Essential role for vav Guanine nucleotide exchange factors in brain-derived neurotrophic factor-induced dendritic spine growth and synapse plasticity.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its cognate receptor, TrkB, regulate a wide range of cellular processes, including dendritic spine formation and functional synapse plasticity. However, the signaling mechanisms that link BDNF-activated TrkB to F-actin remodeling enzymes and dendritic spine morphological plasticity remain poorly understood. We report here that BDNF/TrkB signaling in neurons activates the Vav family of Rac/RhoA guanine nucleotide exchange factors through a novel TrkB-dependent mechanism. We find that Vav is required for BDNF-stimulated Rac-GTP production in cortical and hippocampal neurons. Vav is partially enriched at excitatory synapses in the postnatal hippocampus but does not appear to be required for normal dendritic spine density. Rather, we observe significant reductions in both BDNF-induced, rapid, dendritic spine head growth and in CA3-CA1 theta burst-stimulated long-term potentiation in Vav-deficient mouse hippocampal slices, suggesting that Vav-dependent regulation of dendritic spine morphological plasticity facilitates normal functional synapse plasticity.

Striatal dysregulation of Cdk5 alters locomotor responses to cocaine, motor learning, and dendritic morphology.

Motor learning and neuro-adaptations to drugs of abuse rely upon neuronal signaling in the striatum. Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) regulates striatal dopamine neurotransmission and behavioral responses to cocaine. Although the role for Cdk5 in neurodegeneration in the cortex and hippocampus and in hippocampal-dependent learning has been demonstrated, its dysregulation in the striatum has not been examined. Here we show that strong activation of striatal NMDA receptors produced p25, the truncated form of the Cdk5 co-activator p35. Furthermore, inducible overexpression of p25 in the striatum prevented locomotor sensitization to cocaine and attenuated motor coordination and learning. This corresponded with reduced dendritic spine density, increased neuro-inflammation, altered dopamine signaling, and shifted Cdk5 specificity with regard to physiological and aberrant substrates, but no apparent loss of striatal neurons. Thus, dysregulation of Cdk5 dramatically affects striatal-dependent brain function and may be relevant to non-neurodegenerative disorders involving dopamine neurotransmission.

Experience-Dependent and Differential Regulation of Local and Long-Range Excitatory Neocortical Circuits by Postsynaptic Mef2c.

Development of proper cortical circuits requires an interaction of sensory experience and genetic programs. Little is known of how experience and specific transcription factors interact to determine the development of specific neocortical circuits. Here, we demonstrate that the activity-dependent transcription factor, Myocyte enhancer factor-2C (Mef2c), differentially regulates development of local versus long-range excitatory synaptic inputs onto layer 2/3 neurons in the somatosensory neocortex in vivo. Postnatal, postsynaptic deletion of Mef2c in a sparse population of L2/3 neurons suppressed development of excitatory synaptic connections from all local input pathways tested. In the same cell population, Mef2c deletion promoted the strength of excitatory inputs originating from contralateral neocortex. Both the synapse promoting and synapse suppressing effects of Mef2c deletion required normal whisking experience. These results reveal a role of Mef2c in experience-dependent development of specific sensory neocortical circuits.

Distinct stages of synapse elimination are induced by burst firing of CA1 neurons and differentially require MEF2A/D.

Experience and activity refine cortical circuits through synapse elimination, but little is known about the activity patterns and downstream molecular mechanisms that mediate this process. We used optogenetics to drive individual mouse CA1 hippocampal neurons to fire in theta frequency bursts to understand how cell autonomous, postsynaptic activity leads to synapse elimination. Brief (1 hr) periods of postsynaptic bursting selectively depressed AMPA receptor (R) synaptic transmission, or silenced excitatory synapses, whereas more prolonged (24 hr) firing depressed both AMPAR and NMDAR EPSCs and eliminated spines, indicative of a synapse elimination. Both synapse silencing and elimination required de novo transcription, but only silencing required the activity-dependent transcription factors MEF2A/D. Burst firing induced MEF2A/D-dependent induction of the target gene Arc which contributed to synapse silencing and elimination. This work reveals new and distinct forms of activity and transcription-dependent synapse depression and suggests that these processes can occur independently.

Fragile X mental retardation protein regulates synaptic and behavioral plasticity to repeated cocaine administration.

Repeated cocaine exposure causes persistent, maladaptive alterations in brain and behavior, and hope for effective therapeutics lies in understanding these processes. We describe here an essential role for fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), an RNA-binding protein and regulator of dendritic protein synthesis, in cocaine conditioned place preference, behavioral sensitization, and motor stereotypy. Cocaine reward deficits in FMRP-deficient mice stem from elevated mGluR5 (or GRM5) function, similar to a subset of fragile X symptoms, and do not extend to natural reward. We find that FMRP functions in the adult nucleus accumbens (NAc), a critical addiction-related brain region, to mediate behavioral sensitization but not cocaine reward. FMRP-deficient mice also exhibit several abnormalities in NAc medium spiny neurons, including reduced presynaptic function and premature changes in dendritic morphology and glutamatergic neurotransmission following repeated cocaine treatment. Together, our findings reveal FMRP as a critical mediator of cocaine-induced behavioral and synaptic plasticity.

Cocaine regulates MEF2 to control synaptic and behavioral plasticity.

Repeated exposure to cocaine causes sensitized behavioral responses and increased dendritic spines on medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens (NAc). We find that cocaine regulates myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) transcription factors to control these two processes in vivo. Cocaine suppresses striatal MEF2 activity in part through a mechanism involving cAMP, the regulator of calmodulin signaling (RCS), and calcineurin. We show that reducing MEF2 activity in the NAc in vivo is required for the cocaine-induced increases in dendritic spine density. Surprisingly, we find that increasing MEF2 activity in the NAc, which blocks the cocaine-induced increase in dendritic spine density, enhances sensitized behavioral responses to cocaine. Together, our findings implicate MEF2 as a key regulator of structural synapse plasticity and sensitized responses to cocaine and suggest that reducing MEF2 activity (and increasing spine density) in NAc may be a compensatory mechanism to limit long-lasting maladaptive behavioral responses to cocaine.