LRRK2 phosphorylation level correlates with abnormal motor behaviour in an experimental model of levodopa-induced dyskinesias

Levodopa (L-DOPA)-induced dyskinesias (LIDs) represent the major side effect in Parkinson's disease (PD) therapy. Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) mutations account for up to 13 % of familial cases of PD. LRRK2 N-terminal domain encompasses several serine residues that undergo phosphorylation influencing LRRK2 function. This work aims at investigating whether LRRK2 phosphorylation/function may be involved in the molecular pathways downstream D1 dopamine receptor leading to LIDs. Here we show that LRRK2 phosphorylation level at serine 935 correlates with LIDs induction and that inhibition of LRRK2 induces a significant increase in the dyskinetic score in L-DOPA treated parkinsonian animals. Our findings support a close link between LRKK2 functional state and L-DOPA-induced abnormal motor behaviour and highlight that LRRK2 phosphorylation level may be implicated in LIDs, calling for novel therapeutic strategies

Mechanisms underlying the impairment of hippocampal long-term potentiation and memory in experimental Parkinson's disease

Although patients with Parkinson's disease show impairments in cognitive performance even at the early stage of the disease, the synaptic mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in this pathology are unknown. Hippocampal long-term potentiation represents the major experimental model for the synaptic changes underlying learning and memory and is controlled by endogenous dopamine. We found that hippocampal long-term potentiation is altered in both a neurotoxic and transgenic model of Parkinson's disease and this plastic alteration is associated with an impaired dopaminergic transmission and a decrease of NR2A/NR2B subunit ratio in synaptic N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptors. Deficits in hippocampal-dependent learning were also found in hemiparkinsonian and mutant animals. Interestingly, the dopamine precursor l-DOPA was able to restore hippocampal synaptic potentiation via D1/D5 receptors and to ameliorate the cognitive deficit in parkinsonian animals suggesting that dopamine-dependent impairment of hippocampal long-term potentiation may contribute to cognitive deficits in patients with Parkinson's disease

Increased presynaptic protein kinase C activity and glutamate release in rats with a prenatally induced hippocampal lesion

We have previously shown that protein kinase C (PKC) activity is up-regulated in nerve terminals of animals that have been subjected to targeted cellular ablation of cortical and hippocampal neurons by treatment with methylazoxymethanol (MAM), which results in impaired long-term potentiation (LTP) and cognitive deficit. In this study we investigated the consequences of increased membrane-bound PKC in the regulation of release of glutamate, the major excitatory transmitter involved in LTP. We show that nerve terminals of MAM-treated rats show higher PKC activity, as monitored by the in situ phosphorylation of B-50/GAP-43, in both basal and phorbol ester-stimulated conditions. In these animals, hippocampal nerve endings release a greater amount of glutamate than those of controls, both in basal conditions and when synaptosomes are stimulated with KCl or 3,4-diaminopyridine. The potentiation observed in MAM-treated rats was counteracted by the PKC blocker H-7 and the clostridial tetanus toxin. On the contrary, GABA release was not significantly up-regulated, either in basal or in depolarization-evoked conditions. Therefore our data show that the increase in synaptosomal PKC activity is paralleled by increased glutamate but not GABA release in this animal model. Whether this reflects specific upregulation of membrane PKC activity in glutamatergic terminals or an alteration in the regulation of glutamate release remains to be determined

Transplacentally induced brain lesions: An animal model to study molecular correlates of cognitive deficits

No abstract availabl

Developmental models of brain dysfunctions induced by targeted cellular ablations with methylazoxymethanol

Abnormal brain development represents one of the major causes of neurological disorders in humans, and determining the factors responsible for generating specific brain malformations represents a formidable task for developmental neurobiology. The knowledge of the precise neurogenetic time table and the use of toxins, like methylazoxymethanol, able to interfere with neuroepithelial cells entering their last mitotic cycle, have allowed for targeted neuronal ablations in specific brain areas of the central nervous system (CNS) when administered at different gestational or postnatal days in various animal species. Of particular relevance are the studies in which ablations of neuronal populations of cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum have been made. The results obtained show that these early ablations induce a number of neuroanatomic, neurochemical, and electrophysiological changes that give us the possibility to unravel the biochemical strategies utilized by surviving neurons to adapt to the perturbated environment. Most striking are the findings that target deprivation does not affect the survival of afferent neurons in the CNS (except for neurons of the lateral geniculate nucleus), in sharp contrast to the notion of target dependence for peripheral nervous system neurons. Animals showing selective ablations in the Ammon's horn of the hippocampus allow us to understand the complex biochemical pathways leading to changes in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, and the data underscore the fundamental role of diverse Ca2+-dependent protein kinases, and their substrates, in modulating pre- and postsynaptic events during induction and maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP). Because LTP represents a useful model to study molecular substrates of learning and memory, this animal model might be of relevance in understanding cognitive brain dysfunctions

Pathophysiological implications of the structural organization of the excitatory synapse

The glutamatergic synapse is the key structure in the development of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system. The analysis of the complex biochemical mechanisms at the basis of the long-term changes in synaptic efficacy have received a tremendous impulse by the observation that the post-synaptic constituents of the synapse can be separated and purified through a simple procedure involving detergent treatment of synaptosomes and differential centrifugation. In this fraction, called post-synaptic density (PSD), the functional interactions of its constituents are preserved. The various subunits of ionotropic glutamate receptors are held in register with the presynaptic active zone through their interaction with linker proteins. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subunits NR2A and NR2B, bind to the PSD protein called PSD-95, which in turn binds neuroligins, providing a handle for interacting with neurexin, located in the plasma membrane at the presynaptic active zone. Additional clustering of NMDA receptors is provided through the binding of NR1 subunits to the cytoskeletal protein \u3b1-actinin-2. AMPA (\u3b1-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid) and kainate receptors are other important constituents of PSDs and bind to different anchoring proteins. Phosphorylation processes have long been known to modulate NMDA receptor functional activity: the finding that several protein kinases, particularly Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and protein tyrosine kinases of the src family, are major constituents of PSDs has allowed to demonstrate that these enzymes are localized in a strategic position of the glutamatergic synapse, so that their activation provides a means for NMDA receptor function regulation upon its activation. The relevance of these mechanisms has been demonstrated in experimental models of pathologies involving deficits in synaptic plasticity, such as in streptozotocin-induced diabetes and in an animal model of prenatal induced ablation of hippocampal neurons. Both animal models display disturbances in long-term potentiation and cognitive deficits, thus providing in vivo models to study pathology related changes in both the structure and the function of the excitatory synaps

Synaptic protein phosphorylation changes in animals exposed to neurotoxicants during development

Protein phosphorylation represents a key process by which neuronal function is regulated by first messengers interacting with extracellular membrane receptors. Protein kinases transfer the phosphate group from ATP to neuron specific proteins and phosphatases, catalyzing the removal of the phosphate group, shut off the signal by restoring the reactive form of the protein. These phosphorylation processes seem to be particularly important in long-term changes which follow sustained activation of neurons. Particular importance has been given to the Calcium/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (PKC) as the molecular mechanism in synaptic plasticity associated with learning and memory. We have studied the changes of PKC activity in an animal model of impaired cognitive functions as a consequence of an exposure during embryonic life to an antimitotic agent, methylazoxy-methanol acetate (MAM). Treatment at gestational day (GD) 15 results in offspring showing a dose-dependent reduction in the size of cortex and hippocampus. When adult, these animals show impairments in several tests for learning and memory. In hippocampal slice preparations from MAM-treated rats, Long-Term Potentiation could not be induced in the CA1 region, the area affected by the treatment. However, in the hippocampal dentate gyrus, an area not affected by the treatment, LTP could be induced. Moreover, these animals show area-specific changes in the phosphorylation state of the protein B-50/GAP-43, a well characterized neuron specific substrate for PKC. By changing the time of MAM exposure, i.e. at GD19, a different pattern of brain damage occurs and this results both in a different pattern in behavior and B-50 phosphorylation. All these data indicate that changes in protein phosphorylation of specific substrates for PKC are markers of alteration in synaptic plasticity associated with neurotoxic insults to the developing CNS

Protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation in prenatally induced microencephaly

We describe here integrated studies conducted in an animal model of brain malformation induced by prenatal treatment with a potent antimitotic agent, methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM). When given at gestational day 15, MAM induces a marked and dose-dependent hypoplasia of cortex and hippocampus. The alteration of specific neurotransmitter systems in these brain areas reflect the specificity of the damage induced by MAM administration at this particular stage of brain development. These animals, when adult, show impairments in learning and memory performance, without gross alterations of spontaneous behavior. The impairment in cognitive functions is correlated with changes, both in cortex and hippocampus, of the phosphorylation state of the neuron-specific protein B-50, a substrate of Protein Kinase C, known to play a key role in synaptic plasticity. Moreover, Long-Term Potentiation (LTP), a cellular model for studying synaptic plasticity associated with learning and memory, is impaired in the hippocampal subfields affected by MAM treatment. All these results - obtained with anatomical, behavioral, neurochemical and electrophysiological studies - point to the usefulness of this animal model to understand the long-lasting consequences of the interference of neurotoxic compounds with the developing CNS

The phosphorylation state of DARPP-32, a third messenger for dopamine, is regulated by in vivo pharmacological treatments

It has been recently proposed that DARPP-32 participates, as third messenger, in the mediation of effects induced by dopamine at the cellular level. DARPP-32 is indeed localized almost exclusively on dopaminoceptive neurons bearing the D1 receptor subtype and it is phosphorylated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. In its phospho-form, DARPP-32 acts as an inhibitor of protein phosphatase-1. In vivo pharmacological treatment with selective D1 agonists and antagonists induces changes in the phosphorylation state of DARPP-32 that can be correlated to changes in cAMP, mediated in turn by D1 and D2 receptors. These data demonstrate that the measurement of the phosphorylation state of DARPP-32 with the back-phosphorylation assay can represent a useful biochemical tool to gain further insight into the sequence of events elicited by specific dopaminergic drugs in vivo