Identification of pre-synaptic density networks using [11C]UCB-J PET imaging and ICA in mice.

BACKGROUND: Synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) is a vesicle glycoprotein involved in neurotransmitter release. SV2A is located on the pre-synaptic terminals of neurons and visualized using the radioligand [11C]UCB-J and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Thus, SV2A PET imaging can provide a proxy for pre-synaptic density in health and disease. This study aims to apply independent component analysis (ICA) to SV2A PET data acquired in mice to identify pre-synaptic density networks (pSDNs), explore how ageing affects these pSDNs, and determine the impact of a neurological disorder on these networks. METHODS: We used [11C]UCB-J PET imaging data (n = 135) available at different ages (3, 7, 10, and 16 months) in wild-type (WT) C57BL/6J mice and in diseased mice (mouse model of Huntington's disease, HD) with reported synaptic deficits. First, ICA was performed on a healthy dataset after it was split into two equal-sized samples (n = 36 each) and the analysis was repeated 50 times in different partitions. We tested different model orders (8, 12, and 16) and identified the pSDNs. Next, we investigated the effect of age on the loading weights of the identified pSDNs. Additionally, the identified pSDNs were compared to those of diseased mice to assess the impact of disease on each pSDNs. RESULTS: Model order 12 resulted in the preferred choice to provide six reliable and reproducible independent components (ICs) as supported by the cluster-quality index (IQ) and regression coefficients (ß) values. Temporal analysis showed age-related statistically significant changes on the loading weights in four ICs. ICA in an HD model revealed a statistically significant disease-related effect on the loading weights in several pSDNs in line with the progression of the disease. CONCLUSION: This study validated the use of ICA on SV2A PET data acquired with [11C]UCB-J for the identification of cerebral pre-synaptic density networks in mice in a rigorous and reproducible manner. Furthermore, we showed that different pSDNs change with age and are affected in a disease condition. These findings highlight the potential value of ICA in understanding pre-synaptic density networks in the mouse brain.

Validation, kinetic modeling, and test-retest reproducibility of [18F]SynVesT-1 for PET imaging of synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A in mice.

Alterations in synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 A (SV2A) have been associated with several neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Therefore, SV2A positron emission tomography (PET) imaging may provide a unique tool to investigate synaptic density dynamics during disease progression and after therapeutic intervention. This study aims to extensively characterize the novel radioligand [18F]SynVesT-1 for preclinical applications. In C57Bl/6J mice (n = 39), we assessed the plasma profile of [18F]SynVesT-1, validated the use of a noninvasive image-derived input function (IDIF) compared to an arterial input function (AIF), performed a blocking study with levetiracetam (50 and 200 mg/kg, i.p.) to verify the specificity towards SV2A, examined kinetic models for volume of distribution (VT) quantification, and explored test-retest reproducibility of [18F]SynVesT-1 in the central nervous system (CNS). Plasma availability of [18F]SynVesT-1 decreased rapidly (13.4 ± 1.5% at 30 min post-injection). VT based on AIF and IDIF showed excellent agreement (r2 = 0.95, p < 0.0001) and could be reliably estimated with a 60-min acquisition. The blocking study resulted in a complete blockade with no suitable reference region. Test-retest analysis indicated good reproducibility (mean absolute variability <10%). In conclusion, [18F]SynVesT-1 is selective for SV2A with optimal kinetics representing a candidate tool to quantify CNS synaptic density non-invasively.

Development of a ligand for in vivo imaging of mutant huntingtin in Huntington's disease.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG trinucleotide expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene that encodes the pathologic mutant HTT (mHTT) protein with an expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tract. Whereas several therapeutic programs targeting mHTT expression have advanced to clinical evaluation, methods to visualize mHTT protein species in the living brain are lacking. Here, we demonstrate the development and characterization of a positron emission tomography (PET) imaging radioligand with high affinity and selectivity for mHTT aggregates. This small molecule radiolabeled with 11C ([11C]CHDI-180R) allowed noninvasive monitoring of mHTT pathology in the brain and could track region- and time-dependent suppression of mHTT in response to therapeutic interventions targeting mHTT expression in a rodent model. We further showed that in these animals, therapeutic agents that lowered mHTT in the striatum had a functional restorative effect that could be measured by preservation of striatal imaging markers, enabling a translational path to assess the functional effect of mHTT lowering.

GDF15 promotes simultaneous astrocyte remodeling and tight junction strengthening at the blood-brain barrier.

Perivascular astrocyte processes (PAP) surround cerebral endothelial cells (ECs) and modulate the strengthening of tight junctions to influence blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Morphologically altered astrocytes may affect barrier properties and trigger the onset of brain pathologies. However, astrocyte-dependent mediators of these events remain poorly studied. Here, we show a pharmacologically driven elevated expression and release of growth/differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) in rat primary astrocytes and cerebral PAP. GDF15 has been shown to possess trophic properties for motor neurons, prompting us to hypothesize similar effects on astrocytes. Indeed, its increased expression and release occurred simultaneously to morphological changes of astrocytes in vitro and PAP, suggesting modulatory effects of GDF15 on these cells, but also neighboring EC. Administration of recombinant GDF15 was sufficient to promote astrocyte remodeling and enhance barrier properties between ECs in vitro, whereas its pharmacogenetic abrogation prevented these effects. We validated our findings in male high anxiety-related behavior rats, an animal model of depressive-like behavior, with shrunk PAP associated with reduced expression of the junctional protein claudin-5, which were both restored by a pharmacologically induced increase in GDF15 expression. Thus, we identified GDF15 as an astrocyte-derived trigger of astrocyte process remodeling linked to enhanced tight junction strengthening at the BBB.

Blocking metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 relieves maladaptive chronic stress consequences.

Etiology and pharmacotherapy of stress-related psychiatric conditions and somatoform disorders are areas of high unmet medical need. Stressors holding chronic plus psychosocial components thereby bear the highest health risk. Although the metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGlu5) is well studied in the context of acute stress-induced behaviors and physiology, virtually nothing is known about its potential involvement in chronic psychosocial stress. Using the mGlu5 negative allosteric modulator CTEP (2-chloro-4-[2-[2,5-dimethyl-1-[4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl]imidazol-4yl]ethynyl]pyridine), a close analogue of the clinically active drug basimglurant - but optimized for rodent studies, as well as mGlu5-deficient mice in combination with a mouse model of male subordination (termed CSC, chronic subordinate colony housing), we demonstrate that mGlu5 mediates multiple physiological, immunological, and behavioral consequences of chronic psychosocial stressor exposure. For instance, CTEP dose-dependently relieved hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunctions, colonic inflammation as well as the CSC-induced increase in innate anxiety; genetic ablation of mGlu5 in mice largely reproduced the stress-protective effects of CTEP and additionally ameliorated CSC-induced physiological anxiety. Interestingly, CSC also induced an upregulation of mGlu5 in the hippocampus, a stress-regulating brain area. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that mGlu5 is an important mediator for a wide range of chronic psychosocial stress-induced alterations and a potentially valuable drug target for the treatment of chronic stress-related pathologies in man.