MAPK signaling determines anxiety in the juvenile mouse brain but depression-like behavior in adults.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wefers B
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3329550 | biostudies-literature | 2012
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
MAPK signaling determines anxiety in the juvenile mouse brain but depression-like behavior in adults.
Wefers Benedikt B Hitz Christiane C Hölter Sabine M SM Trümbach Dietrich D Hansen Jens J Weber Peter P Pütz Benno B Deussing Jan M JM de Angelis Martin Hrabé MH Roenneberg Till T Zheng Fang F Alzheimer Christian C Silva Alcino A Wurst Wolfgang W Kühn Ralf R
PloS one 20120418 4
MAP kinase signaling has been implicated in brain development, long-term memory, and the response to antidepressants. Inducible Braf knockout mice, which exhibit protein depletion in principle forebrain neurons, enabled us to unravel a new role of neuronal MAPK signaling for emotional behavior. Braf mice that were induced during adulthood showed normal anxiety but increased depression-like behavior, in accordance with pharmacological findings. In contrast, the inducible or constitutive inactivat ...[more]
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Project description:MAP kinase signaling has been implicated in brain development, long-term memory, and the response to antidepressants. Inducible Braf knockout mice enabled us to unravel a new role of neuronal MAPK signaling for emotional behavior. Braf mice that were induced during adulthood showed normal anxiety but increased depression-like behavior, in accordance with pharmacological findings. In contrast, the inactivation of Braf in the juvenile brain leads to normal depression-like behavior but decreased anxiety in adults. In these mutants we found no alteration of GABAergic neurotransmission but reduced neuronal arborization in the dentate gyrus. Analysis of gene expression in the hippocampus revealed nine downregulated MAPK target genes that represent candidates to cause the mutant phenotype. Our results reveal the differential function of MAPK signaling in juvenile and adult life phases and emphasize the early postnatal period as critical for the determination of anxiety in adults. Moreover, these results validate inducible gene inactivation as new valuable approach, allowing to discriminate between gene function in the adult and the developing postnatal brain. Five male Braf-cko, six male homozygous Braf-flox littermates, six male heterozygous CamkII-Cre, and six male wildtype littermates were killed with CO2, the complete hippocampal tissue was prepared, and total RNA was extracted with the Trizol protocol. The integrity and quality of the RNA samples were analyzed with an RNA electrophoresis chip (RNA 6000 Nano Kit, Agilent, Boeblingen, Germany). RNA samples of high integrity and quality (RIN ≥ 7.5) were further processed with the TotalPrep RNA Amplification Kit (Ambion, Austin, TX, USA) and hybridized onto MouseWG-6 v1.1 Expression Bead-Chips (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) following manufacturer’s instructions. Data were analyzed using the software R (used packages: beadarray, limma, and vsn).
2012-04-18 | E-GEOD-33618 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:MAP kinase signaling has been implicated in brain development, long-term memory, and the response to antidepressants. Inducible Braf knockout mice enabled us to unravel a new role of neuronal MAPK signaling for emotional behavior. Braf mice that were induced during adulthood showed normal anxiety but increased depression-like behavior, in accordance with pharmacological findings. In contrast, the inactivation of Braf in the juvenile brain leads to normal depression-like behavior but decreased anxiety in adults. In these mutants we found no alteration of GABAergic neurotransmission but reduced neuronal arborization in the dentate gyrus. Analysis of gene expression in the hippocampus revealed nine downregulated MAPK target genes that represent candidates to cause the mutant phenotype. Our results reveal the differential function of MAPK signaling in juvenile and adult life phases and emphasize the early postnatal period as critical for the determination of anxiety in adults. Moreover, these results validate inducible gene inactivation as new valuable approach, allowing to discriminate between gene function in the adult and the developing postnatal brain.
2012-04-19 | GSE33618 | GEO
Project description:Adult neurogenesis has been implicated in affective disorders and the action of antidepressants (ADs) although the functional significance of this association is still unclear. The use of animal models closely mimicking human comorbid affective and anxiety disorders seen in the majority of patients should provide relevant novel information. Here, we used a unique genetic mouse model displaying higher trait anxiety (HAB) and comorbid depression-like behavior. We demonstrate that HABs have a lower rate of hippocampal neurogenesis and impaired functional integration of newly born neurons as compared with their normal anxiety/depression-like behavior (NAB) controls. In HABs, chronic treatment with the AD fluoxetine alleviated their higher depression-like behavior and protected them from relapse for 3 but not 7 weeks after discontinuation of the treatment without affecting neurogenesis. Similar to what has been observed in depressed patients, fluoxetine treatment induced anxiogenic-like effects during the early treatment phase in NABs along with a reduction in neurogenesis. On the other hand, treatment with AD drugs with a particularly strong anxiolytic component, namely the neurokinin-1-receptor-antagonist L-822?429 or tianeptine, increased the reduced rate of neurogenesis in HABs up to NAB levels. In addition, challenge-induced hypoactivation of dentate gyrus (DG) neurons in HABs was normalized by all three drugs. Overall, these data suggest that AD-like effects in a psychopathological mouse model are commonly associated with modulation of DG hypoactivity but not neurogenesis, suggesting normalization of hippocampal hypoactivity as a neurobiological marker indicating successful remission. Finally, rather than to higher depression-related behavior, neurogenesis seems to be linked to pathological anxiety.
| S-EPMC3565824 | biostudies-other
Project description:The molecular etiology of invididual differences in complex behavior traits and susceptibility to psychiatric illness remains incomplete. Using an unbiased genetic approach in a mouse model, Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) influencing anxiety-like behaviors and beta-carboline-induced seizure vulnerability have been mapped to the distal portion of mouse chromosome 10 and an interval specific congenic strain (ISCS; A.B6chr10; 66 cM to telomere) was developed. This A.B6chr10 strain facilitated defining the behavioral influences of this region as well as gene expression profiling to identify candidate gene(s) underlying this QTL. By microarray studies, an unsuspected E3 Ubiquitin Ligase, Ring Finger 41 (Rnf41 / Neuregulin Receptor Degrading Protein1; Nrdp1) was differentially expressed in the region of interest, comparing the hippocampi of A/J vs A.B6chr10 mice as well as A/J vs B6 mice. By RT-PCR, Rnf41 expression levels were significantly increased 1.5 and 1.3-fold in the hippocampi of C57BL6/J and A.B6chr10 mice compared to A/J mice, respectively. In addition, protein levels of Rnf41 were increased in hippocampi of B6 mice compared to A/J mice across postnatal development with a 5.5-fold difference at P56. Among LxS recombinant inbred mice (N=33), Rnf41 hippocampal mRNA expression levels were significantly correlated with open field behavior (r= .454, p=.0073). Re-analyzing a microarray database of human post-mortem prefrontal cortex (Brodmannâ??s Area 46/10), RNF41 mRNA expression levels were reduced significantly in patients with major depression and bipolar disorder compared to unaffected controls. Overall, Rnf41 is a pleiotropic candidate gene for anxiety-like behaviors, depression, and vulnerability to seizures. RNF41 and its binding partners provide novel etiological pathways for influencing behavior, highlighting a potential role for the ubiquitin proteasome system in psychiatric illness. Keywords: strain difference, genetic variation Microarray Affymetrix GeneChip: From three independent pools (3 hippocampi /pool) of total RNA for each line, probe was labeled, hybridized as one pool per GeneChip, using a total of six mouse MOE 430 arrays (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). The sequential steps of reverse transcriptions, purification of ds cDNA, in vitro transcription and labeling of cRNA with biotin (Enzo BioArray High Yield RNA Transcript Labeling Kit), fragmentation of cRNA, hybridization to gene chips in a Affymetrix fluidics station 400 system, staining with streptavidin-phycoerythrin, washings, and scannings with a GeneArray Scanner were performed as described in the detailed protocols of the Affymetrix GeneChip Expression Analysis Technical Manual (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA) by the UTSW Microarray Core. The Affymetrix two GeneChip MOE 430 A and B set contains more than 45,000 probe sets, interrogating the expression level of 34,000 mouse gene transcripts. Illumina Microarray For the P0.5 microarray study, total RNA from a whole brain was individually used per Sentrix Mouse-6 BeadChip (Illumina, San Diego, CA), allowing individual samples to be evaluated and an increased sample size, namely six P0.5 mouse brains for each of three lines (A/J, B6, A.B6chr10). The Sentrix Mouse-6 BeadChip contains total 47,769 gene-specific, 70-mer oligonucleotide probes. Total RNA from each brain tissue of P0.5 mice was extracted in Trizol as above, reverse transcribed, labeled, and hybridized with a microarray according to the manufacturerâ??s detailed protocol (Illumina, San Diego, Ca.). Briefly, total RNA was reverse transcribed, then in vitro transcribed to cRNA and labeled with biotin-16-UTP. The labeled probe was hybridized to Illumina's Sentrix mouse-6 Expression BeadChips (Illumina, San Diego, CA), washed, and scanned with Illumina's BeadStation 500GX Genetic Analysis System in the UTSW Microarray core.
2010-05-25 | E-GEOD-8641 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Increasing evidence suggests that high-frequency deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens (NAcb-DBS) may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for individuals suffering from treatment-resistant depression, although the underlying mechanisms of action remain largely unknown. In this study, using a unique mouse model of enhanced depression- and anxiety-like behavior (HAB), we investigated behavioral and neurobiological effects of NAcb-DBS. HAB mice either underwent chronic treatment with one of three different selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or received NAcb-DBS for 1 h per day for 7 consecutive days. Animals were tested in established paradigms revealing depression- and anxiety-related behaviors. The enhanced depression-like behavior of HAB mice was not influenced by chronic SSRI treatment. In contrast, repeated, but not single, NAcb-DBS induced robust antidepressant and anxiolytic responses in HAB animals, while these behaviors remained unaffected in normal depression/anxiety animals (NAB), suggesting a preferential effect of NAcb-DBS on pathophysiologically deranged systems. NAcb-DBS caused a modulation of challenge-induced activity in various stress- and depression-related brain regions, including an increase in c-Fos expression in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis in HABs. Taken together, these findings show that the normalization of the pathophysiologically enhanced, SSRI-insensitive depression-like behavior by repeated NAcb-DBS was associated with the reversal of reported aberrant brain activity and impaired adult neurogenesis in HAB mice, indicating that NAcb-DBS affects neuronal activity as well as plasticity in a defined, mood-associated network. Thus, HAB mice may represent a clinically relevant model for elucidating the neurobiological correlates of NAcb-DBS.
| S-EPMC3656366 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects millions of people worldwide, many of whom are affected with post-TBI mood disorders or behavioral changes, including aggression or social withdrawal. Diminished functionality can persist for decades after TBI and delay rehabilitation and resumption of employment. It has been established that there is a relationship between these mental disorders and brain injury. However, the etiology and causal relationships behind these conditions are poorly understood. Rodent models provide a helpful tool for researching mood disorders and social impairment due to their natural tendencies to form social hierarchies. Here, we present a rat model of mental complications after TBI using a suite of behavioral tests to examine the causal relationships between changes in social behavior, including aggressive, hierarchical, depressive, and anxious behavior. For this purpose, we used multivariate analysis to identify causal relationships between the above post-TBI psychiatric sequelae. We performed statistical analysis using principal component analysis, discriminant analysis, and correlation analysis, and built a model to predict dominant-submissive behavior based on the behavioral tests. This model displayed a predictive accuracy of 93.3% for determining dominant-submissive behavior in experimental groups. Machine learning algorithms determined that in rats, aggression is not a principal prognostic factor for dominant-submissive behavior. Alternatively, dominant-submissive behavior is determined solely by the rats' depressive-anxious state and exploratory activity. We expect the causal approach used in this study will guide future studies into mood conditions and behavioral changes following TBI.
| S-EPMC9174479 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The molecular etiology of invididual differences in complex behavior traits and susceptibility to psychiatric illness remains incomplete. Using an unbiased genetic approach in a mouse model, Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) influencing anxiety-like behaviors and beta-carboline-induced seizure vulnerability have been mapped to the distal portion of mouse chromosome 10 and an interval specific congenic strain (ISCS; A.B6chr10; 66 cM to telomere) was developed. This A.B6chr10 strain facilitated defining the behavioral influences of this region as well as gene expression profiling to identify candidate gene(s) underlying this QTL. By microarray studies, an unsuspected E3 Ubiquitin Ligase, Ring Finger 41 (Rnf41 / Neuregulin Receptor Degrading Protein1; Nrdp1) was differentially expressed in the region of interest, comparing the hippocampi of A/J vs A.B6chr10 mice as well as A/J vs B6 mice. By RT-PCR, Rnf41 expression levels were significantly increased 1.5 and 1.3-fold in the hippocampi of C57BL6/J and A.B6chr10 mice compared to A/J mice, respectively. In addition, protein levels of Rnf41 were increased in hippocampi of B6 mice compared to A/J mice across postnatal development with a 5.5-fold difference at P56. Among LxS recombinant inbred mice (N=33), Rnf41 hippocampal mRNA expression levels were significantly correlated with open field behavior (r= .454, p=.0073). Re-analyzing a microarray database of human post-mortem prefrontal cortex (Brodmann’s Area 46/10), RNF41 mRNA expression levels were reduced significantly in patients with major depression and bipolar disorder compared to unaffected controls. Overall, Rnf41 is a pleiotropic candidate gene for anxiety-like behaviors, depression, and vulnerability to seizures. RNF41 and its binding partners provide novel etiological pathways for influencing behavior, highlighting a potential role for the ubiquitin proteasome system in psychiatric illness. Keywords: strain difference, genetic variation
2008-06-30 | GSE8641 | GEO
Project description:BackgroundPrevious studies have shown that growing up with rheumatic conditions can fuel dissatisfaction and psychological distress, which in turn affects disease self-management and treatment adherence. Primary objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents and young adults (AYA) with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and to identify correlates of conspicuous screening results.MethodsInitiated as part of the COACH multicenter observational study, outpatients aged 12 to 21 years participating in the National Pediatric Rheumatological Database (NPRD) were prospectively screened for mental health using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7).ResultsData from 1,150 adolescents with JIA (mean age 15.6 ± 2.2 years; mean disease duration 7.2 ± 4.9 years, 69% female, 43% oligoarthritis, 26% polyarthritis) were analysed. Overall, 32.7% (n = 316) of AYA showed conspicuous screening results, of whom 30.4% reported clinically relevant suicidal or self-harm thoughts. About 19% of screened patients showed moderate to severe depressive or anxious symptoms. AYA with conspicuous screening results were older (15.8 vs. 15.2 years; p < 0.0001), more often female (81% vs. 64%; p < 0.0001) and more often overweight (25% vs. 17%; p = 0.006). They had higher disease activity (physician global assessment on NRS 0-10; 1.7 vs. 1.2; p < 0.0001), more functional limitations (CHAQ; 0.44 vs. 0.14; <0.0001) and rated their health status worse (NRS 0-10; 3.5 vs. 1.8; p < 0.0001) than AYA with inconspicuous screening results. Females (OR 2.33 [CI 1.53-3.56]; p < 0.0001), older age (OR 1.09 [CI 1.01-1.18]; p = 0.026), patients with more functional limitations (OR 3.36 [CI 1.98-5.72]; p < 0.0001), and patients with worse subjective health status (OR 1.17 [CI 1.07-1.27]; p < 0.0001) were more likely to have a conspicuous screening result. Regular sports participation was associated with a lower likelihood of conspicuous screening result (OR 0.69 [CI 0.49-0.98]; p = 0.039).ConclusionsA large-scale outpatient screening of AYA with JIA in Germany shows a high prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms. The need for routine screening for early detection of mental health problems became apparent.
| S-EPMC11005270 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Embryonic exposure to the endocrine disruptor vinclozolin during gonadal sex determination promotes an epigenetic reprogramming of the male germ-line that is associated with transgenerational adult onset disease states. Further analysis of this transgenerational phenotype on the brain demonstrated reproducible changes in the brain transcriptome three generations (F3) removed from the exposure. The transgenerational alterations in the male and female brain transcriptomes were distinct. In the males, the expression of 92 genes in the hippocampus and 276 genes in the amygdala were transgenerationally altered. In the females, the expression of 1,301 genes in the hippocampus and 172 genes in the amygdala were transgenerationally altered. Analysis of specific gene sets demonstrated that several brain signaling pathways were influenced including those involved in axon guidance and long-term potentiation. An investigation of behavior demonstrated that the vinclozolin F3 generation males had a decrease in anxiety-like behavior, while the females had an increase in anxiety-like behavior. These observations demonstrate that an embryonic exposure to an environmental compound appears to promote a reprogramming of brain development that correlates with transgenerational sex-specific alterations in the brain transcriptomes and behavior. Observations are discussed in regards to environmental and transgenerational influences on the etiology of brain disease. Keywords: expression analysis, transgenerational changes due to vinclozolin
2009-01-03 | GSE14269 | GEO
Project description:Symptoms of depression can be induced in humans through blockade of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) whereas antidepressant-like effects can be produced in animal models and some clinical trials by limiting activity of acetylcholine (ACh) receptors. Thus, ACh signaling could contribute to the etiology of mood regulation. To test this hypothesis, we administered the AChE inhibitor physostigmine to mice and demonstrated an increase in anxiety- and depression-like behaviors that was reversed by administration of nicotinic or muscarinic antagonists. The behavioral effects of physostigmine were also reversed by administration of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine. Administration of fluoxetine also increased AChE activity throughout the brain, with the greatest change in the hippocampus. To determine whether cholinergic signaling in the hippocampus could contribute to the systemic effects of cholinergic drugs, we infused physostigmine or virally delivered shRNAs targeting AChE into the hippocampus. Both pharmacological and molecular genetic decreases in hippocampal AChE activity increased anxiety- and depression-like behaviors and decreased resilience to repeated stress in a social defeat paradigm. The behavioral changes due to shRNA-mediated knockdown of AChE were rescued by coinfusion of an shRNA-resistant AChE transgene into the hippocampus and reversed by systemic administration of fluoxetine. These data demonstrate that ACh signaling in the hippocampus promotes behaviors related to anxiety and depression. The sensitivity of these effects to fluoxetine suggests that shRNA-mediated knockdown of hippocampal AChE represents a model for anxiety- and depression-like phenotypes. Furthermore, abnormalities in the cholinergic system may be critical for the etiology of mood disorders and could represent an endophenotype of depression.
| S-EPMC3587265 | biostudies-literature