RESUMEN
GABAergic interneuron hypofunction is hypothesized to underlie hippocampal dysfunction in schizophrenia. Here, we use the cyclin D2 knockout (Ccnd2(-/-)) mouse model to test potential links between hippocampal interneuron deficits and psychosis-relevant neurobehavioral phenotypes. Ccnd2(-/-) mice show cortical PV(+) interneuron reductions, prominently in hippocampus, associated with deficits in synaptic inhibition, increased in vivo spike activity of projection neurons, and increased in vivo basal metabolic activity (assessed with fMRI) in hippocampus. Ccnd2(-/-) mice show several neurophysiological and behavioral phenotypes that would be predicted to be produced by hippocampal disinhibition, including increased ventral tegmental area dopamine neuron population activity, behavioral hyperresponsiveness to amphetamine, and impairments in hippocampus-dependent cognition. Remarkably, transplantation of cells from the embryonic medial ganglionic eminence (the major origin of cerebral cortical interneurons) into the adult Ccnd2(-/-) caudoventral hippocampus reverses these psychosis-relevant phenotypes. Surviving neurons from these transplants are 97% GABAergic and widely distributed within the hippocampus. Up to 6 mo after the transplants, in vivo hippocampal metabolic activity is lowered, context-dependent learning and memory is improved, and dopamine neuron activity and the behavioral response to amphetamine are normalized. These findings establish functional links between hippocampal GABA interneuron deficits and psychosis-relevant dopaminergic and cognitive phenotypes, and support a rationale for targeting limbic cortical interneuron function in the prevention and treatment of schizophrenia.
Asunto(s)
Hipocampo/embriología , Interneuronas/citología , Inhibición Neural , Trasplante de Células Madre , Animales , Trastornos del Conocimiento/fisiopatología , Ciclina D2/genética , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Dopamina/metabolismo , Miedo , Femenino , Hipocampo/metabolismo , Masculino , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Ratones Noqueados , Plasticidad Neuronal/fisiología , Parvalbúminas/metabolismo , Trastornos Psicóticos/fisiopatología , Células Madre/citologíaRESUMEN
Multiple genetic pathways have been shown to regulate life span and aging in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we show that loss of a component of the RNA polymerase II complex, Hpr1p, results in a decreased life span. Although hpr1Delta mutants have an increased rate of recombination within the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) array, this is not accompanied by an increase in extrachromosomal rDNA circles (ERCs). Analyses of mutants that affect replication of the rDNA array and suppressors that reverse the phenotypes of the hpr1Delta mutant show that the reduced life span is associated with increased genomic instability but not with increased ERC formation. The hpr1Delta mutant acts in a pathway distinct from previously described mutants that reduce life span.
Asunto(s)
ADN de Hongos/genética , ADN Ribosómico/genética , Proteínas de Unión al ADN , Proteínas Fúngicas/genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/citología , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Proteínas Reguladoras de Información Silente de Saccharomyces cerevisiae , ADN Helicasas/genética , Genes Fúngicos , Histona Desacetilasas/genética , Mutación , Proteínas Nucleares , Fenotipo , RecQ Helicasas , Recombinación Genética , Sirtuina 2 , Sirtuinas , Factores de Tiempo , Transactivadores/genéticaRESUMEN
The Saccharomyces cerevisiae hyperrecombination mutation hpr1Delta results in instability of sequences between direct repeats that is dependent on transcription of the repeat. Here it is shown that the HPR1 gene also functions in plasmid stability in the presence of destabilizing transcription elongation. In the hpr1Delta mutant, plasmid instability results from unchecked transcription elongation, which can be suppressed by a strong transcription terminator. The plasmid system has been used to examine in vivo aspects of transcription in the absence of Hpr1p. Nuclear run-on studies suggest that there is an increased RNA polymerase II density in the hpr1Delta mutant strain, but this is not accompanied by an increase in accumulation of cytoplasmic mRNA. Suppression of plasmid instability in hpr1Delta can also be achieved by high-copy expression of the RNA splicing factor SUB2, which has recently been proposed to function in mRNA export, in addition to its role in pre-mRNA splicing. High-copy-number SUB2 expression is accompanied by an increase in message accumulation from the plasmid, suggesting that the mechanism of suppression by Sub2p involves the formation of mature mRNA. Models for the role of Hpr1p in mature mRNA formation and the cause of plasmid instability in the absence of the Hpr1 protein are discussed.
Asunto(s)
Proteínas de Ciclo Celular , Plásmidos/genética , Plásmidos/metabolismo , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Transcripción Genética , Adenosina Trifosfatasas/metabolismo , ARN Helicasas DEAD-box , ADN Bacteriano , ADN de Hongos , Proteínas de Unión al ADN/genética , Proteínas Fúngicas/genética , Genes Fúngicos , Mutación , Proteínas Nucleares , Regiones Promotoras Genéticas , ARN Helicasas/metabolismo , Recombinación Genética , Origen de Réplica , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismoRESUMEN
Genetic pharmacotherapy is an early drug development strategy for the identification of novel CNS targets in mouse models prior to the development of specific ligands. Here for the first time, we have implemented this strategy to address the potential therapeutic value of a glutamate-based pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia involving inhibition of the glutamate recycling enzyme phosphate-activated glutaminase. Mice constitutively heterozygous for GLS1, the gene encoding glutaminase, manifest a schizophrenia resilience phenotype, a key dimension of which is an attenuated locomotor response to propsychotic amphetamine challenge. If resilience is due to glutaminase deficiency in adulthood, then glutaminase inhibitors should have therapeutic potential. However, this has been difficult to test given the dearth of neuroactive glutaminase inhibitors. So, we used genetic pharmacotherapy to ask whether adult induction of GLS1 heterozygosity would attenuate amphetamine responsiveness. We generated conditional floxGLS1 mice and crossed them with global CAG(ERT2cre∕+) mice to produce GLS1 iHET mice, susceptible to tamoxifen induction of GLS1 heterozygosity. One month after tamoxifen treatment of adult GLS1 iHET mice, we found a 50% reduction in GLS1 allelic abundance and glutaminase mRNA levels in the brain. While GLS1 iHET mice showed some recombination prior to tamoxifen, there was no impact on mRNA levels. We then asked whether induction of GLS heterozygosity would attenuate the locomotor response to propsychotic amphetamine challenge. Before tamoxifen, control and GLS1 iHET mice did not differ in their response to amphetamine. One month after tamoxifen treatment, amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion was blocked in GLS1 iHET mice. The block was largely maintained after 5 months. Thus, a genetically induced glutaminase reduction-mimicking pharmacological inhibition-strongly attenuated the response to a propsychotic challenge, suggesting that glutaminase may be a novel target for the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia. These results demonstrate how genetic pharmacotherapy can be implemented to test a CNS target in advance of the development of specific neuroactive inhibitors. We discuss further the advantages, limitations, and feasibility of the wider application of genetic pharmacotherapy for neuropsychiatric drug development.