Mediator subunit 12 coordinates intrinsic and extrinsic control of epithalamic development.

In the developing brain, the production of neurons from multipotent precursors must be carefully regulated in order to generate the appropriate numbers of various differentiated neuronal types. Inductive signals from extrinsic elements such as growth factors need to be integrated with timely expression of intrinsic elements such as transcription factors that define the competence of the cell. The transcriptional Mediator complex offers a mechanism to coordinate the timing and levels of intrinsic and extrinsic influences by acting as a rapid molecular switch for transcription of poised RNA pol II. The epithalamus is a highly conserved region of the vertebrate brain that differentiates early and rapidly in the zebrafish. It includes the pineal and parapineal organs and the habenular nuclei. Mutation of the Mediator complex subunit Med12 impairs the specification of habenular and parapineal neurons and causes a loss of differentiation in pineal neurons and photoreceptors. Although FGF ligands and transcription factors for parapineal and photoreceptor development are still expressed in the pineal complex of med12 mutants, FGF signaling is impaired and transcription factor expression is reduced and/or delayed. We find that the timely expression of one of these transcription factors, tbx2b, is controlled by Med12 and is vital for parapineal specification. We propose that the Mediator complex is responsible for subtle but significant changes in transcriptional timing and amplitude that are essential for coordinating the development of neurons in the epithalamus.

Evidence for structural abnormalities of the human habenular complex in affective disorders but not in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: The habenular complex is composed of important relay nuclei linking the limbic forebrain to the midbrain and brain stem nuclei. Based on clinical observations, experiments with animals and theoretical considerations, it has been speculated that this brain area might be involved in psychiatric diseases (i.e. schizophrenia and depression). However, evidence in favour of this hypothesis is still lacking because the human habenular complex has rarely been studied with regard to mental illness. METHOD: We examined habenular volumes in post-mortem brains of 17 schizophrenia patients, 14 patients with depression (six patients with major depression and eight patients with bipolar depression) and 13 matched controls. We further determined the neuronal density, cell number and cell area of the medial habenular nuclei of the same cohorts using a counting box and a computer-assisted instrument. RESULTS: Significantly reduced habenular volumes of the medial and lateral habenula were estimated in depressive patients in comparison to normal controls and schizophrenia patients. We also found a reduction in neuronal cell number and cell area in depressive patients for the right side compared to controls and schizophrenia patients. No such changes were seen in schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: Our anatomical data argue against prominent structural alterations of the habenular nuclei in schizophrenia but demonstrate robust alterations in depressive patients. We are currently applying immunohistochemical markers to better characterize neuronal subpopulations of this brain region in schizophrenia and depression.