scholarly journals Neuromodulation and neuroprotective effects of chlorogenic acids in excitatory synapses of mouse hippocampal slices

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Yone D. Fernandes ◽  
Fernando Dobrachinski ◽  
Henrique B. Silva ◽  
João Pedro Lopes ◽  
Francisco Q. Gonçalves ◽  
...  

AbstractThe increased healthspan afforded by coffee intake provides novel opportunities to identify new therapeutic strategies. Caffeine has been proposed to afford benefits through adenosine A2A receptors, which can control synaptic dysfunction underlying some brain disease. However, decaffeinated coffee and other main components of coffee such as chlorogenic acids, also attenuate brain dysfunction, although it is unknown if they control synaptic function. We now used electrophysiological recordings in mouse hippocampal slices to test if realistic concentrations of chlorogenic acids directly affect synaptic transmission and plasticity. 3-(3,4-dihydroxycinnamoyl)quinic acid (CA, 1–10 μM) and 5-O-(trans-3,4-dihydroxycinnamoyl)-D-quinic acid (NCA, 1–10 μM) were devoid of effect on synaptic transmission, paired-pulse facilitation or long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in Schaffer collaterals-CA1 pyramidal synapses. However, CA and NCA increased the recovery of synaptic transmission upon re-oxygenation following 7 min of oxygen/glucose deprivation, an in vitro ischemia model. Also, CA and NCA attenuated the shift of LTD into LTP observed in hippocampal slices from animals with hippocampal-dependent memory deterioration after exposure to β-amyloid 1–42 (2 nmol, icv), in the context of Alzheimer’s disease. These findings show that chlorogenic acids do not directly affect synaptic transmission and plasticity but can indirectly affect other cellular targets to correct synaptic dysfunction. Unraveling the molecular mechanisms of action of chlorogenic acids will allow the design of hitherto unrecognized novel neuroprotective strategies.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl F Foley ◽  
Daniel Barnett ◽  
Deborah A Cory-Slechta ◽  
Houhui Xia

Background: Arsenic is a well-established carcinogen known to increase all-cause mortality, but its effects on the central nervous system are less well understood. Recent epidemiological studies suggest that early life exposure to arsenic is associated with learning deficits and behavioral changes, and increased arsenic exposure continues to affect an estimated 200 million individuals worldwide. Previous studies on arsenic exposure and synaptic function have demonstrated a decrease in synaptic transmission and long-term potentiation in adult rodents, but have relied on in vitro or extended exposure in adulthood. Therefore, little is known about the effect of arsenic exposure in development. Objective: Here, we studied the effects of gestational and early developmental arsenic exposure in juvenile mice. Specifically, our objective was to investigate the impact of arsenic exposure on synaptic transmission and plasticity in the hippocampus. Methods: C57BL/6 females were exposed to arsenic (0, 50ppb, 36ppm) in their drinking water two weeks prior to mating and continued to be exposed to arsenic throughout gestation and after parturition. We then performed field recordings in acute hippocampal slices from the juvenile offspring prior to weaning (P17-P23). In this paradigm, the juvenile mice are only exposed to arsenic in utero and via the mothers milk. Results: High (36ppm) and relatively low (50ppb) arsenic exposure both lead to decreased basal synaptic transmission in the hippocampus of juvenile mice. There was a mild decrease in paired-pulse facilitation in juvenile mice exposed to high, but not low, arsenic, suggesting the alterations in synaptic transmission are primarily post-synaptic. Finally, high developmental arsenic exposure led to a significant increase in long-term potentiation. Discussion: These results suggest that indirect, ecologically-relevant arsenic exposure in early development impacts hippocampal synaptic transmission and plasticity that could underlie learning deficits reported in epidemiological studies.


2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 1279-1288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuei-Sen Hsu ◽  
Wen-Chia Ho ◽  
Chiung-Chun Huang ◽  
Jing-Jane Tsai

Previous work has shown that seizure-like activity can disrupt the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). However, how seizure-like event disrupts the LTP induction remains unknown. To understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this process better, a set of studies was implemented in area CA1 of rat hippocampal slices using extracellular recording methods. We showed here that prior transient seizure-like activity generated by perfused slices with Mg2+-free artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) exhibited a persistent suppression of LTP induction. This effect lasted between 2 and 3 h after normal ACSF replacement and was specifically inhibited by N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonistd-2-amino-5-phosphovaleric acid (d-APV) and L-type voltage-operated Ca2+ channel (VOCC) blocker nimodipine, but not by non-NMDA receptor antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). In addition, this suppressive effect was specifically blocked by the selective protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor NPC-15437. However, neither Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II inhibitor KN-62 nor cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor Rp-adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphothioate (Rp-cAMPS) affected this suppressive effect. This persistent suppression of LTP was not secondary to the long-lasting changes in NMDA receptor activation, because the isolated NMDA receptor–mediated responses did not show a long-term enhancement in response to a 30-min Mg2+-free ACSF application. Additionally, in prior Mg2+-free ACSF–treated slices, the entire frequency-response curve of LTP and long-term depression (LTD) is shifted systematically to favor LTD. These results suggest that the increase of Ca2+ influx through NMDA channels and L-type VOCCs in turn triggering a PKC-dependent signaling cascade is a possible cellular basis underlying this seizure-like activity-induced inhibition of LTP.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Xu ◽  
Mike T. Lin ◽  
Xiang-ming Zha

Abstract Increased neural activities reduced pH at the synaptic cleft and interstitial spaces. Recent studies have shown that protons function as a neurotransmitter. However, it remains unclear whether protons signal through a metabotropic receptor to regulate synaptic function. Here, we showed that GPR68, a proton-sensitive GPCR, exhibited wide expression in the hippocampus, with higher expression observed in CA3 pyramidal neurons and dentate granule cells. In organotypic hippocampal slice neurons, ectopically expressed GPR68-GFP was present in dendrites, dendritic spines, and axons. Recordings in hippocampal slices isolated from GPR68−/− mice showed a reduced fiber volley at the Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses, a reduced long-term potentiation (LTP), but unaltered paired-pulse ratio. In a step-through passive avoidance test, GPR68−/− mice exhibited reduced avoidance to the dark chamber. These findings showed that GPR68 contributes to hippocampal LTP and aversive fear memory.


Endocrinology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 144 (9) ◽  
pp. 4195-4203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Sui ◽  
M. E. Gilbert

Abstract Thyroid hormones are essential for neonatal brain development. It is well established that insufficiency of thyroid hormone during critical periods of development can impair cognitive functions. The mechanisms that underlie learning deficits in hypothyroid animals, however, are not well understood. As impairments in synaptic function are likely to contribute to cognitive deficits, the current study tested whether thyroid hormone insufficiency during development would alter quantitative characteristics of synaptic function in the hippocampus. Developing rats were exposed in utero and postnatally to 0, 3, or 10 ppm propylthiouracil (PTU), a thyroid hormone synthesis inhibitor, administered in the drinking water of dams from gestation d 6 until postnatal day (PN) 30. Excitatory postsynaptic potentials and population spikes were recorded from the stratum radiatum and the pyramidal cell layer, respectively, in area CA1 of hippocampal slices from offspring between PN21 and PN30. Baseline synaptic transmission was evaluated by comparing input-output relationships between groups. Paired-pulse facilitation, paired-pulse depression, long-term potentiation, and long-term depression were recorded to examine short- and long-term synaptic plasticity. PTU reduced thyroid hormones, reduced body weight gain, and delayed eye-opening in a dose-dependent manner. Excitatory synaptic transmission was increased by developmental exposure to PTU. Thyroid hormone insufficiency was also dose-dependently associated with a reduction paired-pulse facilitation and long-term potentiation of the excitatory postsynaptic potential and elimination of paired-pulse depression of the population spike. The results indicate that thyroid hormone insufficiency compromises the functional integrity of synaptic communication in area CA1 of developing rat hippocampus and suggest that these changes may contribute to learning deficits associated with developmental hypothyroidism.


1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Long Ma ◽  
Gerald Reis ◽  
Luis F. Parada ◽  
Erin M. Schuman

Neurotrophic factors, including BDNF and NT-3, have been implicated in the regulation of synaptic transmission and plasticity. Previous attempts to analyze synaptic transmission and plasticity in mice lacking the NT-3 gene have been hampered by the early death of the NT-3 homozygous knockout animals. We have bypassed this problem by examining synaptic transmission in mice in which the NT-3 gene is deleted in neurons later in development, by crossing animals expressing the CRE recombinase driven by the synapsin I promoter to animals in which the NT-3 gene is floxed. We conducted blind field potential recordings at the Schaffer collateral–CA1 synapse in hippocampal slices from homozygous knockout and wild-type mice. We examined the following indices of synaptic transmission: (1) input-output relationship; (2) paired-pulse facilitation; (3) post-tetanic potentiation; and (4) long-term potentiation: induced by two different protocols: (a) two trains of 100-Hz stimulation and (b) theta burst stimulation. We found no difference between the knockout and wild-type mice in any of the above measurements. These results suggest that neuronal NT-3 does not play an essential role in normal synaptic transmission and some forms of plasticity in the mouse hippocampus.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mason L. Yeh ◽  
Jessica R Yasko ◽  
Eric S. Levine ◽  
Betty A. Eipper ◽  
Richard Mains

Abstract Background: Kalirin-7 (Kal7) is a multidomain scaffold and guanine nucleotide exchange factor localized to the postsynaptic density, where Kal7 is crucial for synaptic plasticity. Kal7 knockout mice exhibit marked suppression of long-term potentiation and long-term depression in hippocampus, cerebral cortex and spinal cord, with depressed surface expression of GluN2B receptor subunits and dramatically blunted perception of pain. Kal7 knockout animals show exaggerated locomotor responses to psychostimulants and self-administer cocaine more enthusiastically than wildtype mice. Results: To address the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms which are deranged by loss of Kal7, we infused candidate intracellular interfering peptides to acutely challenge the synaptic function(s) of Kal7 with potential protein binding partners, to determine if plasticity deficits in Kal7-/- mice are the product of developmental processes since conception, or could be produced on a much shorter time scale. We demonstrated that these small intracellular peptides disrupted normal long-term potentiation and long-term depression, strongly suggesting that maintenance of established interactions of Kal7 with PSD-95 and/or GluN2B is crucial to synaptic plasticity. Conclusions: Blockade of the Kal7-GluN2B interaction was most effective at blocking long-term potentiation, but had no effect on long-term depression. Biochemical approaches indicated that Kal7 interacted with PSD-95 at multiple sites within Kal7.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Ruiz-Pérez ◽  
Samuel Ruiz de Martín Esteban ◽  
Sharai Marqués ◽  
Noelia Aparicio ◽  
M. Teresa Grande ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The complex pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) hampers the development of effective treatments. Attempts to prevent neurodegeneration in AD have failed so far, highlighting the need for further clarification of the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. Neuroinflammation seems to play a crucial role in disease progression, although its specific contribution to AD pathogenesis remains elusive. We have previously shown that the modulation of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) renders beneficial effects in a context of amyloidosis, which triggers neuroinflammation. In the 5xFAD model, the genetic inactivation of the enzyme that degrades anandamide (AEA), the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), was associated with a significant amelioration of the memory deficit. Methods In this work, we use electrophysiology, flow cytometry and molecular analysis to evaluate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the improvement associated to the increased endocannabinoid tone in the 5xFAD mouse− model. Results We demonstrate that the chronic enhancement of the endocannabinoid tone rescues hippocampal synaptic plasticity in the 5xFAD mouse model. At the CA3–CA1 synapse, both basal synaptic transmission and long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic transmission are normalized upon FAAH genetic inactivation, in a CB1 receptor (CB1R)- and TRPV1 receptor-independent manner. Dendritic spine density in CA1 pyramidal neurons, which is notably decreased in 6-month-old 5xFAD animals, is also restored. Importantly, we reveal that the expression of microglial factors linked to phagocytic activity, such as TREM2 and CTSD, and other factors related to amyloid beta clearance and involved in neuron–glia crosstalk, such as complement component C3 and complement receptor C3AR, are specifically upregulated in 5xFAD/FAAH−/− animals. Conclusion In summary, our findings support the therapeutic potential of modulating, rather than suppressing, neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease. In our model, the long-term enhancement of the endocannabinoid tone triggered augmented microglial activation and amyloid beta phagocytosis, and a consequent reversal in the neuronal phenotype associated to the disease.


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