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The investigation of genetic forms of juvenile neurodegeneration could shed light on the causative mechanisms of neuronal loss. Schinzel-Giedion syndrome (SGS) is a fatal developmental syndrome caused by mutations in the SETBP1 gene, inducing the accumulation of its protein product. SGS features multi-organ involvement with severe intellectual and physical deficits due, at least in part, to early neurodegeneration. Here we introduce a human SGS model that displays disease-relevant phenotypes. We show that SGS neural progenitors exhibit aberrant proliferation, deregulation of oncogenes and suppressors, unresolved DNA damage, and resistance to apoptosis. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that high SETBP1 levels inhibit P53 function through the stabilization of SET, which in turn hinders P53 acetylation. We find that the inheritance of unresolved DNA damage in SGS neurons triggers the neurodegenerative process that can be alleviated either by PARP-1 inhibition or by NAD + supplementation. These results implicate that neuronal death in SGS originates from developmental alterations mainly in safeguarding cell identity and homeostasis., Schinzel-Giedion syndrome (SGS) is a fatal developmental syndrome characterized by severe intellectual and physical deficits due, at least in part, to early neurodegeneration. Here the authors introduce a human SGS model that displays disease-relevant phenotypes to demonstrate that neuronal death in SGS originates from developmental alterations mainly in safeguarding cell identity and homeostasis.

This study designs a strategy for an adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) protocol based on the ex-vivo selection of autologous peripheral blood-derived CD8-enriched T-cells, stimulated with dendritic cells (DCs) that had been pulsed with apoptotic tumor cells to generate cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) with anti-tumor activity. Seventy-eight colorectal cancer (CRC) patients were enrolled in this study. Tumor tissues and peripheral blood (PB) were obtained at surgery. Tissues were mechanically dissociated and cultured to obtain a primary tumor cell line from each patient. DCs were derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using magnetic positive selection of CD14+ monocytes. Anti-tumor CTLs were elicited in co-/micro-cultures using DCs as antigen-presenting cells, autologous apoptotic tumor cells as a source of antigens, and CD8+ T lymphocytes as effectors. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) secretion was assessed by ELISpot assays to evaluate the activation of the CTLs against the autologous tumor cells. Primary tumor cell lines were obtained from 20 of 78 patients (25.6%). DCs were generated from 26 patients, and of them, corresponding tumor cell lines were derived from six patients. ELISpot results showed that significant IFN-γ secretion was detected after different numbers of stimulations for two patients, whereas weak secretion was observed for three patients. Despite difficulties due to contamination of several primary tumor cell lines with gut intestinal flora, the results suggest that the generation of tumor-specific CTLs is feasible from patients with CRC, and could be useful for supporting an ACT approach in CRC.