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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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Aten S, Du Y, Taylor O, Dye C, Collins K, Thomas M, Kiyoshi C, Zhou M. Chronic Stress Impairs the Structure and Function of Astrocyte Networks in an Animal Model of Depression. Neurochem Res 2023; 48:1191-1210. [PMID: 35796915 PMCID: PMC9823156 DOI: 10.1007/s11064-022-03663-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Now astrocytes appear to be the key contributors to the pathophysiology of major depression. Evidence in rodents shows that chronic stress is associated with a decreased expression of astrocytic GFAP-immunoreactivity within the cortex in addition to changes in the complexity and length of astrocyte processes. Furthermore, postmortem brains of individuals with depression have revealed a decrease in astrocyte density. Notably, astrocytes are extensively coupled to one another through gap junctions to form a network, or syncytium, and we have previously demonstrated that syncytial isopotentiality is a mechanism by which astrocytes function as an efficient system with respect to brain homeostasis. Interestingly, the question of how astrocyte network function changes following chronic stress is yet to be elucidated. Here, we sought to examine the effects of chronic stress on network-level astrocyte (dys)function. Using a transgenic aldh1l1-eGFP astrocyte reporter mouse, a six-week unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) paradigm as a rodent model of major depression, and immunohistochemical approaches, we show that the morphology of individual astrocytes is altered by chronic stress exposure. Additionally, in astrocyte syncytial isopotentiality measurement, we found that UCMS impairs the syncytial coupling strength of astrocytes within the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex-two brain regions that have been implicated in the regulation of mood. Together, these findings reveal that chronic stress leads to astrocyte atrophy and impaired gap junction coupling, raising the prospect that both individual and network-level astrocyte functionality are important in the etiology of major depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sydney Aten
- Department of Neuroscience, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Graves Hall, Rm 4066C, 333 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
- Department of Neurology, Division of Sleep Medicine, and Program in Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yixing Du
- Department of Neuroscience, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Graves Hall, Rm 4066C, 333 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Olivia Taylor
- Department of Neuroscience, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Graves Hall, Rm 4066C, 333 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Courtney Dye
- Department of Neuroscience, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Graves Hall, Rm 4066C, 333 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Kelsey Collins
- Department of Neuroscience, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Graves Hall, Rm 4066C, 333 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Matthew Thomas
- Department of Neuroscience, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Graves Hall, Rm 4066C, 333 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Conrad Kiyoshi
- Department of Neuroscience, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Graves Hall, Rm 4066C, 333 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
- Northern Marianas College, Saipan, MP, USA
| | - Min Zhou
- Department of Neuroscience, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Graves Hall, Rm 4066C, 333 W. 10th Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
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