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Sex-Specific and Opposed Effects of FKBP51 in Glutamatergic and GABAergic Neurons: Implications for Stress Susceptibility and Resilience

ABSTRACT: Mental health disorders often arise as a combination of environmental and genetic factors. The FKBP5 gene, encoding the GR co-chaperone FKBP51, has been uncovered as a key genetic risk factor for stress related illness. However, the exact cell type and region-specific mechanisms by which FKBP51 contributes to stress resilience or susceptibility processes remain to be unravelled. FKBP51 functionality is known to interact with the environmental risk factors age and sex, but so far data on behavioral, structural and molecular consequences of these interactions are still largely unknown. Here we report the cell type- and sex-specific contribution of FKBP51 to stress susceptibility and resilience mechanisms under the high-risk environmental conditions of an older age, by using two conditional knockout models within glutamatergic (Fkbp5Nex) and GABAergic (Fkbp5Dlx) neurons of the forebrain. Specific manipulation of Fkbp5 in these two cell types led to opposing effects on behavior, brain structure and gene expression profiles in a highly sex-dependent fashion. The results emphasize the role of FKBP51 as a key player in stress-related illness and the need for more targeted and sex-specific treatment strategies.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE232460 | GEO | 2023/05/16

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Early life stress (ELS) has often been described as a risk factor for developing psychiatric disease. However, moderate exposure to ELS can also lead to stress inoculation and consequently adaptive changes on brain and behavior. Moreover, the FKBP5 gene, encoding the FKBP51 co-chaperone, has been associated with an increased risk for developing psychiatric disorders, specifically in interaction with ELS exposure. However, the underlying mechanisms behind the interaction of FKBP51 and moderate ELS exposure are still not completely understood and particularly data in the female sex are scarce. In this study, the contribution of FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons to the long-term consequences of moderate ELS was investigated in both sexes, by using the Fkbp5Nex conditional knockout line. In female wild-type Fkbp5lox/lox mice, ELS exposure led to an anxiolytic phenotype and improved memory performance in a stressful context, however this ELS effect was absent in in Fkbp5Nexx wild-type mice. Interactive effects of FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons and moderate ELS exposure in female mice were also reflected on brain volume of different cortical regions, the subiculum and white matter structures. Furthermore, interactive effects were observed for structural and electrophysiological properties of CA1 pyramidal neurons of the dorsal hippocampus. RNA sequencing of the hippocampus revealed the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) as a potential regulator of these interactive effects. Cre-dependent viral overexpression of TCF4 in female Nex-Cre mice led to similar beneficial effects on behavior as the moderate ELS exposure. Taken together, this study shows that FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons mediates adaptive effects of moderate ELS exposure on emotional regulation, cognitive behavior and neuronal structure and function. Moreover, it proposes TCF4 as an underlying target that drives the FKBP51-mediated effects of moderate ELS on brain and behavior.

Project description:While the paradigm that genetic predisposition and environmental exposures interact to shape development and function of the human brain and ultimately the risk of psychiatric disorders has drawn wide interest, the corresponding molecular mechanisms have not been elucidated yet. Here we show that a functional polymorphism altering chromatin interaction between the transcription start site and long range enhancers in the FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) gene, an important regulator of the stress hormone system, increases the risk of developing stress-related psychiatric disorders in adulthood by allele-specific, childhood trauma-dependent DNA demethylation in functional glucocorticoid response elements (GREs) of FKBP5. This demethylation is linked to increased stress-dependent gene transcription followed by a long-term dysregulation of the stress hormone system and a global impact on the function of immune cells and brain areas associated with stress regulation. This first identification of molecular mechanisms of genotype-directed long-term environmental reactivity will also critically contribute to designing more effective treatment strategies for stress-related disorders. Effects of FKBP5 rs1360780 genotype x environment interaction on peripheral blood mRNA expression of GR responsive genes, as measured by gene expression arrays, were explored in 129 individuals (child abuse/risk allele carrier N = 40, child abuse/protective allele carrier N = 15; and no child abuse/risk allele carrier N = 60, no child abuse/protective allele carrier N = 14). In all 129 individuals, 1627 transcripts showed a significant correlation with plasma cortisol concentrations, suggesting their GR responsiveness. The correlation of 76 of these transcripts with cortisol plasma levels showed significant differences when stratifying by FKBP5 genotype in individuals with child abuse (Fisher z score ≥ 1.96) For these 76 transcripts, the mean absolute correlation coefficient with plasma cortisol was R = 0.23 in the risk allele carriers with child abuse, that is those exhibiting a demethylation of FKBP5 intron 7 as compared to R = 0.74 in the carriers of the protective genotype with child abuse where intron 7 methylation remains largely stable. This indicates a relative GR-resistance in the trauma exposed FKBP5 risk allele vs. protective genotype carriers. These 76 transcripts did not show a genotype-dependent difference in correlation coefficients in non-trauma exposed individuals suggesting that exposure to early trauma enhances FKBP5 genotype-dependent effect of GR sensitivity, most likely by epigenetic mechanisms. These findings suggest that the combination of FKBP5 risk allele carrier status and early trauma exposure alters the stress hormone-dependent regulation of several genes in peripheral blood cells, and might thereby enhance the reported association of early trauma with immune and inflammatory dysregulation, further promoting system-wide symptoms of stress-related disorders.

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Sex-Specific and Opposed Effects of FKBP51 in Glutamatergic and GABAergic Neurons: Implications for Stress Susceptibility and Resilience

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