Hippocampal tau oligomerization early in tau pathology coincides with a transient alteration of mitochondrial homeostasis and DNA repair in a mouse model of tauopathy

International audienceInsoluble intracellular aggregation of tau proteins into filaments and neurodegeneration are histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer disease (AD) and other tauopathies. Recently, prefibrillar, soluble, oligomeric tau intermediates have emerged as relevant pathological tau species; however, the molecular mechanisms of neuronal responses to tau oligomers are not fully understood. Here, we show that hippocampal neurons in six-month-old transgenic mouse model of tauopathy, THY-Tau22, are enriched with oligomeric tau, contain elongated mitochondria, and display cellular stress, but no overt cytotoxicity compared to the control mice. The levels of several key mitochondrial proteins were markedly different between the THY-Tau22 and control mice hippocampi including the mitochondrial SIRT3, PINK1, ANT1 and the fission protein DRP1. DNA base excision repair (BER) is the primary defense system against oxidative DNA damage and it was elevated in six-month-old transgenic mice. DNA polymerase β, the key BER DNA polymerase, was enriched in the cytoplasm of hippocampal neurons in six-month-old transgenic mice and localized with and within mitochondria. Polβ also co-localized with mitochondria in human AD brains in neurons containing oligomeric tau. Most of these altered mitochondrial and DNA repair events were specific to the transgenic mice at 6 months of age and were not different from control mice at 12 months of age when tau pathology reaches its maximum and oligomeric forms of tau are no longer detectable. In summary, our data suggests that we have identified key cellular stress responses at early stages of tau pathology to preserve neuronal integrity and to promote survival. To our knowledge, this work provides the first description of multiple stress responses involving mitochondrial homeostasis and BER early during the progression of tau pathology, and represents an important advance in the etiopathogenesis of tauopathies

Mycolactone as Analgesic: Subcutaneous Bioavailability Parameters

Mycobacterium ulcerans is the bacillus responsible for Buruli ulcer, an infectious disease and the third most important mycobacterial disease worldwide, after tuberculosis and leprosy. M. ulcerans infection is a type of panniculitis beginning mostly with a nodule or an oedema, which can progress to large ulcerative lesions. The lesions are caused by mycolactone, the polyketide toxin of M. ulcerans. Mycolactone plays a central role for host colonization as it has immunomodulatory and analgesic effects. On one hand, mycolactone induces analgesia by targeting type-2 angiotensin II receptors (AT2R), causing cellular hyperpolarization and neuron desensitization. Indeed, a single subcutaneous injection of mycolactone into the mouse footpad induces a long-lasting hypoesthesia up to 48 h. It was suggested that the long-lasting hypoesthesia may result from the persistence of a significant amount of mycolactone locally following its injection, which could be probably due to its slow elimination from tissues. To verify this hypothesis, we investigated the correlation between hypoesthesia and mycolactone bioavailability directly at the tissue level. Various quantities of mycolactone were then injected in mouse tissue and hypoesthesia was recorded with nociception assays over a period of 48 h. The hypoesthesia was maximal 6 h after the injection of 4 μg mycolactone. The basal state was reached 48 h after injection, which demonstrated the absence of nerve damage. Surprisingly, mycolactone levels decreased strongly during the first hours with a reduction of 70 and 90% after 4 and 10 h, respectively. Also, mycolactone did not diffuse in neighboring skin tissue and only poorly into the bloodstream upon direct injection. Nevertheless, the remaining amount was sufficient to induce hypoesthesia during 24 h. Our results thus demonstrate that intact mycolactone is rapidly eliminated and that very small amounts of mycolactone are sufficient to induce hypoesthesia. Taken together, our study points out that mycolactone ought to be considered as a promising analgesic

Perinatal Stress Programs Sex Differences in the Behavioral and Molecular Chronobiological Profile of Rats Maintained Under a 12-h Light-Dark Cycle

Stress and the circadian systems play a major role in an organism’s adaptation to environmental changes. The adaptive value of the stress system is reactive while that of the circadian system is predictive. Dysfunctions in these two systems may account for many clinically relevant disorders. Despite the evidence that interindividual differences in stress sensitivity and in the functioning of the circadian system are related, there is limited integrated research on these topics. Moreover, sex differences in these systems are poorly investigated. We used the perinatal stress (PRS) rat model, a well-characterized model of maladaptive programming of reactive and predictive adaptation, to monitor the running wheel behavior in male and female adult PRS rats, under a normal light/dark cycle as well as in response to a chronobiological stressor (6-h phase advance/shift). We then analyzed across different time points the expression of genes involved in circadian clocks, stress response, signaling, and glucose metabolism regulation in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). In the unstressed control group, we found a sex-specific profile that was either enhanced or inverted by PRS. Also, PRS disrupted circadian wheel-running behavior by inducing a phase advance in the activity of males and hypoactivity in females and increased vulnerability to chronobiological stress in both sexes. We also observed oscillations of several genes in the SCN of the unstressed group in both sexes. PRS affected males to greater extent than females, with PRS males displaying a pattern similar to unstressed females. Altogether, our findings provide evidence for a specific profile of dysmasculinization induced by PRS at the behavioral and molecular level, thus advocating the necessity to include sex as a biological variable to study the set-up of circadian system in animal models

Stress, sexe et addiction : hypothèse de l'automédication dans la réponse au renforcement dans le modèle de stress prénatal chez le rat

Le stress est un facteur d’importance dans l'étiologie des troubles de l'humeur et de l’addiction. Des rats stressés prénatalement (SPN), i.e. la progéniture de femelles soumises à des épisodes répétés de stress les 10 derniers jours de gestation, présentent des troubles liés au stress (anxiété, dépression, vulnérabilité aux drogues), avec un effet net du sexe dans le profil induit par le SPN : les mâles SPN sont anxieux alors que les rats SPN des 2 sexes présentent un comportement de type dépressif. Une diminution de la libération de glutamate dans l'hippocampe ventral est au cœur du profil d'anxiété des rats SPN et un traitement avec des antidépresseurs augmente la libération de glutamate et corrige le profil anxiodépressif. Ici, pour la 1ère fois, la modification des patterns circadiens, comme caractéristique de la dépression, a été analysée à la fois chez les rats mâles et femelles. Nous montrons une spécificité du genre pour l’effet du SPN sur les systèmes circadiens (activité locomotrice, resynchronisation pour un nouveau cycle lumière-obscurité, niveaux de CRH hypothalamique). Nous avons étendu l’étude de l'influence du sexe à l’addiction et démontré que 1)les hormones sexuelles jouent un rôle clé dans la réponse aux drogues dans un paradigme de préférence de place conditionnée; 2)la sensibilité est stimulus-dépendante (chocolat vs cocaïne). Enfin, nous montrons que l'augmentation de la préférence pour la cocaïne est liée à l'activation de la locomotion, mais aussi à l'effet anxiolytique/antidépresseur de la drogue, suggérant que la préférence pour une drogue augmente quand celle-ci est capable de corriger les troubles de l'humeur, renforçant l'hypothèse de l'automédication dans l’addiction.Stress is an important factor in the etiology of mood disorders and addictive behaviors. Prenatally restraint stressed (PRS) rats, i.e. the offspring of dams submitted to repeated episodes of stress during the last ten days of gestation, display stress-related disorders (anxiety, depression, vulnerability to drugs of abuse), with a clear-cut sex effect in PRS-induced profile: PRS males are anxious while PRS rats of both sexes display a depressive-like behavior. An impairment of glutamate release in the ventral hippocampus lies at the core of the anxiety-like profile of PRS rats and we have shown that chronic treatment with antidepressants enhanced glutamate release and corrected PRS rats anxious-/depressive-like profile. Here, for the first time, the alteration of circadian patterns, as a feature of depression, was analyzed both in male and female rats. We have shown a gender-specific outcome of PRS on circadian patterns of locomotor activity, resynchronization to a new light-dark cycle, and hypothalamic CRH levels. We extended the impact of sex in our model to addiction and demonstrated that 1)sex hormones play a key role in determining rats preference for drugs in a conditioned place preference paradigm; 2)sensitiveness is stimulus-dependent (natural reward chocolate vs cocaine). Finally, we found that an enhanced preference for cocaine, shown in females and in PRS rats of both sexes, was linked to the locomotor activating effect of the drug but also to its anxiolytic and antidepressant effect. This suggests that preference for a drug is increased when the drug is able to correct mood disorders, reinforcing the hypothesis of self-medication in addiction

Could Mycolactone Inspire New Potent Analgesics? Perspectives and Pitfalls

International audiencePain currently represents the most common symptom for which medical attention is sought by patients. The available treatments have limited effectiveness and significant side-effects. In addition, most often, the duration of analgesia is short. Today, the handling of pain remains a major challenge. One promising alternative for the discovery of novel potent analgesics is to take inspiration from Mother Nature; in this context, the detailed investigation of the intriguing analgesia implemented in Buruli ulcer, an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans and characterized by painless ulcerative lesions, seems particularly promising. More precisely, in this disease, the painless skin ulcers are caused by mycolactone, a polyketide lactone exotoxin. In fact, mycolactone exerts a wide range of effects on the host, besides being responsible for analgesia, as it has been shown notably to modulate the immune response or to provoke apoptosis. Several cellular mechanisms and different targets have been proposed to account for the analgesic effect of the toxin, such as nerve degeneration, the inhibition of inflammatory mediators and the activation of angiotensin II receptor 2. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge in the field, highlighting possible controversies. We first discuss the different pain-mimicking experimental models that were used to study the effect of mycolactone. We then detail the different variants of mycolactone that were used in such models. Overall, based on the results and the discussions, we conclude that the development of mycolactone-derived molecules can represent very promising perspectives for new analgesic drugs, which could be effective for specific pain indications. Key Contribution: This review develops arguments and issues around the development of new potent analgesic drugs derived from mycolactone, a toxin secreted by Mycobacterium ulcerans. To this end, the various modes of action of the toxin potentially underlying its analgesic properties are detailed and discussed in the context of various pain models-also concerning different variants of mycolactone

Early-life experiences and the development of adult diseases with a focus on mental illness. The Human Birth Theory

In mammals, early adverse experiences, including mother pup interactions, shape the response of an individual to chronic stress or to stress-related diseases during adult life. This has led to the elaboration of the theory of the developmental origins of health and disease, in particular adult diseases such as cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. In addition, in humans, as stated by Massimo Fagioli's Human Birth Theory, birth is healthy and equal for all individuals, so that mental illness develop exclusively in the postnatal period because of the quality of the relationship in the first year of life. Thus, this review focuses on the importance of programming during the early developmental period on the manifestation of adult diseases in both animal models and humans. Considering the obvious differences between animals and humans we cannot systematically move from animal models to humans. Consequently, in the first part of this review, we will discuss how animal models can be used to dissect the influence of adverse events occurring during the prenatal and postnatal periods on the developmental trajectories of the offspring, and in the second part, we will discuss the role of postnatal critical periods on the development of mental diseases in humans. Epigenetic mechanisms that cause reversible modifications in gene expression, driving the development of a pathological phenotype in response to a negative early postnatal environment, may lie at the core of this programming, thereby providing potential new therapeutic targets. The concept of the Human Birth Theory leads to a comprehension of the mental illness as a pathology of the human relationship immediately after birth and during the first year of life. (C) 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Perinatal Stress Programs Sex Differences in the Behavioral and Molecular Chronobiological Profile of Rats Maintained Under a 12-h Light-Dark Cycle

International audienceStress and the circadian systems play a major role in an organism’s adaptation to environmental changes. The adaptive value of the stress system is reactive while that of the circadian system is predictive. Dysfunctions in these two systems may account for many clinically relevant disorders. Despite the evidence that interindividual differences in stress sensitivity and in the functioning of the circadian system are related, there is limited integrated research on these topics. Moreover, sex differences in these systems are poorly investigated. We used the perinatal stress (PRS) rat model, a well-characterized model of maladaptive programming of reactive and predictive adaptation, to monitor the running wheel behavior in male and female adult PRS rats, under a normal light/dark cycle as well as in response to a chronobiological stressor (6-h phase advance/shift). We then analyzed across different time points the expression of genes involved in circadian clocks, stress response, signaling, and glucose metabolism regulation in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). In the unstressed control group, we found a sex-specific profile that was either enhanced or inverted by PRS. Also, PRS disrupted circadian wheel-running behavior by inducing a phase advance in the activity of males and hypoactivity in females and increased vulnerability to chronobiological stress in both sexes. We also observed oscillations of several genes in the SCN of the unstressed group in both sexes. PRS affected males to greater extent than females, with PRS males displaying a pattern similar to unstressed females. Altogether, our findings provide evidence for a specific profile of dysmasculinization induced by PRS at the behavioral and molecular level, thus advocating the necessity to include sex as a biological variable to study the set-up of circadian system in animal models

Grandma's stress programs transgenerational transmission of hippocampal glutamatergic synaptopathy associated with stress-related responses

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Hedonic sensitivity to natural rewards is affected by prenatal stress in a sex-dependent manner

Palatable food is a strong activator of the reward circuitry and may cause addictive behavior leading to eating disorders. How early life events and sex interact in shaping hedonic sensitivity to palatable food is largely unknown. We used prenatally restraint stressed (PRS) rats, which show abnormalities in the reward system and anxious/depressive-like behavior. Some of the hallmarks of PRS rats are known to be sex-dependent. We report that PRS enhanced and reduced milk chocolate-induced conditioned place preference in males and females, respectively. Male PRS rats also show increases in plasma dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels and dopamine (DA) levels in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and reductions in 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels in the NAc and prefrontal cortex (PFC). In male rats, systemic treatment with the DHT-lowering drug finasteride reduced both milk chocolate preference and NAc DA levels. Female PRS rats showed lower plasma estradiol (E2 ) levels and lower DA levels in the NAc, and 5-HT levels in the NAc and PFC. E2 supplementation reversed the reduction in milk chocolate preference and PFC 5-HT levels. In the hypothalamus, PRS increased ER\u3b1 and ER\u3b2 estrogen receptor and CARTP (cocaine-and-amphetamine receptor transcript peptide) mRNA levels in males, and 5-HT2 C receptor mRNA levels in females. Changes were corrected by treatments with finasteride and E2 , respectively. These new findings show that early life stress has a profound impact on hedonic sensitivity to high-palatable food via long-lasting changes in gonadal hormones. This paves the way to the development of hormonal strategies aimed at correcting abnormalities in the response to natural rewards