Acetylcholine prioritises direct synaptic inputs from entorhinal cortex to CA1 by differential modulation of feedforward inhibitory circuits.

Acetylcholine release in the hippocampus plays a central role in the formation of new memory representations. An influential but largely untested theory proposes that memory formation requires acetylcholine to enhance responses in CA1 to new sensory information from entorhinal cortex whilst depressing inputs from previously encoded representations in CA3. Here, we show that excitatory inputs from entorhinal cortex and CA3 are depressed equally by synaptic release of acetylcholine in CA1. However, feedforward inhibition from entorhinal cortex exhibits greater depression than CA3 resulting in a selective enhancement of excitatory-inhibitory balance and CA1 activation by entorhinal inputs. Entorhinal and CA3 pathways engage different feedforward interneuron subpopulations and cholinergic modulation of presynaptic function is mediated differentially by muscarinic M3 and M4 receptors, respectively. Thus, our data support a role and mechanisms for acetylcholine to prioritise novel information inputs to CA1 during memory formation

Author Correction: Acetylcholine prioritises direct synaptic inputs from entorhinal cortex to CA1 by differential modulation of feedforward inhibitory circuits

Acetylcholine release in the hippocampus plays a central role in the formation of new memory representations. An influential but largely untested theory proposes that memory formation requires acetylcholine to enhance responses in CA1 to new sensory information from entorhinal cortex whilst depressing inputs from previously encoded representations in CA3. Here, we show that excitatory inputs from entorhinal cortex and CA3 are depressed equally by synaptic release of acetylcholine in CA1. However, feedforward inhibition from entorhinal cortex exhibits greater depression than CA3 resulting in a selective enhancement of excitatory-inhibitory balance and CA1 activation by entorhinal inputs. Entorhinal and CA3 pathways engage different feedforward interneuron subpopulations and cholinergic modulation of presynaptic function is mediated differentially by muscarinic M3 and M4 receptors, respectively. Thus, our data support a role and mechanisms for acetylcholine to prioritise novel information inputs to CA1 during memory formation

Is the superior verbal memory span of Mandarin speakers due to faster rehearsal?

It is well established that digit span in native Chinese speakers is atypically high. This is commonly attributed to a capacity for more rapid subvocal rehearsal for that group. We explored this hypothesis by testing a group of English-speaking native Mandarin speakers on digit span and word span in both Mandarin and English, together with a measure of speed of articulation for each. When compared to the performance of native English speakers, the Mandarin group proved to be superior on both digit and word spans while predictably having lower spans in English. This suggests that the Mandarin advantage is not limited to digits. Speed of rehearsal correlated with span performance across materials. However, this correlation was more pronounced for English speakers than for any of the Chinese measures. Further analysis suggested that speed of rehearsal did not provide an adequate account of differences between Mandarin and English spans or for the advantage of digits over words. Possible alternative explanations are discussed

Unifying view of mechanical and functional hotspots across class A GPCRs

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest superfamily of signaling proteins. Their activation process is accompanied by conformational changes that have not yet been fully uncovered. Here, we carry out a novel comparative analysis of internal structural fluctuations across a variety of receptors from class A GPCRs, which currently has the richest structural coverage. We infer the local mechanical couplings underpinning the receptors' functional dynamics and finally identify those amino acids whose virtual deletion causes a significant softening of the mechanical network. The relevance of these amino acids is demonstrated by their overlap with those known to be crucial for GPCR function, based on static structural criteria. The differences with the latter set allow us to identify those sites whose functional role is more clearly detected by considering dynamical and mechanical properties. Of these sites with a genuine mechanical/dynamical character, the top ranking is amino acid 7x52, a previously unexplored, and experimentally verifiable key site for GPCR conformational response to ligand binding. \ua9 2017 Ponzoni et al

Molecular field analysis of clozapine analogs in the development of a pharmacophore model of antipsychotic drug action

In an attempt to elucidate some aspects of clozapine's favorable receptor binding profile, we modeled a series of 30 clozapine analogs using a pharmacophore based on the ligands octoclothepin and tefludazine. Molecular field analysis using CoMFA combined with HINT® was carried out on published D2 receptor binding affinities. Several alternative alignments of the analogs gave r2 values in the range of 0.8-0.95. The final model had good predictive abilities with q2 > 0.6 and r2 > 0.9. This provides an excellent framework to aid in the design of novel antipsychotics with diminished propensity to produce clinically limiting side effects

Molecular mapping in the CNS

Since ancient times the operation of the brain has elicited more than usual interest. Data mining of the human genome is revealing that many CNS abnormalities have a genetic component. As yet this information can not be used directly to cure or ameliorate specific CNS disorders although this is regarded as having great potential for future therapies. Current CNS drug design and 3D QSAR is based on knowing either the structures of key proteins and how smaller molecules interact with them to obtain a pharmacological response, or on hypothesising about key structural features and interactions by a variety of molecular modelling and computational techniques. Methods used include conformational analyses, pharmacophore development and QSAR which are now being actively applied to increase our understanding of how molecules interact with specific sites within the CNS as a basis for the design of new pharmacologically active compounds. In this review we give an overview of the latest strategies used in 3D-QSAR based drug design and survey the most recent applications of these strategies to the CNS. By way of example, accounts are given of computer-based research aimed at drugs targeting GABA, glutamate, dopamine and opioid receptors

Analysis of agonism by dopamine at the dopaminergic D2 G-protein coupled receptor based on comparative modelling of Rhodopsin

A number of theoretical dopaminergic D2 models were constructed using comparative modelling techniques. The models constructed were based on the recently published crystal structure of rhodopsin. D2 models were constructed without any ligands bound in the active site and also with the endogenous agonist, dopamine, bound in the active site. Comparison of the bound and unbound models revealed the importance of the chi angle of serine 197 and the effect this has on the bending of helix 5 when an agonist is present in the binding site

Atypical antipsychotics: modelling and QSAR

Schizophrenia is a debilitating disease that effects approximately 1% of the population with the onset of the disease occurring usually in the mid 20's and persisting in many cases for the lifetime of the patient. Researchers have hypothesised that schizophrenia is due to excessive limbic dopaminergic function within the brain (Jaber et al 1996). Antipsychotic drugs may be defined as medications that alleviate delusions, hallucinations and some aspects of formal thought disorder that occur in a variety of illnesses, most notably schizophrenia. The mechanism of action of these drugs has focused on their interaction with the central nervous system (CNS) neurotransmitter dopamine (DA). However recent work strongly implicates the neurotransmitter serotonin (5HT) as a further target of action (Schmidt et a1 1995). Antipsychotic drugs are further loosely classified into typical or atypical, initially based on animal model tests. Nowadays it is on their reduced liability to produce extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) (Waddington and O'Callaghan 1997), and this has lead to hypotheses in terms of limbic selectivity and 5HTz/D2 ratios

Estimation of pKa using semiempirical molecular orbital methods. Part 2 : application to amines, anilines and various nitrogen containing heterocyclic compounds

The pKa of a compound directly influences its biopharmaceutical profile. This article describes the development of a method for estimating pKa values for a number of nitrogen containing chemical structures using semiempirical QM properties derived from frontier electron theory. Typically, the property giving the best correlation with pKa was the electrophilic superdelocalisability of the nitrogen atom resulting in regression equations with r2 values up to 0.94. The advantages of this technique are in the simplicity of the models and the speed of calculation, suggesting that this method could be widely applied to the estimation of pKa values. The success of this approach is discussed in relation to other methods