Mutations affecting synaptic levels of neurexin-1ß in autism and mental retardation.

The identification of mutations in genes encoding proteins of the synaptic neurexin-neuroligin pathway in different neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and mental retardation, has suggested the presence of a shared underlying mechanism. A few mutations have been described so far and for most of them the biological consequences are unknown. To further explore the role of the NRXN1ß gene in neurodevelopmental disorders, we have sequenced the coding exons of the gene in 86 cases with autism and mental retardation and 200 controls and performed expression analysis of DNA variants identified in patients. We report the identification of four novel independent mutations that affect nearby positions in two regions of the gene/protein: i) sequences important for protein translation initiation, c.-3G>T within the Kozak sequence, and c.3G>T (p.Met1), at the initiation codon; and ii) the juxtamembrane region of the extracellular domain, p.Arg375Gln and p.Gly378Ser. These mutations cosegregate with different psychiatric disorders other than autism and mental retardation, such as psychosis and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. We provide experimental evidence for the use of an alternative translation initiation codon for c.-3G>T and p.Met1 mutations and reduced synaptic levels of neurexin-1ß protein resulting from p.Met1 and p.Arg375Gln. The data reported here support a role for synaptic defects of neurexin-1ß in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Complementary actions of BDNF and neurotrophin-3 on the firing patterns and synaptic composition of motoneurons.

Neurotrophins, as target-derived factors, are essential for neuronal survival during development, but during adulthood, their scope of actions widens to become also mediators of synaptic and morphological plasticity. Target disconnection by axotomy produces an initial synaptic stripping ensued by synaptic rearrangement upon target reinnervation. Using abducens motoneurons of the oculomotor system as a model for axotomy, we report that trophic support by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) or a mixture of both, delivered to the stump of severed axons, results in either the prevention of synaptic stripping when administered immediately after lesion or in a promotion of reinnervation of afferents to abducens motoneurons once synaptic stripping had occurred, in concert with the recovery of synaptic potentials evoked from the vestibular nerve. Synaptotrophic effects, however, were larger when both neurotrophins were applied together. The axotomy-induced reduction in firing sensitivities related to eye movements were also restored to normal values when BDNF and NT-3 were administered, but discharge characteristics recovered in a complementary manner when only one neurotrophin was used. This is the first report to show selective retrograde trophic dependence of circuit-driven firing properties in vivo indicating that NT-3 restored the phasic firing, whereas BDNF supported the tonic firing of motoneurons during eye movement performance. Therefore, our data report a link between the synaptotrophic actions of neurotrophins, retrogradely delivered, and the alterations of neuronal firing patterns during motor behaviors. These trophic actions could be responsible, in part, for synaptic rearrangements that alter circuit stability and synaptic balance during plastic events of the brain.