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Age-Dependent Degeneration of Mature Dentate Gyrus Granule Cells Following NMDA Receptor Ablation.

ABSTRACT: N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in all hippocampal areas play an essential role in distinct processes of memory formation as well as in sustaining cell survival of postnatally generated neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG). In contrast to the beneficial effects, over-activation of NMDARs has been implicated in many acute and chronic neurological diseases, reason why therapeutic approaches and clinical trials involving receptor blockade have been envisaged for decades. Here we employed genetically engineered mice to study the long-term effect of NMDAR ablation on selective hippocampal neuronal populations. Ablation of either GluN1 or GluN2B causes degeneration of the DG. The neuronal demise affects mature neurons specifically in the dorsal DG and is NMDAR subunit-dependent. Most importantly, the degenerative process exacerbates with increasing age of the animals. These results lead us to conclude that mature granule cells in the dorsal DG undergo neurodegeneration following NMDAR ablation in aged mouse. Thus, caution needs to be exerted when considering long-term administration of NMDAR antagonists for therapeutic purposes.

SUBMITTER: Watanabe Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4709453 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Age-Dependent Degeneration of Mature Dentate Gyrus Granule Cells Following NMDA Receptor Ablation.

Watanabe Yasuhito Y Müller Michaela K MK von Engelhardt Jakob J Sprengel Rolf R Seeburg Peter H PH Monyer Hannah H

Frontiers in molecular neuroscience 20160112

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in all hippocampal areas play an essential role in distinct processes of memory formation as well as in sustaining cell survival of postnatally generated neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG). In contrast to the beneficial effects, over-activation of NMDARs has been implicated in many acute and chronic neurological diseases, reason why therapeutic approaches and clinical trials involving receptor blockade have been envisaged for decades. Here we employed genet ...[more]

PMID: 26793056

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Project description:BackgroundAdult neurogenesis continuously adds new neurons to the dentate gyrus and the olfactory bulb. It involves the proliferation and subsequent differentiation of neuronal progenitors, and is thus closely linked to the cell cycle machinery. Cell cycle progression is governed by the successive expression, activation and degradation of regulatory proteins. Among them, D-type cyclins control the exit from the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Cyclin D2 (cD2) has been shown to be required for the generation of new neurons in the neurogenic niches of the adult brain. It is differentially expressed during hippocampal development, and adult cD2 knock out (cD2KO) mice virtually lack neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and olfactory bulb. In the present study we examined the dynamics of postnatal and adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of cD2KO mice. Animals were injected with bromodeoxyuridine at seven time points during the first 10 months of life and brains were immunohistochemically analyzed for their potential to generate new neurons.ResultsCompared to their WT litters, cD2KO mice had considerably reduced numbers of newly born granule cells during the postnatal period, with neurogenesis becoming virtually absent around postnatal day 28. This was paralleled by a reduction in granule cell numbers, in the volume of the granule cell layer as well as in apoptotic cell death. CD2KO mice did not show any of the age-related changes in neurogenesis and granule cell numbers that were seen in WT litters.ConclusionsThe present study suggests that hippocampal neurogenesis becomes increasingly dependent on cD2 during early postnatal development. In cD2KO mice, hippocampal neurogenesis ceases at a time point at which the tertiary germinative matrix stops proliferating, indicating that cD2 becomes an essential requirement for ongoing neurogenesis with the transition from developmental to adult neurogenesis. Our data further support the notion that adult neurogenesis continuously adds new neurons to the hippocampal network, hence increasing cell density of the DG.

Dataset Information

Age-Dependent Degeneration of Mature Dentate Gyrus Granule Cells Following NMDA Receptor Ablation.

Publications

Age-Dependent Degeneration of Mature Dentate Gyrus Granule Cells Following NMDA Receptor Ablation.

Similar Datasets

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