Endogenous benzodiazepine site peptide ligands operating bidirectionally in vivo in neurogenesis and thalamic oscillations.

By binding to the benzodiazepine site, diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) is associated with negative allosteric modulation (NAM) of GABAA receptors (Costa and Guidotti in Life Sci 49:325-344, 1991). However, the demonstration of a true physiological role of DBI and its fragments has only recently been reported. Based on DBI gain- and loss-of-function experiments in vivo, DBI and its fragment ODN were found to promote neurogenesis in the subventricular zone in vivo. Acting as NAM on GABAA receptors of precursor cells, DBI counteracted the inhibitory effect of GABA and thereby enhanced the proliferation of these cells (Alfonso et al. in Cell Stem Cell 10:76-87, 2012). Conversely and most remarkably, in similar gain- and loss-of-function experiments in the thalamus, the DBI gene products acted as positive allosteric modulators (PAM) of GABAA receptors in prolonging the duration of IPSCs, an effect which was specific for GABA transmission within the reticular nucleus (nRT) (Christian et al. in Neuron 78:1063-1074, 2013). Since intra-nRT potentiation of GABA transmission by benzodiazepine drugs exerts powerful anti-oscillatory effects, DBI might be endogenously effective by modulating seizure susceptibility. It remains to be seen by which mechanism both NAM and PAM activity can arise from the Dbi gene. Nevertheless, the results open new perspectives on the regionally distinct endogenous modulation of GABA transmission via the benzodiazepine site.

Modulation of sensorimotor gating in prepulse inhibition by conditional brain glycine transporter 1 deletion in mice.

Inhibition of glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) augments N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated transmission and represents a potential antipsychotic drug target according to the NMDAR hypofunction hypothesis of schizophrenia. Preclinical evaluation of GlyT1 inhibiting drugs using the prepulse inhibition (PPI) test, however, has yielded mixed outcomes. Here, we tested for the first time the impact of two conditional knockouts of GlyT1 on PPI expression. Complete deletion of GlyT1 in the cerebral cortices confers resistance to PPI disruption induced by the NMDAR blocker MK-801 (0.2mg/kg, i.p.) without affecting PPI expression in unchallenged conditions. In contrast, restricting GlyT1 deletion to neurons in forebrain including the striatum significantly attenuated PPI, and the animals remained sensitive to the PPI-disruptive effect of MK-801 at the same dose. These results demonstrate in mice that depending on the regional and/or cell-type specificity, deletion of the GlyT1 gene could yield divergent effects on PPI.

GABA A receptors as in vivo substrate for the anxiolytic action of valerenic acid, a major constituent of valerian root extracts.

Valerian extracts have been used for centuries to alleviate restlessness and anxiety albeit with unknown mechanism of action in vivo. We now describe a specific binding site on GABA(A) receptors with nM affinity for valerenic acid and valerenol, common constituents of valerian. Both agents enhanced the response to GABA at multiple types of recombinant GABA(A) receptors. A point mutation in the beta2 or beta3 subunit (N265M) of recombinant receptors strongly reduced the drug response. In vivo, valerenic acid and valerenol exerted anxiolytic activity with high potencies in the elevated plus maze and the light/dark choice test in wild type mice. In beta3 (N265M) point-mutated mice the anxiolytic activity of valerenic acid was absent. Thus, neurons expressing beta3 containing GABA(A) receptors are a major cellular substrate for the anxiolytic action of valerian extracts.