Serotonin inputs to the dorsal BNST modulate anxiety in a 5-HT1A receptor-dependent manner.

Serotonin (5-HT) neurons project from the raphe nuclei throughout the brain where they act to maintain homeostasis. Here, we study 5-HT inputs into the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a major subdivision of the extended amygdala that has been proposed to regulate responses to anxiogenic environments in humans and rodents. While the dorsal part of the BNST (dBNST) receives dense 5-HT innervation, whether and how 5-HT in the dBNST normally modulates anxiety remains unclear. Using optogenetics, we demonstrate that activation of 5-HT terminals in the dBNST reduces anxiety in a highly anxiogenic environment. Further analysis revealed that optogenetic inhibition of 5-HT inputs into the dBNST increases anxiety in a less anxiogenic environment. We found that 5-HT predominantly hyperpolarizes dBNST neurons, reducing their activity in a manner that can be blocked by a 5-HT1A antagonist. Finally, we demonstrate that activation of 5-HT1A receptors in the dBNST is necessary for the anxiolytic effect observed following optogenetic stimulation of 5-HT inputs into the dBNST. These data reveal that 5-HT release in the dBNST modulates anxiety-like behavior via 5-HT1A receptors under naturalistic conditions.

Disruption of 5-HT1A function in adolescence but not early adulthood leads to sustained increases of anxiety.

Current evidence suggests that anxiety disorders have developmental origins. Early insults to the circuits that sub-serve emotional regulation are thought to cause disease later in life. Evidence from studies in mice demonstrate that the serotonergic system in general, and serotonin 1A (5-HT1A) receptors in particular, are critical during the early postnatal period for the normal development of circuits that subserve anxious behavior. However, little is known about the role of serotonin signaling through 5-HT1A receptors between the emergence of normal anxiety behavior after weaning, and the mature adult phenotype. Here, we use both transgenic and pharmacological approaches in male mice, to identify a sensitive period for 5-HT1A function in the stabilization of circuits mediating anxious behavior during adolescence. Using a transgenic approach we show that suppression of 5-HT1A receptor expression beginning in early adolescence results in an anxiety-like phenotype in the open field test. We further demonstrate that treatment with the 5-HT1A antagonist WAY 100,635 between postnatal day (P)35 and P50, but not at later timepoints, results in altered anxiety in ethologically based conflict tests like the open field test and elevated plus maze. This change in anxiety behavior occurs without impacting behavior in the more depression-related sucrose preference test or forced swim test. The treatment with WAY 100,635 does not affect adult 5-HT1A expression levels, but leads to increased expression of the serotonin transporter in the raphe, along with enhanced serotonin levels in both the prefrontal cortex and raphe that correlate with the behavioral changes observed in adult mice. This work demonstrates that signaling through 5-HT1A receptors during adolescence (a time when pathological anxiety emerges), but not early adulthood, is critical in regulating anxiety setpoints. These data suggest the possibility that brief interventions in the serotonergic system during adolescence could lead to profound and enduring changes in physiology and behavior.

Cdc2 phosphorylation of nucleolin demarcates mitotic stages and Alzheimer's disease pathology.

Nucleolin is a major multifunctional nuclear phosphoprotein that is phosphorylated by Cdc2 kinase in mitosis and that participates in a number of cellular processes. The monoclonal antibody TG-3 generated against neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is highly specific for mitotic cells in culture. We here demonstrate that phosphorylation of nucleolin by Cdc2 kinase generates the TG-3 epitope. The unique pool of TG-3 immunoreactive nucleolin appears abruptly during the prophase. It is associated with chromosomes through the metaphase and it gradually disappears during separation of chromosomes and exit from mitosis. In the brain, nucleolin was localized not only to nuclei but also to neuronal cytoplasm, and it is a marker for early NFT. In patients with AD, Cdc2 phosphorylated nucleolin was present in NFT. These findings suggest that phosphorylation of nucleolin by Cdc2 kinase is a critical event and the point of convergence of two distinct pathways, mitosis and neurodegeneration.

BDNF overexpression in mouse hippocampal astrocytes promotes local neurogenesis and elicits anxiolytic-like activities.

The therapeutic activity of selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) relies on long-term adaptation at pre- and post-synaptic levels. The sustained administration of SSRIs increases the serotonergic neurotransmission in response to a functional desensitization of the inhibitory 5-HT1A autoreceptor in the dorsal raphe. At nerve terminal such as the hippocampus, the enhancement of 5-HT availability increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) synthesis and signaling, a major event in the stimulation of adult neurogenesis. In physiological conditions, BDNF would be expressed at functionally relevant levels in neurons. However, the recent observation that SSRIs upregulate BDNF mRNA in primary cultures of astrocytes strongly suggest that the therapeutic activity of antidepressant drugs might result from an increase in BDNF synthesis in this cell type. In this study, by overexpressing BDNF in astrocytes, we balanced the ratio between astrocytic and neuronal BDNF raising the possibility that such manipulation could positively reverberate on anxiolytic-/antidepressant-like activities in transfected mice. Our results indicate that BDNF overexpression in hippocampal astrocytes produced anxiolytic-/antidepressant-like activity in the novelty suppressed feeding in relation with the stimulation of hippocampal neurogenesis whereas it did not potentiate the effects of the SSRI fluoxetine on these parameters. Moreover, overexpressing BDNF revealed the anxiolytic-like activity of fluoxetine in the elevated plus maze while attenuating 5-HT neurotransmission in response to a blunted downregulation of the 5-HT1A autoreceptor. These results emphasize an original role of hippocampal astrocytes in the synthesis of BDNF, which can act through neurogenesis-dependent and -independent mechanisms to regulate different facets of anxiolytic-like responses.

Insoluble detergent-resistant aggregates form between pathological and nonpathological lengths of polyglutamine in mammalian cells.

Pathological degeneration of neurons in Huntington's disease and associated neurodegenerative disorders is directly correlated with the expansion of CAG repeats encoding polyglutamines of extended length. The physical properties of extended polyglutamines and the intracellular consequences of expression of polyglutamine expansion have been the object of intensive investigation. We have extended the range of lengths of polyglutamine produced by recombinant DNA methodology by constructing a library of CAG/CAA repeats coding for a range of 25-300 glutamine residues. We have investigated the subcellular localization, interaction with other polyglutamine-containing polypeptides, and the physical properties of aggregated forms of polyglutamine in the cell. Extended polyQ aggregated in the cytoplasm and was only transported to the nucleus when a strong nuclear localization signal was present. Polyglutamine below pathological lengths could be captured in aggregates and transported to ectopic cell locations. The CREB-binding protein (CBP), containing a homopolymeric stretch of 19 glutamines, was likewise found to coaggregate in a polyglutamine-dependent manner, suggesting that pathology in polyglutamine disease may result from cellular depletion of normal proteins containing polyglutamine. We have observed a striking detergent resistance in aggregates produced from polyglutamine of pathological length. This observation has led to the development of a fluorescence-based assay exploiting the detergent resistance of polyglutamine aggregates that should facilitate high-throughput screening for agents that suppress polyglutamine aggregation in cells.

Endogenous presenilin 1 redistributes to the surface of lamellipodia upon adhesion of Jurkat cells to a collagen matrix.

Most familial early-onset Alzheimer's disease cases are caused by mutations in the presenilin 1 (PS1) gene. Subcellular localization of the endogenous PS1 is essential for understanding its function, interactions with proteins, and role in Alzheimer's disease. Although numerous studies revealed predominant localization of PS1 to endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi, there are conflicting reports on the localization of PS1 to the cell surface. We found that endogenous PS1 is highly expressed in T lymphocytes (Jurkat cells). Using a variety of methods, we present evidence that endogenous PS1 is localized to the cell surface in addition to intracellular membrane compartments. Moreover, PS1 appeared in high levels on the surface of lamellipodia upon adhesion of the cells to a collagen matrix. The redistribution of PS1 in adhered cells was strikingly similar to that of the well characterized adhesion protein CD44. Cell surface PS1 formed complexes in vivo with actin-binding protein filamin (ABP-280), which is known to form bridges between cell surface receptors and cytoskeleton and mediate cell adhesion and cell motility. Taken together, our results suggest a role of PS1 in cell adhesion and/or cell-matrix interaction.

The role of Alzheimer's disease-related presenilin 1 in intercellular adhesion.

Most cases of familial early-onset Alzheimer's disease are caused by mutations in the presenilin 1 (PS1) gene. However, the cellular functions of PS1 are unknown. We showed predominant localization of PS1 to cell-cell contacts of the plasma membrane in human prostate epithelial tissue and in a human epithelial cell line HEp2 stably transfected with an inducible PS1 construct. PS1 co-immunoprecipitated with beta-catenin from cell lysates of stable transfectants. Conversely, PS1 lacking the PS1-beta-catenin interaction site did not co-immunoprecipitate with beta-catenin and was not recruited to the cell-cell contacts. L cells, which do not form tight intercellular contacts, formed clusters of adhered cells after stable transfection with GFP-PS1 cDNA and demonstrated a clear preference for independent aggregation in the mixed cultures. However, L cells transfected with mutant GFP-PS1 constructs, which had a truncated N-terminus of PS1 or deleted PS1-beta-catenin interaction site, failed to form intercellular contacts. In addition, in primary cultures of mouse cortical neurons PS1 was highly concentrated on the surface of extended growth cones. Taken together, our results suggest an important role of PS1 in intercellular adhesion in epithelial cells and neurons.