Publications by authors named "Cédric Doucerain"

In β-thalassemia, ineffective erythropoiesis leads to anemia and systemic iron overload. The management of iron overload by chelation therapy is a standard of care. However, iron chelation does not improve the ineffective erythropoiesis. We recently showed that the oral ferroportin inhibitor VIT-2763 ameliorates anemia and erythropoiesis in the Hbb mouse model of β-thalassemia. In this study, we investigated whether concurrent use of the iron chelator deferasirox (DFX) and the ferroportin inhibitor VIT-2763 causes any pharmacodynamic interactions in the Hbb mouse model of β-thalassemia. Mice were treated with VIT-2763 or DFX alone or with the combination of both drugs once daily for three weeks. VIT-2763 alone or in combination with DFX improved anemia and erythropoiesis. VIT-2763 alone decreased serum iron and transferrin saturation (TSAT) but was not able to reduce the liver iron concentration. While DFX alone had no effect on TSAT and erythropoiesis, it significantly reduced the liver iron concentration alone and in the presence of VIT-2763. Our results clearly show that VIT-2763 does not interfere with the iron chelation efficacy of DFX. Furthermore, VIT-2763 retains its beneficial effects on improving ineffective erythropoiesis when combined with DFX in the Hbb mouse model. In conclusion, co-administration of the oral ferroportin inhibitor VIT-2763 and the iron chelator DFX is feasible and might offer an opportunity to improve both ineffective erythropoiesis and iron overload in β-thalassemia.

β-Thalassemia is a genetic anemia caused by partial or complete loss of β-globin synthesis, leading to ineffective erythropoiesis and RBCs with a short life span. Currently, there is no efficacious oral medication modifying anemia for patients with β-thalassemia. The inappropriately low levels of the iron regulatory hormone hepcidin enable excessive iron absorption by ferroportin, the unique cellular iron exporter in mammals, leading to organ iron overload and associated morbidities. Correction of unbalanced iron absorption and recycling by induction of hepcidin synthesis or treatment with hepcidin mimetics ameliorates β-thalassemia. However, hepcidin modulation or replacement strategies currently in clinical development all require parenteral drug administration. We identified oral ferroportin inhibitors by screening a library of small molecular weight compounds for modulators of ferroportin internalization. Restricting iron availability by VIT-2763, the first clinical stage oral ferroportin inhibitor, ameliorated anemia and the dysregulated iron homeostasis in the Hbbth3/+ mouse model of β-thalassemia intermedia. VIT-2763 not only improved erythropoiesis but also corrected the proportions of myeloid precursors in spleens of Hbbth3/+ mice. VIT-2763 is currently being developed as an oral drug targeting ferroportin for the treatment of β-thalassemia.

Ablation of the cellular prion protein PrP(C) leads to a chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy affecting Schwann cells. Neuron-restricted expression of PrP(C) prevents the disease, suggesting that PrP(C) acts in trans through an unidentified Schwann cell receptor. Here we show that the cAMP concentration in sciatic nerves from PrP(C)-deficient mice is reduced, suggesting that PrP(C) acts via a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). The amino-terminal flexible tail (residues 23-120) of PrP(C) triggered a concentration-dependent increase in cAMP in primary Schwann cells, in the Schwann cell line SW10, and in HEK293T cells overexpressing the GPCR Adgrg6 (also known as Gpr126). By contrast, naive HEK293T cells and HEK293T cells expressing several other GPCRs did not react to the flexible tail, and ablation of Gpr126 from SW10 cells abolished the flexible tail-induced cAMP response. The flexible tail contains a polycationic cluster (KKRPKPG) similar to the GPRGKPG motif of the Gpr126 agonist type-IV collagen. A KKRPKPG-containing PrPC-derived peptide (FT(23-50)) sufficed to induce a Gpr126-dependent cAMP response in cells and mice, and improved myelination in hypomorphic gpr126 mutant zebrafish (Danio rerio). Substitution of the cationic residues with alanines abolished the biological activity of both FT(23-50) and the equivalent type-IV collagen peptide. We conclude that PrP(C) promotes myelin homeostasis through flexible tail-mediated Gpr126 agonism. As well as clarifying the physiological role of PrP(C), these observations are relevant to the pathogenesis of demyelinating polyneuropathies--common debilitating diseases for which there are limited therapeutic options.

Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp-70) can act as a danger signal and activate immune responses. We studied the presence of Hsp-70 in lymphoid tissue and plasma of acute stroke patients and asymptomatic controls free of neurological disease. Immunofluorescence, Western blotting, qRT-PCR and flow cytometry studies were performed. Plasma Hsp-70 concentration at day 7 was similar in patients and controls, whereas patients disclosed stronger immunoreactivity to Hsp-70 in lymphoid tissue than controls. Most Hsp-70+ cells were antigen presenting cells located in T cell zones. Stronger immunoreactivity to Hsp-70 was associated with smaller infarctions and better functional outcome.

Schwann cell (SC) transplantation is currently being discussed as a strategy that may promote functional recovery in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). However this assumes they will not only survive but also remyelinate demyelinated axons in the chronically inflamed CNS. To address this question we investigated the fate of transplanted SCs in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in the Dark Agouti rat; an animal model that reproduces the complex inflammatory demyelinating immunopathology of MS. We now report that SCs expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP-SCs) allografted after disease onset not only survive but also migrate to remyelinate lesions in the inflamed CNS. GFP-SCs were detected more frequently in the parenchyma after direct injection into the spinal cord, than via intra-thecal delivery into the cerebrospinal fluid. In both cases the transplanted cells intermingled with astrocytes in demyelinated lesions, aligned with axons and by twenty one days post transplantation had formed Pzero protein immunoreactive internodes. Strikingly, GFP-SCs transplantation was associated with marked decrease in clinical disease severity in terms of mortality; all GFP-SCs transplanted animals survived whilst 80% of controls died within 40 days of disease.