Central Role of Glucocorticoid Receptors in Alzheimer’s Disease and Depression

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the principal neurodegenerative pathology in the world displaying negative impacts on both the health and social ability of patients and inducing considerable economic costs. In the case of sporadic forms of AD (more than 95% of patients), even if mechanisms are unknown, some risk factors were identified. The principal risk is aging, but there is growing evidence that lifetime events like chronic stress or stress-related disorders may increase the probability to develop AD. This mini-review reinforces the rationale to consider major depressive disorder (MDD) as an important risk factor to develop AD and points the central role played by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, glucocorticoids (GC) and their receptors (GR) in the etiology of MDD and AD. Several strategies directly targeting GR were tested to neutralize the HPA axis dysregulation and GC overproduction. Given the ubiquitous expression of GR, antagonists have many undesired side effects, limiting their therapeutic potential. However, a new class of molecules was developed, highly selective and acting as modulators. They present the advantage to selectively abrogate pathogenic GR-dependent processes, while retaining beneficial aspects of GR signaling. In fact, these “selective GR modulators” induce a receptor conformation that allows activation of only a subset of downstream signaling pathways, explaining their capacity to combine agonistic and antagonistic properties. Thus, targeting GR with selective modulators, alone or in association with current strategies, becomes particularly attractive and relevant to develop novel preventive and/or therapeutic strategies to tackle disorders associated with a dysregulation of the HPA axis

OptoGluNAM4.1, a Photoswitchable allosteric antagonist for real-time control of mGlu4 receptor activity

OptoGluNAM4.1, a negative allosteric modulator (NAM) of metabotropic glutamate receptor 4 (mGlu4) contains a reactive group that covalently binds to the receptor and a blue-light-activated, fast-relaxing azobenzene group that allows reversible receptor activity photocontrol in vitro and in vivo. OptoGluNAM4.1 induces light-dependent behavior in zebrafish and reverses the activity of the mGlu4 agonist LSP4-2022 in a mice model of chronic pain, defining a photopharmacological tool to better elucidate the physiological roles of the mGlu4 receptor in the nervous system

Exogenous LRRK2G2019S induces parkinsonian-like pathology in a nonhuman primate

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease among the elderly. To understand pathogenesis and to test therapies, animal models that faithfully reproduce key pathological PD hallmarks are needed. As a prelude to developing a model of PD, we tested the tropism, efficacy, biodistribution, and transcriptional impact of canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV-2) vectors in the brain of Microcebus murinus, a nonhuman primate that naturally develops neurodegenerative lesions. We show that introducing helper-dependent (HD) CAV-2 vectors results in long-term, neuron-specific expression at the injection site and in afferent nuclei. Although HD CAV-2 vector injection induced a modest transcriptional response, no significant adaptive immune response was generated. We then generated and tested HD CAV-2 vectors expressing LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) and LRRK2 carrying a G2019S mutation (LRRK2G2019S), which is linked to sporadic and familial autosomal dominant forms of PD. We show that HD-LRRK2G2019S expression induced parkinsonian-like motor symptoms and histological features in less than 4 months

Illuminating phenylazopyridines to photoswitch metabotropic glutamate receptors: from the flask to the animals

Phenylazopyridines are photoisomerizable compounds with high potential to control biological functions with light. We have obtained a series of phenylazopyridines with light dependent activity as negative allosteric modulators (NAM) of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGlu5). Here we describe the factors needed to achieve an operational molecular photoisomerization and its effective translation into in vitro and in vivo receptor photoswitching, which includes zebrafish larva motility and the regulation of the antinociceptive effects in mice. The combination of light and some specific phenylazopyridine ligands displays atypical pharmacological profiles, including light-dependent receptor overactivation, which can be observed both in vitro and in vivo. Remarkably, the localized administration of light and a photoswitchable compound in the peripheral tissues of rodents or in the brain amygdalae results in an illumination-dependent analgesic effect. The results reveal a robust translation of the phenylazopyridine photoisomerization to a precise photoregulation of biological activity

A 'double-edged' role for type-5 metabotropic glutamate receptors in pain disclosed by light-sensitive drugs

We used light-sensitive drugs to identify the brain region-specific role of mGlu5 metabotropic glutamate receptors in the control of pain. Optical activation of systemic JF-NP-26, a caged, normally inactive, negative allosteric modulator (NAM) of mGlu5 receptors, in cingulate, prelimbic, and infralimbic cortices and thalamus inhibited neuropathic pain hypersensitivity. Systemic treatment of alloswitch-1, an intrinsically active mGlu5 receptor NAM, caused analgesia, and the effect was reversed by light-induced drug inactivation in the prelimbic and infralimbic cortices, and thalamus. This demonstrates that mGlu5 receptor blockade in the medial prefrontal cortex and thalamus is both sufficient and necessary for the analgesic activity of mGlu5 receptor antagonists. Surprisingly, when the light was delivered in the basolateral amygdala, local activation of systemic JF-NP-26 reduced pain thresholds, whereas inactivation of alloswitch-1 enhanced analgesia. Electrophysiological analysis showed that alloswitch-1 increased excitatory synaptic responses in prelimbic pyramidal neurons evoked by stimulation of presumed BLA input, and decreased BLA-driven feedforward inhibition of amygdala output neurons. Both effects were reversed by optical silencing and reinstated by optical reactivation of alloswitch-1. These findings demonstrate for the first time that the action of mGlu5 receptors in the pain neuraxis is not homogenous, and suggest that blockade of mGlu5 receptors in the BLA may limit the overall analgesic activity of mGlu5 receptor antagonists. This could explain the suboptimal effect of mGlu5 NAMs on pain in human studies and validate photopharmacology as an important tool to determine ideal target sites for systemic drugs.This work was supported by Ricerca Finalizzata of Italian Ministry of Health—Young Researcher project (GR-2016–02362046) to SN, AL received funding from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación 10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF A way of making Europe (Projects I+D + i CTQ2017-89222-R and PID2020-120499RB-I00), CSIC (201980E011) and Departament de Recerca i Universitats, Generalitat de Catalunya (2017SGR1604 and 2021SGR00508). VN received funding from National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01 NS038261.Peer reviewe

Caractérisation des effets de l'injection intracérébroventriculaire du peptide b-amyloïde [25-35] chez le rat mâle adulte (impact sur un système de neuroprotection endogène)

La maladie d'Alzheimer (MA) est une pathologie neurodégénérative caractérisée par la présence de plaques séniles majoritairement composées par la protéine b-amyloïde (Ab). Afin de caractériser les effets de la toxicité amyloïde, nous avons évalué l'impact au cours du temps d'une injection intracérébroventriculaire (icv) du peptide Ab25-35 agrégé sur des paramètres comportementaux, physiologiques et biochimiques chez le rat et sur un système neuroprotecteur endogène, le BDNF. Nous avons caractérisé 1, 2, 3 et 6 sem après l'injection icv d'Ab25-35, les effets sur la mémoire à court- et long-terme, sur les niveaux dans l'amygdale, le cortex frontal, l'hippocampe et l'hypothalamus du stress oxydant, des processus apoptotiques et du BDNF ainsi que ces récepteurs (TrkB et p75). Chez ces animaux, des études immunohistologiques sont également réalisées sur le système BDNF, la neuroinflammation, la neurogénèse et la perte cellulaire hippocampique. Cette étude montre que l'injection d'Ab25-35 induit des déficits mnésiques, un stress oxydant, de la mitochondrie et du réticulum endoplasmique et des processus apoptotiques. L'Ab25-35 a un impact sur le système cholinergique, l'intégrité hippocampique, la neurogénèse et la neuroinflammation. Les taux de corticostérone et le système BDNF sont également modifiés. L'injection icv d'Ab25-35 induit les signes neuropathologiques majeurs de la MA chez le rat et valide ce modèle d'injection comme un bon modèle non-transgénique de la MA. De plus, il semble qu'une partie des effets observés pourraient être le résultat d'une dérégulation du système BDNF dans certaines régions du cerveau.Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative pathology characterized by the presence of senile plaques. The major component of senile plaques is an amyloid-ß protein (Ab). In this study, we assessed the time-course effects and regional changes observed after a single intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of aggregated Ab fragment [25-35] (Ab25-35; 10 g/rat), on physiological parameters (body weight, general activity and body temperature), behavioral responses (spatial short- and long-term memories), stress parameters (BDNF and CORT levels, oxidative, inflammation, neuroprotection, cellular) and on histological parameters (neuroinflammation, acetylcholine systems, hippocampus integrity, BDNF system). We shown that a single icv injection of Ab25-35 has a significant impact on short- and long-term memories, HPA axis activity, oxidative stress, brain level of a neuroprotective agent (BDNF) and its receptors (TrkB and p75), ER and mitochondrial stress, apoptotic processes, astrogliosis and microgliosis, cholinergic systems, hippocampus integrity and hippocampal neurogenesis. This study allows to realize the parallel existing between the effects induced by Ab25-35 icv injection and numerous relevant signs of the pathology observed in patients. It seems that effects observed could be due to differential regulation of BDNF system on cerebral regionsMONTPELLIER-BU Sciences (341722106) / SudocSudocFranceF

Le récepteur des adénovirus et des coxsackievirus (CAR) est impliqué dans les processus cognitifs

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Chronic Glucocorticoids Consumption Triggers and Worsens Experimental Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology by Detrimental Immune Modulations

International audienceIntroduction: Among the risk factors identified in the sporadic forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD), environmental and lifestyle elements are of growing interest. Clinical observations suggest that stressful events can anticipate AD onset, while stress-related disorders can promote AD. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a chronic treatment with glucocorticoids is sufficient to trigger or exacerbate AD molecular hallmarks.Methods: We first validated a rat model of experimental chronic glucocorticoids (GC) consumption (corticosterone [CORT] in drinking water for 4 weeks). Then, to evaluate the consequences of chronic GC consumption on the onset of amyloid-β (Aβ) toxicity, animals chronically treated with GC were intracerebroventricularly injected with an oligomeric solution of Aβ25-35 (oAβ) (acute model of AD). We evaluated AD-related cognitive deficits and pathogenic mechanisms, with a special emphasis on neuroinflammatory markers.Results: Chronic CORT consumption caused the inhibition of the nonamyloidogenic pathways, the impairment of Aβ clearance processes and the induction of amyloidogenic pathways in the hippocampus. The principal enzymes involved in glucocorticoid receptor activation and Tau phosphorylation were upregulated. Importantly, the AD-like phenotype triggered by chronic CORT was analogous to the one caused by oAβ. These molecular commonalities across models were independent from inflammation, as chronic CORT was immunosuppressive while oAβ was pro-inflammatory. When chronic CORT consumption anticipated the induction of the oAβ pathology, we found a potentiation of neuroinflammatory processes associated with an exacerbation of synaptic and memory deficits but also an aggravation of AD-related hallmarks.Discussion/conclusion: This study unravels new functional outcomes identifying chronic CORT consumption as a main risk factor for AD and suggests that glucocorticoid-based therapies should be prescribed with caution in populations with AD risk

Is AD a Stress-Related Disorder? Focus on the HPA Axis and Its Promising Therapeutic Targets

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Dopamine D2 receptors gate generalization of conditioned threat responses through mTORC1 signaling in the extended amygdala

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