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Xavier FAC, Barbieri SS, Popoli M, Ieraci A. Short- and Long-Term Effects of Subchronic Stress Exposure in Male and Female Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Knock-In Val66Met Mice. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:303. [PMID: 38785785 PMCID: PMC11118886 DOI: 10.3390/biology13050303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Stress is an important risk factor for the onset of anxiety and depression. The ability to cope with stressful events varies among different subjects, probably depending on different genetic variants, sex and previous life experiences. The Val66Met variant of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which impairs the activity-dependent secretion of BDNF, has been associated with increased susceptibility to the development of various neuropsychiatric disorders. Adult male and female wild-type Val/Val (BDNFV/V) and heterozygous Val/Met (BDNFV/M) mice were exposed to two sessions of forced swimming stress (FSS) per day for two consecutive days. The mice were behaviorally tested 1 day (short-term effect) or 11 days (long-term effect) after the last stress session. Protein and mRNA levels were measured in the hippocampus 16 days after the end of stress exposure. Stressed mice showed a higher anxiety-like phenotype compared to non-stressed mice, regardless of the sex and genotype, when analyzed following the short period of stress. In the prolonged period, anxiety-like behavior persisted only in male BDNFV/M mice (p < 0.0001). Interestingly, recovery in male BDNFV/V mice was accompanied by an increase in pCREB (p < 0.001) and Bdnf4 (p < 0.01) transcript and a decrease in HDAC1 (p < 0.05) and Dnmt3a (p = 0.01) in the hippocampus. Overall, our results show that male and female BDNF Val66Met knock-in mice can recover from subchronic stress in different ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando Antonio Costa Xavier
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90619-900, Brazil;
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy;
| | - Silvia Stella Barbieri
- Unit of Brain-Heart Axis: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms, Centro Cardiologico Monzino IRCCS, 20138 Milan, Italy;
| | - Maurizio Popoli
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy;
| | - Alessandro Ieraci
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, 22060 Novedrate, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, 20156 Milan, Italy
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Numakawa T, Kajihara R. An Interaction between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Stress-Related Glucocorticoids in the Pathophysiology of Alzheimer's Disease. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:1596. [PMID: 38338875 PMCID: PMC10855648 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25031596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Both the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glucocorticoids (GCs) play multiple roles in various aspects of neurons, including cell survival and synaptic function. BDNF and its receptor TrkB are extensively expressed in neurons of the central nervous system (CNS), and the contribution of the BDNF/TrkB system to neuronal function is evident; thus, its downregulation has been considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). GCs, stress-related molecules, and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) are also considered to be associated with AD in addition to mental disorders such as depression. Importantly, a growing body of evidence suggests a close relationship between BDNF/TrkB-mediated signaling and the GCs/GR system in the CNS. Here, we introduce the current studies on the interaction between the neurotrophic system and stress in CNS neurons and discuss their involvement in the pathophysiology of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tadahiro Numakawa
- Department of Cell Modulation, Institute of Molecular Embryology and Genetics, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan
| | - Ryutaro Kajihara
- Department of Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Life Science, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 862-0976, Japan
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Derosa S, Misztak P, Mingardi J, Mazzini G, Müller HK, Musazzi L. Changes in neurotrophic signaling pathways in brain areas of the chronic mild stress rat model of depression as a signature of ketamine fast antidepressant response/non-response. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2024; 128:110871. [PMID: 37793481 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2023.110871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a highly debilitating disorder characterized by a persistent feeling of sadness and anhedonia. Traditional antidepressants have a delayed onset of action and lack of efficacy in up to one third of patients, leading to treatment resistant depression (TRD). Recent years have witnessed a revolutionary treatment of TRD with the introduction of the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine. However, ketamine's mechanisms of action are still poorly understood. Here, we used the chronic mild stress animal model of depression on male rats to investigate the involvement of neurotrophic signaling pathways in stress vulnerability/resilience and fast antidepressant response/non-response to acute subanesthetic ketamine. We performed our analysis on both the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, two brain areas implicated in stress-related disorders, considering different subcellular fractions. We measured the activation by phosphorylation of protein kinase B (AKT), extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3 β), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2), key effectors in the regulation of neuroplasticity and glutamatergic transmission which were previously associated to ketamine's fast antidepressant effect. We showed here for the first time that both stress and ketamine induced brain area and subcellular fraction specific changes in these pathways. Our study represents the first attempt to identify molecular mechanisms underlying the response/non-response to ketamine in an animal model of depression. This approach could give a crucial contribution to the study of etiopathogenetic mechanisms as well as to the identification of novel targets for the development of innovative therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Derosa
- School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Paulina Misztak
- School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Jessica Mingardi
- School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Giulia Mazzini
- School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Heidi Kaastrup Müller
- Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Laura Musazzi
- School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy.
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Torrisi SA, Rizzo S, Laudani S, Ieraci A, Drago F, Leggio GM. Acute stress alters recognition memory and AMPA/NMDA receptor subunits in a sex-dependent manner. Neurobiol Stress 2023; 25:100545. [PMID: 37293561 PMCID: PMC10244889 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Several studies have consistently reported a detrimental effect of chronic stress on recognition memory. However, the effects of acute stress on this cognitive ability have been poorly investigated. Moreover, despite well-documented sex differences in recognition memory observed in clinical studies, most of the preclinical studies in this field of research have been carried out by using solely male rodents. Here we tested the hypothesis that acute stress could affect the consolidation of different types of recognition memory in a sex-dependent manner. For this purpose, male and female C57BL6/J mice were exposed to 2-h of restrain stress immediately after the training session of both the novel object recognition (NOR) test and novel object location (NOL) tasks. Acute restraint stress did not affect memory performance of male and female mice, after a 4-h delay between the training session and the test phase of both tasks. By contrast, acute restraint stress altered memory performance in a sex-dependent manner, after a 24-h delay. While stressed mice of both sexes were impaired in the NOL test, only male stressed mice were impaired in the NOR test. Because ionotropic glutamate receptors-mediated neurotransmission is essential for shaping recognition memory, we further tested the hypothesis that post training acute stress could induce sex-dependent transcriptional changes of ionotropic glutamate receptor subunits in the dorsal hippocampus. We uncovered that acute stress induced sex-, time- and type of memory-dependent transcriptional changes of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunits. These findings suggest that the effect of acute stress on recognition memory can be strongly biased by multiple factors including sex. These findings also indicate that the same stress-induced memory impairment observed in both sexes can be triggered by different sex-dependent molecular mechanisms. At the therapeutic level, this should not be overlooked in the context of personalized and targeted treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastiano A. Torrisi
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Silvia Rizzo
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Samuele Laudani
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Alessandro Ieraci
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, 22060, Novedrate, CO, Italy
| | - Filippo Drago
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Gian Marco Leggio
- Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
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Wang Y, Li O, Li N, Sha Z, Zhao Z, Xu J. Association between the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1143833. [PMID: 37415688 PMCID: PMC10321516 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1143833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Study objectives This meta-analysis analytically reviewed recent studies concerning the potential associations between the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism and susceptibility to major depressive disorder (MDD), with subgroup analyses for race and age. Methods Relevant case-control studies were systematically searched for in PubMed, Embase, the Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and Sinomed databases. A total of 24 studies were finally identified to have reported outcomes including alleles, dominant genes, recessive genes, homozygosity, and heterozygosity. Subgroup meta-analyses were performed based on participant age and ethnicity. Publication bias was represented by funnel plots. All meta-analyses of the randomized controlled trials included for evaluation were performed using RevMan5.3 software. Results The findings revealed no significant association between BDNF Val66Met polymorphism and MDD. However, the Met allele was found to be associated with genetic susceptibility to MDD among white populations on subgroup analysis (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.05-1.48, P = 0.01). In the genetic model, dominant (OR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.18-1.66, P = 0.0001), recessive (OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.05-2.78, P = 0.03), and homozygous (OR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.08-2.88, P = 0.02) genes were all associated with MDD. Conclusions Despite the outcome limitations, this meta-analysis confirmed that the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism is a susceptibility factor for MDD in white populations.
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Kouhnavardi S, Cabatic M, Mañas-Padilla MC, Malabanan MA, Smani T, Cicvaric A, Muñoz Aranzalez EA, Koenig X, Urban E, Lubec G, Castilla-Ortega E, Monje FJ. miRNA-132/212 Deficiency Disrupts Selective Corticosterone Modulation of Dorsal vs. Ventral Hippocampal Metaplasticity. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:9565. [PMID: 37298523 PMCID: PMC10253409 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24119565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 05/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Cortisol is a potent human steroid hormone that plays key roles in the central nervous system, influencing processes such as brain neuronal synaptic plasticity and regulating the expression of emotional and behavioral responses. The relevance of cortisol stands out in the disease, as its dysregulation is associated with debilitating conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease, chronic stress, anxiety and depression. Among other brain regions, cortisol importantly influences the function of the hippocampus, a structure central for memory and emotional information processing. The mechanisms fine-tuning the different synaptic responses of the hippocampus to steroid hormone signaling remain, however, poorly understood. Using ex vivo electrophysiology and wild type (WT) and miR-132/miR-212 microRNAs knockout (miRNA-132/212-/-) mice, we examined the effects of corticosterone (the rodent's equivalent to cortisol in humans) on the synaptic properties of the dorsal and ventral hippocampus. In WT mice, corticosterone predominantly inhibited metaplasticity in the dorsal WT hippocampi, whereas it significantly dysregulated both synaptic transmission and metaplasticity at dorsal and ventral regions of miR-132/212-/- hippocampi. Western blotting further revealed significantly augmented levels of endogenous CREB and a significant CREB reduction in response to corticosterone only in miR-132/212-/- hippocampi. Sirt1 levels were also endogenously enhanced in the miR-132/212-/- hippocampi but unaltered by corticosterone, whereas the levels of phospo-MSK1 were only reduced by corticosterone in WT, not in miR-132/212-/- hippocampi. In behavioral studies using the elevated plus maze, miRNA-132/212-/- mice further showed reduced anxiety-like behavior. These observations propose miRNA-132/212 as potential region-selective regulators of the effects of steroid hormones on hippocampal functions, thus likely fine-tuning hippocampus-dependent memory and emotional processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shima Kouhnavardi
- Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Maureen Cabatic
- Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Marife-Astrid Malabanan
- Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Tarik Smani
- Department of Medical Physiology and Biophysics, University of Seville, 41013 Seville, Spain
| | - Ana Cicvaric
- Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461, USA
| | - Edison Alejandro Muñoz Aranzalez
- Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Xaver Koenig
- Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Ernst Urban
- Department for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Josef-Holaubek-Platz 2, 2D 303, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Gert Lubec
- Programme for Proteomics, Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
| | | | - Francisco J. Monje
- Center for Physiology and Pharmacology, Department of Neurophysiology and Neuropharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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Martini P, Mingardi J, Carini G, Mattevi S, Ndoj E, La Via L, Magri C, Gennarelli M, Russo I, Popoli M, Musazzi L, Barbon A. Transcriptional Profiling of Rat Prefrontal Cortex after Acute Inescapable Footshock Stress. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:genes14030740. [PMID: 36981011 PMCID: PMC10048409 DOI: 10.3390/genes14030740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Stress is a primary risk factor for psychiatric disorders such as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The response to stress involves the regulation of transcriptional programs, which is supposed to play a role in coping with stress. To evaluate transcriptional processes implemented after exposure to unavoidable traumatic stress, we applied microarray expression analysis to the PFC of rats exposed to acute footshock (FS) stress that were sacrificed immediately after the 40 min session or 2 h or 24 h after. While no substantial changes were observed at the single gene level immediately after the stress session, gene set enrichment analysis showed alterations in neuronal pathways associated with glia development, glia-neuron networking, and synaptic function. Furthermore, we found alterations in the expression of gene sets regulated by specific transcription factors that could represent master regulators of the acute stress response. Of note, these pathways and transcriptional programs are activated during the early stress response (immediately after FS) and are already turned off after 2 h-while at 24 h, the transcriptional profile is largely unaffected. Overall, our analysis provided a transcriptional landscape of the early changes triggered by acute unavoidable FS stress in the PFC of rats, suggesting that the transcriptional wave is fast and mild, but probably enough to activate a cellular response to acute stress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Martini
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Jessica Mingardi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
| | - Giulia Carini
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
- Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Stefania Mattevi
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Elona Ndoj
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Luca La Via
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Chiara Magri
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Massimo Gennarelli
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
- Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Isabella Russo
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
- Genetics Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, 25123 Brescia, Italy
| | - Maurizio Popoli
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Musazzi
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy
| | - Alessandro Barbon
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
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Autry AE. Function of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hypothalamus: Implications for depression pathology. Front Mol Neurosci 2022; 15:1028223. [PMID: 36466807 PMCID: PMC9708894 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.1028223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Depression is a prevalent mental health disorder and is the number one cause of disability worldwide. Risk factors for depression include genetic predisposition and stressful life events, and depression is twice as prevalent in women compared to men. Both clinical and preclinical research have implicated a critical role for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling in depression pathology as well as therapeutics. A preponderance of this research has focused on the role of BDNF and its primary receptor tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB) in the cortex and hippocampus. However, much of the symptomatology for depression is consistent with disruptions in functions of the hypothalamus including changes in weight, activity levels, responses to stress, and sociability. Here, we review evidence for the role of BDNF and TrkB signaling in the regions of the hypothalamus and their role in these autonomic and behavioral functions associated with depression. In addition, we identify areas for further research. Understanding the role of BDNF signaling in the hypothalamus will lead to valuable insights for sex- and stress-dependent neurobiological underpinnings of depression pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita E. Autry
- Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Anita E. Autry,
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