1
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Ament SA, Campbell RR, Lobo MK, Receveur JP, Agrawal K, Borjabad A, Byrareddy SN, Chang L, Clarke D, Emani P, Gabuzda D, Gaulton KJ, Giglio M, Giorgi FM, Gok B, Guda C, Hadas E, Herb BR, Hu W, Huttner A, Ishmam MR, Jacobs MM, Kelschenbach J, Kim DW, Lee C, Liu S, Liu X, Madras BK, Mahurkar AA, Mash DC, Mukamel EA, Niu M, O'Connor RM, Pagan CM, Pang APS, Pillai P, Repunte-Canonigo V, Ruzicka WB, Stanley J, Tickle T, Tsai SYA, Wang A, Wills L, Wilson AM, Wright SN, Xu S, Yang J, Zand M, Zhang L, Zhang J, Akbarian S, Buch S, Cheng CS, Corley MJ, Fox HS, Gerstein M, Gummuluru S, Heiman M, Ho YC, Kellis M, Kenny PJ, Kluger Y, Milner TA, Moore DJ, Morgello S, Ndhlovu LC, Rana TM, Sanna PP, Satterlee JS, Sestan N, Spector SA, Spudich S, Tilgner HU, Volsky DJ, White OR, Williams DW, Zeng H. The single-cell opioid responses in the context of HIV (SCORCH) consortium. Mol Psychiatry 2024:10.1038/s41380-024-02620-7. [PMID: 38879719 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02620-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2023] [Revised: 05/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/19/2024]
Abstract
Substance use disorders (SUD) and drug addiction are major threats to public health, impacting not only the millions of individuals struggling with SUD, but also surrounding families and communities. One of the seminal challenges in treating and studying addiction in human populations is the high prevalence of co-morbid conditions, including an increased risk of contracting a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Of the ~15 million people who inject drugs globally, 17% are persons with HIV. Conversely, HIV is a risk factor for SUD because chronic pain syndromes, often encountered in persons with HIV, can lead to an increased use of opioid pain medications that in turn can increase the risk for opioid addiction. We hypothesize that SUD and HIV exert shared effects on brain cell types, including adaptations related to neuroplasticity, neurodegeneration, and neuroinflammation. Basic research is needed to refine our understanding of these affected cell types and adaptations. Studying the effects of SUD in the context of HIV at the single-cell level represents a compelling strategy to understand the reciprocal interactions among both conditions, made feasible by the availability of large, extensively-phenotyped human brain tissue collections that have been amassed by the Neuro-HIV research community. In addition, sophisticated animal models that have been developed for both conditions provide a means to precisely evaluate specific exposures and stages of disease. We propose that single-cell genomics is a uniquely powerful technology to characterize the effects of SUD and HIV in the brain, integrating data from human cohorts and animal models. We have formed the Single-Cell Opioid Responses in the Context of HIV (SCORCH) consortium to carry out this strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seth A Ament
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | | | - Mary Kay Lobo
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Linda Chang
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Dana Gabuzda
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Michelle Giglio
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | | | | | - Eran Hadas
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Brian R Herb
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Wen Hu
- Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Cheyu Lee
- University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Shuhui Liu
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Xiaokun Liu
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Anup A Mahurkar
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Meng Niu
- University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | | | | | | | - Piya Pillai
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - W Brad Ruzicka
- McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, MA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Allen Wang
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Lauren Wills
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | - Siwei Xu
- University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | | | - Maryam Zand
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Le Zhang
- Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jing Zhang
- University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | | | - Shilpa Buch
- University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | | | | | - Howard S Fox
- University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
| | | | | | - Myriam Heiman
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ya-Chi Ho
- Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Manolis Kellis
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Paul J Kenny
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | - David J Moore
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Susan Morgello
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Tariq M Rana
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - David J Volsky
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Owen R White
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | | | - Hongkui Zeng
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
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2
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Teague CD, Markovic T, Zhou X, Martinez-Rivera FJ, Minier-Toribio A, Zinsmaier A, Pulido NV, Schmidt KH, Lucerne KE, Godino A, van der Zee YY, Ramakrishnan A, Futamura R, Browne CJ, Holt LM, Yim YY, Azizian CH, Walker DM, Shen L, Dong Y, Zhang B, Nestler EJ. Circuit-Wide Gene Network Analysis Reveals Sex-Specific Roles for Phosphodiesterase 1b in Cocaine Addiction. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1327232024. [PMID: 38637154 PMCID: PMC11154853 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1327-23.2024] [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: 07/16/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Cocaine use disorder is a significant public health issue without an effective pharmacological treatment. Successful treatments are hindered in part by an incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie long-lasting maladaptive plasticity and addiction-like behaviors. Here, we leverage a large RNA sequencing dataset to generate gene coexpression networks across six interconnected regions of the brain's reward circuitry from mice that underwent saline or cocaine self-administration. We identify phosphodiesterase 1b (Pde1b), a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent enzyme that increases cAMP and cGMP hydrolysis, as a central hub gene within a nucleus accumbens (NAc) gene module that was bioinformatically associated with addiction-like behavior. Chronic cocaine exposure increases Pde1b expression in NAc D2 medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in male but not female mice. Viral-mediated Pde1b overexpression in NAc reduces cocaine self-administration in female rats but increases seeking in both sexes. In female mice, overexpressing Pde1b in D1 MSNs attenuates the locomotor response to cocaine, with the opposite effect in D2 MSNs. Overexpressing Pde1b in D1/D2 MSNs had no effect on the locomotor response to cocaine in male mice. At the electrophysiological level, Pde1b overexpression reduces sEPSC frequency in D1 MSNs and regulates the excitability of NAc MSNs. Lastly, Pde1b overexpression significantly reduced the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in NAc following chronic cocaine, with discordant effects on gene transcription between sexes. Together, we identify novel gene modules across the brain's reward circuitry associated with addiction-like behavior and explore the role of Pde1b in regulating the molecular, cellular, and behavioral responses to cocaine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Collin D Teague
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Tamara Markovic
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Xianxiao Zhou
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Freddyson J Martinez-Rivera
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Angelica Minier-Toribio
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Alexander Zinsmaier
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
| | - Nathalia V Pulido
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Kyra H Schmidt
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Kelsey E Lucerne
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Arthur Godino
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Yentl Y van der Zee
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Aarthi Ramakrishnan
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Rita Futamura
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Caleb J Browne
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Leanne M Holt
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Yun Young Yim
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Corrine H Azizian
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Deena M Walker
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239
| | - Li Shen
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Yan Dong
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
| | - Eric J Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029
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3
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Reiner BC, Chehimi SN, Merkel R, Toikumo S, Berrettini WH, Kranzler HR, Sanchez-Roige S, Kember RL, Schmidt HD, Crist RC. A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of medium spiny neurons in the rat nucleus accumbens. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.26.595949. [PMID: 38826289 PMCID: PMC11142250 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.26.595949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
Neural processing of rewarding stimuli involves several distinct regions, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc). The majority of NAc neurons are GABAergic projection neurons known as medium spiny neurons (MSNs). MSNs are broadly defined by dopamine receptor expression, but evidence suggests that a wider array of subtypes exist. To study MSN heterogeneity, we analyzed single-nucleus RNA sequencing data from the largest available rat NAc dataset. Analysis of 48,040 NAc MSN nuclei identified major populations belonging to the striosome and matrix compartments. Integration with mouse and human data indicated consistency across species and disease-relevance scoring using genome-wide association study results revealed potentially differential roles for MSN populations in substance use disorders. Additional high-resolution clustering identified 34 transcriptomically distinct subtypes of MSNs definable by a limited number of marker genes. Together, these data demonstrate the diversity of MSNs in the NAc and provide a basis for more targeted genetic manipulation of specific populations.
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4
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Szabó D, Franke V, Bianco S, Batiuk MY, Paul EJ, Kukalev A, Pfisterer UG, Irastorza-Azcarate I, Chiariello AM, Demharter S, Zea-Redondo L, Lopez-Atalaya JP, Nicodemi M, Akalin A, Khodosevich K, Ungless MA, Winick-Ng W, Pombo A. A single dose of cocaine rewires the 3D genome structure of midbrain dopamine neurons. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.10.593308. [PMID: 38766140 PMCID: PMC11100777 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.10.593308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Midbrain dopamine neurons (DNs) respond to a first exposure to addictive drugs and play key roles in chronic drug usage1-3. As the synaptic and transcriptional changes that follow an acute cocaine exposure are mostly resolved within a few days4,5, the molecular changes that encode the long-term cellular memory of the exposure within DNs remain unknown. To investigate whether a single cocaine exposure induces long-term changes in the 3D genome structure of DNs, we applied Genome Architecture Mapping and single nucleus transcriptomic analyses in the mouse midbrain. We found extensive rewiring of 3D genome architecture at 24 hours past exposure which remains or worsens by 14 days, outlasting transcriptional responses. The cocaine-induced chromatin rewiring occurs at all genomic scales and affects genes with major roles in cocaine-induced synaptic changes. A single cocaine exposure triggers extensive long-lasting changes in chromatin condensation in post-synaptic and post-transcriptional regulatory genes, for example the unfolding of Rbfox1 which becomes most prominent 14 days post exposure. Finally, structurally remodeled genes are most expressed in a specific DN sub-type characterized by low expression of the dopamine auto-receptor Drd2, a key feature of highly cocaine-sensitive cells. These results reveal an important role for long-lasting 3D genome remodelling in the cellular memory of a single cocaine exposure, providing new hypotheses for understanding the inception of drug addiction and 3D genome plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominik Szabó
- Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Vedran Franke
- Bioinformatics & Omics Data Science platform, Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Simona Bianco
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, and INFN Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Mykhailo Y. Batiuk
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DK-2200, Denmark
| | - Eleanor J. Paul
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS), London W12 0HS, UK
- Institute of Clinical Sciences (ICS), Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Alexander Kukalev
- Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ulrich G. Pfisterer
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DK-2200, Denmark
| | - Ibai Irastorza-Azcarate
- Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Andrea M. Chiariello
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, and INFN Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, 80126 Naples, Italy
| | - Samuel Demharter
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DK-2200, Denmark
| | - Luna Zea-Redondo
- Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jose P. Lopez-Atalaya
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Universidad Miguel Hernández-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (UMH-CSIC), 03550, Sant Joan d’Alacant, Spain
| | - Mario Nicodemi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, and INFN Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, 80126 Naples, Italy
- Berlin Institute of Health, 10178 Berlin, Germany
| | - Altuna Akalin
- Bioinformatics & Omics Data Science platform, Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Konstantin Khodosevich
- Biotech Research and Innovation Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DK-2200, Denmark
| | - Mark A. Ungless
- MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS), London W12 0HS, UK
- Institute of Clinical Sciences (ICS), Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Warren Winick-Ng
- Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Toronto, Canada
| | - Ana Pombo
- Max-Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Epigenetic Regulation and Chromatin Architecture Group, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
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5
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Holt LM, Nestler EJ. Astrocytic transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of drug addiction. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2024; 131:409-424. [PMID: 37940687 PMCID: PMC11066772 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-023-02716-4] [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: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
Addiction is a leading cause of disease burden worldwide and remains a challenge in current neuroscience research. Drug-induced lasting changes in gene expression are mediated by transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in the brain and are thought to underlie behavioral adaptations. Emerging evidence implicates astrocytes in regulating drug-seeking behaviors and demonstrates robust transcriptional response to several substances of abuse. This review focuses on the astrocytic transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms of drug action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leanne M Holt
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Eric J Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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6
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Castel J, Li G, Onimus O, Leishman E, Cani PD, Bradshaw H, Mackie K, Everard A, Luquet S, Gangarossa G. NAPE-PLD in the ventral tegmental area regulates reward events, feeding and energy homeostasis. Mol Psychiatry 2024; 29:1478-1490. [PMID: 38361126 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02427-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 01/07/2024] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
The N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine-specific phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD) catalyzes the production of N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), a family of endogenous bioactive lipids, which are involved in various biological processes ranging from neuronal functions to energy homeostasis and feeding behaviors. Reward-dependent behaviors depend on dopamine (DA) transmission between the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc), which conveys reward-values and scales reinforced behaviors. However, whether and how NAPE-PLD may contribute to the regulation of feeding and reward-dependent behaviors has not yet been investigated. This biological question is of paramount importance since NAEs are altered in obesity and metabolic disorders. Here, we show that transcriptomic meta-analysis highlights a potential role for NAPE-PLD within the VTA→NAc circuit. Using brain-specific invalidation approaches, we report that the integrity of NAPE-PLD is required for the proper homeostasis of NAEs within the midbrain VTA and it affects food-reward behaviors. Moreover, region-specific knock-down of NAPE-PLD in the VTA enhanced food-reward seeking and reinforced behaviors, which were associated with increased in vivo DA release dynamics in response to both food- and non-food-related rewards together with heightened tropism towards food consumption. Furthermore, midbrain knock-down of NAPE-PLD, which increased energy expenditure and adapted nutrient partitioning, elicited a relative protection against high-fat diet-mediated body fat gain and obesity-associated metabolic features. In conclusion, these findings reveal a new key role of VTA NAPE-PLD in shaping DA-dependent events, feeding behaviors and energy homeostasis, thus providing new insights on the regulation of body metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Castel
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013, Paris, France
| | - Guangping Li
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013, Paris, France
| | - Oriane Onimus
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013, Paris, France
| | - Emma Leishman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Patrice D Cani
- Metabolism and Nutrition Research group, Louvain Drug Research Institute (LDRI), UCLouvain, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- WELBIO-Walloon Excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology, WELBIO department, WEL Research Institute, Wavre, Belgium
- Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research (IREC), UCLouvain, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Heather Bradshaw
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Ken Mackie
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Gill Center for Biomolecular Science, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Amandine Everard
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013, Paris, France
- Metabolism and Nutrition Research group, Louvain Drug Research Institute (LDRI), UCLouvain, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- WELBIO-Walloon Excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology, WELBIO department, WEL Research Institute, Wavre, Belgium
- Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research (IREC), UCLouvain, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Serge Luquet
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013, Paris, France.
| | - Giuseppe Gangarossa
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013, Paris, France.
- Institut universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France.
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7
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Phillips RA, Oh S, Bach SV, Du Y, Miller RA, Kleinman JE, Hyde TM, Hicks SC, Page SC, Martinowich K. Transcriptomic characterization of human lateral septum neurons reveals conserved and divergent marker genes across species. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.22.590602. [PMID: 38712125 PMCID: PMC11071425 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.22.590602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
The lateral septum (LS) is a midline, subcortical structure, which regulates social behaviors that are frequently impaired in neurodevelopmental disorders including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. Mouse studies have identified neuronal populations within the LS that express a variety of molecular markers, including vasopressin receptor, oxytocin receptor, and corticotropin releasing hormone receptor, that control specific facets of social behavior. Despite its critical role in the regulation of social behavior and notable gene expression patterns, comprehensive molecular profiling of the human LS has not been performed. Here, we conducted single nucleus RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) to generate the first transcriptomic profiles of the human LS using postmortem human brain tissue samples from 3 neurotypical donors. Our analysis identified 4 transcriptionally distinct neuronal cell types within the human LS that are enriched for TRPC4 , the gene encoding Trp-related protein 4. Differential expression analysis revealed a distinct LS neuronal cell type that is enriched for OPRM1 , the gene encoding the μ-opioid receptor. Leveraging recently collected mouse LS snRNA-seq datasets, we also conducted a cross-species analysis. Our results demonstrate that TRPC4 enrichment in the LS is highly conserved between human and mouse, while FREM2 , which encodes FRAS1 related extracellular matrix protein 2, is enriched only in the human LS. Together, these results highlight transcriptional heterogeneity of the human LS, and identify robust marker genes for the human LS.
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8
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Mews P, Sosnick L, Gurung A, Sidoli S, Nestler EJ. Decoding cocaine-induced proteomic adaptations in the mouse nucleus accumbens. Sci Signal 2024; 17:eadl4738. [PMID: 38626009 PMCID: PMC11170322 DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.adl4738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024]
Abstract
Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is a chronic neuropsychiatric condition that results from enduring cellular and molecular adaptations. Among substance use disorders, CUD is notable for its rising prevalence and the lack of approved pharmacotherapies. The nucleus accumbens (NAc), a region that is integral to the brain's reward circuitry, plays a crucial role in the initiation and continuation of maladaptive behaviors that are intrinsic to CUD. Leveraging advancements in neuroproteomics, we undertook a proteomic analysis that spanned membrane, cytosolic, nuclear, and chromatin compartments of the NAc in a mouse model. The results unveiled immediate and sustained proteomic modifications after cocaine exposure and during prolonged withdrawal. We identified congruent protein regulatory patterns during initial cocaine exposure and reexposure after withdrawal, which contrasted with distinct patterns during withdrawal. Pronounced proteomic shifts within the membrane compartment indicated adaptive and long-lasting molecular responses prompted by cocaine withdrawal. In addition, we identified potential protein translocation events between soluble-nuclear and chromatin-bound compartments, thus providing insight into intracellular protein dynamics after cocaine exposure. Together, our findings illuminate the intricate proteomic landscape that is altered in the NAc by cocaine use and provide a dataset for future research toward potential therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Mews
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Lucas Sosnick
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Ashik Gurung
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Simone Sidoli
- Department of Biochemistry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461, USA
| | - Eric J. Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
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9
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Hazlett MF, Hall VL, Patel E, Halvorsen A, Calakos N, West AE. The Perineuronal Net Protein Brevican Acts in Nucleus Accumbens Parvalbumin-Expressing Interneurons of Adult Mice to Regulate Excitatory Synaptic Inputs and Motivated Behaviors. Biol Psychiatry 2024:S0006-3223(24)00080-5. [PMID: 38346480 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 01/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Experience-dependent functional adaptation of nucleus accumbens (NAc) circuitry underlies the development and expression of reward-motivated behaviors. Parvalbumin-expressing GABAergic (gamma-aminobutyric acidergic) interneurons (PVINs) within the NAc are required for this process. Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are extracellular matrix structures enriched around PVINs that arise during development and have been proposed to mediate brain circuit stability. However, their function in the adult NAc is largely unknown. Here, we studied the developmental emergence and adult regulation of PNNs in the NAc of male and female mice and examined the cellular and behavioral consequences of reducing the PNN component brevican in NAc PVINs. METHODS We characterized the expression of PNN components in mouse NAc using immunofluorescence and RNA in situ hybridization. We lowered brevican in NAc PVINs of adult mice using an intersectional viral and genetic method and quantified the effects on synaptic inputs to NAc PVINs and reward-motivated learning. RESULTS PNNs around NAc PVINs were developmentally regulated and appeared during adolescence. In the adult NAc, PVIN PNNs were also dynamically regulated by cocaine. Transcription of the gene that encodes brevican was regulated in a cell type- and isoform-specific manner in the NAc, with the membrane-tethered form of brevican being highly enriched in PVINs. Lowering brevican in NAc PVINs of adult mice decreased their excitatory inputs and enhanced both short-term novel object recognition and cocaine-induced conditioned place preference. CONCLUSIONS Regulation of brevican in NAc PVINs of adult mice modulates their excitatory synaptic drive and sets experience thresholds for the development of motivated behaviors driven by rewarding stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariah F Hazlett
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Victoria L Hall
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Esha Patel
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Aaron Halvorsen
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Nicole Calakos
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Anne E West
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
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10
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Litif CG, Flom LT, Sandum KL, Hodgins SL, Vaccaro L, Stitzel JA, Blouin NA, Mannino MC, Gigley JP, Schoborg TA, Bobadilla AC. Differential genetic expression within reward-specific ensembles in mice. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.11.02.565378. [PMID: 37961222 PMCID: PMC10635086 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.02.565378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Maladaptive reward seeking is a hallmark of cocaine use disorder. To develop therapeutic targets, it is critical to understand the neurobiological changes specific to cocaine-seeking without altering the seeking of natural rewards, e.g., sucrose. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the nucleus accumbens core (NAcore) are known regions associated with cocaine- and sucrose-seeking ensembles, i.e., a sparse population of co-activated neurons. Within ensembles, transcriptomic alterations in the PFC and NAcore underlie the learning and persistence of cocaine- and sucrose-seeking behavior. However, transcriptomes exclusively driving cocaine seeking independent from sucrose seeking have not yet been defined using a within-subject approach. Using Ai14:cFos-TRAP2 transgenic mice in a dual cocaine and sucrose self-administration model, we fluorescently sorted (FACS) and characterized (RNAseq) the transcriptomes defining cocaine- and sucrose-seeking ensembles. We found reward- and region-specific transcriptomic changes that will help develop clinically relevant genetic approaches to decrease cocaine-seeking behavior without altering non-drug reward-based positive reinforcement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl G. Litif
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Levi T. Flom
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | | | | | - Lucio Vaccaro
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Jerry A. Stitzel
- Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Nicolas A. Blouin
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | | | - Jason P. Gigley
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Todd A. Schoborg
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
| | - Ana-Clara Bobadilla
- School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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11
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Bahl E, Chatterjee S, Mukherjee U, Elsadany M, Vanrobaeys Y, Lin LC, McDonough M, Resch J, Giese KP, Abel T, Michaelson JJ. Using deep learning to quantify neuronal activation from single-cell and spatial transcriptomic data. Nat Commun 2024; 15:779. [PMID: 38278804 PMCID: PMC10817898 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44503-5] [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: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Neuronal activity-dependent transcription directs molecular processes that regulate synaptic plasticity, brain circuit development, behavioral adaptation, and long-term memory. Single cell RNA-sequencing technologies (scRNAseq) are rapidly developing and allow for the interrogation of activity-dependent transcription at cellular resolution. Here, we present NEUROeSTIMator, a deep learning model that integrates transcriptomic signals to estimate neuronal activation in a way that we demonstrate is associated with Patch-seq electrophysiological features and that is robust against differences in species, cell type, and brain region. We demonstrate this method's ability to accurately detect neuronal activity in previously published studies of single cell activity-induced gene expression. Further, we applied our model in a spatial transcriptomic study to identify unique patterns of learning-induced activity across different brain regions in male mice. Altogether, our findings establish NEUROeSTIMator as a powerful and broadly applicable tool for measuring neuronal activation, whether as a critical covariate or a primary readout of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ethan Bahl
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Snehajyoti Chatterjee
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Department of Neuroscience & Pharmacology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Utsav Mukherjee
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Department of Neuroscience & Pharmacology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Muhammad Elsadany
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Yann Vanrobaeys
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Li-Chun Lin
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Department of Neuroscience & Pharmacology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Miriam McDonough
- Department of Neuroscience & Pharmacology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Jon Resch
- Department of Neuroscience & Pharmacology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - K Peter Giese
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Ted Abel
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Department of Neuroscience & Pharmacology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Jacob J Michaelson
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
- Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
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12
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Kundakovic M, Tickerhoof M. Epigenetic mechanisms underlying sex differences in the brain and behavior. Trends Neurosci 2024; 47:18-35. [PMID: 37968206 PMCID: PMC10841872 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2023.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Sex differences are found across brain regions, behaviors, and brain diseases. Sexual differentiation of the brain is initiated prenatally but it continues throughout life, as a result of the interaction of three major factors: gonadal hormones, sex chromosomes, and the environment. These factors are thought to act, in part, via epigenetic mechanisms which control chromatin and transcriptional states in brain cells. In this review, we discuss evidence that epigenetic mechanisms underlie sex-specific neurobehavioral changes during critical organizational periods, across the estrous cycle, and in response to diverse environments throughout life. We further identify future directions for the field that will provide novel mechanistic insights into brain sex differences, inform brain disease treatments and women's brain health in particular, and apply to people across genders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marija Kundakovic
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458, USA.
| | - Maria Tickerhoof
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458, USA
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13
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Salery M, Godino A, Xu YQ, Fullard JF, Durand-de Cuttoli R, LaBanca AR, Holt LM, Russo SJ, Roussos P, Nestler EJ. Transcriptional correlates of cocaine-associated learning in striatal ARC ensembles. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.13.571585. [PMID: 38168167 PMCID: PMC10760161 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.13.571585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Learned associations between the rewarding effects of drugs and the context in which they are experienced underlie context-induced relapse. Previous work demonstrates the importance of sparse neuronal populations - called neuronal ensembles - in associative learning and cocaine seeking, but it remains unknown whether the encoding vs. retrieval of cocaine-associated memories involves similar or distinct mechanisms of ensemble activation and reactivation in nucleus accumbens (NAc). We use ArcCreER T2 mice to establish that mostly distinct NAc ensembles are recruited by initial vs. repeated exposures to cocaine, which are then differentially reactivated and exert distinct effects during cocaine-related memory retrieval. Single-nuclei RNA-sequencing of these ensembles demonstrates predominant recruitment of D1 medium spiny neurons and identifies transcriptional properties that are selective to cocaine-recruited NAc neurons and could explain distinct excitability features. These findings fundamentally advance our understanding of how cocaine drives pathological memory formation during repeated exposures.
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14
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Satterlee JS, Pollock JD, Volkow ND. The NIDA Avenir award in genetics or epigenetics of substance use disorders. Mol Cell Neurosci 2023; 127:103899. [PMID: 37739148 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2023.103899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/24/2023] Open
Abstract
NIDA's Avenir Program in the Genetics or Epigenetics of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) was launched to support early stage investigators who propose innovative, high risk, but potentially high impact research and who show promise of being tomorrow's leaders in this scientific field. Since 2015, NIDA has supported 30 Avenir Investigators with unique expertise and creative ideas. This special issue showcases how some of these ideas have germinated, flourished, and borne fruit. In this perspective article we briefly describe the purpose and implementation of the Avenir award and provide a high altitude overview of the awardees and their scientific projects to date.
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Affiliation(s)
- John S Satterlee
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, Three White Flint North, 11601 Landsdown Street, North Bethesda, MD 20852, United States of America.
| | - Jonathan D Pollock
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, Three White Flint North, 11601 Landsdown Street, North Bethesda, MD 20852, United States of America.
| | - Nora D Volkow
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, Three White Flint North, 11601 Landsdown Street, North Bethesda, MD 20852, United States of America.
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15
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Zhang Y, Ben Nathan J, Moreno A, Merkel R, Kahng MW, Hayes MR, Reiner BC, Crist RC, Schmidt HD. Calcitonin receptor signaling in nucleus accumbens D1R- and D2R-expressing medium spiny neurons bidirectionally alters opioid taking in male rats. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:1878-1888. [PMID: 37355732 PMCID: PMC10584857 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-023-01634-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/26/2023]
Abstract
The high rates of relapse associated with current medications used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) necessitate research that expands our understanding of the neural mechanisms regulating opioid taking to identify molecular substrates that could be targeted by novel pharmacotherapies to treat OUD. Recent studies show that activation of calcitonin receptors (CTRs) is sufficient to reduce the rewarding effects of addictive drugs in rodents. However, the role of central CTR signaling in opioid-mediated behaviors has not been studied. Here, we used single nuclei RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq), fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), and immunohistochemistry (IHC) to characterize cell type-specific patterns of CTR expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain region that plays a critical role in voluntary drug taking. Using these approaches, we identified CTRs expressed on D1R- and D2R-expressing medium spiny neurons (MSNs) in the medial shell subregion of the NAc. Interestingly, Calcr transcripts were expressed at higher levels in D2R- versus D1R-expressing MSNs. Cre-dependent viral-mediated miRNA knockdown of CTRs in transgenic male rats was then used to determine the functional significance of endogenous CTR signaling in opioid taking. We discovered that reduced CTR expression specifically in D1R-expressing MSNs potentiated/augmented opioid self-administration. In contrast, reduced CTR expression specifically in D2R-expressing MSNs attenuated opioid self-administration. These findings highlight a novel cell type-specific mechanism by which CTR signaling in the ventral striatum bidirectionally modulates voluntary opioid taking and support future studies aimed at targeting central CTR-expressing circuits to treat OUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yafang Zhang
- Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Jennifer Ben Nathan
- Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Amanda Moreno
- Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Riley Merkel
- Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Michelle W Kahng
- Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Matthew R Hayes
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Benjamin C Reiner
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Richard C Crist
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Heath D Schmidt
- Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
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16
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Reumann D, Krauditsch C, Novatchkova M, Sozzi E, Wong SN, Zabolocki M, Priouret M, Doleschall B, Ritzau-Reid KI, Piber M, Morassut I, Fieseler C, Fiorenzano A, Stevens MM, Zimmer M, Bardy C, Parmar M, Knoblich JA. In vitro modeling of the human dopaminergic system using spatially arranged ventral midbrain-striatum-cortex assembloids. Nat Methods 2023; 20:2034-2047. [PMID: 38052989 PMCID: PMC10703680 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-023-02080-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Ventral midbrain dopaminergic neurons project to the striatum as well as the cortex and are involved in movement control and reward-related cognition. In Parkinson's disease, nigrostriatal midbrain dopaminergic neurons degenerate and cause typical Parkinson's disease motor-related impairments, while the dysfunction of mesocorticolimbic midbrain dopaminergic neurons is implicated in addiction and neuropsychiatric disorders. Study of the development and selective neurodegeneration of the human dopaminergic system, however, has been limited due to the lack of an appropriate model and access to human material. Here, we have developed a human in vitro model that recapitulates key aspects of dopaminergic innervation of the striatum and cortex. These spatially arranged ventral midbrain-striatum-cortical organoids (MISCOs) can be used to study dopaminergic neuron maturation, innervation and function with implications for cell therapy and addiction research. We detail protocols for growing ventral midbrain, striatal and cortical organoids and describe how they fuse in a linear manner when placed in custom embedding molds. We report the formation of functional long-range dopaminergic connections to striatal and cortical tissues in MISCOs, and show that injected, ventral midbrain-patterned progenitors can mature and innervate the tissue. Using these assembloids, we examine dopaminergic circuit perturbations and show that chronic cocaine treatment causes long-lasting morphological, functional and transcriptional changes that persist upon drug withdrawal. Thus, our method opens new avenues to investigate human dopaminergic cell transplantation and circuitry reconstruction as well as the effect of drugs on the human dopaminergic system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Reumann
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna BioCenter, Doctoral School of the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christian Krauditsch
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Maria Novatchkova
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Edoardo Sozzi
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Developmental and Regenerative Neurobiology, Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, Lund Stem Cell Center, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Sakurako Nagumo Wong
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna BioCenter, Doctoral School of the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Michael Zabolocki
- Laboratory for Human Neurophysiology and Genetics, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Marthe Priouret
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
| | - Balint Doleschall
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna BioCenter, Doctoral School of the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Kaja I Ritzau-Reid
- Department of Materials, Department of Bioengineering, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Marielle Piber
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
- Zebrafish Neurogenetics Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Ilaria Morassut
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Charles Fieseler
- Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Alessandro Fiorenzano
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Developmental and Regenerative Neurobiology, Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, Lund Stem Cell Center, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Stem Cell Fate Laboratory, Institute of Genetics and Biophysics 'Adriano Buzzati Traverso' (IGB), CNR, Naples, Italy
| | - Molly M Stevens
- Department of Materials, Department of Bioengineering, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Manuel Zimmer
- Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Cedric Bardy
- Laboratory for Human Neurophysiology and Genetics, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Malin Parmar
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Developmental and Regenerative Neurobiology, Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, Lund Stem Cell Center, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Jürgen A Knoblich
- Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna BioCenter, Vienna, Austria.
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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17
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Campbell RR, Lobo MK. Neurobiological mechanisms underlying psychostimulant use. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2023; 83:102786. [PMID: 37776675 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2023.102786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/02/2023]
Abstract
Rates of individuals struggling with psychostimulant use disorder (PSUD), defined as chronic use of psychostimulants despite negative consequences, are growing rapidly over the last few decades. However, there are no current pharmacotherapeutics to aid individuals in maintaining drug abstinence. Identifying the underlying neurobiological mechanisms that promote persistent craving and taking of psychostimulants is critical to creating novel pharmacological treatments for PSUD. Psychostimulant use dysregulates processes within the brain that are responsible for decision-making, reward, and memory formation to drive future drug-seeking. Here, we describe novel findings and theories on how psychostimulants impact mechanisms related to transcription, mitochondrial function, and synaptic plasticity within the reward system to drive drug-seeking. We also highlight work examining how psychostimulants impact neural networks through rewiring circuitry to drive addiction-related behaviors. Overall, this review aims to feature the latest progress in understanding the biological basis of PSUD and promising mechanisms for PSUD pharmacotherapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rianne R Campbell
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. https://twitter.com/RianneThoughts
| | - Mary Kay Lobo
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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18
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Phillips RA, Wan E, Tuscher JJ, Reid D, Drake OR, Ianov L, Day JJ. Temporally specific gene expression and chromatin remodeling programs regulate a conserved Pdyn enhancer. eLife 2023; 12:RP89993. [PMID: 37938195 PMCID: PMC10631760 DOI: 10.7554/elife.89993] [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] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuronal and behavioral adaptations to novel stimuli are regulated by temporally dynamic waves of transcriptional activity, which shape neuronal function and guide enduring plasticity. Neuronal activation promotes expression of an immediate early gene (IEG) program comprised primarily of activity-dependent transcription factors, which are thought to regulate a second set of late response genes (LRGs). However, while the mechanisms governing IEG activation have been well studied, the molecular interplay between IEGs and LRGs remain poorly characterized. Here, we used transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility profiling to define activity-driven responses in rat striatal neurons. As expected, neuronal depolarization generated robust changes in gene expression, with early changes (1 hr) enriched for inducible transcription factors and later changes (4 hr) enriched for neuropeptides, synaptic proteins, and ion channels. Remarkably, while depolarization did not induce chromatin remodeling after 1 hr, we found broad increases in chromatin accessibility at thousands of sites in the genome at 4 hr after neuronal stimulation. These putative regulatory elements were found almost exclusively at non-coding regions of the genome, and harbored consensus motifs for numerous activity-dependent transcription factors such as AP-1. Furthermore, blocking protein synthesis prevented activity-dependent chromatin remodeling, suggesting that IEG proteins are required for this process. Targeted analysis of LRG loci identified a putative enhancer upstream of Pdyn (prodynorphin), a gene encoding an opioid neuropeptide implicated in motivated behavior and neuropsychiatric disease states. CRISPR-based functional assays demonstrated that this enhancer is both necessary and sufficient for Pdyn transcription. This regulatory element is also conserved at the human PDYN locus, where its activation is sufficient to drive PDYN transcription in human cells. These results suggest that IEGs participate in chromatin remodeling at enhancers and identify a conserved enhancer that may act as a therapeutic target for brain disorders involving dysregulation of Pdyn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A Phillips
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamUnited States
| | - Ethan Wan
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamUnited States
| | - Jennifer J Tuscher
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamUnited States
| | - David Reid
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamUnited States
| | - Olivia R Drake
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamUnited States
| | - Lara Ianov
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamUnited States
- Civitan International Research Center, University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamUnited States
| | - Jeremy J Day
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at BirminghamBirminghamUnited States
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19
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Zhou JL, de Guglielmo G, Ho AJ, Kallupi M, Pokhrel N, Li HR, Chitre AS, Munro D, Mohammadi P, Carrette LLG, George O, Palmer AA, McVicker G, Telese F. Single-nucleus genomics in outbred rats with divergent cocaine addiction-like behaviors reveals changes in amygdala GABAergic inhibition. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:1868-1879. [PMID: 37798411 PMCID: PMC10620093 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01452-y] [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: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
The amygdala processes positive and negative valence and contributes to addiction, but the cell-type-specific gene regulatory programs involved are unknown. We generated an atlas of single-nucleus gene expression and chromatin accessibility in the amygdala of outbred rats with high and low cocaine addiction-like behaviors following prolonged abstinence. Differentially expressed genes between the high and low groups were enriched for energy metabolism across cell types. Rats with high addiction index (AI) showed increased relapse-like behaviors and GABAergic transmission in the amygdala. Both phenotypes were reversed by pharmacological inhibition of the glyoxalase 1 enzyme, which metabolizes methylglyoxal-a GABAA receptor agonist produced by glycolysis. Differences in chromatin accessibility between high and low AI rats implicated pioneer transcription factors in the basic helix-loop-helix, FOX, SOX and activator protein 1 families. We observed opposite regulation of chromatin accessibility across many cell types. Most notably, excitatory neurons had greater accessibility in high AI rats and inhibitory neurons had greater accessibility in low AI rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica L Zhou
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Aaron J Ho
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Marsida Kallupi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Narayan Pokhrel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hai-Ri Li
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Apurva S Chitre
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Daniel Munro
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Pejman Mohammadi
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Olivier George
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Abraham A Palmer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institute for Genomic Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Graham McVicker
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Francesca Telese
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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20
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Ochandarena NE, Niehaus JK, Tassou A, Scherrer G. Cell-type specific molecular architecture for mu opioid receptor function in pain and addiction circuits. Neuropharmacology 2023; 238:109597. [PMID: 37271281 PMCID: PMC10494323 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2023.109597] [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: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Opioids are potent analgesics broadly used for pain management; however, they can produce dangerous side effects including addiction and respiratory depression. These harmful effects have led to an epidemic of opioid abuse and overdose deaths, creating an urgent need for the development of both safer pain medications and treatments for opioid use disorders. Both the analgesic and addictive properties of opioids are mediated by the mu opioid receptor (MOR), making resolution of the cell types and neural circuits responsible for each of the effects of opioids a critical research goal. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology is enabling the identification of MOR-expressing cell types throughout the nervous system, creating new opportunities for mapping distinct opioid effects onto newly discovered cell types. Here, we describe molecularly defined MOR-expressing neuronal cell types throughout the peripheral and central nervous systems and their potential contributions to opioid analgesia and addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole E Ochandarena
- Neuroscience Curriculum, Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program, The University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; Department of Pharmacology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
| | - Jesse K Niehaus
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; Department of Pharmacology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Adrien Tassou
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; Department of Pharmacology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Grégory Scherrer
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Neuroscience Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; Department of Pharmacology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; New York Stem Cell Foundation - Robertson Investigator, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
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21
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Farsi Z, Nicolella A, Simmons SK, Aryal S, Shepard N, Brenner K, Lin S, Herzog L, Moran SP, Stalnaker KJ, Shin W, Gazestani V, Song BJ, Bonanno K, Keshishian H, Carr SA, Pan JQ, Macosko EZ, Datta SR, Dejanovic B, Kim E, Levin JZ, Sheng M. Brain-region-specific changes in neurons and glia and dysregulation of dopamine signaling in Grin2a mutant mice. Neuron 2023; 111:3378-3396.e9. [PMID: 37657442 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
A genetically valid animal model could transform our understanding of schizophrenia (SCZ) disease mechanisms. Rare heterozygous loss-of-function (LoF) mutations in GRIN2A, encoding a subunit of the NMDA receptor, greatly increase the risk of SCZ. By transcriptomic, proteomic, and behavioral analyses, we report that heterozygous Grin2a mutant mice show (1) large-scale gene expression changes across multiple brain regions and in neuronal (excitatory and inhibitory) and non-neuronal cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), (2) evidence of hypoactivity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hyperactivity in the hippocampus and striatum, (3) an elevated dopamine signaling in the striatum and hypersensitivity to amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion (AIH), (4) altered cholesterol biosynthesis in astrocytes, (5) a reduction in glutamatergic receptor signaling proteins in the synapse, and (6) an aberrant locomotor pattern opposite of that induced by antipsychotic drugs. These findings reveal potential pathophysiologic mechanisms, provide support for both the "hypo-glutamate" and "hyper-dopamine" hypotheses of SCZ, and underscore the utility of Grin2a-deficient mice as a genetic model of SCZ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zohreh Farsi
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Ally Nicolella
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Sean K Simmons
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Klarman Cell Observatory, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Sameer Aryal
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Nate Shepard
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kira Brenner
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Sherry Lin
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Linnea Herzog
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Sean P Moran
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Katherine J Stalnaker
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Wangyong Shin
- Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Vahid Gazestani
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Bryan J Song
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kevin Bonanno
- Proteomics Platform, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Hasmik Keshishian
- Proteomics Platform, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Steven A Carr
- Proteomics Platform, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jen Q Pan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Evan Z Macosko
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Borislav Dejanovic
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Eunjoon Kim
- Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, South Korea; Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Joshua Z Levin
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Klarman Cell Observatory, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Morgan Sheng
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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22
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Rocks D, Jaric I, Bellia F, Cham H, Greally JM, Suzuki M, Kundakovic M. Early-life stress and ovarian hormones alter transcriptional regulation in the nucleus accumbens resulting in sex-specific responses to cocaine. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113187. [PMID: 37777968 PMCID: PMC10753961 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 07/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Early-life stress and ovarian hormones contribute to increased female vulnerability to cocaine addiction. Here, we reveal molecular substrates in the reward area, the nucleus accumbens, through which these female-specific factors affect immediate and conditioning responses to cocaine. We find shared involvement of X chromosome inactivation-related and estrogen signaling-related gene regulation in enhanced conditioning responses following early-life stress and during the low-estrogenic state in females. Low-estrogenic females respond to acute cocaine by opening neuronal chromatin enriched for the sites of ΔFosB, a transcription factor implicated in chronic cocaine response and addiction. Conversely, high-estrogenic females respond to cocaine by preferential chromatin closing, providing a mechanism for limiting cocaine-driven chromatin and synaptic plasticity. We find that physiological estrogen withdrawal, early-life stress, and absence of one X chromosome all nullify the protective effect of a high-estrogenic state on cocaine conditioning in females. Our findings offer a molecular framework to enable understanding of sex-specific neuronal mechanisms underlying cocaine use disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devin Rocks
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Ivana Jaric
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Fabio Bellia
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Heining Cham
- Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - John M Greally
- Center for Epigenomics, Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Masako Suzuki
- Center for Epigenomics, Department of Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; Department of Nutrition, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Marija Kundakovic
- Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA.
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23
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Andraka E, Phillips RA, Brida KL, Day JJ. Chst9 Marks a Spatially and Transcriptionally Unique Population of Oprm1 -Expressing Neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.16.562623. [PMID: 37904940 PMCID: PMC10614864 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.16.562623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2023]
Abstract
Opioids produce addictive, analgesic, and euphoric effects via actions at mu opioid receptors (μORs). The μOR is encoded by the Oprm1 gene and is expressed in multiple brain regions that regulate reward and motivation, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Oprm1 expression in NAc medium spiny neurons (MSNs) mediates opioid place preference, seeking, and consumption. However, recent single nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) studies in rodent, primate, and human NAc have revealed that multiple subpopulations of NAc neurons express Oprm1 mRNA, making it unclear which populations mediate diverse behaviors resulting from μOR activation. Using published snRNA-seq datasets from the rat NAc, we identified a novel population of MSNs that express the highest levels of Oprm1 of any NAc cell type. Here, we show that this population is selectively marked by expression of Chst9 , a gene encoding a carbohydrate sulfotransferase. To validate this observation and characterize spatial localization of this population in the rat NAc, we performed multiplexed RNAscope fluorescence in situ hybridization studies to detect expression of Oprm1 and Chst9 mRNA along with well-validated markers of MSNs. Notably, Chst9 + neurons exhibited more abundant expression of Oprm1 as compared to other cell types, and formed discrete cellular clusters along the medial and ventral borders of the NAc shell subregion. Moreover, CHST9 mRNA was also found to mark specific MSN populations in published human and primate snRNA-seq studies, indicating that this unique population may be conserved across species. Together, these results identify a spatially and transcriptionally distinct NAc neuron population characterized by the expression of Chst9 . The abundant expression of Oprm1 in this population and the conservation of these cells across species suggests that they may play a key functional role in opioid response and identify this subpopulation as a target for further investigation.
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24
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Savell KE, Madangopal R, Saravanan P, Palaganas RG, Woods KD, Thompson DJ, Drake OR, Brenner MB, Weber SJ, Van Leer E, Choi JH, Martin TL, Martin JC, Steinberg MK, Austin JW, Charendoff CI, Hope BT. MultipleXed Population Selection and Enrichment single nucleus RNA sequencing (XPoSE-seq) enables sample identity retention during transcriptional profiling of rare populations. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.27.559834. [PMID: 38196637 PMCID: PMC10775316 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.27.559834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Abstract
Single nucleus RNA-sequencing is critical in deciphering tissue heterogeneity and identifying rare populations. However, current high throughput techniques are not optimized for rare target populations and require tradeoffs in design due to feasibility. We provide a novel snRNA pipeline, MulipleXed Population Selection and Enrichment snRNA-sequencing (XPoSE-seq), to enable targeted snRNA-seq experiments and in-depth transcriptomic characterization of rare target populations while retaining individual sample identity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine E Savell
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Rajtarun Madangopal
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Padmashri Saravanan
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Ryan G Palaganas
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Kareem D Woods
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Drake J Thompson
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Olivia R Drake
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Megan B Brenner
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Sophia J Weber
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Elise Van Leer
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Jae H Choi
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | - Toni L Martin
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
| | | | | | | | | | - Bruce T Hope
- Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD 21224
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25
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Cheng Y, Justice A, Wang Z, Li B, Hancock DB, Johnson EO, Xu K. Cis-meQTL for cocaine use-associated DNA methylation in an HIV-positive cohort show pleiotropic effects on multiple traits. BMC Genomics 2023; 24:556. [PMID: 37730558 PMCID: PMC10510240 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09661-2] [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: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cocaine use (CU) is associated with psychiatric and medical diseases. Little is known about the mechanisms of CU-related comorbidities. Findings from preclinical and clinical studies have suggested that CU is associated with aberrant DNA methylation (DNAm) that may be influenced by genetic variants [i.e., methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs)]. In this study, we mapped cis-meQTLs for CU-associated DNAm sites (CpGs) in an HIV-positive cohort (Ntotal = 811) and extended the meQTLs to multiple traits. RESULTS We conducted cis-meQTL analysis for 224 candidate CpGs selected for their association with CU in blood. We identified 7,101 significant meQTLs [false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05], which mostly mapped to genes involved in immunological functions and were enriched in immune pathways. We followed up the meQTLs using phenome-wide association study and trait enrichment analyses, which revealed 9 significant traits. We tested for causal effects of CU on these 9 traits using Mendelian Randomization and found evidence that CU plays a causal role in increasing hypertension (p-value = 2.35E-08) and decreasing heel bone mineral density (p-value = 1.92E-19). CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that genetic variants for CU-associated DNAm have pleiotropic effects on other relevant traits and provide new insights into the causal relationships between cocaine use and these complex traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youshu Cheng
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA
| | - Amy Justice
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Zuoheng Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Boyang Li
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA
| | - Dana B Hancock
- GenOmics, Bioinformatics, and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Eric O Johnson
- GenOmics, Bioinformatics, and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
- Fellow Program, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Ke Xu
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
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26
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Castel J, Li G, Oriane O, Leishman E, Cani PD, Bradshaw H, Mackie K, Everard A, Luquet S, Gangarossa G. NAPE-PLD in the ventral tegmental area regulates reward events, feeding and energy homeostasis. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3199777. [PMID: 37790425 PMCID: PMC10543029 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3199777/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
The N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine-specific phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD) catalyzes the production of N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), a family of endogenous bioactive lipids, which are involved in various biological processes ranging from neuronal functions to energy homeostasis and feeding behaviors. Reward-dependent behaviors depend on dopamine (DA) transmission between the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc), which conveys reward-values and scales reinforced behaviors. However, whether and how NAPE-PLD may contribute to the regulation of feeding and reward-dependent behaviors has not yet been investigated. This biological question is of paramount importance since NAEs are altered in obesity and metabolic disorders. Here, we show that transcriptomic meta-analysis highlights a potential role for NAPE-PLD within the VTA®NAc circuit. Using brain-specific invalidation approaches, we report that the integrity of NAPE-PLD is required for the proper homeostasis of NAEs within the midbrain VTA and it affects food-reward behaviors. Moreover, region-specific knock-down of NAPE-PLD in the VTA enhanced food-reward seeking and reinforced behaviors, which were associated with increased in vivo DA release dynamics in response to both food and non-food-related rewards together with heightened tropism towards food consumption. Furthermore, midbrain knock-down of NAPE-PLD, which increased energy expenditure and adapted nutrient partitioning, elicited a relative protection against high-fat diet-mediated body fat gain and obesity-associated metabolic features. In conclusion, these findings reveal a new key role of VTA NAPE-PLD in shaping DA-dependent events, feeding behaviors and energy homeostasis, thus providing new insights on the regulation of body metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Castel
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013 Paris, France
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27
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Browne CJ, Mews P, Zhou X, Holt LM, Estill M, Futamura R, Schaefer A, Kenny PJ, Hurd YL, Shen L, Zhang B, Nestler EJ. Shared and divergent transcriptomic regulation in nucleus accumbens D1 and D2 medium spiny neurons by cocaine and morphine. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.19.558477. [PMID: 37781621 PMCID: PMC10541108 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.19.558477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
Substance use disorders (SUDs) induce widespread molecular dysregulation in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain region pivotal for coordinating motivation and reward. These molecular changes are thought to support lasting neural and behavioral disturbances that promote drug-seeking in addiction. However, different drug classes exert unique influences on neural circuits, cell types, physiology, and gene expression despite the overlapping symptomatology of SUDs. To better understand common and divergent molecular mechanisms governing SUD pathology, our goal was to survey cell-type-specific restructuring of the NAc transcriptional landscape in after psychostimulant or opioid exposure. We combined fluorescence-activated nuclei sorting and RNA sequencing to profile NAc D1 and D2 medium spiny neurons (MSNs) across cocaine and morphine exposure paradigms, including initial exposure, prolonged withdrawal after repeated exposure, and re-exposure post-withdrawal. Our analyses reveal that D1 MSNs display many convergent transcriptional responses across drug classes during exposure, whereas D2 MSNs manifest mostly divergent responses between cocaine and morphine, with morphine causing more adaptations in this cell type. Utilizing multiscale embedded gene co-expression network analysis (MEGENA), we discerned transcriptional regulatory networks subserving biological functions shared between cocaine and morphine. We observed largely integrative engagement of overlapping gene networks across drug classes in D1 MSNs, but opposite regulation of key D2 networks, highlighting potential therapeutic gene network targets within MSNs. These studies establish a landmark, cell-type-specific atlas of transcriptional regulation induced by cocaine and by morphine that can serve as a foundation for future studies towards mechanistic understanding of SUDs. Our findings, and future work leveraging this dataset, will pave the way for the development of targeted therapeutic interventions, addressing the urgent need for more effective treatments for cocaine use disorder and enhancing the existing strategies for opioid use disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caleb J Browne
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Philipp Mews
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Xianxiao Zhou
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Dept. of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Leanne M Holt
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Molly Estill
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Rita Futamura
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Anne Schaefer
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Dept. of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Paul J Kenny
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Yasmin L Hurd
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Dept. of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Li Shen
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Bin Zhang
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Dept. of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | - Eric J Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Dept. of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Dept. of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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28
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Tan B, Browne CJ, Nöbauer T, Vaziri A, Friedman JM, Nestler EJ. Drugs of abuse hijack a mesolimbic pathway that processes homeostatic need. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.03.556059. [PMID: 37732251 PMCID: PMC10508763 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.03.556059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Addiction prioritizes drug use over innate needs by "hijacking" brain circuits that direct motivation, but how this develops remains unclear. Using whole-brain FOS mapping and in vivo single-neuron calcium imaging, we find that drugs of abuse augment ensemble activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and disorganize overlapping ensemble responses to natural rewards in a cell-type-specific manner. Combining "FOS-Seq", CRISPR-perturbations, and snRNA-seq, we identify Rheb as a shared molecular substrate that regulates cell-type-specific signal transductions in NAc while enabling drugs to suppress natural reward responses. Retrograde circuit mapping pinpoints orbitofrontal cortex which, upon activation, mirrors drug effects on innate needs. These findings deconstruct the dynamic, molecular, and circuit basis of a common reward circuit, wherein drug value is scaled to promote drug-seeking over other, normative goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bowen Tan
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Caleb J. Browne
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- These authors contributed equally
| | - Tobias Nöbauer
- Laboratory of Neurotechnology and Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Alipasha Vaziri
- Laboratory of Neurotechnology and Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
- The Kavli Neural Systems Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Jeffrey M. Friedman
- Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Eric J. Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
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29
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Bhatia P, Yang L, Luo JXJ, Xu M, Renthal W. Epigenomic profiling of mouse nucleus accumbens at single-cell resolution. Mol Cell Neurosci 2023; 126:103857. [PMID: 37137383 PMCID: PMC10525004 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2023.103857] [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: 01/15/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a key brain region involved in reward processing and is linked to multiple neuropsychiatric conditions such as substance use disorder, depression, and chronic pain. Recent studies have begun to investigate NAc gene expression at a single-cell resolution, however, our understanding of the cellular heterogeneity of the NAc epigenomic landscape remains limited. In this study, we utilize single-nucleus assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing (snATAC-seq) to map cell-type-specific differences in chromatin accessibility in the NAc. Our findings not only reveal the transcription factors and putative gene regulatory elements that may contribute to these cell-type-specific epigenomic differences but also provide a valuable resource for future studies investigating epigenomic changes that occur in neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parth Bhatia
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Lite Yang
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Jay X J Luo
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - Mengyi Xu
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA
| | - William Renthal
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA.
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30
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Fitzgerald E, Arcego DM, Shen MJ, O'Toole N, Wen X, Nagy C, Mostafavi S, Craig K, Silveira PP, Rayan NA, Diorio J, Meaney MJ, Zhang TY. Sex and cell-specific gene expression in corticolimbic brain regions associated with psychiatric disorders revealed by bulk and single-nuclei RNA sequencing. EBioMedicine 2023; 95:104749. [PMID: 37549631 PMCID: PMC10432187 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There are sex-specific differences in the prevalence, symptomology and course of psychiatric disorders. However, preclinical models have primarily used males, such that the molecular mechanisms underlying sex-specific differences in psychiatric disorders are not well established. METHODS In this study, we compared transcriptome-wide gene expression profiles in male and female rats within the corticolimbic system, including the cingulate cortex, nucleus accumbens medial shell (NAcS), ventral dentate gyrus and the basolateral amygdala (n = 22-24 per group/region). FINDINGS We found over 3000 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the NAcS between males and females. Of these DEGs in the NAcS, 303 showed sex-dependent conservation DEGs in humans and were significantly enriched for gene ontology terms related to blood vessel morphogenesis and regulation of cell migration. Single nuclei RNA sequencing in the NAcS of male and female rats identified widespread sex-dependent expression, with genes upregulated in females showing a notable enrichment for synaptic function. Female upregulated genes in astrocytes, Drd3+MSNs and oligodendrocyte were also enriched in several psychiatric genome-wide association studies (GWAS). INTERPRETATION Our data provide comprehensive evidence of sex- and cell-specific molecular profiles in the NAcS. Importantly these differences associate with anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and cross-disorder, suggesting an intrinsic molecular basis for sex-based differences in psychiatric disorders that strongly implicates the NAcS. FUNDING This work was supported by funding from the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (MJM).
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Affiliation(s)
- Eamon Fitzgerald
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Danusa Mar Arcego
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Mo Jun Shen
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Nicholas O'Toole
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Xianglan Wen
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Corina Nagy
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Sara Mostafavi
- Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, 185 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA 9819, USA
| | - Kelly Craig
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Patricia Pelufo Silveira
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Nirmala Arul Rayan
- Translational Neuroscience Program, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences and Brain - Body Initiative, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A∗STAR), Singapore
| | - Josie Diorio
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada
| | - Michael J Meaney
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Translational Neuroscience Program, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences and Brain - Body Initiative, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A∗STAR), Singapore; Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Tie-Yuan Zhang
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada; Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, McGill University, Montréal, H4H 1R3, Canada.
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31
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Savell KE, Hope BT. Chronic Cocaine-Induced ΔFOSB: Long-Lasting and Far-Reaching. Biol Psychiatry 2023; 94:362-364. [PMID: 37558312 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Katherine E Savell
- Neuronal Ensembles in Addiction Section, Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Bruce T Hope
- Neuronal Ensembles in Addiction Section, Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
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32
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Tam RW, Keung AJ. Profiling transcriptomic responses of human stem cell-derived medium spiny neuron-like cells to exogenous phasic and tonic neurotransmitters. Mol Cell Neurosci 2023; 126:103876. [PMID: 37385515 PMCID: PMC10528483 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2023.103876] [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: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcriptomic responses to neurotransmitters contribute to the complex processes driving memory and addiction. Advances in both measurement methods and experimental models continue to improve our understanding of this regulatory layer. Here we focus on the experimental potential of stem cell derived neurons, currently the only ethical model that can be used in reductionist and experimentally perturbable studies of human cells. Prior work has focused on generating distinct cell types from human stem cells, and has also shown their utility in modeling development and cellular phenotypes related to neurodegeneration. Here we seek an understanding of how stem cell derived neural cultures respond to perturbations experienced during development and disease progression. This work profiles transcriptomic responses of human medium spiny neuron-like cells with three specific goals. We first characterize transcriptomic responses to dopamine and dopamine receptor agonists and antagonists presented in dosing patterns mimicking acute, chronic, and withdrawal regimens. We also assess transcriptomic responses to low and persistent tonic levels of dopamine, acetylcholine, and glutamate to better mimic the in vivo environment. Finally, we identify similar and distinct responses between hMSN-like cells derived from H9 and H1 stem cell lines, providing some context for the extent of variability these types of systems will likely pose for experimentalists. The results here suggest future optimizations of human stem cell derived neurons to increase their in vivo relevance and the biological insights that can be garnered from these models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan W Tam
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, United States of America
| | - Albert J Keung
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, United States of America.
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33
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Phillips RA, Wan E, Tuscher JJ, Reid D, Drake OR, Ianov L, Day JJ. Temporally specific gene expression and chromatin remodeling programs regulate a conserved Pdyn enhancer. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.02.543489. [PMID: 37333110 PMCID: PMC10274686 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.02.543489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Neuronal and behavioral adaptations to novel stimuli are regulated by temporally dynamic waves of transcriptional activity, which shape neuronal function and guide enduring plasticity. Neuronal activation promotes expression of an immediate early gene (IEG) program comprised primarily of activity-dependent transcription factors, which are thought to regulate a second set of late response genes (LRGs). However, while the mechanisms governing IEG activation have been well studied, the molecular interplay between IEGs and LRGs remain poorly characterized. Here, we used transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility profiling to define activity-driven responses in rat striatal neurons. As expected, neuronal depolarization generated robust changes in gene expression, with early changes (1 h) enriched for inducible transcription factors and later changes (4 h) enriched for neuropeptides, synaptic proteins, and ion channels. Remarkably, while depolarization did not induce chromatin remodeling after 1 h, we found broad increases in chromatin accessibility at thousands of sites in the genome at 4 h after neuronal stimulation. These putative regulatory elements were found almost exclusively at non-coding regions of the genome, and harbored consensus motifs for numerous activity-dependent transcription factors such as AP-1. Furthermore, blocking protein synthesis prevented activity-dependent chromatin remodeling, suggesting that IEG proteins are required for this process. Targeted analysis of LRG loci identified a putative enhancer upstream of Pdyn (prodynorphin), a gene encoding an opioid neuropeptide implicated in motivated behavior and neuropsychiatric disease states. CRISPR-based functional assays demonstrated that this enhancer is both necessary and sufficient for Pdyn transcription. This regulatory element is also conserved at the human PDYN locus, where its activation is sufficient to drive PDYN transcription in human cells. These results suggest that IEGs participate in chromatin remodeling at enhancers and identify a conserved enhancer that may act as a therapeutic target for brain disorders involving dysregulation of Pdyn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A Phillips
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Ethan Wan
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jennifer J Tuscher
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - David Reid
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Olivia R Drake
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Lara Ianov
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
- Civitan International Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jeremy J Day
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
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34
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Gallegos DA, Minto M, Liu F, Hazlett MF, Aryana Yousefzadeh S, Bartelt LC, West AE. Cell-type specific transcriptional adaptations of nucleus accumbens interneurons to amphetamine. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:3414-3428. [PMID: 35173267 PMCID: PMC9378812 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01466-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Parvalbumin-expressing (PV+) interneurons of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) play an essential role in the addictive-like behaviors induced by psychostimulant exposure. To identify molecular mechanisms of PV+ neuron plasticity, we isolated interneuron nuclei from the NAc of male and female mice following acute or repeated exposure to amphetamine (AMPH) and sequenced for cell type-specific RNA expression and chromatin accessibility. AMPH regulated the transcription of hundreds of genes in PV+ interneurons, and this program was largely distinct from that regulated in other NAc GABAergic neurons. Chromatin accessibility at enhancers predicted cell-type specific gene regulation, identifying transcriptional mechanisms of differential AMPH responses. Finally, we assessed expression of PV-enriched, AMPH-regulated genes in an Mecp2 mutant mouse strain that shows heightened behavioral sensitivity to psychostimulants to explore the functional importance of this transcriptional program. Together these data provide novel insight into the cell-type specific programs of transcriptional plasticity in NAc neurons that underlie addictive-like behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- David A Gallegos
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Melyssa Minto
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Fang Liu
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Mariah F Hazlett
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Luke C Bartelt
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Anne E West
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
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35
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Phillips RA, Tuscher JJ, Fitzgerald ND, Wan E, Zipperly ME, Duke CG, Ianov L, Day JJ. Distinct subpopulations of D1 medium spiny neurons exhibit unique transcriptional responsiveness to cocaine. Mol Cell Neurosci 2023; 125:103849. [PMID: 36965548 PMCID: PMC10898607 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2023.103849] [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: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Drugs of abuse increase extracellular concentrations of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), resulting in transcriptional alterations that drive long-lasting cellular and behavioral adaptations. While decades of research have focused on the transcriptional mechanisms by which drugs of abuse influence neuronal physiology and function, few studies have comprehensively defined NAc cell type heterogeneity in transcriptional responses to drugs of abuse. Here, we used single nucleus RNA-seq (snRNA-seq) to characterize the transcriptome of over 39,000 NAc cells from male and female adult Sprague-Dawley rats following acute or repeated cocaine experience. This dataset identified 16 transcriptionally distinct cell populations, including two populations of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that express the Drd1 dopamine receptor (D1-MSNs). Critically, while both populations expressed classic marker genes of D1-MSNs, only one population exhibited a robust transcriptional response to cocaine. Validation of population-selective transcripts using RNA in situ hybridization revealed distinct spatial compartmentalization of these D1-MSN populations within the NAc. Finally, analysis of published NAc snRNA-seq datasets from non-human primates and humans demonstrated conservation of MSN subtypes across rat and higher order mammals, and further highlighted cell type-specific transcriptional differences across the NAc and broader striatum. These results highlight the utility in using snRNA-seq to characterize both cell type heterogeneity and cell type-specific responses to cocaine and provides a useful resource for cross-species comparisons of NAc cell composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A Phillips
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jennifer J Tuscher
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - N Dalton Fitzgerald
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Ethan Wan
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Morgan E Zipperly
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Corey G Duke
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Lara Ianov
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA; Civitan International Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jeremy J Day
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
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36
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Chehimi SN, Crist RC, Reiner BC. Unraveling Psychiatric Disorders through Neural Single-Cell Transcriptomics Approaches. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:genes14030771. [PMID: 36981041 PMCID: PMC10047992 DOI: 10.3390/genes14030771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2023] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of single-cell and single-nucleus transcriptome technologies is enabling the unraveling of the molecular and cellular heterogeneity of psychiatric disorders. The complexity of the brain and the relationships between different brain regions can be better understood through the classification of individual cell populations based on their molecular markers and transcriptomic features. Analysis of these unique cell types can explain their involvement in the pathology of psychiatric disorders. Recent studies in both human and animal models have emphasized the importance of transcriptome analysis of neuronal cells in psychiatric disorders but also revealed critical roles for non-neuronal cells, such as oligodendrocytes and microglia. In this review, we update current findings on the brain transcriptome and explore molecular studies addressing transcriptomic alterations identified in human and animal models in depression and stress, neurodegenerative disorders (Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease), schizophrenia, opioid use disorder, and alcohol and psychostimulant abuse. We also comment on potential future directions in single-cell and single-nucleus studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samar N Chehimi
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Richard C Crist
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Benjamin C Reiner
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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37
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Teague CD, Picone JA, Wright WJ, Browne CJ, Silva GM, Futamura R, Minier-Toribio A, Estill ME, Ramakrishnan A, Martinez-Rivera FJ, Godino A, Parise EM, Schmidt KH, Pulido NV, Lorsch ZS, Kim JH, Shen L, Neve RL, Dong Y, Nestler EJ, Hamilton PJ. CREB Binding at the Zfp189 Promoter Within Medium Spiny Neuron Subtypes Differentially Regulates Behavioral and Physiological Adaptations Over the Course of Cocaine Use. Biol Psychiatry 2023; 93:502-511. [PMID: 36253194 PMCID: PMC9899288 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.07.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Over the course of chronic drug use, brain transcriptional neuroadaptation is thought to contribute to a change in drug use behavior over time. The function of the transcription factor CREB (cAMP response element binding protein) within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) has been well documented in opposing the rewarding properties of many classes of drugs, yet the gene targets through which CREB causally manifests these lasting neuroadaptations remain unknown. Here, we identify zinc finger protein 189 (Zfp189) as a CREB target gene that is transcriptionally responsive to acute and chronic cocaine use within the NAc of mice. METHODS To investigate the role of the CREB-Zfp189 interaction in cocaine use, we virally delivered modified clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/dCas9 constructs capable of selectively localizing CREB to the Zfp189 gene promoter in the NAc of mice. RESULTS We observed that CREB binding to the Zfp189 promoter increased Zfp189 expression and diminished the reinforcing responses to cocaine. Furthermore, we showed that NAc Zfp189 expression increased within D1 medium spiny neurons in response to acute cocaine but increased in both D1- and D2-expressing medium spiny neurons in response to chronic cocaine. CREB-mediated induction of Zfp189 potentiated electrophysiological activity of D1- and D2-expressing medium spiny neurons, recapitulating the known effect of CREB on these neurons. Finally, targeting CREB to the Zfp189 promoter within NAc Drd2-expressing neurons, but not Drd1-expressing neurons, was sufficient to diminish cocaine-conditioned behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Together, these findings point to the CREB-Zfp189 interaction within the NAc Drd2+ neurons as a molecular signature of chronic cocaine use that is causal in counteracting the reinforcing effects of cocaine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Collin D Teague
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Joseph A Picone
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
| | - William J Wright
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Caleb J Browne
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Gabriella M Silva
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Rita Futamura
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Angélica Minier-Toribio
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Molly E Estill
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Aarthi Ramakrishnan
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Freddyson J Martinez-Rivera
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Arthur Godino
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Eric M Parise
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Kyra H Schmidt
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Nathalia V Pulido
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Zachary S Lorsch
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Jee Hyun Kim
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; The Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
| | - Li Shen
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Rachael L Neve
- Gene Delivery Technology Core, Massachusetts General Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Yan Dong
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Eric J Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Peter J Hamilton
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.
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38
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Sadino JM, Bradeen XG, Kelly CJ, Brusman LE, Walker DM, Donaldson ZR. Prolonged partner separation erodes nucleus accumbens transcriptional signatures of pair bonding in male prairie voles. eLife 2023; 12:e80517. [PMID: 36852906 PMCID: PMC10112888 DOI: 10.7554/elife.80517] [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: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The loss of a spouse is often cited as the most traumatic event in a person's life. However, for most people, the severity of grief and its maladaptive effects subside over time via an understudied adaptive process. Like humans, socially monogamous prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) form opposite-sex pair bonds, and upon partner separation, show stress phenotypes that diminish over time. We test the hypothesis that extended partner separation diminishes pair bond-associated behaviors and causes pair bond transcriptional signatures to erode. Opposite-sex or same-sex paired males were cohoused for 2 weeks and then either remained paired or were separated for 48 hours or 4 weeks before collecting fresh nucleus accumbens tissue for RNAseq. In a separate cohort, we assessed partner-directed affiliation at these time points. We found that these behaviors persist despite prolonged separation in both same-sex and opposite-sex paired voles. Opposite-sex pair bonding led to changes in accumbal transcription that were stably maintained while animals remained paired but eroded following prolonged partner separation. Eroded genes are associated with gliogenesis and myelination, suggesting a previously undescribed role for glia in pair bonding and loss. Further, we pioneered neuron-specific translating ribosomal affinity purification in voles. Neuronally enriched transcriptional changes revealed dopaminergic-, mitochondrial-, and steroid hormone signaling-associated gene clusters sensitive to acute pair bond disruption and loss adaptation. Our results suggest that partner separation erodes transcriptomic signatures of pair bonding despite core behavioral features of the bond remaining intact, revealing potential molecular processes priming a vole to be able to form a new bond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie M Sadino
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
| | - Xander G Bradeen
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
- Department of Adult Hematology, University of Colorado- Anschutz Medical CampusAuroraUnited States
| | - Conor J Kelly
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
- BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
| | - Liza E Brusman
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
| | - Deena M Walker
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, School of MedicinePortlandUnited States
| | - Zoe R Donaldson
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
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39
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Hughes BW, Siemsen BM, Tsvetkov E, Berto S, Kumar J, Cornbrooks RG, Akiki RM, Cho JY, Carter JS, Snyder KK, Assali A, Scofield MD, Cowan CW, Taniguchi M. NPAS4 in the medial prefrontal cortex mediates chronic social defeat stress-induced anhedonia-like behavior and reductions in excitatory synapses. eLife 2023; 12:e75631. [PMID: 36780219 PMCID: PMC9925055 DOI: 10.7554/elife.75631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic stress can produce reward system deficits (i.e., anhedonia) and other common symptoms associated with depressive disorders, as well as neural circuit hypofunction in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, the molecular mechanisms by which chronic stress promotes depressive-like behavior and hypofrontality remain unclear. We show here that the neuronal activity-regulated transcription factor, NPAS4, in the mPFC is regulated by chronic social defeat stress (CSDS), and it is required in this brain region for CSDS-induced changes in sucrose preference and natural reward motivation in the mice. Interestingly, NPAS4 is not required for CSDS-induced social avoidance or anxiety-like behavior. We also find that mPFC NPAS4 is required for CSDS-induced reductions in pyramidal neuron dendritic spine density, excitatory synaptic transmission, and presynaptic function, revealing a relationship between perturbation in excitatory synaptic transmission and the expression of anhedonia-like behavior in the mice. Finally, analysis of the mice mPFC tissues revealed that NPAS4 regulates the expression of numerous genes linked to glutamatergic synapses and ribosomal function, the expression of upregulated genes in CSDS-susceptible animals, and differentially expressed genes in postmortem human brains of patients with common neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression. Together, our findings position NPAS4 as a key mediator of chronic stress-induced hypofrontal states and anhedonia-like behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon W Hughes
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Benjamin M Siemsen
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
- Department of Anesthesiology, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Evgeny Tsvetkov
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Stefano Berto
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Jaswinder Kumar
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical SchoolBelmontUnited States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterDallasUnited States
| | - Rebecca G Cornbrooks
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Rose Marie Akiki
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Jennifer Y Cho
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Jordan S Carter
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Kirsten K Snyder
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Ahlem Assali
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Michael D Scofield
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
- Department of Anesthesiology, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
| | - Christopher W Cowan
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical SchoolBelmontUnited States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterDallasUnited States
| | - Makoto Taniguchi
- Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South CarolinaCharlestonUnited States
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical SchoolBelmontUnited States
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Mews P, Cunningham AM, Scarpa J, Ramakrishnan A, Hicks EM, Bolnick S, Garamszegi S, Shen L, Mash DC, Nestler EJ. Convergent abnormalities in striatal gene networks in human cocaine use disorder and mouse cocaine administration models. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadd8946. [PMID: 36763659 PMCID: PMC9916993 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add8946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is an intractable syndrome, and rising overdose death rates represent a substantial public health crisis that exacts tremendous personal and financial costs on patients and society. Sharp increases in cocaine use drive the urgent need for better mechanistic insight into this chronic relapsing brain disorder that currently lacks effective treatment options. To investigate the transcriptomic changes involved, we conducted RNA sequencing on two striatal brain regions that are heavily implicated in CUD, the nucleus accumbens and caudate nucleus, from men suffering from CUD and matched controls. Weighted gene coexpression analyses identified CUD-specific gene networks enriched in ionotropic receptors and linked to lowered neuroinflammation, contrasting the proinflammatory responses found in opioid use disorder. Integration of comprehensive transcriptomic datasets from mouse cocaine self-administration models revealed evolutionarily conserved gene networks in CUD that implicate especially D1 medium spiny neurons as drivers of cocaine-induced plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Mews
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ashley M. Cunningham
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Joseph Scarpa
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Aarthi Ramakrishnan
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Emily M. Hicks
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genomics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sarah Bolnick
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Susanna Garamszegi
- Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Li Shen
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Deborah C. Mash
- Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Eric J. Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
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Phillips RA, Tuscher JJ, Fitzgerald ND, Wan E, Zipperly ME, Duke CG, Ianov L, Day JJ. Distinct subpopulations of D1 medium spiny neurons exhibit unique transcriptional responsiveness to cocaine. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.12.523845. [PMID: 36711527 PMCID: PMC9882178 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.12.523845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Drugs of abuse increase extracellular concentrations of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), resulting in transcriptional alterations that drive long-lasting cellular and behavioral adaptations. While decades of research have focused on the transcriptional mechanisms by which drugs of abuse influence neuronal physiology and function, few studies have comprehensively defined NAc cell type heterogeneity in transcriptional responses to drugs of abuse. Here, we used single nucleus RNA-seq (snRNA-seq) to characterize the transcriptome of over 39,000 NAc cells from male and female adult Sprague-Dawley rats following acute or repeated cocaine experience. This dataset identified 16 transcriptionally distinct cell populations, including two populations of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that express the Drd1 dopamine receptor (D1-MSNs). Critically, while both populations expressed classic marker genes of D1-MSNs, only one population exhibited a robust transcriptional response to cocaine. Validation of population-selective transcripts using RNA in situ hybridization revealed distinct spatial compartmentalization of these D1-MSN populations within the NAc. Finally, analysis of published NAc snRNA-seq datasets from non-human primates and humans demonstrated conservation of MSN subtypes across rat and higher order mammals, and further highlighted cell type-specific transcriptional differences across the NAc and broader striatum. These results highlight the utility in using snRNA-seq to characterize both cell type heterogeneity and cell type-specific responses to cocaine and provides a useful resource for cross-species comparisons of NAc cell composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A. Phillips
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jennifer J. Tuscher
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - N. Dalton Fitzgerald
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Ethan Wan
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Morgan E. Zipperly
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Corey G. Duke
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Lara Ianov
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA,Civitan International Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jeremy J. Day
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA,Correspondence to Jeremy Day ( ∣ day-lab.org ∣ @DayLabUAB)
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van den Oord EJCG, Xie LY, Zhao M, Aberg KA, Clark SL. A single-nucleus transcriptomics study of alcohol use disorder in the nucleus accumbens. Addict Biol 2023; 28:e13250. [PMID: 36577731 DOI: 10.1111/adb.13250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Revised: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Gene expression studies offer promising opportunities to better understand the processes underlying alcohol use disorder (AUD). As cell types differ in their function, gene expression profiles will typically vary across cell types. When studying bulk tissue, failure to account for this cellular diversity has a detrimental impact on the ability to detect disease associations. We therefore assayed the transcriptomes of 32,531 individual nuclei extracted from the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of nine donors with AUD and nine controls (72% male). Our study identified 17 clearly delineated cell types. We detected 26 transcriptome-wide significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that mainly involved medium spiny neurons with both D1-type and D2-type dopamine receptors, microglia (MGL) and oligodendrocytes. A higher than expected number of DEGs replicated in an existing single nucleus gene expression study of alcohol dependence in the prefrontal cortex (enrichment ratio 1.91, p value 0.019) with two genes remaining significant after a Bonferroni correction. Our most compelling result involved CD53 in MGL that replicated in the same cell type in the prefrontal cortex and was previously implicated in studies of DNA methylation, bulk gene expression and genetic variants. Several DEGs were previously reported to be associated with AUD (e.g., PER1 and MGAT5). The DEGs for MSN.3 seemed involved in neurodegeneration, disruption of circadian rhythms, alterations in glucose metabolism and changes in synaptic plasticity. For MGL, the DEGs implicated neuroinflammation and immune-related processes and for OLI, disruptions in myelination. This identification of the specific cell-types from which the association signals originate will be key for designing proper follow-up experiments and, eventually, novel clinical interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edwin J C G van den Oord
- Center for Biomarker Research and Precision Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Lin Y Xie
- Center for Biomarker Research and Precision Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Min Zhao
- Center for Biomarker Research and Precision Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Karolina A Aberg
- Center for Biomarker Research and Precision Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Shaunna L Clark
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
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43
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Day JJ, Martinowich K. Single-cell transcriptional profiling in brain reward structures. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023; 48:243-244. [PMID: 35915230 PMCID: PMC9700856 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-022-01394-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy J Day
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
| | - Keri Martinowich
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
- The Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
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Lim RG, Al-Dalahmah O, Wu J, Gold MP, Reidling JC, Tang G, Adam M, Dansu DK, Park HJ, Casaccia P, Miramontes R, Reyes-Ortiz AM, Lau A, Hickman RA, Khan F, Paryani F, Tang A, Ofori K, Miyoshi E, Michael N, McClure N, Flowers XE, Vonsattel JP, Davidson S, Menon V, Swarup V, Fraenkel E, Goldman JE, Thompson LM. Huntington disease oligodendrocyte maturation deficits revealed by single-nucleus RNAseq are rescued by thiamine-biotin supplementation. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7791. [PMID: 36543778 PMCID: PMC9772349 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35388-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The complexity of affected brain regions and cell types is a challenge for Huntington's disease (HD) treatment. Here we use single nucleus RNA sequencing to investigate molecular pathology in the cortex and striatum from R6/2 mice and human HD post-mortem tissue. We identify cell type-specific and -agnostic signatures suggesting oligodendrocytes (OLs) and oligodendrocyte precursors (OPCs) are arrested in intermediate maturation states. OL-lineage regulators OLIG1 and OLIG2 are negatively correlated with CAG length in human OPCs, and ATACseq analysis of HD mouse NeuN-negative cells shows decreased accessibility regulated by OL maturation genes. The data implicates glucose and lipid metabolism in abnormal cell maturation and identify PRKCE and Thiamine Pyrophosphokinase 1 (TPK1) as central genes. Thiamine/biotin treatment of R6/1 HD mice to compensate for TPK1 dysregulation restores OL maturation and rescues neuronal pathology. Our insights into HD OL pathology spans multiple brain regions and link OL maturation deficits to abnormal thiamine metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan G Lim
- UCI MIND, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Osama Al-Dalahmah
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jie Wu
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Maxwell P Gold
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Guomei Tang
- Department of Neurology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Miriam Adam
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - David K Dansu
- Advanced Science Research Center at the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hye-Jin Park
- Advanced Science Research Center at the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Patrizia Casaccia
- Advanced Science Research Center at the City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Andrea M Reyes-Ortiz
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Alice Lau
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Richard A Hickman
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Fatima Khan
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Fahad Paryani
- Department of Neurology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alice Tang
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kenneth Ofori
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Emily Miyoshi
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Neethu Michael
- Department of Pathology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Nicolette McClure
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Xena E Flowers
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jean Paul Vonsattel
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, New York, NY, USA
| | - Shawn Davidson
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Vilas Menon
- Department of Neurology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Vivek Swarup
- UCI MIND, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Ernest Fraenkel
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - James E Goldman
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Leslie M Thompson
- UCI MIND, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
- Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Center University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
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Cell-type specific profiling of histone post-translational modifications in the adult mouse striatum. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7720. [PMID: 36513652 PMCID: PMC9747932 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35384-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Epigenetic gene regulation in the heterogeneous brain remains challenging to decipher with current strategies. Bulk tissue analysis from pooled subjects reflects the average of cell-type specific changes across cell-types and individuals, which obscures causal relationships between epigenetic modifications, regulation of gene expression, and complex pathology. To address these limitations, we optimized a hybrid protocol, ICuRuS, for the isolation of nuclei tagged in specific cell-types and histone post translational modification profiling from the striatum of a single mouse. We combined affinity-based isolation of the medium spiny neuron subtypes, Adenosine 2a Receptor or Dopamine Receptor D1, with cleavage of histone-DNA complexes using an antibody-targeted micrococcal nuclease to release DNA complexes for paired end sequencing. Unlike fluorescence activated cell sorting paired with chromatin immunoprecipitation, ICuRuS allowed for robust epigenetic profiling at cell-type specific resolution. Our analysis provides a framework to understand combinatorial relationships between neuronal-subtype-specific epigenetic modifications and gene expression.
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46
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Walker DM, Zhou X, Cunningham AM, Ramakrishnan A, Cates HM, Lardner CK, Peña CJ, Bagot RC, Issler O, Van der Zee Y, Lipschultz AP, Godino A, Browne CJ, Hodes GE, Parise EM, Torres-Berrio A, Kennedy PJ, Shen L, Zhang B, Nestler EJ. Crystallin Mu in Medial Amygdala Mediates the Effect of Social Experience on Cocaine Seeking in Males but Not in Females. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 92:895-906. [PMID: 36182529 PMCID: PMC9828478 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.06.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Revised: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social experiences influence susceptibility to substance use disorder. The adolescent period is associated with the development of social reward and is exceptionally sensitive to disruptions to reward-associated behaviors by social experiences. Social isolation (SI) during adolescence alters anxiety- and reward-related behaviors in adult males, but little is known about females. The medial amygdala (meA) is a likely candidate for the modulation of social influence on drug reward because it regulates social reward, develops during adolescence, and is sensitive to social stress. However, little is known regarding how the meA responds to drugs of abuse. METHODS We used adolescent SI coupled with RNA sequencing to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying meA regulation of social influence on reward. RESULTS We show that SI in adolescence, a well-established preclinical model for addiction susceptibility, enhances preference for cocaine in male but not in female mice and alters cocaine-induced protein and transcriptional profiles within the adult meA particularly in males. To determine whether transcriptional mechanisms within the meA are important for these behavioral effects, we manipulated Crym expression, a sex-specific key driver gene identified through differential gene expression and coexpression network analyses, specifically in meA neurons. Overexpression of Crym, but not another key driver that did not meet our sex-specific criteria, recapitulated the behavioral and transcriptional effects of adolescent SI. CONCLUSIONS These results show that the meA is essential for modulating the sex-specific effects of social experience on drug reward and establish Crym as a critical mediator of sex-specific behavioral and transcriptional plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deena M Walker
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Xianxiao Zhou
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Mount Sinai Center for Transformative Disease Modeling, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Icahn Genomics Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Ashley M Cunningham
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Aarthi Ramakrishnan
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Hannah M Cates
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Casey K Lardner
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Catherine J Peña
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Rosemary C Bagot
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Orna Issler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Yentl Van der Zee
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Andrew P Lipschultz
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Arthur Godino
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Caleb J Browne
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Georgia E Hodes
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Eric M Parise
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Angelica Torres-Berrio
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Pamela J Kennedy
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | - Li Shen
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Mount Sinai Center for Transformative Disease Modeling, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Icahn Genomics Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Eric J Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.
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Sequeira-Cordero A, Brenes JC. Time course of plasticity-related alterations following the first exposure to amphetamine in juvenile rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2022; 221:173489. [PMID: 36375621 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2022.173489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
In vulnerable consumers, the first drug exposure induces various neurobehavioral adaptations that may represent the starting point toward addiction. Elucidating the neuroplastic mechanisms underlying that first rewarding experience would contribute to understanding the transition from recreational to compulsive drug use. In a preclinical model with juvenile rats, we analyzed the time-dependent fluctuations in the expression of neuroplasticity-related genes like the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), its tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB), the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), the microRNA-132, the Rho GTPase-activating protein 32 (p250GAP), the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), and the neurotransmitters contents in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the dorsal striatum (DS) 45, 90, and 180 min after an amphetamine (AMPH) injection. As expected, AMPH altered the concentration of norepinephrine, dopamine, DOPAC, and serotonin in a region- and time-dependent manner. Regarding gene expression, AMPH at 45 min upregulated BDNF and primiR-132 expression in NAc and downregulated TrkB expression in DS. At 90 min, AMPH upregulated TrkB, CREB, p250GAP, and primiR-132 expression in NAc and BDNF, primiR-132, and CRF in DS. At 180 min, only BNDF in NAc continued to be upregulated by AMPH. Based on the levels of AMPH-induced hyperactivity, we classified the rats as low and high AMPH responders. High AMPH responders characterized by overexpressing BDNF, CREB, p250GAP, and CRF in NAc and by showing lower levels of dopamine and serotonin metabolites and turnovers in both regions. Our findings demonstrated that a single AMPH administration is enough to induce neuroplastic adaptations, especially in the NAc of prone rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrey Sequeira-Cordero
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud, Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica; Centro de Investigación en Neurociencias, Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica
| | - Juan C Brenes
- Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas, Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica; Centro de Investigación en Neurociencias, Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica.
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Ho MF, Zhang C, Moon I, Zhu X, Coombes BJ, Biernacka J, Skime M, Oesterle TS, Karpyak VM, Schmidt K, Gliske K, Ngo Q, Skillon C, Seppala MD, Li H, Weinshilboum RM. Single cell transcriptomics reveals distinct transcriptional responses to oxycodone and buprenorphine by iPSC-derived brain organoids from patients with opioid use disorder. Mol Psychiatry 2022:10.1038/s41380-022-01837-8. [PMID: 36302966 PMCID: PMC10588459 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01837-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The opioid epidemic represents a national crisis. Oxycodone is one of the most prescribed opioid medications in the United States, whereas buprenorphine is currently the most prescribed medication for opioid use disorder (OUD) pharmacotherapy. Given the extensive use of prescription opioids and the global opioid epidemic, it is essential to understand how opioids modulate brain cell type function at the single-cell level. We performed single nucleus RNA-seq (snRNA-seq) using iPSC-derived forebrain organoids from three male OUD subjects in response to oxycodone, buprenorphine, or vehicle for seven days. We utilized the snRNA-seq data to identify differentially expressed genes following drug treatment using the Seurat integrative analysis pipeline. We utilized iPSC-derived forebrain organoids and single-cell sequencing technology as an unbiased tool to study cell-type-specific and drug-specific transcriptional responses. After quality control filtering, we analyzed 25787 cells and identified sixteen clusters using unsupervised clustering analysis. Our results reveal distinct transcriptional responses to oxycodone and buprenorphine by iPSC-derived brain organoids from patients with OUD. Specifically, buprenorphine displayed a significant influence on transcription regulation in glial cells. However, oxycodone induced type I interferon signaling in many cell types, including neural cells in brain organoids. Finally, we demonstrate that oxycodone, but not buprenorphine activated STAT1 and induced the type I interferon signaling in patients with OUD. These data suggest that elevation of STAT1 expression associated with OUD might play a role in transcriptional regulation in response to oxycodone. In summary, our results provide novel mechanistic insight into drug action at single-cell resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Fen Ho
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
| | - Cheng Zhang
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Irene Moon
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Xiujuan Zhu
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Brandon J Coombes
- Division of Computational Biology, Quantitative Health Sciences; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Joanna Biernacka
- Division of Computational Biology, Quantitative Health Sciences; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Michelle Skime
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Tyler S Oesterle
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Victor M Karpyak
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | | | - Kate Gliske
- Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Center City, Minnesota, USA
| | - Quyen Ngo
- Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Center City, Minnesota, USA
| | - Cedric Skillon
- Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Center City, Minnesota, USA
| | | | - Hu Li
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Richard M Weinshilboum
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
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Onimus O, Valjent E, Fisone G, Gangarossa G. Haloperidol-Induced Immediate Early Genes in Striatopallidal Neurons Requires the Converging Action of cAMP/PKA/DARPP-32 and mTOR Pathways. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms231911637. [PMID: 36232936 PMCID: PMC9569967 DOI: 10.3390/ijms231911637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2022] [Revised: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Antipsychotics share the common pharmacological feature of antagonizing the dopamine 2 receptor (D2R), which is abundant in the striatum and involved in both the therapeutic and side effects of this drug’s class. The pharmacological blockade of striatal D2R, by disinhibiting the D2R-containing medium-sized spiny neurons (MSNs), leads to a plethora of molecular, cellular and behavioral adaptations, which are central in the action of antipsychotics. Here, we focused on the cell type-specific (D2R-MSNs) regulation of some striatal immediate early genes (IEGs), such as cFos, Arc and Zif268. Taking advantage of transgenic mouse models, pharmacological approaches and immunofluorescence analyses, we found that haloperidol-induced IEGs in the striatum required the synergistic activation of A2a (adenosine) and NMDA (glutamate) receptors. At the intracellular signaling level, we found that the PKA/DARPP-32 and mTOR pathways synergistically cooperate to control the induction of IEGs by haloperidol. By confirming and further expanding previous observations, our results provide novel insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying the molecular/cellular action of antipsychotics in the striatum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oriane Onimus
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013 Paris, France
| | - Emmanuel Valjent
- Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle (IGF), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Inserm, 34094 Montpellier, France
| | - Gilberto Fisone
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Giuseppe Gangarossa
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Unité de Biologie Fonctionnelle et Adaptative, F-75013 Paris, France
- Correspondence:
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50
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Phosphorylation Signals Downstream of Dopamine Receptors in Emotional Behaviors: Association with Preference and Avoidance. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms231911643. [PMID: 36232945 PMCID: PMC9570387 DOI: 10.3390/ijms231911643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Dopamine regulates emotional behaviors, including rewarding and aversive behaviors, through the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway, which projects dopamine neurons from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Protein phosphorylation is critical for intracellular signaling pathways and physiological functions, which are regulated by neurotransmitters in the brain. Previous studies have demonstrated that dopamine stimulated the phosphorylation of intracellular substrates, such as receptors, ion channels, and transcription factors, to regulate neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity through dopamine receptors. We also established a novel database called KANPHOS that provides information on phosphorylation signals downstream of monoamines identified by our kinase substrate screening methods, including dopamine, in addition to those reported in the literature. Recent advances in proteomics techniques have enabled us to clarify the mechanisms through which dopamine controls rewarding and aversive behaviors through signal pathways in the NAc. In this review, we discuss the intracellular phosphorylation signals regulated by dopamine in these two emotional behaviors.
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