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Ru Q, Wang Y, Zhou E, Chen L, Wu Y. The potential therapeutic roles of Rho GTPases in substance dependence. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1125277. [PMID: 37063367 PMCID: PMC10097952 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1125277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Rho GTPases family are considered to be molecular switches that regulate various cellular processes, including cytoskeleton remodeling, cell polarity, synaptic development and maintenance. Accumulating evidence shows that Rho GTPases are involved in neuronal development and brain diseases, including substance dependence. However, the functions of Rho GTPases in substance dependence are divergent and cerebral nuclei-dependent. Thereby, comprehensive integration of their roles and correlated mechanisms are urgently needed. In this review, the molecular functions and regulatory mechanisms of Rho GTPases and their regulators such as GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) and guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) in substance dependence have been reviewed, and this is of great significance for understanding their spatiotemporal roles in addictions induced by different addictive substances and in different stages of substance dependence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Lin Chen
- *Correspondence: Lin Chen, ; Yuxiang Wu,
| | - Yuxiang Wu
- *Correspondence: Lin Chen, ; Yuxiang Wu,
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Abstract
The cognitive dysfunction experienced by patients with schizophrenia represents a major unmet clinical need. We believe that enhancing synaptic function and plasticity by targeting kalirin may provide a novel means to remediate these symptoms. Karilin (a protein encoded by the KALRN gene) has multiple functional domains, including two Dbl homology (DH) guanine exchange factor (GEF) domains, which act to enhance the activity of the Rho family guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-ases. Here, we provide an overview of kalirin's roles in brain function and its therapeutic potential in schizophrenia. We outline how it mediates diverse effects via a suite of distinct isoforms that couple to members of the Rho GTPase family to regulate synapse formation and stabilisation, and how genomic and post-mortem data implicate it in schizophrenia. We then review the current state of knowledge about the influence of kalirin on brain function at a systems level, based largely on evidence from transgenic mouse models, which support its proposed role in regulating dendritic spine function and plasticity. We demonstrate that, whilst the GTPases are classically considered to be 'undruggable', targeting kalirin and other Rho GEFs provides a means to indirectly modulate their activity. Finally, we integrate across the information presented to assess the therapeutic potential of kalirin for schizophrenia and highlight the key outstanding questions required to advance it in this capacity; namely, the need for more information about the diversity and function of its isoforms, how these change across neurodevelopment, and how they affect brain function in vivo.
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LaRese TP, Rheaume BA, Abraham R, Eipper BA, Mains RE. Sex-Specific Gene Expression in the Mouse Nucleus Accumbens Before and After Cocaine Exposure. J Endocr Soc 2019; 3:468-487. [PMID: 30746506 PMCID: PMC6364626 DOI: 10.1210/js.2018-00313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The nucleus accumbens plays a major role in the response of mammals to cocaine. In animal models and human studies, the addictive effects of cocaine and relapse probability have been shown to be greater in females. Sex-specific differential expression of key transcripts at baseline and after prolonged withdrawal could underlie these differences. To distinguish between these possibilities, gene expression was analyzed in four groups of mice (cycling females, ovariectomized females treated with estradiol or placebo, and males) 28 days after they had received seven daily injections of saline or cocaine. As expected, sensitization to the locomotor effects of cocaine was most pronounced in the ovariectomized mice receiving estradiol, was greater in cycling females than in males, and failed to occur in ovariectomized/placebo mice. After the 28-day withdrawal period, RNA prepared from the nucleus accumbens of the individual cocaine- or saline-injected mice was subjected to RNA sequencing analysis. Baseline expression of 3% of the nucleus accumbens transcripts differed in the cycling female mice compared with the male mice. Expression of a similar number of transcripts was altered by ovariectomy or was responsive to estradiol treatment. Nucleus accumbens transcripts differentially expressed in cycling female mice withdrawn from cocaine exhibited substantial overlap with those differentially expressed in cocaine-withdrawn male mice. A small set of transcripts were similarly affected by cocaine in the placebo- or estradiol-treated ovariectomized mice. Sex and hormonal status have profound effects on RNA expression in the nucleus accumbens of naive mice. Prolonged withdrawal from cocaine alters the expression of a much smaller number of common and sex hormone-specific transcripts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taylor P LaRese
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut
| | - Bruce A Rheaume
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut
| | - Ron Abraham
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut
| | - Betty A Eipper
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut
| | - Richard E Mains
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut
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Miller MB, Yan Y, Machida K, Kiraly DD, Levy AD, Wu YI, Lam TT, Abbott T, Koleske AJ, Eipper BA, Mains RE. Brain Region and Isoform-Specific Phosphorylation Alters Kalirin SH2 Domain Interaction Sites and Calpain Sensitivity. ACS Chem Neurosci 2017; 8:1554-1569. [PMID: 28418645 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Kalirin7 (Kal7), a postsynaptic Rho GDP/GTP exchange factor (RhoGEF), plays a crucial role in long-term potentiation and in the effects of cocaine on behavior and spine morphology. The KALRN gene has been linked to schizophrenia and other disorders of synaptic function. Mass spectrometry was used to quantify phosphorylation at 26 sites in Kal7 from individual adult rat nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex before and after exposure to acute or chronic cocaine. Region- and isoform-specific phosphorylation was observed along with region-specific effects of cocaine on Kal7 phosphorylation. Evaluation of the functional significance of multisite phosphorylation in a complex protein like Kalirin is difficult. With the identification of five tyrosine phosphorylation (pY) sites, a panel of 71 SH2 domains was screened, identifying subsets that interacted with multiple pY sites in Kal7. In addition to this type of reversible interaction, endoproteolytic cleavage by calpain plays an essential role in long-term potentiation. Calpain cleaved Kal7 at two sites, separating the N-terminal domain, which affects spine length, and the PDZ binding motif from the GEF domain. Mutations preventing phosphorylation did not affect calpain sensitivity or GEF activity; phosphomimetic mutations at specific sites altered protein stability, increased calpain sensitivity, and reduced GEF activity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Drew D. Kiraly
- Department
of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, United States
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LaRese TP, Yan Y, Eipper BA, Mains RE. Using Kalirin conditional knockout mice to distinguish its role in dopamine receptor mediated behaviors. BMC Neurosci 2017; 18:45. [PMID: 28535798 PMCID: PMC5442696 DOI: 10.1186/s12868-017-0363-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2016] [Accepted: 05/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Mice lacking Kalirin-7 (Kal7KO), a Rho GDP/GTP exchange factor, self-administer cocaine at a higher rate than wildtype mice, and show an exaggerated locomotor response to experimenter-administered cocaine. Kal7, which localizes to post-synaptic densities at glutamatergic synapses, interacts directly with the GluN2B subunit of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA; GluN) receptor. Consistent with these observations, Kal7 plays an essential role in NMDA receptor dependent long term potentiation and depression, and glutamatergic transmission plays a key role in the response to chronic cocaine. A number of genetic studies have implicated altered Kalirin expression in schizophrenia and other disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Results A comparison of the effects of experimenter-administered cocaine on mice lacking all Kalirin isoforms to its effects on mice lacking only Kalirin-7 identified Kal7 as the key isoform whose deletion produces exaggerated locomotor responses to cocaine. Pretreatment of Kal7KO mice with a low dose of ifenprodil, a selective GluN2B antagonist, eliminated their enhanced locomotor response to cocaine, revealing an important role for GluN2B in this behavior. Selective knockout of Kalirin in dopamine transporter expressing neurons produced a transient enhancement of cocaine-induced locomotion, while knockout of Kalirin in Drd1a- or Drd2-dopamine receptor expressing neurons was without effect. As observed in Kalirin global knockout mice, eliminating Kalirin expression in Drd2-expressing neurons increased exploratory behavior in the elevated zero maze, an effect eliminated by pretreatment with ifenprodil. Conclusions The cocaine-sensitive neuronal pathways which are most sensitive to altered Kalirin function may be the pathways most dependent on GluN2B and Drd2. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12868-017-0363-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taylor P LaRese
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030-3401, USA
| | - Yan Yan
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030-3401, USA
| | - Betty A Eipper
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030-3401, USA.,Departments of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030-3401, USA
| | - Richard E Mains
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, 06030-3401, USA.
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Mandela P, Yan Y, LaRese T, Eipper BA, Mains RE. Elimination of Kalrn expression in POMC cells reduces anxiety-like behavior and contextual fear learning. Horm Behav 2014; 66:430-8. [PMID: 25014196 PMCID: PMC4127147 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2013] [Revised: 06/27/2014] [Accepted: 07/01/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Kalirin, a Rho GDP/GTP exchange factor for Rac1 and RhoG, is known to play an essential role in the formation and maintenance of excitatory synapses and in the secretion of neuropeptides. Mice unable to express any of the isoforms of Kalrn in cells that produce POMC at any time during development (POMC cells) exhibited reduced anxiety-like behavior and reduced acquisition of passive avoidance behavior, along with sex-specific alteration in the corticosterone response to restraint stress. Strikingly, lack of Kalrn expression in POMC cells closely mimicked the effects of global Kalrn knockout on anxiety-like behavior and passive avoidance conditioning without causing the other deficits noted in Kalrn knockout mice. Our data suggest that deficits in excitatory inputs onto POMC neurons are responsible for the behavioral phenotypes observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant Mandela
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030-3401, United States
| | - Yan Yan
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030-3401, United States
| | - Taylor LaRese
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030-3401, United States
| | - Betty A Eipper
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030-3401, United States
| | - Richard E Mains
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06030-3401, United States.
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De Filippis B, Romano E, Laviola G. Aberrant Rho GTPases signaling and cognitive dysfunction: in vivo evidence for a compelling molecular relationship. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2014; 46 Pt 2:285-301. [PMID: 24971827 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2013] [Revised: 05/30/2014] [Accepted: 06/17/2014] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Rho GTPases are key intracellular signaling molecules that coordinate dynamic changes in the actin cytoskeleton, thereby stimulating a variety of processes, including morphogenesis, migration, neuronal development, cell division and adhesion. Deviations from normal Rho GTPases activation state have been proposed to disrupt cognition and synaptic plasticity. This review focuses on the functional consequences of genetic ablation of upstream and downstream Rho GTPases molecules on cognitive function and neuronal morphology and connectivity. Available information on this issue is described and compared to that gained from mice carrying mutations in the most studied Rho GTPases and from pharmacological in vivo studies in which brain Rho GTPases signaling was modulated. Results from reviewed literature provide definitive evidence of a compelling link between Rho GTPases signaling and cognitive function, thus supporting the notion that Rho GTPases and their downstream effectors may represent important therapeutic targets for disorders associated with cognitive dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bianca De Filippis
- Sect. Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy.
| | - Emilia Romano
- Sect. Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy; Bambino Gesù, Children Hospital, IRCCS, Roma, Italy
| | - Giovanni Laviola
- Sect. Behavioural Neuroscience, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma, Italy
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Gao C, Tronson NC, Radulovic J. Modulation of behavior by scaffolding proteins of the post-synaptic density. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2013; 105:3-12. [PMID: 23701866 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2013] [Revised: 04/05/2013] [Accepted: 04/09/2013] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Scaffolding proteins of the neuronal post-synaptic density (PSD) are principal organizers of glutamatergic neurotransmission that bring together glutamate receptors and signaling molecules at discrete synaptic locations. Genetic alterations of individual PSD scaffolds therefore disrupt the function of entire multiprotein modules rather than a single glutamatergic mechanism, and thus induce a range of molecular and structural abnormalities in affected neurons. Despite such broad molecular consequences, knockout, knockdown, or knockin of glutamate receptor scaffolds typically affect a subset of specific behaviors and thereby mold and specialize the actions of the ubiquitous glutamatergic neurotransmitter system. Approaches designed to control the function of neuronal scaffolds may therefore have high potential to restore behavioral morbidities and comorbidities in patients with psychiatric disorders. Here we summarize a series of experiments with genetically modified mice revealing the roles of main N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) and group I metabotropic glutamate (mGluR1/5) receptor scaffolds in behavior, discuss the clinical implications of the findings, and propose future research directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Can Gao
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical College, 209 Tongshan Road, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221004, China.
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