scholarly journals The Protective and Long-Lasting Effects of Human Milk Oligosaccharides on Cognition in Mammals

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3572
Author(s):  
Sylvia Docq ◽  
Marcia Spoelder ◽  
Wendan Wang ◽  
Judith R. Homberg
Keyword(s):  
Human Milk ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Accelerated Learning ◽  
Human Milk Oligosaccharides ◽  
Milk Oligosaccharides ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Term Potentiation

Over the last few years, research indicated that Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) may serve to enhance cognition during development. HMOs hereby provide an exciting avenue in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that contribute to cognitive development. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the reported observations regarding the effects of HMOs on memory and cognition in rats, mice and piglets. Our main findings illustrate that the administration of fucosylated (single or combined with Lacto-N-neoTetraose (LNnT) and other oligosaccharides) and sialylated HMOs results in marked improvements in spatial memory and an accelerated learning rate in operant tasks. Such beneficial effects of HMOs on cognition already become apparent during infancy, especially when the behavioural tasks are cognitively more demanding. When animals age, its effects become increasingly more apparent in simpler tasks as well. Furthermore, the combination of HMOs with other oligosaccharides yields different effects on memory performance as opposed to single HMO administration. In addition, an enhanced hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) response both at a young and at a mature age are reported as well. These results point towards the possibility that HMOs administered either in singular or combination forms have long-lasting, beneficial effects on memory and cognition in mammals.

scholarly journals Sialylated human milk oligosaccharides program cognitive development through a non-genomic transmission mode

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Hauser ◽  
Edoardo Pisa ◽  
Alejandro Arias Vásquez ◽  
Flavio Tomasi ◽  
Alice Traversa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Human Milk ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Human Milk Oligosaccharides ◽  
Milk Oligosaccharides ◽  
Eye Opening

AbstractBreastmilk contains bioactive molecules essential for brain and cognitive development. While sialylated human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) have been implicated in phenotypic programming, their selective role and underlying mechanisms remained elusive. Here, we investigated the long-term consequences of a selective lactational deprivation of a specific sialylated HMO in mice. We capitalized on a knock-out (KO) mouse model (B6.129-St6gal1tm2Jxm/J) lacking the gene responsible for the synthesis of sialyl(alpha2,6)lactose (6′SL), one of the two sources of sialic acid (Neu5Ac) to the lactating offspring. Neu5Ac is involved in the formation of brain structures sustaining cognition. To deprive lactating offspring of 6′SL, we cross-fostered newborn wild-type (WT) pups to KO dams, which provide 6′SL-deficient milk. To test whether lactational 6′SL deprivation affects cognitive capabilities in adulthood, we assessed attention, perseveration, and memory. To detail the associated endophenotypes, we investigated hippocampal electrophysiology, plasma metabolomics, and gut microbiota composition. To investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms, we assessed gene expression (at eye-opening and in adulthood) in two brain regions mediating executive functions and memory (hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, PFC). Compared to control mice, WT offspring deprived of 6′SL during lactation exhibited consistent alterations in all cognitive functions addressed, hippocampal electrophysiology, and in pathways regulating the serotonergic system (identified through gut microbiota and plasma metabolomics). These were associated with a site- (PFC) and time-specific (eye-opening) reduced expression of genes involved in central nervous system development. Our data suggest that 6′SL in maternal milk adjusts cognitive development through a short-term upregulation of genes modulating neuronal patterning in the PFC.

scholarly journals Effects of D‐amino acid oxidase inhibition on memory performance and long‐term potentiation in vivo

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth C. Hopkins ◽  
Una C. Campbell ◽  
Michele L. R. Heffernan ◽  
Kerry L. Spear ◽  
Ross D. Jeggo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Acid Oxidase ◽  
Amino Acid Oxidase ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Oxidase Inhibition

Postsynaptic Application of a cAMP Analogue Reverses Long-Term Potentiation in Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Neurons

2002 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 3018-3032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolai Otmakhov ◽  
John E. Lisman
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Competitive Inhibition ◽  
Drug Application ◽  
Specific Effect ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Camp Analogue ◽  
And Control ◽  
Dependent Processes

The molecular mechanisms that underlie the maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP) remain unclear. We have examined the influence of postsynaptic cAMP-dependent processes on LTP maintenance in CA1 hippocampal cells. After LTP induction, drugs affecting cAMP-dependent processes were perfused into the cell through a patch pipette. A cAMP analogue, Rp-cAMPS (4 mM), dramatically decreased the amplitude of potentiated synaptic responses. The amplitude of responses in the control pathway was also decreased but to a lesser extent, indicating a specific effect on the potentiation process. This specific effect was not due to the larger amplitude of potentiated responses, was not use-dependent and, unlike other factors that affect LTP maintenance, did not depend on the delay (2, 10, or 25 min) of drug application after LTP induction. Lower concentrations of Rp-cAMPS (1.0 and 0.4 mM) also produced an inhibitory effect but reduced the LTP and control pathways comparably. One possible action of Rp-cAMPS is competitive inhibition of protein kinase A (PKA). Surprisingly, a potent and noncompetitive PKA inhibitor, regulatory type II subunit of PKA, produced only a weak depression of potentiated and control responses indicating there must be other targets for Rp-cAMPS. Moreover, Sp-8-OH-cAMPS, which is an activator of PKA, and Rp-8-OH-cAMPS, which is a weak inhibitor of PKA, both produced effects similar to those of Rp-cAMPS. We conclude that there are postsynaptic cyclic nucleotide-dependent processes that can specifically alter the mechanisms that maintain LTP and that are not primarily dependent on PKA.

scholarly journals Inducible molecular switches for the study of long-term potentiation

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 797-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaël Hédou ◽  
Isabelle M. Mansuy
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Knock Out ◽  
Technical Developments ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Dependent Protein ◽  
Strength And Plasticity ◽  
Regulated Gene Expression ◽  
Molecular Bases

This article reviews technical and conceptual advances in unravelling the molecular bases of long-term potentiation (LTP), learning and memory using genetic approaches. We focus on studies aimed at testing a model suggesting that protein kinases and protein phosphatases balance each other to control synaptic strength and plasticity. We describe how gene ‘knock-out’ technology was initially exploited to disrupt the Ca 2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II α (CaMKII α ) gene and how refined knock-in techniques later allowed an analysis of the role of distinct phosphorylation sites in CaMKII. Further to gene recombination, regulated gene expression using the tetracycline-controlled transactivator and reverse tetracycline-controlled transactivator systems, a powerful new means for modulating the activity of specific molecules, has been applied to CaMKII α and the opposing protein phosphatase calcineurin. Together with electro-physiological and behavioural evaluation of the engineered mutant animals, these genetic methodologies have helped gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of plasticity and memory. Further technical developments are, however, awaited for an even higher level of finesse.

scholarly journals Human milk oligosaccharides reduceEntamoeba histolyticaattachment and cytotoxicityin vitro

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (10) ◽  
pp. 1839-1846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn Jantscher-Krenn ◽  
Tineke Lauwaet ◽  
Laura A. Bliss ◽  
Sharon L. Reed ◽  
Frances D. Gillin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Milk ◽  
Protozoan Parasite ◽  
Bacterial Attachment ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Human Milk Oligosaccharides ◽  
Milk Oligosaccharides ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Ht 29

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMO), complex sugars that are highly abundant in breast milk, block viral and bacterial attachment to the infant's intestinal epithelium and lower the risk of infections. We hypothesised that HMO also prevent infections with the protozoan parasiteEntamoeba histolytica,as its major virulence factor is a lectin that facilitates parasite attachment and cytotoxicity and binds galactose (Gal) andN-acetyl-galactosamine. HMO contain Gal, are only minimally digested in the small intestine and reach the colon, the site ofE. histolyticainfection. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether HMO reduceE. histolyticaattachment and cytotoxicity. Ourin vitroresults show that physiological concentrations of isolated, pooled HMO detachE. histolyticaby more than 80 %. In addition, HMO rescueE. histolytica-induced destruction of human intestinal epithelial HT-29 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The cytoprotective effects were structure-specific. Lacto-N-tetraose with its terminal Gal rescued up to 80 % of the HT-29 cells, while HMO with fucose α1–2-linked to the terminal Gal had no effect. Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), which also contain terminal Gal and are currently added to infant formula to mimic some of the beneficial effects of HMO, completely abolishedE. histolyticaattachment and cytotoxicity at 8 mg/ml. Although our results need to be confirmedin vivo, they may provide one explanation for why breast-fed infants are at lower risk ofE. histolyticainfections. HMO and GOS are heat tolerant, stable, safe and in the case of GOS, inexpensive, which could make them valuable candidates as alternative preventive and therapeutic anti-amoebic agents.

scholarly journals Chronic Fluoxetine Treatment Induces Brain Region-Specific Upregulation of Genes Associated with BDNF-Induced Long-Term Potentiation

2007 ◽  
Vol 2007 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Nordheim Alme ◽  
Karin Wibrand ◽  
Grethe Dagestad ◽  
Clive R. Bramham
Keyword(s):  
Dentate Gyrus ◽  
Brain Region ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Antidepressant Treatment ◽  
Antidepressant Drugs ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Early Gene ◽  
Term Potentiation

Several lines of evidence implicate BDNF in the pathogenesis of stress-induced depression and the delayed efficacy of antidepressant drugs. Antidepressant-induced upregulation of BDNF signaling is thought to promote adaptive neuronal plasticity through effects on gene expression, but the effector genes downstream of BDNF has not been identified. Local infusion of BDNF into the dentate gyrus induces a long-term potentiation (BDNF-LTP) of synaptic transmission that requires upregulation of the immediate early gene Arc. Recently, we identified five genes (neuritin, Narp, TIEG1, Carp, and Arl4d) that are coupregulated with Arc during BDNF-LTP. Here, we examined the expression of these genes in the dentate gyrus, hippocampus proper, and prefrontal cortex after antidepressant treatment. We show that chronic, but not acute, fluoxetine administration leads to upregulation of these BDNF-LTP-associated genes in a brain region-specific pattern. These findings link chronic effects of antidepressant treatment to molecular mechanisms underlying BDNF-induced synaptic plasticity.

Effects of a human milk oligosaccharide, 2′-fucosyllactose, on hippocampal long-term potentiation and learning capabilities in rodents

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 455-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Vázquez ◽  
Alejandro Barranco ◽  
Maria Ramírez ◽  
Agnes Gruart ◽  
José M. Delgado-García ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Milk ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Milk Oligosaccharide ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Learning Capabilities ◽  
Human Milk Oligosaccharide

scholarly journals Dissecting the Roles of Kalirin-7/PSD95/GluN2B Interactions in Different Forms of Synaptic Plasticity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mason L. Yeh ◽  
Jessica R. Yasko ◽  
Eric S. Levine ◽  
Betty A. Eipper ◽  
Richard E. Mains
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Knockout Mice ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Postsynaptic Density ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Surface Expression ◽  
Multiple Components ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Knockout Animals

AbstractKalirin-7 (Kal7) is a Rac1/RhoG GEF and multidomain scaffold localized to the postsynaptic density which plays an important role in synaptic plasticity. Behavioral and physiological phenotypes observed in the Kal7 knockout mouse are quite specific: genetics of breeding, growth, strength and coordination are normal; Kal7 knockout animals self-administer cocaine far more than normal mice, show exaggerated locomotor responses to cocaine, but lack changes in dendritic spine morphology seen in wildtype mice; Kal7 knockout mice have depressed surface expression of GluN2B receptor subunits and exhibit marked suppression of long-term potentiation and depression in hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and spinal cord; and Kal7 knockout mice have dramatically blunted perception of pain. To address the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms which are deranged by loss of Kal7, we administered intracellular blocking peptides to acutely change Kal7 function at the synapse, to determine if plasticity deficits in Kal7-/-mice are the product of developmental processes since conception, or could be detected on a much shorter time scale. We found that specific disruption of the interactions of Kal7 with PSD-95 or GluN2B resulted in significant suppression of long-term potentiation and long-term depression. Biochemical approaches indicated that Kal7 interacted with PSD-95 at multiple sites within Kal7.Graphical Table of ContentsThe postsynaptic density is an integral player in receiving, interpreting and storing signals transmitted by presynaptic terminals. The correct molecular composition is crucial for successful expression of synaptic plasticity. Key components of the postsynaptic density include ligand-gated ion channels, structural and binding proteins, and multidomain scaffolding plus enzymatic proteins. These studies address whether the multiple components of the synaptic density bind together in a static or slowly adapting molecular complex, or whether critical interactions are fluid on a minute-to-minute basis.

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