scholarly journals Reduced expression of the psychiatric risk gene DLG2 (PSD93) impairs hippocampal synaptic integration and plasticity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simonas Griesius ◽  
Cian O'Donnell ◽  
Sophie Waldron ◽  
Kerrie L Thomas ◽  
Dominic M Dwyer ◽  
...  

Background: Genetic variations indicating loss of function in the DLG2 gene have been associated with markedly increased risk for schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and intellectual disability. DLG2 encodes the postsynaptic scaffolding protein DLG2 (PSD93) that interacts with NMDA receptors, potassium channels, and cytoskeletal regulators but the net impact of these interactions on synaptic plasticity, likely underpinning cognitive impairments associated with these conditions, remains unclear. Methods: Hippocampal CA1 neuronal excitability and synaptic function were investigated in a novel clinically relevant heterozygous Dlg2+/- rat model using ex vivo patch-clamp electrophysiology, pharmacology, and computational modelling. Results: Dlg2+/- rats had increased NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic currents and, conversely, impaired associative long-term potentiation. This impairment resulted from an increase in potassium channel function leading to a decrease in input resistance and reduced supra-linear dendritic integration during induction of associative long-term potentiation. Enhancement of dendritic excitability by blockade of potassium channels or activation of muscarinic M1 receptors with selective allosteric agonist 77-LH-28- 1 reduced the threshold for dendritic integration and 77-LH-28-1 rescued the associative long- term potentiation impairment in the Dlg2+/- rats. Conclusions: Despite increasing synaptic NMDA receptor currents, the combined impact of reduced DLG2 impairs synaptic integration in dendrites resulting in disrupted associative synaptic plasticity. This biological phenotype can be reversed by compound classes used clinically such as muscarinic M1 receptor agonists and is therefore a potential target for therapeutic intervention.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 239821282095784
Author(s):  
Heather Kang ◽  
Pojeong Park ◽  
Muchun Han ◽  
Patrick Tidball ◽  
John Georgiou ◽  
...  

The ketamine metabolite (2 R,6 R)-hydroxynorketamine has been proposed to have rapid and persistent antidepressant actions in rodents, but its mechanism of action is controversial. We have compared the ability of ( R,S)-ketamine with the (2 S,6 S)- and (2 R,6 R)-isomers of hydroxynorketamine to affect the induction of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor–dependent long-term potentiation in the mouse hippocampus. Following pre-incubation of these compounds, we observed a concentration-dependent (1–10 μM) inhibition of long-term potentiation by ketamine and a similar effect of (2 S,6 S)-hydroxynorketamine. At a concentration of 10 μM, (2 R,6 R)-hydroxynorketamine also inhibited the induction of long-term potentiation. These findings raise the possibility that inhibition of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor–mediated synaptic plasticity is a site of action of the hydroxynorketamine metabolites with respect to their rapid and long-lasting antidepressant-like effects.


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.


2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (6) ◽  
pp. R1588-R1596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunyoung Kim ◽  
Lawrence M. Grover ◽  
Don Bertolotti ◽  
Todd L. Green

Sleep is required for, and sleep loss impairs, normal hippocampal synaptic N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor function and expression, hippocampal NMDA receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity, and hippocampal-dependent memory function. Although sleep is essential, the signals linking sleep to hippocampal function are not known. One potential signal is growth hormone. Growth hormone is released during sleep, and its release is suppressed during sleep deprivation. If growth hormone links sleep to hippocampal function, then restoration of growth hormone during sleep deprivation should prevent adverse consequences of sleep loss. To test this hypothesis, we examined rat hippocampus for spontaneous excitatory synaptic currents in CA1 pyramidal neurons, long-term potentiation in area CA1, and NMDA receptor subunit proteins in synaptic membranes. Three days of sleep deprivation caused a significant reduction in NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic currents compared with control treatments. When rats were injected with growth hormone once per day during sleep deprivation, the loss of NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic currents was prevented. Growth hormone injections also prevented the impairment of long-term potentiation that normally follows sleep deprivation. In addition, sleep deprivation led to a selective loss of NMDA receptor 2B (NR2B) from hippocampal synaptic membranes, but normal NR2B expression was restored by growth hormone injection. Our results identify growth hormone as a critical mediator linking sleep to normal synaptic function of the hippocampus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (47) ◽  
pp. e2110755118
Author(s):  
Elisa Colombo ◽  
Guilherme Horta ◽  
Mona K. Roesler ◽  
Natascha Ihbe ◽  
Stuti Chhabra ◽  
...  

Nondegradative ubiquitin chains attached to specific targets via Lysine 63 (K63) residues have emerged to play a fundamental role in synaptic function. The K63-specific deubiquitinase CYLD has been widely studied in immune cells and lately also in neurons. To better understand if CYLD plays a role in brain and synapse homeostasis, we analyzed the behavioral profile of CYLD-deficient mice. We found that the loss of CYLD results in major autism-like phenotypes including impaired social communication, increased repetitive behavior, and cognitive dysfunction. Furthermore, the absence of CYLD leads to a reduction in hippocampal network excitability, long-term potentiation, and pyramidal neuron spine numbers. By providing evidence that CYLD can modulate mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling and autophagy at the synapse, we propose that synaptic K63-linked ubiquitination processes could be fundamental in understanding the pathomechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorder.


2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 1936-1948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline de Marchena ◽  
Adam C. Roberts ◽  
Paul G. Middlebrooks ◽  
Vera Valakh ◽  
Koji Yashiro ◽  
...  

The suggestion that NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-dependent plasticity is subunit specific, with NR2B-types required for long-term depression (LTD) and NR2A-types critical for the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP), has generated much attention and considerable debate. By investigating the suggested subunit-specific roles of NMDARs in the mouse primary visual cortex over development, we report several important findings that clarify the roles of NMDAR subtypes in synaptic plasticity. We observed that LTD was not attenuated by application of ifenprodil, an NR2B-type antagonist, or NVP-AAM007, a less selective NR2A-type antagonist. However, we were surprised that NVP-AAM007 completely blocked adult LTP (postnatal day (P) 45–90), while only modestly affecting juvenile LTP (P21-28). To assess whether this developmental transition reflected an increasing role for NR2A-type receptors with maturity, we characterized the specificity of NVP-AAM007. We found not only that NVP-AAM007 lacks discernable subunit specificity but also that the effects of NVP-AAM077 on LTP could be mimicked using subsaturating concentrations of APV, a global NMDAR antagonist. These results indicate that the effects of NVP-AAM077 on synaptic plasticity are largely explained by nonspecific blockade of NMDARs. Moreover our findings are the first to reveal a developmental increase in the sensitivity of LTP to NMDAR antagonism. We suggest that discrepant reports describing the effect of NVP-AAM077 on LTP may be partially explained by this developmental shift in the properties of LTP. These results indicate that the degree of NMDAR activation required for LTP increases with development, providing insight into a novel underlying mechanism governing the properties of synaptic plasticity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1633) ◽  
pp. 20130131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pojeong Park ◽  
Arturas Volianskis ◽  
Thomas M. Sanderson ◽  
Zuner A. Bortolotto ◽  
David E. Jane ◽  
...  

N -methyl- d -aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) is extensively studied since it is believed to use the same molecular mechanisms that are required for many forms of learning and memory. Unfortunately, many controversies exist, not least the seemingly simple issue concerning the locus of expression of LTP. Here, we review our recent work and some of the extensive literature on this topic and present new data that collectively suggest that LTP can be explained, during its first few hours, by the coexistence of at least three mechanistically distinct processes that are all triggered by the synaptic activation of NMDARs.


2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1369-1374 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Geoffrey Lau ◽  
Koichi Takeuchi ◽  
Alma Rodenas-Ruano ◽  
Yukihiro Takayasu ◽  
Jessica Murphy ◽  
...  

NMDARs (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors) are critical for synaptic function throughout the CNS (central nervous system). NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ influx is implicated in neuronal differentiation, neuronal migration, synaptogenesis, structural remodelling, long-lasting forms of synaptic plasticity and higher cognitive functions. NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ signalling in dendritic spines is not static, but can be remodelled in a cell- and synapse-specific manner by NMDAR subunit composition, protein kinases and neuronal activity during development and in response to sensory experience. Recent evidence indicates that Ca2+ permeability of neuronal NMDARs, NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ signalling in spines and induction of NMDAR-dependent LTP (long-term potentiation) at hippocampal Schaffer collateral–CA1 synapses are under control of the cAMP/PKA (protein kinase A) signalling cascade. Thus, by enhancing Ca2+ influx through NMDARs in spines, PKA can regulate the induction of LTP. An emerging concept is that activity-dependent regulation of NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ signalling by PKA and by extracellular signals that modulate cAMP or protein phosphatases at synaptic sites provides a dynamic and potentially powerful mechanism for bi-directional regulation of synaptic efficacy and remodelling.


2004 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 2437-2444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashok Kumar ◽  
Thomas C. Foster

The contribution of Ca2+ release from intracellular Ca2+ stores (ICS) for regulation of synaptic plasticity thresholds during aging was investigated in hippocampal slices of old (22–24 mo) and young adult (5–8 mo) male Fischer 344 rats. Inhibition of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release by thapsigargin, cyclopiazonic acid (CPA), or ryanodine during pattern stimulation near the threshold for synaptic modification (5 Hz, 900 pulses) selectively induced long-term potentiation (LTP) to CA1 Schaffer collateral synapses of old rats. Increased synaptic strength was specific to test pathways and blocked by AP-5. Intracellular recordings demonstrated that ICS plays a role in the augmentation of the afterhyperpolarization (AHP) in old rats. The decrease in the AHP by ICS inhibition was reversed by the L-channel agonist, Bay K8644. Under conditions of ICS inhibition and a Bay K8644–mediated enhancement of the AHP, pattern stimulation failed to induce LTP, consistent with the idea that the AHP amplitude shapes the threshold for LTP induction. Finally, ICS inhibition was associated with an increase in the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor component of synaptic transmission in old animals. This increase in the synaptic response was blocked by the calcineurin inhibitor FK506. The results reveal an age-related increase in susceptibility to LTP-induction that is normally inhibited by ICS and suggest that the age-related shift in Ca2+ regulation and Ca2+-dependent synaptic plasticity is coupled to changes in cell excitability and NMDA receptor function through ICS.


1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 277-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Egidio D'Angelo ◽  
Paola Rossi ◽  
Simona Armano ◽  
Vanni Taglietti

D'Angelo, Egidio, Paola Rossi, Simona Armano, and Vanni Taglietti. Evidence for NMDA and mGlu receptor-dependent long-term potentiation of mossy fiber–granule cell transmission in rat cerebellum. J. Neurophysiol. 81: 277–287, 1999. Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a form of synaptic plasticity that can be revealed at numerous hippocampal and neocortical synapses following high-frequency activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. However, it was not known whether LTP could be induced at the mossy fiber–granule cell relay of cerebellum. This is a particularly interesting issue because theories of the cerebellum do not consider or even explicitly negate the existence of mossy fiber–granule cell synaptic plasticity. Here we show that high-frequency mossy fiber stimulation paired with granule cell membrane depolarization (−40 mV) leads to LTP of granule cell excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs). Pairing with a relatively hyperpolarized potential (−60 mV) or in the presence of NMDA receptor blockers [5-amino-d-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) and 7-chloro-kynurenic acid (7-Cl-Kyn)] prevented LTP, suggesting that the induction process involves a voltage-dependent NMDA receptor activation. Metabotropic glutamate receptors were also involved because blocking them with (+)-α-methyl-4-carboxyphenyl-glycine (MCPG) prevented potentiation. At the cytoplasmic level, EPSC potentiation required a Ca2+ increase and protein kinase C (PKC) activation. Potentiation was expressed through an increase in both the NMDA and non-NMDA receptor-mediated current and by an NMDA current slowdown, suggesting that complex mechanisms control synaptic efficacy during LTP. LTP at the mossy fiber–granule cell synapse provides the cerebellar network with a large reservoir for memory storage, which may be needed to optimize pattern recognition and, ultimately, cerebellar learning and computation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Lenz ◽  
Marina Ben Shimon ◽  
Thomas Deller ◽  
Andreas Vlachos ◽  
Nicola Maggio

Epilepsy is a complex neurological disorder which can severely affect neuronal function. Some patients may experience status epilepticus, a life-threatening state of ongoing seizure activity associated with postictal cognitive dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms by which status epilepticus influences brain function beyond seizure activity remain not well understood. Here, we addressed the question of whether pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus affects synaptopodin (SP), an actin-binding protein, which regulates the ability of neurons to express synaptic plasticity. This makes SP an interesting marker for epilepsy-associated alterations in synaptic function. Indeed, single dose intraperitoneal pilocarpine injection (250 mg/kg) in three-month-old male C57BL/6J mice leads to a rapid reduction in hippocampal SP-cluster sizes and numbers (in CA1 stratum radiatum of the dorsal hippocampus; 90 min after injection). In line with this observation (and previous work using SP-deficient mice), a defect in the ability to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) of Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses is observed. Based on these findings we propose that status epilepticus could exert its aftereffects on cognition at least in part by perturbing SP-dependent mechanisms of synaptic plasticity.


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