Astrogliosis and Neuroinflammation Underlie Scoliosis Upon Cilia Dysfunction

Abstract

Cilia defects lead to scoliosis in zebrafish, but the underlying pathogenic mechanisms are poorly understood and may diverge depending on the mutated gene. We dissected the mechanisms of scoliosis onset in a zebrafish mutant for the rpgrip1l gene encoding a ciliary transition zone protein. rpgrip1l mutant fish developed scoliosis with near-total penetrance but asynchronous onset in juveniles. Taking advantage of this asynchrony, we found that curvature onset was preceded by brain ventricle dilations and concomitant to the perturbation of Reissner fiber polymerization and to the loss of multicilia tufts around the subcommissural organ. Rescue experiments showed that Rpgrip1l was exclusively required in foxj1a -expressing cells to prevent axis curvature. Transcriptomic and proteomic studies identified neuroinflammation associated with increased Annexin levels as a potential mechanism of scoliosis development in rpgrip1l juveniles. Investigating the cell types associated with annexin2 over-expression, we uncovered astrogliosis, arising in glial cells surrounding the diencephalic and rhombencephalic ventricles just before scoliosis onset and increasing with time in severity. Anti-inflammatory drug treatment reduced scoliosis penetrance and severity and this correlated with both reduced astrogliosis and macrophage/microglia enrichment around the diencephalic ventricle. Mutation of the cep290 gene encoding another transition zone protein also associated astrogliosis with scoliosis. Thus, we propose that the onset of a feed-forward loop between astrogliosis, induced by perturbed ventricular homeostasis, and immune cells recruitment as a novel pathogenic mechanism of zebrafish scoliosis in ciliary transition zone mutants.