Photorelease of GABA with visible light using an inorganic caging group

We describe the selective photorelease of γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) with a novel caged-GABA compound that uses a ruthenium complex as photosensor. This compound ("RuBi-GABA") can be excited with visible wavelengths, providing greater tissue penetration, less photo-toxicity, and faster photorelease kinetics than currently used UV light-sensitive caged compounds. Using pyramidal neurons from neocortical brain slices, we show that RuBi-GABA uncaging induces GABA-A receptor-mediated responses, has no detectable side effects on endogenous GABAergic and glutamatergic receptors and generates responses with kinetics and spatial resolution comparable to the best caged GABA compounds presently available. Finally, we illustrate two potential applications of RuBi-GABA uncaging: GABA receptor mapping, and optical silencing of neuronal firing

Developing ANDI: A Novel Approach to Health Product R&D in Africa

Solomon Nwaka and colleagues discuss ANDI, the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation, which is intended to help stimulate health research and development on the African continent

MEF2A regulates mGluR-dependent AMPA receptor trafficking independently of Arc/Arg3.1

© 2018 The Author(s). Differential trafficking of AMPA receptors (AMPARs) to and from the postsynaptic membrane is a key determinant of the strength of excitatory neurotransmission, and is thought to underlie learning and memory. The transcription factor MEF2 is a negative regulator of memory in vivo, in part by regulating trafficking of the AMPAR subunit GluA2, but the molecular mechanisms behind this have not been established. Here we show, via knockdown of endogenous MEF2A in primary neuronal culture, that MEF2A is specifically required for Group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)-mediated GluA2 internalisation, but does not regulate AMPAR expression or trafficking under basal conditions. Furthermore, this process occurs independently of changes in expression of Arc/Arg3.1, a previously characterised MEF2 transcriptional target and mediator of mGluR-dependent long-term depression. These data demonstrate a novel MEF2A-dependent mechanism for the regulation of activity-dependent AMPAR trafficking

Loss of Arc renders the visual cortex impervious to the effects of sensory experience or deprivation

A myriad of mechanisms have been suggested to account for the full richness of visual cortical plasticity. We found that visual cortex lacking Arc is impervious to the effects of deprivation or experience. Using intrinsic signal imaging and chronic visually evoked potential recordings, we found that Arc−/− mice did not exhibit depression of deprived-eye responses or a shift in ocular dominance after brief monocular deprivation. Extended deprivation also failed to elicit a shift in ocular dominance or open-eye potentiation. Moreover, Arc−/− mice lacked stimulus-selective response potentiation. Although Arc−/− mice exhibited normal visual acuity, baseline ocular dominance was abnormal and resembled that observed after dark-rearing. These data suggest that Arc is required for the experience-dependent processes that normally establish and modify synaptic connections in visual cortex.Howard Hughes Medical InstituteNational Science Foundation (U.S.

Selective Survival and Maturation of Adult-Born Dentate Granule Cells Expressing the Immediate Early Gene Arc/Arg3.1

Progenitor cells in the adult dentate gyrus provide a constant supply of neuronal precursors, yet only a small fraction of these cells survive and develop into mature dentate granule cells (DGCs). A major challenge of current research is thus to understand the stringent selection process that governs the maturation and functional integration of adult-born DGCs. In mature DGCs, high-frequency stimulation (HFS) of the perforant path input elicits robust expression of the immediate early gene Arc/Arg3.1, trafficking of its mRNA to dendrites, and local synthesis of the protein necessary for consolidation of long-term potentiation (LTP). Given the synaptic commitment inherent in LTP consolidation, we considered that HFS-evoked expression of Arc could be used to timemap the functional integration of newborn DGCs. Dividing cells were birthmarked by BrdU-labeling at 1, 7, 14, 21, or 28 days prior to induction of LTP and expression of Arc was examined by confocal microscopy. Contrary to expectation, LTP did not induce Arc expression in newborn cells at any age, suggesting they might be refractory to synaptically-evoked Arc expression for at least one month. Importantly, however, spontaneous expression of Arc was detected in BrdU-labeled cells and strongly associated with the survival and maturation of NeuN-positive DGCs. Moreover, Arc expression at the earliest ages (1 and 7 days), clearly precedes the formation of glutamatergic synapses on new neurons. These results suggest an unexpected early role for Arc in adult-born DGCs, distinct from its functions in LTP, LTD, and homeostatic synaptic plasticity

RNA localization in neurite morphogenesis and synaptic regulation: current evidence and novel approaches

It is now generally accepted that RNA localization in the central nervous system conveys important roles both during development and in the adult brain. Of special interest is protein synthesis located at the synapse, as this potentially confers selective synaptic modification and has been implicated in the establishment of memories. However, the underlying molecular events are largely unknown. In this review, we will first discuss novel findings that highlight the role of RNA localization in neurons. We will focus on the role of RNA localization in neurotrophin signaling, axon outgrowth, dendrite and dendritic spine morphogenesis as well as in synaptic plasticity. Second, we will briefly present recent work on the role of microRNAs in translational control in dendrites and its implications for learning and memory. Finally, we discuss recent approaches to visualize RNAs in living cells and their employment for studying RNA trafficking in neurons

Food-associated cues alter forebrain functional connectivity as assessed with immediate early gene and proenkephalin expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cues predictive of food availability are powerful modulators of appetite as well as food-seeking and ingestive behaviors. The neurobiological underpinnings of these conditioned responses are not well understood. Monitoring regional immediate early gene expression is a method used to assess alterations in neuronal metabolism resulting from upstream intracellular and extracellular signaling. Furthermore, assessing the expression of multiple immediate early genes offers a window onto the possible sequelae of exposure to food cues, since the function of each gene differs. We used immediate early gene and proenkephalin expression as a means of assessing food cue-elicited regional activation and alterations in functional connectivity within the forebrain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Contextual cues associated with palatable food elicited conditioned motor activation and corticosterone release in rats. This motivational state was associated with increased transcription of the activity-regulated genes <it>homer1a</it>, <it>arc</it>, <it>zif268</it>, <it>ngfi-b </it>and c-<it>fos </it>in corticolimbic, thalamic and hypothalamic areas and of proenkephalin within striatal regions. Furthermore, the functional connectivity elicited by food cues, as assessed by an inter-regional multigene-expression correlation method, differed substantially from that elicited by neutral cues. Specifically, food cues increased cortical engagement of the striatum, and within the nucleus accumbens, shifted correlations away from the shell towards the core. Exposure to the food-associated context also induced correlated gene expression between corticostriatal networks and the basolateral amygdala, an area critical for learning and responding to the incentive value of sensory stimuli. This increased corticostriatal-amygdalar functional connectivity was absent in the control group exposed to innocuous cues.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results implicate correlated activity between the cortex and the striatum, especially the nucleus accumbens core and the basolateral amygdala, in the generation of a conditioned motivated state that may promote excessive food intake. The upregulation of a number of genes in unique patterns within corticostriatal, thalamic, and hypothalamic networks suggests that food cues are capable of powerfully altering neuronal processing in areas mediating the integration of emotion, cognition, arousal, and the regulation of energy balance. As many of these genes play a role in plasticity, their upregulation within these circuits may also indicate the neuroanatomic and transcriptional correlates of extinction learning.</p

Tau pathology does not affect experience-driven single-neuron and network-wide Arc/Arg3.1 responses

Intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) – a characteristic pathological feature of Alzheimer’s and several other neurodegenerative diseases – are considered a major target for drug development. Tangle load correlates well with the severity of cognitive symptoms and mouse models of tauopathy are behaviorally impaired. However, there is little evidence that NFTs directly impact physiological properties of host neurons. Here we used a transgenic mouse model of tauopathy to study how advanced tau pathology in different brain regions affects activity-driven expression of immediate-early gene Arc required for experience-dependent consolidation of long-term memories. We demonstrate in vivo that visual cortex neurons with tangles are as likely to express comparable amounts of Arc in response to structured visual stimulation as their neighbors without tangles. Probability of experience-dependent Arc response was not affected by tau tangles in both visual cortex and hippocampal pyramidal neurons as determined postmortem. Moreover, whole brain analysis showed that network-wide activity-driven Arc expression was not affected by tau pathology in any of the brain regions, including brain areas with the highest tangle load. Our findings suggest that intraneuronal NFTs do not affect signaling cascades leading to experience-dependent gene expression required for long-term synaptic plasticity

Arc Requires PSD95 for Assembly into Postsynaptic Complexes Involved with Neural Dysfunction and Intelligence

Arc is an activity-regulated neuronal protein, but little is known about its interactions, assembly into multiprotein complexes, and role in human disease and cognition. We applied an integrated proteomic and genetic strategy by targeting a tandem affinity purification (TAP) tag and Venus fluorescent protein into the endogenous Arc gene in mice. This allowed biochemical and proteomic characterization of native complexes in wild-type and knockout mice. We identified many Arc-interacting proteins, of which PSD95 was the most abundant. PSD95 was essential for Arc assembly into 1.5-MDa complexes and activity-dependent recruitment to excitatory synapses. Integrating human genetic data with proteomic data showed that Arc-PSD95 complexes are enriched in schizophrenia, intellectual disability, autism, and epilepsy mutations and normal variants in intelligence. We propose that Arc-PSD95 postsynaptic complexes potentially affect human cognitive function

Early phase of plasticity-related gene regulation and SRF dependent transcription in the hippocampus

Hippocampal organotypic cultures are a highly reliable in vitro model for studying neuroplasticity: in this paper, we analyze the early phase of the transcriptional response induced by a 20 \ub5M gabazine treatment (GabT), a GABA-Ar antagonist, by using Affymetrix oligonucleotide microarray, RT-PCR based time-course and chromatin-immuno-precipitation. The transcriptome profiling revealed that the pool of genes up-regulated by GabT, besides being strongly related to the regulation of growth and synaptic transmission, is also endowed with neuro-protective and pro-survival properties. By using RT-PCR, we quantified a time-course of the transient expression for 33 of the highest up-regulated genes, with an average sampling rate of 10 minutes and covering the time interval [10 3690] minutes. The cluster analysis of the time-course disclosed the existence of three different dynamical patterns, one of which proved, in a statistical analysis based on results from previous works, to be significantly related with SRF-dependent regulation (p-value<0.05). The chromatin immunoprecipitation (chip) assay confirmed the rich presence of working CArG boxes in the genes belonging to the latter dynamical pattern and therefore validated the statistical analysis. Furthermore, an in silico analysis of the promoters revealed the presence of additional conserved CArG boxes upstream of the genes Nr4a1 and Rgs2. The chip assay confirmed a significant SRF signal in the Nr4a1 CArG box but not in the Rgs2 CArG box