Project description:To identify genes regulated by SRF in response to increased neuronal activity whole-genome expression profiling (Illumina Mouse WG-6 microarrays) of kainic acid-induced genes were performed. We found that loss of SRF in DG leads to specific deficits in activity-induced gene expression. Identified genes functions are associated with synapse plasticity, epilepsy, outgrowth of neurites, behavior and MAPK signaling pathway. The microarray experiment was performed to identify SRF-dependent activity-induced genes, using brain-specific, inducible SRF gene knockout mice. Conditional mutants of Srf were obtained by crossing mice in which Srf gene was flanked by loxP sites (Srf f/f) with an CaMKCreERT2 line to ablate its expression exclusively in excitatory forebrain neurons. Knockouts (KO = Srf f/f;CaMKCreERT2) and control littermates (CTR = Srf f/f) were used in the experiments. To enable time-specific induction of SRF deletion, adult mice, were injected with tamoxifen. Global gene expression induced by kainic acid (KA, 35-50 mg/kg) was analyzed. At 6 hours after seizures induction (seizures severity 5; according to modified Racine scale) or saline injection, CTR and KO animals were sacrificed and dentate gyrus was microdissected and used for RNA isolation. In order to identify SRF-regulated genes, we used Illumina MouseWG-6 v2.0 Expression BeadChips.
Project description:Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) can develop from alterations in hippocampal structure and circuit characteristics, and can be modeled in mice by administration of kainic acid (KA). Adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) contributes to hippocampal functions and has been reported to contribute to the development of TLE. Some of the phenotypical changes include neural stem and precursor cells (NPSC) apoptosis, shortly after their birth, before they produce hippocampal neurons. Here we explored these early phenotypical changes in the DG 3 days after systemic KA administration to mice. Our specific aim was to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying altered apoptosis levels in NSPC following KA-induced status epilepticus (KA-SE). Accordingly, we chose a multi-omics experimental setup and analyzed DG tissue samples using proteomics, transcriptomics and microRNA profiling techniques. We here present a description of how these date were obtained and provide them to others for further analysis and validation. This may help to further identify and characterize molecular mechanisms involved in the alterations induced shortly after KA-SE in the mouse DG. Total RNA obtained from dentate gyrus 72h after mice were subjected to repeated low dose kainic acid induced status epilepticus or saline i.p. injections
Project description:Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) can develop from alterations in hippocampal structure and circuit characteristics, and can be modeled in mice by administration of kainic acid (KA). Adult neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) contributes to hippocampal functions and has been reported to contribute to the development of TLE. Some of the phenotypical changes include neural stem and precursor cells (NPSC) apoptosis, shortly after their birth, before they produce hippocampal neurons. Here we explored these early phenotypical changes in the DG 3 days after systemic KA administration to mice. Our specific aim was to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying altered apoptosis levels in NSPC following KA-induced status epilepticus (KA-SE). Accordingly, we chose a multi-omics experimental setup and analyzed DG tissue samples using proteomics, transcriptomics and microRNA profiling techniques. We here present a description of how these date were obtained and provide them to others for further analysis and validation. This may help to further identify and characterize molecular mechanisms involved in the alterations induced shortly after KA-SE in the mouse DG. Total RNA obtained from dentate gyrus 72h after mice were subjected to repeated low dose kainic acid induced status epilepticus or saline i.p. injections
Project description:Epilepsy in women is often accompanied by hormonal disturbances including irregular cycles and premature onset of menopause. Decline in estrogen levels results in increased risk for neurodegenerative diseases, with strong participation of chronic inflammation. We have shown that estradiol (EB) has neuroprotective effects against seizure-induced damage in the sensitive hilar region of hippocampal dentate gyrus associated with neuropeptide Y (NPY) upregulation. Here, we quantify the alterations caused by kainic acid-induced status epilepticus in the glutamatergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic, cholinergic and serotonergic synapse transcriptomes of dentate gyrus of ovariectomized female rats and the recovery effects of the EB replacement. Our data indicate that the EB replacement reduces the number of significantly regulated genes in seizured ovariectomized female rats by about 45%. The new measure Pathway Restoration Efficiency (PRE) indicates the dopaminergic synapse to be the most protected (65%) and the GABAergic synapse the least protected (37%) by the EB replacement.
Project description:We previously found that mice with heterozygous knockout of the alpha-isoform of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (alpha-CaMKII HKO mice) show various dysregulated behaviors, including cyclic variations in locomotor activity (LA), suggesting that alpha-CaMKII HKO mice may serve as an animal model showing infradian oscillation of mood. We performed gene expression microarray analysis of dentate gyrus from alpha-CaMKII HKO mice. Mice were selected for the sampling such that their LA levels varied among the mice. Dentate gyrus RNA isolated from alpha-CaMKII HKO mice.
Project description:To identify genes regulated by SRF in response to increased neuronal activity whole-genome expression profiling (Illumina Mouse WG-6 microarrays) of kainic acid-induced genes were performed. We found that loss of SRF in DG leads to specific deficits in activity-induced gene expression. Identified genes functions are associated with synapse plasticity, epilepsy, outgrowth of neurites, behavior and MAPK signaling pathway.
Project description:The gene expression patterns in the dentate gyrus of forebrain-specific calcineurin knockout mice and control mice were examined using Affymetrix GeneChip arrays.
Project description:Schnurri-2 (Shn-2), an NF-kappa B site-binding protein, tightly binds to the enhancers of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I genes and inflammatory cytokines, which have been shown to harbor common variant single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with schizophrenia. Shn-2 knockout mice show behavioral abnormalities that strongly resemble those of schizophrenics. We performed gene expression microarray analysis of dentate gyri from Shn-2 knockout and wild-type control mice. Dentate gyrus RNA isolated from six Shn-2 knockout and six control wild-type mice were compared.
Project description:Neural stem cells divide throughout adulthood in neurogenic niches - the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the subventricular zone (SVZ) - producing progenitor cells and new neurons. Moreover, stem cells self-renew, thus preserving their pool. The number of stem/progenitor cells in the neurogenic niches declines with age. We have previously demonstrated that the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16Ink4a maintains, in aged mice, the pool of dentate gyrus stem cells by preventing their activation after a neurogenic stimulus such as exercise (running). We showed that, although p16Ink4a ablation by itself does not activate stem/progenitor cells, exercise strongly induced stem cell proliferation in p16Ink4a knockout dentate gyrus, but not in wild-type. As p16Ink4a regulates stem cell self-renewal during aging, we sought to profile the dentate gyrus transcriptome from p16Ink4a wild-type and knockout aged mice, either sedentary or running for 12 days. By pairwise comparisons of differentially expressed genes and by correlative analyses through the DESeq2 software, we identified genes regulated by p16Ink4a deletion, either without stimulus (running) added, or following running. The p16Ink4a knockout basic gene signature, i.e. in sedentary mice, involves up-regulation of apoptotic, neuroinflammation- and synaptic activity-associated genes, suggesting a reactive cellular state. Conversely, another set of 106 genes we identified, whose differential expression specifically reflects the pattern of proliferative response of p16 knockout stem cells to running, are involved in processes regulating stem cells activation, i.e., synaptic function, neurotransmitter metabolism, stem cell proliferation control, and regulation of ROS levels. Moreover, we analyzed the regulation of these stem cell-specific genes after a second running stimulus. Surprisingly, the second running neither activated stem cell proliferation in the p16Ink4a knockout dentate gyrus nor changed the expression of these genes, confirming that they are correlated to the stem cell reactivity to stimulus.
Project description:The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is a brain region involved in learning, memory formation, and spatial coding. We performed single-cell RNA-sequencing of the dentate gyrus of young and old mice to identify the age-induced changes.