Genetic Evidence for Adenylyl Cyclase 1 as a Target for Preventing Neuronal Excitotoxicity Mediated by N-Methyl-D-aspartate Receptors

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor is a cation channel highly permeable to calcium and plays critical roles in governing normal and pathologic functions in neurons. Calcium entry through NMDA receptors (NMDARs) can lead to the activation of the Ca2+-dependent protease, calpain. Here we investigated the involvement of calpain in regulation of NMDAR channel function. After prolonged (5-min) treatment with NMDA or glutamate, the whole-cell NMDAR-mediated current was significantly reduced in both acutely dissociated and cultured cortical pyramidal neurons. The down-regulation of NMDAR current was blocked by bath application of selective calpain inhibitors. Intracellular injection of a specific calpain inhibitory peptide also eliminated the down-regulation of NMDAR current induced by prolonged NMDA treatment. In contrast, dynamin inhibitory peptide had no effect on the depression of NMDAR current, suggesting the lack of involvement of dynamin/clathrin-mediated NMDAR internalization in this process. Immunoblotting analysis showed that the NR2A and NR2B subunits of NMDARs were markedly degraded in cultured cortical neurons treated with glutamate, and the degradation of NR2 subunits was prevented by calpain inhibitors. Taken together, our results suggest that prolonged activation of NMDARs in neurons activates calpain, and activated calpain in turn down-regulates the function of NMDARs, which provides a neuroprotective mechanism against NMDAR overstimulation accompanying ischemia and stroke.

Cell Type–Dependent Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Role of Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 in Alcoholic Liver Injury

Sectm1a Facilitates Protection against Inflammation-Induced Organ Damage through Promoting TRM Self-Renewal

N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors play major roles in synaptic transmission and plasticity, as well as excitotoxicity. NMDA receptors are thought to be tetrameric complexes mainly composed of NMDA receptor (NR)1 and NR2 subunits. The NR1 subunits are required for the formation of functional NMDA receptor channels, whereas the NR2 subunits modify channel properties. Biochemical and functional studies indicate that subunits making up NMDA receptors are organized into a dimer of dimers, and the N termini of the subunits are major determinants for receptor assembling. Here we used a biophysical approach, fluorescence resonance energy transfer, to analyze the assembly of intact, functional NMDA receptors in living cells. The results showed that NR1, NR2A, and NR2B subunits could form homodimers when they were expressed alone in HEK293 cells. Subunit homodimers were also found existing in heteromeric NMDA receptors formed between NR1 and NR2 subunits. These findings are consistent with functional NMDA receptors being arranged as a dimer of dimers. In addition, our data indicated that the conformation of NR1 subunit homodimers was affected by the partner NR2 subunits during the formation of heteromeric receptor complexes, which might underlie the mechanism by which NR2 subunits modify NMDA receptor function.

Disruption of Performance in the Five-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task Induced By Administration of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Antagonists: Relevance to Cognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia

Activity-Dependent Dendritic Spine Structural Plasticity Is Regulated by Small GTPase Rap1 and Its Target AF-6

Anomalous Renal Effects of Tin Protoporphyrin in a Murine Model of Sickle Cell Disease

Increased Ethanol Resistance and Consumption in Eps8 Knockout Mice Correlates with Altered Actin Dynamics

The orphan nuclear hormone receptor SHP (gene designation NROB2) is an important component of a negative regulatory cascade by which high levels of bile acids repress bile acid biosynthesis. Short term studies in SHP null animals confirm this function and also reveal the existence of additional pathways for bile acid negative feedback regulation. We have used long term dietary treatments to test the role of SHP in response to chronic elevation of bile acids, cholesterol, or both. In contrast to the increased sensitivity predicted from the loss of negative feedback regulation, the SHP null mice were relatively resistant to the hepatotoxicity associated with a diet containing 0.5% cholic acid and the much more severe effects of a diet containing both 0.5% cholic acid and 2% cholesterol. This was associated with decreased hepatic accumulation of cholesterol and triglycerides in the SHP null mice. There were also alterations in the expression of a number of genes involved in cholesterol and bile acid homeostasis, notably cholesterol 12alpha-hydroxylase (CYP8B1), which was strongly reexpressed in the SHP null mice, but not the wild type mice fed either bile acid containing diet. This contrasts with the strong repression of CYP8B1 observed with short term bile acid feeding, as well as the effects of long term feeding on other bile acid biosynthetic enzymes such as cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1). CYP8B1 expression could contribute to the decreased toxicity of the chronic bile acid treatment by increasing the hydrophilicity of the bile acid pool. These results identify an unexpected role for SHP in hepatotoxicity and suggest new approaches to modulating effects of chronically elevated bile acids in cholestasis.

N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are glutamate-gated ion channels composed of NR1 and NR2 subunits. When expressed alone, the most prevalent NR1 splice variant and all NR2 subunits are retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), whereas other NR1 splice variants reach the cell surface to varying degrees. Because similar trafficking patterns have been seen for single transmembrane domain chimeric proteins with appended C termini of NMDA receptor subunits, these chimeric proteins have been used as a model for studying the mechanisms underlying the ER retention and surface trafficking of NMDA receptors. Using this approach, an RRR motif in the C1 cassette has been identified as a major ER retention signal present in NR1 subunits, and the surface localization of other NR1 splice variants has been explained by the absence of the C1 cassette or by the presence of a PDZ/coatomer protein complex II-binding domain in the C2' cassette. However, when we tested these conclusions using full-length NR1 constructs, a more complex role of the C-terminal cassettes in the trafficking of NR1 subunits emerged. Our experiments showed that two independent ER retention motifs in the C1 cassette, KKK and RRR, are the signals mediating ER retention of the full-length NR1 subunits and that the C2 cassette has an additional inhibitory effect on the forward trafficking of NR1 subunits. On the other hand, C0 and C2' cassettes had an enhancing effect on the trafficking of NR1 subunits to the cell surface. Our observations identify the unique roles of C-terminal cassettes in the trafficking of full-length NR1 subunits.

Tristetraprolin (TTP) regulates expression at the level of mRNA decay of several cytokines, including the T cell-specific cytokine, interleukin-2. We performed experiments to determine whether another T cell-specific cytokine, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), is also regulated by TTP and found that T cell receptor-activated T cells from TTP knock-out mice overproduced IFN-gamma mRNA and protein compared with activated T cells from wild-type mice. The half-life of IFN-gamma mRNA was 23 min in anti-CD3-stimulated T cells from wild-type mice, whereas it was 51 min in anti-CD3-stimulated T cells from TTP knock-out mice, suggesting that the overexpression of IFN-gamma mRNA in TTP knock-out mice was due to stabilization of IFN-gamma mRNA. Insertion of a 70-nucleotide AU-rich sequence from the murine IFN-gamma 3'-untranslated region, which contained a high affinity binding site for TTP, into the 3'-untranslated region of a beta-globin reporter transcript conferred TTP-dependent destabilization on the beta-globin transcript. Together these results suggest that TTP binds to a functional AU-rich element in the 3'-untranslated region of IFN-gamma mRNA and mediates rapid degradation of the IFN-gamma transcript. Thus, TTP plays an important role in turning off IFN-gamma expression at the appropriate time during an immune response.

Real Time Single Cell Analysis of Bid Cleavage and Bid Translocation during Caspase-dependent and Neuronal Caspase-independent Apoptosis

To examine the role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in muscle glucose transport, we generated muscle-specific transgenic mice (TG) carrying cDNAs of inactive alpha2 (alpha2i TG) and alpha1 (alpha1i TG) catalytic subunits. Extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles from wild type and TG mice were isolated and subjected to a series of in vitro incubation experiments. In alpha2i TG mice basal alpha2 activity was barely detectable, whereas basal alpha1 activity was only partially reduced. Known AMPK stimuli including 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-4-ribofuranoside (AICAR), rotenone (a Complex I inhibitor), dinitrophenol (a mitochondrial uncoupler), muscle contraction, and sorbitol (producing hyperosmolar shock) did not increase AMPK alpha2 activity in alpha2i TG mice, whereas alpha1 activation was attenuated by only 30-50%. Glucose transport was measured in vitro using isolated EDL muscles from alpha2i TG mice. AICAR- and rotenone-stimulated glucose transport was fully inhibited in alpha2i TG mice; however, the lack of AMPK alpha2 activity had no effect on contraction- or sorbitol-induced glucose transport. Similar to these observations in vitro, contraction-stimulated glucose transport, assessed in vivo by 2-deoxy-d-[(3)H]glucose incorporation into EDL, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius muscles, was normal in alpha2i TG mice. Thus, AMPK alpha2 activation is essential for some, but not all, insulin-independent glucose transport. Muscle contraction- and hyperosmolarity-induced glucose transport may be regulated by a redundant mechanism in which AMPK alpha2 is one of multiple signaling pathways.

Netrins, a family of secreted molecules, play important roles in axon pathfinding during nervous system development. Although phosphatidylinositol signaling has been implicated in this event, how netrin-1 regulates phosphatidylinositol signaling remains poorly understood. Here we provide evidence that netrin-1 stimulates phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate hydrolysis in cortical neurons. This event appears to be mediated by DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer), but not neogenin or Unc5h2. Netrin-1 induces phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma) tyrosine phosphorylation. Inhibition of PLC activity attenuates netrin-1-induced cortical neurite outgrowth. These results suggest that netrin-1 regulates phosphatidylinositol turnover and demonstrate a crucial role of PLC signaling in netrin-1-induced neurite elongation.

Impairing intracellular signaling induced by survival factors and excess glutamate have recently been suggested to play important role in neurodegenerative processes. However, the underlying mechanism(s) and interrelationships between these factors mostly remain to be established. In the present study, we show that glutamate attenuates the tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptor and the survival effect of IGF-1 (100 nm) in hippocampal cultured neurons. Pretreatment of cultured hippocampal neurons with glutamate concentration dependently inhibited the tyrosine phosphorylation of IGF-1 receptors as well as that of IRS-1 and Shc, two IGF-1 receptor adapter proteins. The effect of glutamate was also evident on the phosphorylation of Akt, as well as its upstream kinase PI3K/PDK1 and downstream targets, GSK3beta and FOXO3a. The inhibitory effect of glutamate (1 mm) was blocked by antagonists of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, including MK801 (20 microm) and AP5 (100 microm), but not by blockers of other ionotropic or metabotropic glutamate receptor sub-types demonstrating the involvement of the NMDA receptor. This hypothesis is supported further by the observation that treatment with NMDA concentration dependently inhibited the activation and phosphorylation of IGF-1 receptors and downstream targets induced by IGF-1 (100 nm). These findings demonstrate that glutamate can block the effect of IGF-1 by decreasing IGF-1 receptor signaling and responsiveness, hence attenuating the survival properties of this trophic factor in neuronal cells. Our results also suggest a novel mechanism by which glutamate can reduce cell viability and induce neurotoxicity.