspase 9-induced apoptosis. One region partially overlaps LAT nucleotides 76 to 447. The second region is partially (or completely) downstream of LAT nucleotide 1499.

Robust strategies for developing patient-specific, human, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based therapies of the brain require an ability to derive large numbers of highly defined neural cells. Recent progress in iPSC culture techniques includes partial-to-complete elimination of feeder layers, use of defined media, and single-cell passaging. However, these techniques still require embryoid body formation or coculture for differentiation into neural stem cells (NSCs). In addition, none of the published methodologies has employed all of the advances in a single culture system. Here we describe a reliable method for long-term, single-cell passaging of PSCs using a feeder-free, defined culture system that produces confluent, adherent PSCs that can be differentiated into NSCs. To provide a basis for robust quality control, we have devised a system of cellular nomenclature that describes an accurate genotype and phenotype of the cells at specific stages in the process. We demonstrate that this protocol allows for the efficient, large-scale, cGMP-compliant production of transplantable NSCs from all lines tested. We also show that NSCs generated from iPSCs produced with the process described are capable of forming both glia defined by their expression of S100β and neurons that fire repetitive action potentials.

The latency-associated transcript (LAT) is essential for the wild-type herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) high-reactivation phenotype since LAT ؊ mutants have a low-reactivation phenotype. We previously reported that LAT can decrease apoptosis and proposed that this activity is involved in LAT's ability to enhance the HSV-1 reactivation phenotype. The first 20% of the primary 8.3-kb LAT transcript is sufficient for enhancing the reactivation phenotype and for decreasing apoptosis, supporting this proposal. For this study, we constructed an HSV-1 LAT ؊ mutant that expresses the baculovirus antiapoptosis gene product cpIAP under control of the LAT promoter and in place of the LAT region mentioned above. Mice were ocularly infected with this mutant, designated dLAT-cpIAP, and the reactivation phenotype was determined using the trigeminal ganglion explant model. dLAT-cpIAP had a reactivation phenotype similar to that of wild-type virus and significantly higher than that of (i) the LAT Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) establishes lifelong latent infections in host sensory neurons. This virus is widespread in the general population. When the eye is infected, the virus spreads from epithelial cells to the peripheral nerve endings and then travels to the trigeminal ganglia (TG) via retrograde axonal transport and establishes latent infection in sensory neurons of the TG. During neuronal latency, HSV-1 has no apparent impact on the infected individual. However, the latent virus can reactivate sporadically throughout the life of the individual. This occurs through a mechanism or mechanisms that are currently not fully understood. HSV-1 reactivation in the TG results in the virus returning to the eye via anterograde axonal transport. At the eye, reactivated HSV-1 can replicate, and infectious virus is shed in tears. Recurrent ocular HSV-1 infection may cause corneal disease leading to corneal scarring and loss of vision. Consequently, HSV-1 is one of the most common infectious causes of corneal blindness in the developed world.During HSV-1 neuronal latency, the latency-associated transcript (LAT) is the only abundantly transcribed viral gene (39,45). The primary LAT transcript is approximately 8.3 kb long (11, 53) and partially or completely overlaps three viral genes, those encoding AL, ICP0, and ICP34.5, in an antisense direction (33,39,45). A very stable intron, the 2-kb LAT, is spliced from the primary transcript (12) and is the major LAT RNA detected during latency (11,42,44,(50)(51)(52). LAT Ϫ mutants have impaired reactivation phenotypes in small-animal models (3,9,17,23,29,36,40,43), indicating that a LAT function enhances the HSV-1 reactivation phenotype. However, the nature of this LAT function remains unresolved.It has been proposed that LAT may affect the latency reactivation cycle by (i) antisense regulation of the important immediate-early genes for ICP0 and/or ICP4 (via an extended LAT transcript of approximately 15 kb) (6,13,39,45), (ii) association of the stable 2-kb LAT with ribosomes (26), and/or (ii...

Human pluripotent stem cells have the unique properties of being able to proliferate indefinitely in their undifferentiated state and to differentiate into any somatic cell type. These cells are thus posited to be extremely useful for furthering our understanding of both normal and abnormal human development, providing a human cell preparation that can be used to screen for new reagents or therapeutic agents, and generating large numbers of differentiated cells that can be used for transplantation purposes. Critical among the applications for the latter are diseases and injuries of the nervous system, medical approaches to which have been, to date, primarily palliative in nature. Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into cells of the neural lineage, therefore, has become a central focus of a number of laboratories. This has resulted in the description in the literature of several dozen methods for neural cell differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells. Among these are methods for the generation of such divergent neural cells as dopaminergic neurons, retinal neurons, ventral motoneurons, and oligodendroglial progenitors. In this review, we attempt to fully describe most of these methods, breaking them down into five basic subdivisions: 1) starting material, 2) induction of loss of pluripotency, 3) neural induction, 4) neural maintenance and expansion, and 5) neuronal/glial differentiation. We also show data supporting the concept that undifferentiated human pluripotent stem cells appear to have an innate neural differentiation potential. In addition, we evaluate data comparing and contrasting neural stem cells differentiated from human pluripotent stem cells with those derived directly from the human brain.