Probes for INS

Notch signalling maintains stem cell regeneration at the mouse intestinal crypt base and balances the absorptive and secretory lineages in the upper crypt and villus. Here we report the role of Fringe family of glycosyltransferases in modulating Notch activity in the two compartments. At the crypt base, RFNG is enriched in the Paneth cells and increases cell surface expression of DLL1 and DLL4. This promotes Notch activity in the neighbouring Lgr5+ stem cells assisting their self-renewal. Expressed by various secretory cells in the upper crypt and villus, LFNG promotes DLL surface expression and suppresses the secretory lineage . Hence, in the intestinal epithelium, Fringes are present in the ligand-presenting 'sender' secretory cells and promote Notch activity in the neighbouring 'receiver' cells. Fringes thereby provide for targeted modulation of Notch activity and thus the cell fate in the stem cell zone, or the upper crypt and villus.

The heterogeneity of multiple sclerosis is reflected by dynamic changes of different lesion types in the brain white matter (WM). To identify potential drivers of this process, we RNA-sequenced 73 WM areas from patients with progressive MS (PMS) and 25 control WM. Lesion endophenotypes were described by a computational systems medicine analysis combined with RNAscope, immunohistochemistry, and immunofluorescence. The signature of the normal-appearing WM (NAWM) was more similar to control WM than to lesions: one of the six upregulated genes in NAWM was CD26/DPP4 expressed by microglia. Chronic active lesions that become prominent in PMS had a signature that were different from all other lesion types, and were differentiated from them by two clusters of 62 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). An upcoming MS biomarker, CHI3L1 was among the top ten upregulated genes in chronic active lesions expressed by astrocytes in the rim. TGFβ-R2 was the central hub in a remyelination-related protein interaction network, and was expressed there by astrocytes. We used de novo networks enriched by unique DEGs to determine lesion-specific pathway regulation, i.e. cellular trafficking and activation in active lesions; healing and immune responses in remyelinating lesions characterized by the most heterogeneous immunoglobulin gene expression; coagulation and ion balance in inactive lesions; and metabolic changes in chronic active lesions. Because we found inverse differential regulation of particular genes among different lesion types, our data emphasize that omics related to MS lesions should be interpreted in the context of lesion pathology. Our data indicate that the impact of molecular pathways is substantially changing as different lesions develop. This was also reflected by the high number of unique DEGs that were more common than shared signatures. A special microglia subset characterized by CD26 may play a role in early lesion development, while astrocyte-derived TGFβ-R2 and TGFβ pathways may be drivers of repair in contrast to chronic tissue damage. The highly specific mechanistic signature of chronic active lesions indicates that as these lesions develop in PMS, the molecular changes are substantially skewed: the unique mitochondrial/metabolic changes and specific downregulation of molecules involved in tissue repair may reflect a stage of exhaustion.