Stress decreases neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, and blockade of this effect is required for the actions of antidepressants in behavioral models of depression. However, the mechanisms ...underlying these effects of stress have not been identified. Here, we demonstrate an essential role for the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β. Administration of IL-1β or acute stress suppressed hippocampal cell proliferation. Blockade of the IL-1β receptor, IL-1RI, by using either an inhibitor or IL-1RI null mice blocks the antineurogenic effect of stress and blocks the anhedonic behavior caused by chronic stress exposure. In vivo and in vitro studies demonstrate that hippocampal neural progenitor cells express IL-1RI and that activation of this receptor decreases cell proliferation via the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway. These findings demonstrate that IL-1β is a critical mediator of the antineurogenic and depressive-like behavior caused by acute and chronic stress.
Abstract Background Previous work has shown that chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) induces increased phasic firing of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine (DA) neurons that project to the nucleus ...accumbens (NAc) selectively in mice that are susceptible to the deleterious effects of the stress. In addition, acute optogenetic phasic stimulation of these neurons promotes susceptibility in animals exposed to acute defeat stress. These findings are paradoxical, as increased DA signaling in NAc normally promotes motivation and reward, and the influence of chronic phasic VTA firing in the face of chronic stress is unknown. Methods We used CSDS with repeated optogenetic activation and pharmacologic manipulations of the mesolimbic VTA-NAc pathway to examine the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and DA signaling in depressive-like behaviors. We measured BDNF protein expression and DA release in this model. Results Pharmacologic blockade of BDNF–tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB) signaling, but not DA signaling, in NAc prevented CSDS-induced behavioral abnormalities. Chronic optogenetic phasic stimulation of the VTA-NAc circuit during CSDS exacerbated the defeat-induced behavioral symptoms, and these aggravated symptoms were also normalized by BDNF-TrkB blockade in NAc. The aggravated behavioral deficits induced by phasic stimulation of the VTA-NAc pathway were blocked as well by local knockdown of BDNF in VTA. Conclusions These findings show that BDNF-TrkB signaling, rather than DA signaling, in the VTA-NAc circuit is crucial for facilitating depressive-like outcomes after CSDS and they establish BDNF-TrkB signaling as a pathologic mechanism during periods of chronic stress.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is widely accepted as being critical for neural and synaptic plasticity throughout the nervous system. Recent work has shown that BDNF in the mesolimbic ...dopamine (DA) circuit, originating in ventral tegmental area DA neurons that project to the nucleus accumbens, is crucial in the development of depressive-like behaviors following exposure to chronic social defeat stress in mice. Whereas BDNF modulates DA signaling in encoding responses to acute defeat stress, BDNF signaling alone appears to be responsible for the behavioral effects after chronic social defeat stress. Very different patterns are seen with another widely used chronic stress paradigm in mice, chronic mild stress (also known as chronic variable or unpredictable stress), where DA signaling, but not BDNF signaling, is primarily responsible for the behavioral effects observed. This review discusses the molecular, cellular, and circuit basis of this dramatic discrepancy, which appears to involve the nature of the stress, its severity and duration, and its effects on distinct cell types within the ventral tegmental area–to–nucleus accumbens mesolimbic circuit.
Proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, have been implicated in the cellular and behavioral effects of stress and in mood disorders, although the downstream signaling pathways underlying these ...effects have not been determined. In the present study, we demonstrate a critical role for NF-κB signaling in the actions of IL-1β and stress. Stress inhibition of neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, which has been implicated in the prodepressive effects of stress, is blocked by administration of an inhibitor of NF-κB. Further analysis reveals that stress activates NF-κB signaling and decreases proliferation of neural stem-like cells but not early neural progenitor cells in the adult hippocampus. We also find that depressive-like behaviors caused by exposure to chronic stress are mediated by NF-κB signaling. Together, these data identify NF-κB signaling as a critical mediator of the antineurogenic and behavioral actions of stress and suggest previously undescribed therapeutical targets for depression.
Although medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is known to play important roles in social behaviors, how early social experiences affect the mPFC and its subcortical circuit remains unclear. We report that ...mice singly housed (SH) for 8 weeks after weaning show a social recognition deficit, even after 4 weeks of resocialization. In SH mice, prefrontal infralimbic (IL) neurons projecting to the shell region of nucleus accumbens (NAcSh) show decreased excitability compared with group-housed (GH) mice. NAcSh-projecting IL neurons are activated when GH mice encounter a familiar conspecific, which is not observed in SH mice. Chemogenetic inhibition of NAcSh-projecting IL neurons in normal mice impairs social recognition without affecting social preference, whereas activation of these neurons reverses social recognition deficit in SH mice. Our findings demonstrate that early social experience critically affects mPFC IL-NAcSh projection, the activation of which is required for social recognition by encoding information for social familiarity.
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•Social isolation decreases the excitability of NAcSh-projecting IL neurons•NAcSh-projecting IL neurons are activated by familiar conspecifics•Inhibition of NAcSh-projecting IL neurons impairs social recognition•Activating NAcSh-projecting IL neurons rescues social recognition deficit in SH mice
Park et al. identifies a brain circuit critical for social recognition. Inhibition of the neural projection from infralimbic cortex to nucleus accumbens shell impairs social recognition without affecting social preference, which reconciles the behavioral phenotype shown in socially isolated mice. Reactivation of the same neurons rescues its social recognition deficit.
Dendritic spines are the sites of most excitatory synapses in the CNS, and opposing alterations in the synaptic structure of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) of the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a primary ...brain reward region, are seen at early versus late time points after cocaine administration. Here we investigate the time-dependent molecular and biochemical processes that regulate this bidirectional synaptic structural plasticity of NAc MSNs and associated changes in cocaine reward in response to chronic cocaine exposure. Our findings reveal key roles for the bidirectional synaptic expression of the Rap1b small GTPase and an associated local synaptic protein translation network in this process. The transcriptional mechanisms and pathway-specific inputs to NAc that regulate Rap1b expression are also characterized. Collectively, these findings provide a precise mechanism by which nuclear to synaptic interactions induce “metaplasticity” in NAc MSNs, and we reveal the specific effects of this plasticity on reward behavior in a brain circuit-specific manner.
•Cocaine bidirectionally alters a synaptic Rap1b signaling pathway•Altered Rap1b signaling controls the rewarding effects of cocaine•Bidirectional alterations in Rap1b regulate dendritic spine metaplasticity•A specific neural circuit controls synaptic Rap1b signaling and reward
Nucleus accumbens neurons undergo synaptic structural changes at early versus longer times after chronic cocaine exposure. Cahill et al. reveal a mechanism by which cocaine induces this form of “metaplasticity” and delineate the effects of this plasticity on reward behavior in a circuit-specific manner.
While the abuse of opiate drugs continues to rise, the neuroadaptations that occur with long-term drug exposure remain poorly understood. We describe here a series of chronic morphine-induced ...adaptations in ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons, which are mediated via downregulation of AKT-mTORC2 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex-2). Chronic opiates decrease the size of VTA dopamine neurons in rodents, an effect seen in humans as well, and concomitantly increase the excitability of the cells but decrease dopamine output to target regions. Chronic morphine decreases mTORC2 activity, and overexpression of Rictor, a component of mTORC2, prevents morphine-induced changes in cell morphology and activity. Further, local knockout of Rictor in VTA decreases DA soma size and reduces rewarding responses to morphine, consistent with the hypothesis that these adaptations represent a mechanism of reward tolerance. Together, these findings demonstrate a novel role for AKT-mTORC2 signaling in mediating neuroadaptations to opiate drugs of abuse.
► Morphine decreases VTA DA soma size, increases cell activity, and decreases DA output ► Morphine and reduced IRS2/AKT activity decrease K
+ channel expression in the VTA ► Morphine increases mTORC1 and decreases mTORC2 signaling in the VTA ► Decreased mTORC2 signaling in the VTA mediates morphine-induced adaptations
The nucleus accumbens is a key mediator of cocaine reward, but the distinct roles of the two subpopulations of nucleus accumbens projection neurons, those expressing dopamine D1 versus D2 receptors, ...are poorly understood. We show that deletion of TrkB, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) receptor, selectively from D1+ or D2+ neurons oppositely affects cocaine reward. Because loss of TrkB in D2+ neurons increases their neuronal excitability, we next used optogenetic tools to control selectively the firing rate of D1+ and D2+ nucleus accumbens neurons and studied consequent effects on cocaine reward. Activation of D2+ neurons, mimicking the loss of TrkB, suppresses cocaine reward, with opposite effects induced by activation of D1+ neurons. These results provide insight into the molecular control of D1+ and D2+ neuronal activity as well as the circuit-level contribution of these cell types to cocaine reward.
Ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzymes mediate the conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), which is enriched in brain, and its ultimate DNA demethylation. However, the ...influence of TET and 5hmC on gene transcription in brain remains elusive. We found that ten-eleven translocation protein 1 (TET1) was downregulated in mouse nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain reward structure, by repeated cocaine administration, which enhanced behavioral responses to cocaine. We then identified 5hmC induction in putative enhancers and coding regions of genes that have pivotal roles in drug addiction. Such induction of 5hmC, which occurred similarly following TET1 knockdown alone, correlated with increased expression of these genes as well as with their alternative splicing in response to cocaine administration. In addition, 5hmC alterations at certain loci persisted for at least 1 month after cocaine exposure. Together, these reveal a previously unknown epigenetic mechanism of cocaine action and provide new insight into how 5hmC regulates transcription in brain in vivo.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
IL-1β is a proinflammatory cytokine that contributes to psychological stress responses and has been implicated in various psychiatric disorders most notably depression. Preclinical studies also ...demonstrate that IL-1β modulates anxiety- and fear-related behaviors, although these findings are difficult to assess because IL-1β infusions influence locomotor activity and nociception. Here we demonstrate that IL-1RI null mice exhibit a behavioral phenotype consistent with a decrease in anxiety-related behaviors. This includes significant effects in the elevated plus maze, light–dark, and novelty-induced hypophagia tests compared to wild-type mice, with no differences in locomotor activity. With regard to fear conditioning, IL-1RI null mice showed more freezing in auditory and contextual fear conditioning tests, and there was no effect on pain sensitivity. Taken together, the results indicate that the IL-1β/IL-1RI signaling pathway induces anxiety-related behaviors and impairs fear memory.
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