Functional identification of a neurocircuit regulating blood glucose.

Previous studies implicate the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) in glycemic control. Here, we report that selective inhibition of the subset of VMN neurons that express the transcription factor steroidogenic-factor 1 (VMN(SF1) neurons) blocks recovery from insulin-induced hypoglycemia whereas, conversely, activation of VMN(SF1) neurons causes diabetes-range hyperglycemia. Moreover, this hyperglycemic response is reproduced by selective activation of VMN(SF1) fibers projecting to the anterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (aBNST), but not to other brain areas innervated by VMN(SF1) neurons. We also report that neurons in the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN), a brain area that is also implicated in the response to hypoglycemia, make synaptic connections with the specific subset of glucoregulatory VMN(SF1) neurons that project to the aBNST. These results collectively establish a physiological role in glucose homeostasis for VMN(SF1) neurons and suggest that these neurons are part of an ascending glucoregulatory LPBN→VMN(SF1)→aBNST neurocircuit.

Reduction of mutant ataxin-7 expression restores motor function and prevents cerebellar synaptic reorganization in a conditional mouse model of SCA7.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG - polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat expansion in the ataxin-7 gene. In polyQ disorders, synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration may develop prior to symptom onset. However, conditional expression studies of polyQ disease models demonstrate that suppression of gene expression can yield complete reversal of established behavioral abnormalities. To determine if SCA7 neurological and neurodegenerative phenotypes are reversible, we crossed PrP-floxed-SCA7-92Q BAC transgenic mice with a tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase transgenic line, CAGGS-Cre-ER™. PrP-floxed-SCA7-92Q BAC;CAGGS-Cre-ER™ bigenic mice were treated with a single dose of tamoxifen 1 month after the onset of detectable ataxia, which resulted in ~50% reduction of polyQ-ataxin-7 expression. Tamoxifen treatment halted or reversed SCA7 motor symptoms, reduced ataxin-7 aggregation in Purkinje cells (PCs), and prevented loss of climbing fiber (CF)-PC synapses in comparison to vehicle-treated bigenic animals and tamoxifen-treated PrP-floxed-SCA7-92Q BAC single transgenic mice. Despite this phenotype rescue, reduced ataxin-7 expression did not result in full recovery of cerebellar molecular layer thickness or prevent Bergmann glia degeneration. These results demonstrate that suppression of mutant gene expression by only 50% in a polyQ disease model can have a significant impact on disease phenotypes, even when initiated after the onset of detectable behavioral deficits. The findings reported here are consistent with the emerging view that therapies aimed at reducing neurotoxic gene expression hold the potential to halt or reverse disease progression in afflicted patients, even after the onset of neurological disability.

High-fat diet feeding disrupts the coupling of thermoregulation to energy homeostasis.

OBJECTIVE: Preserving core body temperature across a wide range of ambient temperatures requires adaptive changes of thermogenesis that must be offset by corresponding changes of energy intake if body fat stores are also to be preserved. Among neurons implicated in the integration of thermoregulation with energy homeostasis are those that express both neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related protein (AgRP) (referred to herein as AgRP neurons). Specifically, cold-induced activation of AgRP neurons was recently shown to be required for cold exposure to increase food intake in mice. Here, we investigated how consuming a high-fat diet (HFD) impacts various adaptive responses to cold exposure as well as the responsiveness of AgRP neurons to cold. METHODS: To test this, we used immunohistochemistry, in vivo fiber photometry and indirect calorimetry for continuous measures of core temperature, energy expenditure, and energy intake in both chow- and HFD-fed mice housed at different ambient temperatures. RESULTS: We show that while both core temperature and the thermogenic response to cold are maintained normally in HFD-fed mice, the increase of energy intake needed to preserve body fat stores is blunted, resulting in weight loss. Using both immunohistochemistry and in vivo fiber photometry, we show that although cold-induced AgRP neuron activation is detected regardless of diet, the number of cold-responsive neurons appears to be blunted in HFD-fed mice. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that HFD-feeding disrupts the integration of systems governing thermoregulation and energy homeostasis that protect body fat mass during cold exposure.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 cerebellar disease requires the coordinated action of mutant ataxin-7 in neurons and glia, and displays non-cell-autonomous bergmann glia degeneration.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is a dominantly inherited disorder characterized by cerebellum and brainstem neurodegeneration. SCA7 is caused by a CAG/polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat expansion in the ataxin-7 gene. We previously reported that directed expression of polyQ-ataxin-7 in Bergmann glia (BG) in transgenic mice leads to ataxia and non-cell-autonomous Purkinje cell (PC) degeneration. To further define the cellular basis of SCA7, we derived a conditional inactivation mouse model by inserting a loxP-flanked ataxin-7 cDNA with 92 repeats into the translational start site of the murine prion protein (PrP) gene in a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC). The PrP-floxed-SCA7-92Q BAC mice developed neurological disease, and exhibited cerebellar degeneration and BG process loss. To inactivate polyQ-ataxin-7 expression in specific cerebellar cell types, we crossed PrP-floxed-SCA7-92Q BAC mice with Gfa2-Cre transgenic mice (to direct Cre to BG) or Pcp2-Cre transgenic mice (which yields Cre in PCs and inferior olive). Excision of ataxin-7 from BG partially rescued the behavioral phenotype, but did not prevent BG process loss or molecular layer thinning, while excision of ataxin-7 from PCs and inferior olive provided significantly greater rescue and prevented both pathological changes, revealing a non-cell-autonomous basis for BG pathology. When we prevented expression of mutant ataxin-7 in BG, PCs, and inferior olive by deriving Gfa2-Cre;Pcp2-Cre;PrP-floxed-SCA7-92Q BAC triple transgenic mice, we noted a dramatic improvement in SCA7 disease phenotypes. These findings indicate that SCA7 disease pathogenesis involves a convergence of alterations in a variety of different cell types to fully recapitulate the cerebellar degeneration.

Cold-induced hyperphagia requires AgRP neuron activation in mice.

To maintain energy homeostasis during cold exposure, the increased energy demands of thermogenesis must be counterbalanced by increased energy intake. To investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this cold-induced hyperphagia, we asked whether agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons are activated when animals are placed in a cold environment and, if so, whether this response is required for the associated hyperphagia. We report that AgRP neuron activation occurs rapidly upon acute cold exposure, as do increases of both energy expenditure and energy intake, suggesting the mere perception of cold is sufficient to engage each of these responses. We further report that silencing of AgRP neurons selectively blocks the effect of cold exposure to increase food intake but has no effect on energy expenditure. Together, these findings establish a physiologically important role for AgRP neurons in the hyperphagic response to cold exposure.

Distinct Neuronal Projections From the Hypothalamic Ventromedial Nucleus Mediate Glycemic and Behavioral Effects.

The hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) is implicated both in autonomic control of blood glucose and in behaviors including fear and aggression, but whether these divergent effects involve the same or distinct neuronal subsets and their projections is unknown. To address this question, we used an optogenetic approach to selectively activate the subset of VMN neurons that express neuronal nitric oxide synthase 1 (VMNNOS1 neurons) implicated in glucose counterregulation. We found that photoactivation of these neurons elicits 1) robust hyperglycemia achieved by activation of counterregulatory responses usually reserved for the physiological response to hypoglycemia and 2) defensive immobility behavior. Moreover, we show that the glucagon, but not corticosterone, response to insulin-induced hypoglycemia is blunted by photoinhibition of the same neurons. To investigate the neurocircuitry by which VMNNOS1 neurons mediate these effects, and to determine whether these diverse effects are dissociable from one another, we activated downstream VMNNOS1 projections in either the anterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (aBNST) or the periaqueductal gray (PAG). Whereas glycemic responses are fully recapitulated by activation of VMNNOS1 projections to the aBNST, freezing immobility occurred only upon activation of VMNNOS1 terminals in the PAG. These findings support previous evidence of a VMN→aBNST neurocircuit involved in glucose counterregulation and demonstrate that activation of VMNNOS1 neuronal projections supplying the PAG robustly elicits defensive behaviors.

In Uncontrolled Diabetes, Hyperglucagonemia and Ketosis Result From Deficient Leptin Action in the Parabrachial Nucleus.

Growing evidence implicates neurons that project from the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN) to the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) in a neurocircuit that drives counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia, including increased glucagon secretion. Among LPBN neurons in this circuit is a subset that expresses cholecystokinin (LPBNCCK neurons) and is tonically inhibited by leptin. Because uncontrolled diabetes is associated with both leptin deficiency and hyperglucagonemia, and because intracerebroventricular (ICV) leptin administration reverses both hyperglycemia and hyperglucagonemia in this setting, we hypothesized that deficient leptin inhibition of LPBNCCK neurons drives activation of this LPBN→VMN circuit and thereby results in hyperglucagonemia. Here, we report that although bilateral microinjection of leptin into the LPBN does not ameliorate hyperglycemia in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus (STZ-DM), it does attenuate the associated hyperglucagonemia and ketosis. To determine if LPBN leptin signaling is required for the antidiabetic effect of ICV leptin in STZ-DM, we studied mice in which the leptin receptor was selectively deleted from LPBNCCK neurons. Our findings show that although leptin signaling in these neurons is not required for the potent antidiabetic effect of ICV leptin, it is required for leptin-mediated suppression of diabetic hyperglucagonemia. Taken together, these findings suggest that leptin-mediated effects in animals with uncontrolled diabetes occur through actions involving multiple brain areas, including the LPBN, where leptin acts specifically to inhibit glucagon secretion and associated ketosis.

Sex differences in microglial CX3CR1 signalling determine obesity susceptibility in mice.

Female mice are less susceptible to the negative metabolic consequences of high-fat diet feeding than male mice, for reasons that are incompletely understood. Here we identify sex-specific differences in hypothalamic microglial activation via the CX3CL1-CX3CR1 pathway that mediate the resistance of female mice to diet-induced obesity. Female mice fed a high-fat diet maintain CX3CL1-CX3CR1 levels while male mice show reductions in both ligand and receptor expression. Female Cx3cr1 knockout mice develop 'male-like' hypothalamic microglial accumulation and activation, accompanied by a marked increase in their susceptibility to diet-induced obesity. Conversely, increasing brain CX3CL1 levels in male mice through central pharmacological administration or virally mediated hypothalamic overexpression converts them to a 'female-like' metabolic phenotype with reduced microglial activation and body-weight gain. These data implicate sex differences in microglial activation in the modulation of energy homeostasis and identify CX3CR1 signalling as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of obesity.

Deletion of Protein Kinase C λ in POMC Neurons Predisposes to Diet-Induced Obesity.

Effectors of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signal transduction pathway contribute to the hypothalamic regulation of energy and glucose homeostasis in divergent ways. Here we show that central nervous system (CNS) action of the PI3K signaling intermediate atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) constrains food intake, weight gain, and glucose intolerance in both rats and mice. Pharmacological inhibition of CNS aPKC activity acutely increases food intake and worsens glucose tolerance in chow-fed rodents and causes excess weight gain during high-fat diet (HFD) feeding. Similarly, selective deletion of the aPKC isoform Pkc-λ in proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons disrupts leptin action, reduces melanocortin content in the paraventricular nucleus, and markedly increases susceptibility to obesity, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance specifically in HFD-fed male mice. These data implicate aPKC as a novel regulator of energy and glucose homeostasis downstream of the leptin-PI3K pathway in POMC neurons.

Role of melanocortin signaling in neuroendocrine and metabolic actions of leptin in male rats with uncontrolled diabetes.

Although the antidiabetic effects of leptin require intact neuronal melanocortin signaling in rodents with uncontrolled diabetes (uDM), increased melanocortin signaling is not sufficient to mimic leptin's glucose-lowering effects. The current studies were undertaken to clarify the role of melanocortin signaling in leptin's ability to correct metabolic and neuroendocrine disturbances associated with uDM. To accomplish this, bilateral cannulae were implanted in the lateral ventricle of rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes, and leptin was coinfused with varying doses of the melanocortin 3/4 receptor (MC3/4R) antagonist, SHU9119. An additional cohort of streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats received intracerebroventricular administration of either the MC3/4R agonist, melanotan-II, or its vehicle. Consistent with previous findings, leptin's glucose-lowering effects were blocked by intracerebroventricular SHU9119. In contrast, leptin-mediated suppression of hyperglucagonemia involves both melanocortin dependent and independent mechanisms, and the degree of glucagon inhibition was associated with reduced plasma ketone body levels. Increased central nervous system melanocortin signaling alone fails to mimic leptin's ability to correct any of the metabolic or neuroendocrine disturbances associated with uDM. Moreover, the inability of increased melanocortin signaling to lower diabetic hyperglycemia does not appear to be secondary to release of the endogenous MC3/4R inverse agonist, Agouti-related peptide (AgRP), because AgRP knockout mice did not show increased susceptibility to the antidiabetic effects of increased MC3/4R signaling. Overall, these data suggest that 1) AgRP is not a major driver of diabetic hyperglycemia, 2) mechanisms independent of melanocortin signaling contribute to leptin's antidiabetic effects, and 3) melanocortin receptor blockade dissociates leptin's glucose-lowering effect from its action on other features of uDM, including reversal of hyperglucagonemia and ketosis, suggesting that brain control of ketosis, but not blood glucose levels, is glucagon dependent.

Leptin action in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus is sufficient, but not necessary, to normalize diabetic hyperglycemia.

In rodent models of type 1 diabetes, leptin administration into brain ventricles normalizes blood glucose at doses that have no effect when given peripherally. The ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMN) is a potential target for leptin's antidiabetic effects because leptin-sensitive neurons in this brain area are implicated in glucose homeostasis. To test this hypothesis, we injected leptin directly into the bilateral VMN of rats with streptozotocin-induced uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. This intervention completely normalized both hyperglycemia and the elevated rates of hepatic glucose production and plasma glucagon levels but had no effect on tissue glucose uptake in the skeletal muscle or brown adipose tissue as measured using tracer dilution techniques during a basal clamp. To determine whether VMN leptin signaling is required for leptin-mediated normalization of diabetic hyperglycemia, we studied mice in which the leptin receptor gene was deleted in VMN steroidogenic factor 1 neurons using cre-loxP technology. Our findings indicate leptin action within these neurons is not required for the correction of diabetic hyperglycemia by central leptin infusion. We conclude that leptin signaling in the VMN is sufficient to mediate leptin's antidiabetic action but may not be necessary for this effect. Leptin action within a distributed neuronal network may mediate its effects on glucose homeostasis.

PGC-1α rescues Huntington's disease proteotoxicity by preventing oxidative stress and promoting TFEB function.

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by CAG repeat expansions in the huntingtin (htt) gene, yielding proteins containing polyglutamine repeats that become misfolded and resist degradation. Previous studies demonstrated that mutant htt interferes with transcriptional programs coordinated by the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) coactivator 1α (PGC-1α), a regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative stress. We tested whether restoration of PGC-1α could ameliorate the symptoms of HD in a mouse model. We found that PGC-1α induction virtually eliminated htt protein aggregation and ameliorated HD neurodegeneration in part by attenuating oxidative stress. PGC-1α promoted htt turnover and the elimination of protein aggregates by activating transcription factor EB (TFEB), a master regulator of the autophagy-lysosome pathway. TFEB alone was capable of reducing htt aggregation and neurotoxicity, placing PGC-1α upstream of TFEB and identifying these two molecules as important therapeutic targets in HD and potentially other neurodegenerative disorders caused by protein misfolding.

A simple composite phenotype scoring system for evaluating mouse models of cerebellar ataxia.

We describe a protocol for the rapid and sensitive quantification of disease severity in mouse models of cerebella ataxia. It is derived from previously published phenotype assessments in several disease models, including spinocerebellar ataxias, Huntington s disease and spinobulbar muscular atrophy. Measures include hind limb clasping, ledge test, gait and kyphosis. Each measure is recorded on a scale of 0-3, with a combined total of 0-12 for all four measures. The results effectively discriminate between affected and non-affected individuals, while also quantifying the temporal progression of neurodegenerative disease phenotypes. Measures may be analyzed individually or combined into a composite phenotype score for greater statistical power. The ideal combination of the four described measures will depend upon the disorder in question. We present an example of the protocol used to assess disease severity in a transgenic mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7).

Loss of endogenous androgen receptor protein accelerates motor neuron degeneration and accentuates androgen insensitivity in a mouse model of X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.

X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA; Kennedy's disease) is a polyglutamine (polyQ) disease in which the affected males suffer progressive motor neuron degeneration accompanied by signs of androgen insensitivity, such as gynecomastia and reduced fertility. SBMA is caused by CAG repeat expansions in the androgen receptor (AR) gene resulting in the production of AR protein with an extended glutamine tract. SBMA is one of nine polyQ diseases in which polyQ expansion is believed to impart a toxic gain-of-function effect upon the mutant protein, and initiate a cascade of events that culminate in neurodegeneration. However, whether loss of a disease protein's normal function concomitantly contributes to the neurodegeneration remains unanswered. To address this, we examined the role of normal AR function in SBMA by crossing a highly representative AR YAC transgenic mouse model with 100 glutamines (AR100) and a corresponding control (AR20) onto an AR null (testicular feminization; Tfm) background. Absence of endogenous AR protein in AR100Tfm mice had profound effects upon neuromuscular and endocrine-reproductive features of this SBMA mouse model, as AR100Tfm mice displayed accelerated neurodegeneration and severe androgen insensitivity in comparison to AR100 littermates. Reduction in size and number of androgen-sensitive motor neurons in the spinal cord of AR100Tfm mice underscored the importance of AR action for neuronal health and survival. Promoter-reporter assays confirmed that AR transactivation competence diminishes in a polyQ length-dependent fashion. Our studies indicate that SBMA disease pathogenesis, both in the nervous system and the periphery, involves two simultaneous pathways: gain-of-function misfolded protein toxicity and loss of normal protein function.