Choline availability and acetylcholine synthesis in the hippocampus of acetylcholinesterase-deficient mice

Vitamin B12 produced by gut bacteria modulates cholinergic signalling

A growing body of evidence indicates that gut microbiota influence brain function and behaviour. However, the molecular basis of how gut bacteria modulate host nervous system function is largely unknown. Here we show that vitamin B12-producing bacteria that colonize the intestine can modulate excitatory cholinergic signalling and behaviour in the host Caenorhabditis elegans. Here we demonstrate that vitamin B12 reduces cholinergic signalling in the nervous system through rewiring of the methionine (Met)/S-adenosylmethionine cycle in the intestine. We identify a conserved metabolic crosstalk between the methionine/S-adenosylmethionine cycle and the choline-oxidation pathway. In addition, we show that metabolic rewiring of these pathways by vitamin B12 reduces cholinergic signalling by limiting the availability of free choline required by neurons to synthesize acetylcholine. Our study reveals a gut-brain communication pathway by which enteric bacteria modulate host behaviour and may affect neurological health.

Short-term exposure to polymethylmethacrylate nanoplastics alters muscle antioxidant response, development and growth in Sparus aurata

Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) plastic fragments have been found abundant in the environment, but the knowledge regarding its effects on the physiology of aquatic animals is still poorly studied. Here the short-term (96 h) effects of waterborne exposure to PMMA nanoplastics (PMMA-NPs) on the muscle of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) fingerlings was evaluated at a concentration range that includes 0.001 up to 10 mg/L. The expression of key transcripts related to cell stress, tissue repair, immune response, antioxidant status and muscle development, together with several biochemical endpoints and metabolic parameters. Results indicate that exposure to PMMA-NPs elicit mildly antioxidant responses, enhanced the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, and inhibited key regulators of muscle development (growth hormone receptors ghr-1/ghr-2 and myostatin, mstn-1 transcripts). However, no effects on pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin 1β, il1β and tumor necrosis factor α, tnfα) expression nor on the levels of energetic substrates (glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol) were found.

The effects of vitamin D administration on brain inflammatory markers in high fat diet induced obese rats

Background

Obesity induced brain inflammation is associated with cognitive disorders. We aimed to investigate the influence of vitamin D on hypothalamus and hippocampus inflammatory response in high-fat diet induced obese rats.

Methods

In the beginning of the study, 40 rats were divided into two groups: control diet and high fat diet (HFD) for 16 weeks; then each group subdivided into two groups including: N, ND + vitamin D, HFD and HFD + vitamin D. Vitamin D supplementation was done for 5 weeks at 500 IU/kg dosage. IL-6, IL-1β, NF-Kβ and acetylcholine (ACH) and brain derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) concentrations in hippocampus and hypothalamus homogenate samples were measured by commercial ELISA kits.

Results

Vitamin D administration, reduced food intake and weight gain in studied groups (P < 0.001). Vitamin D reduced hippocampus acetylcholine concentrations in ND + vitamin D group (P < 0.001). High fat diet increased hippocampus IL-6 concentrations significantly (P < 0.05) compared with normal diet receiving groups. Vitamin D could not have significant effects on IL-6 concentrations. Vitamin D administrations reduced IL-1β, NF-Kβ and acetylcholine concentration and BDNF concentrations in ND + vitamin D compared with ND group. These reductions were not significant in HFD + vitamin D versus HFD group.

Conclusion

According to our results, vitamin D reduced food intake and weight gain and modulated the HFD induced inflammatory response in hippocampus and hypothalamus of high fat diet induced obesity. Therefore, this neurosteroid, can be suggested as a supplemental therapeutic tool in prevention of obesity related cognitive and neurodegenerative problems.

Boosting Endogenous Resistance of Brain to Ischemia

Most survivors of ischemic stroke remain physically disabled and require prolonged rehabilitation. However, some stroke victims achieve a full neurological recovery suggesting that the human brain can defend itself against ischemic injury, but the protective mechanisms are unknown. This study used selective pharmacological agents and a rat model of cerebral ischemic stroke to detect endogenous brain protective mechanisms that require activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). This endogenous protection was found to be (1) limited to less severe injuries; (2) significantly augmented by intranasal administration of a positive allosteric modulator of α7 nAChRs, significantly reducing brain injury and neurological deficits after more severe ischemic injuries; and (3) reduced by inhibition of calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase-II. The physiological role of α7 nAChRs remains largely unknown. The therapeutic activation of α7 nAChRs after cerebral ischemia may serve as an important physiological responsibility of these ubiquitous receptors and holds a significant translational potential.

High therapeutic potential of positive allosteric modulation of α7 nAChRs in a rat model of traumatic brain injury: proof-of-concept

There are currently no clinically efficacious drug therapies to treat brain damage secondary to traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this proof-of-concept study, we used a controlled cortical impact model of TBI in young adult rats to explore a novel promising approach that utilizes PNU-120596, a previously reported highly selective Type-II positive allosteric modulator (α7-PAM) of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). α7-PAMs enhance and prolong α7 nAChR activation, but do not activate α7 nAChRs when administered without an agonist. The rational basis for the use of an α7-PAM as a post-TBI treatment is tripartite and arises from: (1) the intrinsic ability of brain injury to elevate extracellular levels of choline (a ubiquitous cell membrane-building material and a selective endogenous agonist of α7 nAChRs) due to the breakdown of cell membranes near the site and time of injury; (2) the ubiquitous expression of functional α7 nAChRs in neuronal and glial/immune brain cells; and (3) the potent neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of α7 nAChR activation. Therefore, both neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects can be achieved post-TBI by targeting only a single player (i.e., the α7 nAChR) using α7-PAMs to enhance the activation of α7 nAChRs by injury-elevated extracellular choline. Our data support this hypothesis and demonstrate that subcutaneous administration of PNU-120596 post-TBI in young adult rats significantly reduces both brain cell damage and reactive gliosis. Therefore, our results introduce post-TBI systemic administration of α7-PAMs as a promising therapeutic intervention that could significantly restrict brain injury post-TBI and facilitate recovery of TBI patients.

No evidence for role of extracellular choline-acetyltransferase in generation of gamma oscillations in rat hippocampal slices in vitro

Acetylcholine (ACh) is well known to induce persistent γ-oscillations in the hippocampus when applied together with physostigmine, an inhibitor of the ACh degrading enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Here we report that physostigmine alone can also dose-dependently induce γ-oscillations in rat hippocampal slices. We hypothesized that this effect was due to the presence of choline in the extracellular space and that this choline is taken up into cholinergic fibers where it is converted to ACh by the enzyme choline-acetyltransferase (ChAT). Release of ACh from cholinergic fibers in turn may then induce γ-oscillations. We therefore tested the effects of the choline uptake inhibitor hemicholinium-3 (HC-3) on persistent γ-oscillations either induced by physostigmine alone or by co-application of ACh and physostigmine. We found that HC-3 itself did not induce γ-oscillations and also did not prevent physostigmine-induced γ-oscillation while washout of physostigmine and ACh-induced γ-oscillations was accelerated. It was recently reported that ChAT might also be present in the extracellular space (Vijayaraghavan et al., 2013). Here we show that the effect of physostigmine was prevented by the ChAT inhibitor (2-benzoylethyl)-trimethylammonium iodide (BETA) which could indicate extracellular synthesis of ACh. However, when we tested for effects of extracellularly applied acetyl-CoA, a substrate of ChAT for synthesis of ACh, physostigmine-induced γ-oscillations were attenuated. Together, these findings do not support the idea that ACh can be synthesized by an extracellularly located ChAT.

Dynamics of hippocampal acetylcholine release during lithium-pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in rats

The lithium-pilocarpine model is a rat model of epilepsy that mimics status epilepticus in humans. Here, we report changes of acetylcholine (ACh) release in the hippocampus before, during and after status epilepticus as monitored by microdialysis in unanesthetized rats. Administration of pilocarpine (30 mg/kg s.c.) to rats pretreated with lithium chloride (127 mg/kg i.p.) caused a massive, six-fold increase of hippocampal ACh release, paralleling the development of tonic seizures. When seizures were stopped by administration of diazepam (10 mg/kg i.p.) or ketamine (75 mg/kg i.p.), ACh levels returned to normal. Extracellular concentrations of glutamate remained unchanged during this procedure. Administration of atropine (1 mg/kg i.p.) 2 h after pilocarpine caused a further increase of ACh but did not affect seizures, whereas injection of mecamylamine (5 mg/kg i.p.) reduced ACh levels and seizures in a delayed fashion. Local infusion of tetrodotoxin, 1 μM locally) or hemicholinium (10 μM locally) strongly reduced ACh release and had delayed effects on seizures. Administration of glucose or inositol (250 mg/kg each i.p.) had no visible consequences. In parallel experiments, lithium-pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus also enhanced striatal ACh release, and hippocampal ACh levels equally increased when status epilepticus was induced by kainate (30 mg/kg i.p.). Taken together, our results demonstrate that seizure development in status epilepticus models is accompanied by massive increases of extracellular ACh, but not glutamate, levels. Treatments that reduce seizure activity also reliably reduce extracellular ACh levels.

A positive allosteric modulator of α7 nAChRs augments neuroprotective effects of endogenous nicotinic agonists in cerebral ischaemia

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) can be neuroprotective. However, endogenous choline and ACh have not been regarded as potent neuroprotective agents because physiological levels of choline/ACh do not produce neuroprotective levels of α7 activation. This limitation may be overcome by the use of type-II positive allosteric modulators (PAMs-II) of α7 nAChRs, such as 1-(5-chloro-2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(5-methylisoxazol-3-yl)-urea (PNU-120596). This proof-of-concept study presents a novel neuroprotective paradigm that converts endogenous choline/ACh into potent neuroprotective agents in cerebral ischaemia by inhibiting α7 nAChR desensitization using PNU-120596.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

An electrophysiological ex vivo cell injury assay (to quantify the susceptibility of hippocampal neurons to acute injury by complete oxygen and glucose deprivation; COGD) and an in vivo middle cerebral artery occlusion model of ischaemia were used in rats.

KEY RESULTS

Choline (20-200 μM) in the presence, but not absence of 1 μM PNU-120596 significantly delayed anoxic depolarization/injury of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons, but not CA1 stratum radiatum interneurons, subjected to COGD in acute hippocampal slices and these effects were blocked by 20 nM methyllycaconitine, a selective α7 antagonist, thus, activation of α7 nAChRs was required. PNU-120596 alone was ineffective ex vivo. In in vivo experiments, both pre- and post-ischaemia treatments with PNU-120596 (30 mg·kg(-1) , s.c. and 1 mg·kg(-1) , i.v., respectively) significantly reduced the cortical/subcortical infarct volume caused by transient focal cerebral ischaemia. PNU-120596 (1 mg·kg(-1) , i.v., 30 min post-ischaemia) remained neuroprotective in rats subjected to a choline-deficient diet for 14 days prior to experiments.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

PNU-120596 and possibly other PAMs-II significantly improved neuronal survival in cerebral ischaemia by augmenting neuroprotective effects of endogenous choline/ACh.

[Molecular targeting and translational research for new therapeutic strategies on Alzheimer's disease]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. AD treatments currently approved are commonly regarded as purely symptomatic. Therefore, development of effective disease modifying treatments is eagerly required. Pathological hallmarks of AD brain include amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation, neurofibrillary tangle (NFT), synaptic loss, and neurodegeneration. Understanding of AD pathogenesis provides deep insight into the therapeutic approach for AD. In this review, we introduce our current translational researches for new therapeutic strategies against AD. We recently revealed that a key molecule for actin assembly, Wiscott-Aldrich syndrome protein family verprolin-homologous protein (WAVE), is accumulated into NFT in an Aβ pathology-dependent manner. Because synaptic function is maintained by precise regulation of actin assembly, abnormal accumulation of WAVE induced by Aβ pathology may expand the NFT pathology to synaptic dysfunction. These results imply that lowering of brain Aβ at the early stage of AD pathogenesis is a promising therapeutic approach. As the approach for the elimination of brain Aβ, we have studied microglial Aβ phagocytosis and proposed its therapeutic application for AD treatment. We demonstrated that anti-Aβ antibody and galantamine promote microglial Aβ phagocytosis by binding to Fc receptors and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on microglia, respectively. On the other hand, we demonstrated that the transplantation with microglia effectively eliminate brain Aβ and microglia-like Aβ phagocytic cells were successfully prepared from bone marrow derived cells by the stimulation with macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Thus, we have studied cell therapeutic strategy aim at its clinical application for AD treatment by the activation of endogenous microglia and transplantation of exogenous microglia-like Aβ phagocytic cells.

Near-complete adaptation of the PRiMA knockout to the lack of central acetylcholinesterase

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) rapidly hydrolyzes acetylcholine. At the neuromuscular junction, AChE is mainly anchored in the extracellular matrix by the collagen Q, whereas in the brain, AChE is tethered by the proline-rich membrane anchor (PRiMA). The AChE-deficient mice, in which AChE has been deleted from all tissues, have severe handicaps. Surprisingly, PRiMA KO mice in which AChE is mostly eliminated from the brain show very few deficits. We now report that most of the changes observed in the brain of AChE-deficient mice, and in particular the high levels of ambient extracellular acetylcholine and the massive decrease of muscarinic receptors, are also observed in the brain of PRiMA KO. However, the two groups of mutants differ in their responses to AChE inhibitors. Since PRiMA-KO mice and AChE-deficient mice have similar low AChE concentrations in the brain but differ in the AChE content of the peripheral nervous system, these results suggest that peripheral nervous system AChE is a major target of AChE inhibitors, and that its absence in AChE- deficient mice is the main cause of the slow development and vulnerability of these mice. At the level of the brain, the adaptation to the absence of AChE is nearly complete.

Overexpression of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter increased acetylcholine release in the hippocampus

Cholinergic neurotransmission in the hippocampus is involved in cognitive functions, including learning and memory. Strategies to enhance septohippocampal cholinergic neurotransmission may therefore be of therapeutic value to limit cognitive decline during cholinergic dysfunction. In addition to current strategies being developed, such as the use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, enhancing acetylcholine (ACh) release may be critical for optimal cholinergic neurotransmission. Vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) activity limits the rate of formation of the readily releasable ACh pool. As such, we sought to determine the influence of increased VAChT expression on the septohippocampal cholinergic system. To do this, we used the B6.eGFPChAT congenic mouse, which we show contains multiple gene copies of VAChT. In this transgenic mouse, the increased VAChT gene copy number led to an increase in VAChT gene expression in the septum and a corresponding enhancement of VAChT protein in the hippocampal formation. VAChT overexpression enhanced the release of ACh from ex vivo hippocampal slices. From these findings, we conclude that VAChT overexpression is sufficient to enhance ACh release in the hippocampal formation. It remains to be established whether, in cases of cholinergic deficits, increasing VAChT expression would re-establish adequate levels of cholinergic neurotransmission, thereby providing a valid therapeutic target.

Galantamine-induced amyloid-{beta} clearance mediated via stimulation of microglial nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

Reduction of brain amyloid-β (Aβ) has been proposed as a therapeutic target for Alzheimer disease (AD), and microglial Aβ phagocytosis is noted as an Aβ clearance system in brains. Galantamine is an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor approved for symptomatic treatment of AD. Galantamine also acts as an allosterically potentiating ligand (APL) for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). APL-binding site is located close to but distinct from that for acetylcholine on nAChRs, and FK1 antibody specifically binds to the APL-binding site without interfering with the acetylcholine-binding site. We found that in human AD brain, microglia accumulated on Aβ deposits and expressed α7 nAChRs including the APL-binding site recognized with FK1 antibody. Treatment of rat microglia with galantamine significantly enhanced microglial Aβ phagocytosis, and acetylcholine competitive antagonists as well as FK1 antibody inhibited the enhancement. Thus, the galantamine-enhanced microglial Aβ phagocytosis required the combined actions of an acetylcholine competitive agonist and the APL for nAChRs. Indeed, depletion of choline, an acetylcholine-competitive α7 nAChR agonist, from the culture medium impeded the enhancement. Similarly, Ca(2+) depletion or inhibition of the calmodulin-dependent pathways for the actin reorganization abolished the enhancement. These results suggest that galantamine sensitizes microglial α7 nAChRs to choline and induces Ca(2+) influx into microglia. The Ca(2+)-induced intracellular signaling cascades may then stimulate Aβ phagocytosis through the actin reorganization. We further demonstrated that galantamine treatment facilitated Aβ clearance in brains of rodent AD models. In conclusion, we propose a further advantage of galantamine in clinical AD treatment and microglial nAChRs as a new therapeutic target.

Impaired de novo choline synthesis explains why phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase-deficient mice are protected from diet-induced obesity

Phosphatidylcholine (PC) is synthesized from choline via the CDP-choline pathway. Liver cells can also synthesize PC via the sequential methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine, catalyzed by phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT). The current study investigates whether or not hepatic PC biosynthesis is linked to diet-induced obesity. Pemt(+/+) mice fed a high fat diet for 10 weeks increased in body mass by 60% and displayed insulin resistance, whereas Pemt(-/-) mice did not. Compared with Pemt(+/+) mice, Pemt(-/-) mice had increased energy expenditure and maintained normal peripheral insulin sensitivity; however, they developed hepatomegaly and steatosis. In contrast, mice with impaired biosynthesis of PC via the CDP-choline pathway in liver became obese when fed a high fat diet. We, therefore, hypothesized that insufficient choline, rather than decreased hepatic phosphatidylcholine, was responsible for the lack of weight gain in Pemt(-/-) mice despite the presence of 1.3 g of choline/kg high fat diet. Supplementation with an additional 2.7 g of choline (but not betaine)/kg of diet normalized energy metabolism, weight gain, and insulin resistance in high fat diet-fed Pemt(-/-) mice. Furthermore, Pemt(+/+) mice that were fed a choline-deficient diet had increased oxygen consumption, had improved glucose tolerance, and gained less weight. Thus, de novo synthesis of choline via PEMT has a previously unappreciated role in regulating whole body energy metabolism.

Drastic decrease in dopamine receptor levels in the striatum of acetylcholinesterase knock-out mouse

BACKGROUND

The acetylcholinesterase knock-out mouse lives to adulthood despite 60-fold elevated acetylcholine concentrations in the brain that are lethal to wild-type animals. Part of its mechanism of survival is a 50% decrease in muscarinic and nicotinic receptors and a 50% decrease in adrenoceptor levels.

HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis was tested that the dopaminergic neuronal system had also adapted.

METHODS

Radioligand binding assays measured dopamine receptor level and binding affinity in the striatum. Immunohistochemistry of brain sections with specific antibodies visualized dopamine transporter. Effects on the intracellular compartment were measured as cAMP content, PI-phospholipase C activity.

RESULTS

Dopamine receptor levels were decreased 28-fold for the D(1)-like, and more than 37-fold for the D(2)-like receptors, though binding affinity was normal. Despite these huge changes in receptor levels, dopamine transporter levels were not affected. The intracellular compartment had normal levels of cAMP and PI-phospholipase C activity.

CONCLUSION

Survival of the acetylcholinesterase knock-out mouse could be linked to adaptation of many neuronal systems during development including the cholinergic, adrenergic and dopaminergic. These adaptations balance the overstimulation of cholinergic receptors caused by high acetylcholine concentrations and thus maintain homeostasis inside the cell, allowing the animal to live.

Phasic acetylcholine release and the volume transmission hypothesis: time to move on

Traditional descriptions of the cortical cholinergic input system focused on the diffuse organization of cholinergic projections and the hypothesis that slowly changing levels of extracellular acetylcholine (ACh) mediate different arousal states. The ability of ACh to reach the extrasynaptic space (volume neurotransmission), as opposed to remaining confined to the synaptic cleft (wired neurotransmission), has been considered an integral component of this conceptualization. Recent studies demonstrated that phasic release of ACh, at the scale of seconds, mediates precisely defined cognitive operations. This characteristic of cholinergic neurotransmission is proposed to be of primary importance for understanding cholinergic function and developing treatments for cognitive disorders that result from abnormal cholinergic neurotransmission.

Regional changes in the cholinergic system in mice lacking monoamine oxidase A

Elevated brain monoamine concentrations resulting from monoamine oxidase A genetic ablation (MAOA knock-out mice) lead to changes in other neurotransmitter systems. To investigate the consequences of MAOA deficiency on the cholinergic system, we measured ligand binding to the high-affinity choline transporter (CHT1) and to muscarinic and nicotinic receptors in brain sections of MAOA knock-out (KO) and wild-type mice. A twofold increase in [(3)H]-hemicholinium-3 ([(3)H]-HC-3) binding to CHT1 was observed in the caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, and motor cortex in MAOA KO mice as compared with wild-type (WT) mice. There was no difference in [(3)H]-HC-3 labeling in the hippocampus (dentate gyrus) between the two genotypes. Binding of [(125)I]-epibatidine ([(125)I]-Epi), [(125)I]-alpha-bungarotoxin ([(125)I]-BGT), [(3)H]-pirenzepine ([(3)H]-PZR), and [(3)H]-AFDX-384 ([(3)H]-AFX), which respectively label high- and low-affinity nicotinic receptors, M1 and M2 muscarinic cholinergic receptors, was not modified in the caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, and motor cortex. A small but significant decrease of 19% in M1 binding densities was observed in the hippocampus (CA1 field) of KO mice. Next, we tested acetylcholinesterase activity and found that it was decreased by 25% in the striatum of KO mice as compared with WT mice. Our data suggest that genetic deficiency in MAOA enzyme is associated with changes in cholinergic activity, which may account for some of the behavioral alterations observed in mice and humans lacking MAOA.

Increases in cholinergic neurotransmission measured by using choline-sensitive microelectrodes: enhanced detection by hydrolysis of acetylcholine on recording sites?

Previous experiments demonstrated that second-based transient increases in choline concentrations measured by electrodes coated with choline oxidase (ChOx) and the amperometric detection of hydrogen peroxide validly indicate the depolarization-dependent release of acetylcholine (ACh) and its hydrolysis by endogenous acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Therefore, choline-sensitive microelectrodes have become valuable tools in neuropharmacological and behavioral research. The present experiments were designed to test the possibility that co-immobilization of ChOx plus AChE on recording sites increases the level of detection for evoked ACh release in the brain. If newly released ACh is not completely hydrolyzed by endogenous AChE and capable of reaching the extracellular space, currents recorded via sites equipped with both enzymes should be greater when compared with sites coated with ChOx only. Pairs of platinum-recording sites were coated either with AChE plus ChOx or ChOx alone. Potassium or nicotine-evoked currents were recorded throughout the entire dorsal-ventral extent of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The amplitudes of evoked cholinergic signals did not differ significantly between AChE+ChOx and ChOx-only coated recording sites. Additional experiments controlling for several potential confounds suggested that, in vivo, ACh levels > or =150fmol were detected by recordings sites featuring dual enzyme coating. Collectively, these results indicate that co-coating of microelectrodes with AChE does not enhance the detection of cholinergic activity in the cortex compared with measurements via recording sites coated only with ChOx.