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Kononenko O, Galatenko V, Andersson M, Bazov I, Watanabe H, Zhou XW, Iatsyshyna A, Mityakina I, Yakovleva T, Sarkisyan D, Ponomarev I, Krishtal O, Marklund N, Tonevitsky A, Adkins DL, Bakalkin G. Intra- and interregional coregulation of opioid genes: broken symmetry in spinal circuits. FASEB J 2017; 31:1953-1963. [PMID: 28122917 DOI: 10.1096/fj.201601039r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2016] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Regulation of the formation and rewiring of neural circuits by neuropeptides may require coordinated production of these signaling molecules and their receptors that may be established at the transcriptional level. Here, we address this hypothesis by comparing absolute expression levels of opioid peptides with their receptors, the largest neuropeptide family, and by characterizing coexpression (transcriptionally coordinated) patterns of these genes. We demonstrated that expression patterns of opioid genes highly correlate within and across functionally and anatomically different areas. Opioid peptide genes, compared with their receptor genes, are transcribed at much greater absolute levels, which suggests formation of a neuropeptide cloud that covers the receptor-expressed circuits. Surprisingly, we found that both expression levels and the proportion of opioid receptors are strongly lateralized in the spinal cord, interregional coexpression patterns are side specific, and intraregional coexpression profiles are affected differently by left- and right-side unilateral body injury. We propose that opioid genes are regulated as interconnected components of the same molecular system distributed between distinct anatomic regions. The striking feature of this system is its asymmetric coexpression patterns, which suggest side-specific regulation of selective neural circuits by opioid neurohormones.-Kononenko, O., Galatenko, V., Andersson, M., Bazov, I., Watanabe, H., Zhou, X. W., Iatsyshyna, A., Mityakina, I., Yakovleva, T., Sarkisyan, D., Ponomarev, I., Krishtal, O., Marklund, N., Tonevitsky, A., Adkins, D. L., Bakalkin, G. Intra- and interregional coregulation of opioid genes: broken symmetry in spinal circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Kononenko
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Key State Laboratory, Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology, Kiev, Ukraine
| | | | - Malin Andersson
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Igor Bazov
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;
| | - Hiroyuki Watanabe
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Xing Wu Zhou
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Iatsyshyna
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Human Genetics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Kiev, Ukraine
| | | | - Tatiana Yakovleva
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Daniil Sarkisyan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Igor Ponomarev
- Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research and The College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA
| | - Oleg Krishtal
- Key State Laboratory, Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology, Kiev, Ukraine
| | - Niklas Marklund
- Department of Neuroscience, Section of Neurosurgery, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - DeAnna L Adkins
- Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, and.,Department of Health Sciences and Research, College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
| | - Georgy Bakalkin
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Abstract
The immature foal frequently represents a significant management challenge to even the most experienced clinician. The clinical course typically involves complications to a range of body systems,including the musculoskeletal, respiratory, and gastrointestinal systems. Before the commencement of treatment, it is important to provide the owner with an estimation of short-term and long-term survival, expected costs, and possible complications. Formulation of an accurate prognosis can be a difficult task but is aided by knowledge not only of normal maturation but of the factors that affect this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy D Lester
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch 6150, Western Australia.
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Abstract
The ability of the early environment to programme the developing hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been reported in several animal species. There is considerable evidence that a similar process can occur in the human, and that long-term alterations in HPA function are associated with altered susceptibility to disease in later life. The phenotype of HPA function following early manipulation depends on the timing and intensity of the manipulation as well as the gender of the fetus/neonate. There is considerable interplay between the developing HPA and the reproductive axes and emerging evidence indicates that this interaction is modified by early environmental manipulation. Studies are rapidly unravelling the mechanisms that underlie developmental programming of the HPA axis. In this context, the serotonergic system has been identified as a primary system involved in this process. Understanding the mechanisms involved in neuroendocrine programming will facilitate the development of interventions aimed at reversing or ameliorating the impact of an adverse intrauterine environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus H Andrews
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, Toronto, Ont., Cananda.
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Hawkins P, Hanson MA, Matthews SG. Maternal undernutrition in early gestation alters molecular regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in the ovine fetus. J Neuroendocrinol 2001; 13:855-61. [PMID: 11679054 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2826.2001.00709.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
We have demonstrated previously that plasma adrenocorticotropin hormone and cortisol responses to exogenous and endogenous stimuli are reduced in fetuses of mildly undernourished ewes. In the present study, we examined the molecular regulation of fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function at 127-130 days gestation (dGA) following 15% reduction in maternal nutrition between 0 and 70 dGA. Using in situ hybridization, we found that corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA expression in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) was lower in fetuses from nutrient restricted ewes than in controls. Restricted fetuses also had greater levels of mRNA encoding preproenkephalin (PENK) and magnocellular arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the PVN. Expression of oxytocin mRNA and parvocellular AVP mRNA in the PVN and pro-opiomelanocortin mRNA in the pituitary were unchanged. Glucocorticoid receptor mRNA expression was unaltered at the PVN, but was reduced (> 40%) in the anterior pituitary of restricted fetuses. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that levels of adrenal P450scc mRNA and P450(C17) mRNA were not different between the groups. We conclude that the reduction in HPA function reported previously is mediated, at least in part, by a decrease in expression of CRH mRNA and increase in PENK mRNA in the PVN.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Hawkins
- Department of Obstetrics, University College London, London, UK
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Abstract
We have examined factors concerned with the maintenance of uterine quiescence during pregnancy and the onset of uterine activity at term in an animal model, the sheep, and in primate species. We suggest that in both species the fetus exerts a critical role in the processes leading to birth, and that activation of the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is a central mechanism by which the fetal influence on gestation length is exerted. Increased cortisol output from the fetal adrenal gland is a common characteristic across animal species. In primates, there is, in addition, increased output of estrogen precursor from the adrenal in late gestation. The end result, however, in primates and in sheep is similar: an increase in estrogen production from the placenta and intrauterine tissues. We have revised the pathway by which endocrine events associated with parturition in the sheep come about and suggest that fetal cortisol directly affects placental PGHS expression. In human pregnancy we suggest that cortisol increases PGHS expression, activity, and PG output in human fetal membranes in a similar manner. Simultaneously, cortisol contributes to decreases in PG metabolism and to a feed-forward loop involving elevation of CRH production from intrauterine tissues. In human pregnancy, there is no systemic withdrawal of progesterone in late gestation. We have argued that high circulating progesterone concentrations are required to effect regionalization of uterine activity, with predominantly relaxation in the lower uterine segment, allowing contractions in the fundal region to precipitate delivery. This new information, arising from basic and clinical studies, should further the development of new methods of diagnosing the patient at risk of preterm labor, and the use of scientifically based strategies specifically for the management of this condition, which will improve the health of the newborn.
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Matthews SG, Challis JR. Regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in fetal sheep. Trends Endocrinol Metab 1996; 7:239-46. [PMID: 18406754 DOI: 10.1016/s1043-2760(96)00126-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Development of the fetal hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is required for normal fetal life and subsequent neonatal health. Activation of the fetal pituitary gland results in the synthesis and release of glucocorticoids from the adrenal cortex. Glucocorticoids promote maturation of several organ systems, are important in responses of the fetus to stress, and are involved in the initiation of parturition in several species. The expression of hypothalamic and pituitary genes associated with HPA function is apparent early in gestation in fetal sheep, although the endocrine changes associated with maturation and parturition do not occur until the last fifth of gestation. In this connection, the fetal HPA axis can be activated by treatment with hypophysiotrophic factors or moderate stress throughout gestation. This review focuses on the development of neuroendocrine mechanisms controlling HPA function during fetal life.
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Affiliation(s)
- S G Matthews
- Medical Research Council Group in Fetal and Neonatal Health and Development, Departments of Physiology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A8, Canada
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