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Serafini RA, Farzinpour Z, Patel V, Kelley AM, Estill M, Pryce KD, Sakloth F, Teague CD, Torres-Berrio A, Nestler EJ, Shen L, Akbarian S, Karkhanis AN, Blitzer RD, Zachariou V. Nucleus accumbens myocyte enhancer factor 2C mediates the maintenance of peripheral nerve injury-induced physiological and behavioral maladaptations. Pain 2024:00006396-990000000-00648. [PMID: 38985454 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Preclinical and clinical work has demonstrated altered plasticity and activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) under chronic pain states, highlighting critical therapeutic avenues for the management of chronic pain conditions. In this study, we demonstrate that myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C), a master regulator of neuronal activity and plasticity, is repressed in NAc neurons after prolonged spared nerve injury (SNI). Viral-mediated overexpression of Mef2c in NAc neurons partially ameliorated sensory hypersensitivity and emotional behaviors in mice with SNI, while also altering transcriptional pathways associated with synaptic signaling. Mef2c overexpression also reversed SNI-induced potentiation of phasic dopamine release and neuronal hyperexcitability in the NAc. Transcriptional changes induced by Mef2c overexpression were different than those observed after desipramine treatment, suggesting a mechanism of action different from antidepressants. Overall, we show that interventions in MEF2C-regulated mechanisms in the NAc are sufficient to disrupt the maintenance of chronic pain states, providing potential new treatment avenues for neuropathic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Randal A Serafini
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, & Biophysics, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University, Boston, MA, United states
| | - Zahra Farzinpour
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, & Biophysics, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University, Boston, MA, United states
| | - Vishwendra Patel
- Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Abigail M Kelley
- Department of Psychology, Binghamton University-SUNY, Binghamton, NY, United states
| | - Molly Estill
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Kerri D Pryce
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Farhana Sakloth
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Collin D Teague
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Angelica Torres-Berrio
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Eric J Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Li Shen
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Schahram Akbarian
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Anushree N Karkhanis
- Department of Psychology, Binghamton University-SUNY, Binghamton, NY, United states
| | - Robert D Blitzer
- Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
| | - Venetia Zachariou
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United states
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, & Biophysics, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University, Boston, MA, United states
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Kumar A, Aglyamova G, Yim Y, Bailey AO, Lynch H, Powell R, Nguyen N, Rosenthal Z, Zhao WN, Li Y, Chen J, Fan S, Lee H, Russell W, Stephan C, Robison A, Haggarty S, Nestler E, Zhou J, Machius M, Rudenko G. Chemically targeting the redox switch in AP1 transcription factor ΔFOSB. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:9548-9567. [PMID: 36039764 PMCID: PMC9458432 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Revised: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The AP1 transcription factor ΔFOSB, a splice variant of FOSB, accumulates in the brain in response to chronic insults such as exposure to drugs of abuse, depression, Alzheimer's disease and tardive dyskinesias, and mediates subsequent long-term neuroadaptations. ΔFOSB forms heterodimers with other AP1 transcription factors, e.g. JUND, that bind DNA under control of a putative cysteine-based redox switch. Here, we reveal the structural basis of the redox switch by determining a key missing crystal structure in a trio, the ΔFOSB/JUND bZIP domains in the reduced, DNA-free form. Screening a cysteine-focused library containing 3200 thiol-reactive compounds, we identify specific compounds that target the redox switch, validate their activity biochemically and in cell-based assays, and show that they are well tolerated in different cell lines despite their general potential to bind to cysteines covalently. A crystal structure of the ΔFOSB/JUND bZIP domains in complex with a redox-switch-targeting compound reveals a deep compound-binding pocket near the DNA-binding site. We demonstrate that ΔFOSB, and potentially other, related AP1 transcription factors, can be targeted specifically and discriminately by exploiting unique structural features such as the redox switch and the binding partner to modulate biological function despite these proteins previously being thought to be undruggable.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Yun Young Yim
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and the Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Aaron O Bailey
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Haley M Lynch
- Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Reid T Powell
- HTS Screening Core, Texas A&M University School of Medicine, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Center for Translational Cancer Research, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Nghi D Nguyen
- HTS Screening Core, Texas A&M University School of Medicine, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Center for Translational Cancer Research, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zachary Rosenthal
- Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Psychiatry & Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Wen-Ning Zhao
- Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Psychiatry & Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Yi Li
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Jianping Chen
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Shanghua Fan
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA,Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Hubert Lee
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA,Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - William K Russell
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Clifford Stephan
- HTS Screening Core, Texas A&M University School of Medicine, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Center for Translational Cancer Research, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Alfred J Robison
- Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Stephen J Haggarty
- Chemical Neurobiology Laboratory, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Departments of Psychiatry & Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Eric J Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and the Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Jia Zhou
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA,Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Mischa Machius
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA,Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Gabby Rudenko
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +1 409 772 6292; Fax: +1 409 772 9642;
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Current Understanding of the Neural Circuitry in the Comorbidity of Chronic Pain and Anxiety. Neural Plast 2022; 2022:4217593. [PMID: 35211169 PMCID: PMC8863453 DOI: 10.1155/2022/4217593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic pain patients often develop mental disorders, and anxiety disorders are common. We hypothesize that the comorbid anxiety results from an imbalance between the reward and antireward system due to persistent pain, which leads to the dysfunction of the pain and anxiety regulatory system. In this review, we will focus on changes in neuroplasticity, especially in neural circuits, during chronic pain and anxiety as observed in animal studies. Several neural circuits within specific regions of the brain, including the nucleus accumbens, lateral habenular, parabrachial nucleus, medial septum, anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, will be discussed based on novel findings after chemogenetic or optogenetic manipulation. We believe that these animal studies provide novel insights into human conditions and can guide clinical practice.
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Reckziegel D, Abdullah T, Wu B, Wu B, Huang L, Schnitzer TJ, Apkarian AV. Hippocampus shape deformation: a potential diagnostic biomarker for chronic back pain in women. Pain 2021; 162:1457-1467. [PMID: 33181581 PMCID: PMC8049947 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Sex differences in the quality and prevalence of chronic pain are manifold, with women generally presenting higher incidence and severity. Uncovering chronic pain-related sex differences inform neural mechanisms and may lead to novel treatment routes. In a multicenter morphological study (total n = 374), we investigated whether the shape of subcortical regions would reflect sex differences in back pain. Given the hormone-dependent functions of the hippocampus, and its role in the transition to chronic pain, this region constituted our primary candidate. We found that the anterior part of the left hippocampus (alHP) presented outer deformation in women with chronic back pain (CBP), identified in CBP in the United States (n = 77 women vs n = 78 men) and validated in a Chinese data set (n = 29 women vs n = 58 men with CBP, in contrast to n = 53 female and n = 43 male healthy controls). Next, we examined this region in subacute back pain who persisted with back pain a year later (SBPp; n = 18 women vs n = 18 men) and in a subgroup with persistent back pain for 3 years. Weeks after onset of back pain, there was no deformation within alHP, but at 1 and 3 years women exhibited a trend for outer deformation. The alHP partly overlapped with the subiculum and entorhinal cortex, whose functional connectivity, in healthy subjects, was associated with emotional and episodic memory related terms (Neurosynth, reverse inference). These findings suggest that in women the alHP undergoes anatomical changes with pain persistence, highlighting sexually dimorphic involvement of emotional and episodic memory-related circuitry with chronic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diane Reckziegel
- Center for Chronic Pain and Drug Abuse, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
- Department of Physiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
| | - Taha Abdullah
- Department of Physiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
- Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York, USA
| | - Binbin Wu
- Department of Pain Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, China
| | - Bo Wu
- Department of Information, the Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000, China
| | - Lejian Huang
- Center for Chronic Pain and Drug Abuse, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
- Department of Physiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
| | - Thomas J Schnitzer
- Center for Chronic Pain and Drug Abuse, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
- Department of Rheumatology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
| | - A Vania Apkarian
- Center for Chronic Pain and Drug Abuse, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
- Department of Physiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
- Department of Anesthesia, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
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