Negative Allosteric Modulation of mGluR5 Partially Corrects Pathophysiology in a Mouse Model of Rett Syndrome

Rett syndrome (RTT) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2), an epigenetic regulator of mRNA transcription. Here, we report a test of the hypothesis of shared pathophysiology of RTT and fragile X, another monogenic cause of autism and intellectual disability. In fragile X, the loss of the mRNA translational repressor FMRP leads to exaggerated protein synthesis downstream of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5). We found that mGluR5- and protein-synthesis-dependent synaptic plasticity were similarly altered in area CA1 of Mecp2 KO mice. CA1 pyramidal cell-type-specific, genome-wide profiling of ribosome-bound mRNAs was performed in wild-type and Mecp2 KO hippocampal CA1 neurons to reveal the MeCP2-regulated “translatome.” We found significant overlap between ribosome-bound transcripts overexpressed in the Mecp2 KO and FMRP mRNA targets. These tended to encode long genes that were functionally related to either cytoskeleton organization or the development of neuronal connectivity. In the Fmr1 KO mouse, chronic treatment with mGluR5-negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) has been shown to ameliorate many mutant phenotypes by correcting excessive protein synthesis. In Mecp2 KO mice, we found that mGluR5 NAM treatment significantly reduced the level of overexpressed ribosome-associated transcripts, particularly those that were also FMRP targets. Some Rett phenotypes were also ameliorated by treatment, most notably hippocampal cell size and lifespan. Together, these results suggest a potential mechanistic link between MeCP2-mediated transcription regulation and mGluR5/FMRP-mediated protein translation regulation through coregulation of a subset of genes relevant to synaptic functions. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Altered regulation of synaptic protein synthesis has been hypothesized to contribute to the pathophysiology that underlies multiple forms of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder. Here, we show in a mouse model of Rett syndrome (Mecp2 KO) that metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5)- and protein-synthesis-dependent synaptic plasticity are abnormal in the hippocampus. We found that a subset of ribosome-bound mRNAs was aberrantly upregulated in hippocampal CA1 neurons of Mecp2 KO mice, that these significantly overlapped with FMRP direct targets and/or SFARI human autism genes, and that chronic treatment of Mecp2 KO mice with an mGluR5-negative allosteric modulator tunes down upregulated ribosome-bound mRNAs and partially improves mutant mice phenotypes.Howard Hughes Medical InstituteSimons Foundation (Grant SFARI 275050)Rett Syndrome Research Trus

Activation of mGluR5 Induces Rapid and Long-Lasting Protein Kinase D Phosphorylation in Hippocampal Neurons

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), including mGluR5, play a central role in regulating the strength and plasticity of synaptic connections in the brain. However, the signaling pathways that connect mGluRs to their downstream effectors are not yet fully understood. Here, we report that stimulation of mGluR5 in hippocampal cultures and slices results in phosphorylation of protein kinase D (PKD) at the autophosphorylation site Ser-916. This phosphorylation event occurs within 30 s of stimulation, persists for at least 24 h, and is dependent on activation of phospholipase C and protein kinase C. Our data suggest that activation of PKD may represent a novel signaling pathway linking mGluR5 to its downstream targets. These findings have important implications for the study of the molecular mechanisms underlying mGluR-dependent synaptic plasticity.Howard Hughes Medical InstituteFRAXA Research FoundationNational Institute of Mental Health (U.S.)Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.

Modelling fragile X syndrome in rats: new directions in translational research

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the leading single gene cause of intellectual disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is caused by epigenetic silencing of the fragile X mental retardation gene (FMR1), causing a loss of Fragile-X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP). Over the last 2 decades, much has been learned about the pathophysiology related to the loss of FMRP from mouse models of FXS. The recent generation of a rat model of FXS opens the door to: validate phenotypes across mammalian species, address cognitive dysfunction using paradigms that are more difficult to address in mice and explore candidate therapeutics more accurately. This thesis explored the validity of a new rat model for FXS (Fmr1 KO rat). I showed that Fmr1 KO rats exhibit normal spatial navigation memory, social interactions and anxiety levels. On the contrary, when subjects were tested in a battery of spontaneous exploration tasks: object recognition (OR), object-context (OC), object-place (OP), and object-place-context (OPC) recognition, which assess associative memory, Fmr1 KO rats showed a severe deficit in remembering the most complex (episodic-like) associations. Following these results, I sought to explore the development of associative memory from postnatal day 25 (P25) to adulthood (P71). Subjects were tested in the four spontaneous exploration tasks, previously mentioned, 8 times between P25 and P71 to assess the development of their ability to discriminate novel from familiar associations between objects, contexts and places. Fmr1 KO rats’ ability to discriminate novel from familiar object-place (spatial) and object-place-context (episodic-like) associations was significantly impaired (OP was delayed, and OPC ability did not develop). In the last part of this thesis I examined whether early therapeutic intervention with lovastatin can restore the cognitive deficits I observed. Subjects were fed either a diet containing lovastatin (“lovachow”) or an identically looking control diet, between P29 and P64, and tested in the four spontaneous exploration tasks, previously mentioned. Fmr1 KO rats demonstrated a developmental profile of associative memory indistinguishable from that of WT animals. At P64, lovachow was replaced with standard laboratory chow and the animals were tested 1 and 3 months later. Surprisingly, lovastatin treated Fmr1 KO animals maintained the ability to perform the OPC task even at 3 months after the end of treatment, whereas Fmr1 KO animals on control chow showed no improvement with age. The findings of this work indicate that transgenic rats can complement existing mouse models of FXS, providing valuable insights into the effects of FMRP loss on cognitive function. Furthermore, the results from the treatment study show that not only can lovastatin treatment prevent the emergence of cognitive deficits associated with Fragile X Syndrome but also that lovastatin (and perhaps pharmaceutical interventions more generally) may prevent the developmental deficits in neuronal circuit formation which can be maintained into adulthood

Convergence of hippocampal pathophysiology in <i>Syngap^+/- </i>and <i>Fmr1</i>^<i>-/y</i>mice

Previous studies have hypothesized that diverse genetic causes of intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) converge on common cellular pathways. Testing this hypothesis requires detailed phenotypic analyses of animal models with genetic mutations that accurately reflect those seen in the human condition (i.e., have structural validity) and which produce phenotypes that mirror ID/ASDs (i.e., have face validity). We show that SynGAP haploinsufficiency, which causes ID with co-occurring ASD in humans, mimics and occludes the synaptic pathophysiology associated with deletion of the Fmr1 gene. Syngap[superscript +/−] and Fmr1[superscript −/y] mice show increases in basal protein synthesis and metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)-dependent long-term depression that, unlike in their wild-type controls, is independent of new protein synthesis. Basal levels of phosphorylated ERK1/2 are also elevated in Syngap[superscript +/−] hippocampal slices. Super-resolution microscopy reveals that Syngap[superscript +/−] and Fmr1[superscript −/y] mice show nanoscale alterations in dendritic spine morphology that predict an increase in biochemical compartmentalization. Finally, increased basal protein synthesis is rescued by negative regulators of the mGlu subtype 5 receptor and the Ras–ERK1/2 pathway, indicating that therapeutic interventions for fragile X syndrome may benefit patients with SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency

Myosin 1E interacts with synaptojanin-1 and dynamin and is involved in endocytosis

AbstractMyosin 1E is one of two “long-tailed” human Class I myosins that contain an SH3 domain within the tail region. SH3 domains of yeast and amoeboid myosins I interact with activators of the Arp2/3 complex, an important regulator of actin polymerization. No binding partners for the SH3 domains of myosins I have been identified in higher eukaryotes. In the current study, we show that two proteins with prominent functions in endocytosis, synaptojanin-1 and dynamin, bind to the SH3 domain of human Myo1E. Myosin 1E co-localizes with clathrin- and dynamin-containing puncta at the plasma membrane and this co-localization requires an intact SH3 domain. Expression of Myo1E tail, which acts in a dominant-negative manner, inhibits endocytosis of transferrin. Our findings suggest that myosin 1E may contribute to receptor-mediated endocytosis

Microbiome-derived carnitine mimics as previously unknown mediators of gut-brain axis communication

Alterations to the gut microbiome are associated with various neurological diseases, yet evidence of causality and identity of microbiome-derived compounds that mediate gut-brain axis interaction remain elusive. Here, we identify two previously unknown bacterial metabolites 3-methyl-4-(trimethylammonio)butanoate and 4-(trimethylammonio)pentanoate, structural analogs of carnitine that are present in both gut and brain of specific pathogen–free mice but absent in germ-free mice. We demonstrate that these compounds are produced by anaerobic commensal bacteria from the family Lachnospiraceae (Clostridiales) family, colocalize with carnitine in brain white matter, and inhibit carnitine-mediated fatty acid oxidation in a murine cell culture model of central nervous system white matter. This is the first description of direct molecular inter-kingdom exchange between gut prokaryotes and mammalian brain cells, leading to inhibition of brain cell function

Metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling is required for NMDA receptor-dependent ocular dominance plasticity and LTD in visual cortex

A feature of early postnatal neocortical development is a transient peak in signaling via metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5). In visual cortex, this change coincides with increased sensitivity of excitatory synapses to monocular deprivation (MD). However, loss of visual responsiveness after MD occurs via mechanisms revealed by the study of long-term depression (LTD) of synaptic transmission, which in layer 4 is induced by acute activation of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) rather than mGluR5. Here we report that chronic postnatal down-regulation of mGluR5 signaling produces coordinated impairments in both NMDAR-dependent LTD in vitro and ocular dominance plasticity in vivo. The data suggest that ongoing mGluR5 signaling during a critical period of postnatal development establishes the biochemical conditions that are permissive for activity-dependent sculpting of excitatory synapses via the mechanism of NMDAR-dependent LTD.Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.) (Grant 5R01HD046943)National Eye Institute (Grant 1R01EY023037)National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (Training Grant 5T32MH074249)Picower Institute for Learning and Memory (Neurological Disease Research Fund