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Knockout of Atg5 delays the maturation and reduces the survival of adult-generated neurons in the hippocampus.

ABSTRACT: Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosomal degradation pathway that plays important roles in cell maintenance, expansion and differentiation. Removal of genes essential for autophagy from embryonic neural stem and precursor cells reduces the survival and inhibits neuronal differentiation of adult-generated neurons. No study has modified autophagy within the adult precursor cells, leaving the cell-autonomous role of autophagy in adult neurogenesis unknown. Here we demonstrate that autophagic flux exists in the adult dividing progenitor cells and their progeny in the dentate gyrus. To investigate the role of autophagy in adult hippocampal neurogenesis, we genetically deleted Autophagy-related gene 5 (Atg5) that reduced autophagic flux and the survival of the progeny of dividing progenitor cells. This significant reduction in survival of adult-generated neurons is accompanied by a delay in neuronal maturation, including a transient reduction in spine density in the absence of a change in differentiation. The delay in cell maturation and loss of progeny of the Atg5-null cells was not present in mice that lacked the essential pro-apoptotic protein Bax (Bcl-2-associated X protein), suggesting that Atg5-deficient cells die through a Bax-dependent mechanism. In addition, there was a loss of Atg5-null cells following exposure to running, suggesting that Atg5 is required for running-induced increases in neurogenesis. These findings highlight the cell-autonomous requirement of Atg5 in the survival of adult-generated neurons.

SUBMITTER: Xi Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4823925 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Chronic stress has been found to suppress adult neurogenesis, but it remains unclear whether it may affect the maturation process of adult-born neurons. Here, we examined the influence of chronic social defeat stress on the morphological and electrophysiological properties of adult-born dentate granule cells at different developmental stages.Adult C57BL/6 mice were subjected to 10 days of chronic social defeat stress followed by a social interaction test 24 hours after the last defeat. Defeated mice were segregated into susceptible and unsusceptible subpopulations based on a measure of social interaction test. Combining electrophysiology with retrovirus-mediated birth-dating and labeling, we examined the impact of chronic social defeat stress on temporal regulation of synaptic plasticity of adult-born dentate granule cells along their maturation.Chronic social defeat stress decreases the survival and dendritic complexity of adult-born dentate granule cells. While chronic social defeat stress doesn't alter the intrinsic electrophysiological properties and synaptic transmission of surviving adult-born dentate granule cells, it promotes the developmental switch in synaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors from predominant GluN2B- to GluN2A-containing receptors, which transform the immature synapse of adult-born dentate granule cells from one that exhibits enhanced long-term potentiation to one that has normal levels of long-term potentiation. Furthermore, chronic social defeat stress increases the level of endogenous repressor element-1 silencing transcription factor mRNA in adult-born dentate granule cells, and knockdown of the repressor element-1 silencing transcription factor in adult-born dentate granule cells rescues chronic social defeat stress-induced morphological deficits and accelerated developmental switch in synaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit composition.These results uncover a previously unsuspected role of chronic social defeat stress in regulating adult neurogenesis and suggest that chronic social defeat stress can affect synaptic maturation process of adult-born dentate granule cells.

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Knockout of Atg5 delays the maturation and reduces the survival of adult-generated neurons in the hippocampus.

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