PUBLICATION

Novel Chronic Mouse Model of Cerebral Cavernous Malformations

Authors
Cardoso, C., Arnould, M., De Luca, C., Otten, C., Abdelilah-Seyfried, S., Heredia, A., Leutenegger, A.L., Schwaninger, M., Tournier-Lasserve, E., Boulday, G.
ID
ZDB-PUB-200130-3
Date
2020
Source
Stroke   51(4): 1272-1278 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Abdelilah-Seyfried, Salim
Keywords
cavernous, central nervous system, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebrovascular disorders, hemangioma, models, animal, therapeutics
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Brain/pathology*
  • Central Nervous System Neoplasms/genetics*
  • Central Nervous System Neoplasms/metabolism
  • Central Nervous System Neoplasms/pathology*
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System/genetics*
  • Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System/metabolism
  • Hemangioma, Cavernous, Central Nervous System/pathology*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Microfilament Proteins/deficiency
  • Microfilament Proteins/genetics*
PubMed
31992178 Full text @ Stroke
Abstract
Background and Purpose- Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are vascular malformations of the brain that lead to cerebral hemorrhages. A pharmacological treatment is needed especially for patients with nonoperable deep-seated lesions. We and others obtained CCM mouse models that were useful for mechanistic studies and rapid trials testing the preventive effects of candidate drugs. The shortened lifespan of acute mouse models hampered evaluation of compounds that would not only prevent lesion appearance but also cure preexisting lesions. Indirubin-3'-monoxime previously demonstrated its efficacy to reverse the cardiac phenotype of ccm2m201 zebrafish mutants and to prevent lesion development in an acute CCM2 mouse model. In the present article, we developed and characterized a novel chronic CCM2 mouse model and evaluated the curative therapeutic effect of indirubin-3'-monoxime after CCM lesion development. Methods- The chronic mouse model was obtained by a postnatal induction of brain-endothelial-cell-specific ablation of the Ccm2 gene using the inducible Slco1c1-CreERT2 mouse line. Results- We obtained a fully penetrant novel CCM chronic mouse model without any obvious off-target phenotypes and compatible with long-term survival. By 3 months of age, CCM lesions ranging in size from small isolated lesions to multiple caverns developed throughout the brain. Lesion burden was quantified in animals from 1 week to 5 months of age. Clear signs of intracerebral hemorrhages were noticed in brain-endothelial-cell-specific ablation of the Ccm2 gene. In contrast with its preventive effect in the acute CCM2 mouse model, a 20 mg/kg indirubin-3'-monoxime treatment for 3 weeks in 3-month old animals neither had any beneficial effect on the lesion burden nor alleviated cerebral hemorrhages. Conclusions- The brain-endothelial-cell-specific ablation of the Ccm2 gene chronic model is a strongly improved disease model for the CCM community whose challenge today is to decipher which candidate drugs might have a curative effect on patients' preexisting lesions.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping