Impact of alcohol exposure on the development and maturation of the cerebral cortex

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Impact of alcohol exposure on the development and maturation of the cerebral cortex Laura Van Hees1*, Sophie Laguesse1 and Laurent Nguyen1 1 University of Liège, Belgium Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is known to damage the fetal brain and leads to life-long cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), which collectively describes the constellation of effects resulting from alcohol consumption during pregnancy, is a complex syndrome that affects up to 5% of children and is the leading cause of preventable intellectual disability. Despite prevention campaigns discouraging alcohol drinking during pregnancy, the number of children suffering from FASD has not decreased over the past years. The consequences of PAE have become a global public health problem and understanding the alcohol-related mechanisms is crucially needed to develop new pharmacological strategies and treatments. Studies have shown that alcohol interferes with the cerebral cortex development in a variety of ways, including defects in neurogenesis, impaired cell proliferation and cell migration, reduced survival and disrupted neurotransmission. However, the precise pathophysiological mechanisms underlying alcohol’s actions on cortical development are yet poorly understood. In this study, we set up a mouse model of FASD, using an alcohol consumption paradigm in which mice voluntarily drink high amounts of alcohol throughout pregnancy. Importantly, this model avoids any bias resulting from maternal stress that could be introduced by stressful alcohol consumption procedures such as gavage or injection. We first showed that this model accurately reflects alcohol consumption in human, as mice reach blood alcohol concentration levels comparable to those reported in binge-drinking humans. In order to investigate alcohol-dependent corticogenesis defects, we are analyzing the number, proliferation and specification of glutamatergic projection neurons during embryonic development and at postnatal stages. By using in utero electroporation, we are investigating the migration pattern of projection neurons during neurogenesis. Our preliminary results reveal an abnormal accumulation of neurons in deep layers of the cortex of alcohol-exposed embryos, suggesting impaired neuronal migration or dysregulated layer specification. Analysis of radial migration at postnatal stage showed that projection neurons have finally reached the upper layer, similar to control. However, the morphology of neurons seems to be affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, especially at the level of apical dendrites. We thus plan to investigate more specifically the terminal differentiation and dendritogenesis of projection neurons of alcohol-exposed pups. We will also evaluate adult mice behavior and alcohol consumption in order to determine whether PAE has a long-term impact on adult behavior and drinking pattern. Acknowledgements This work is supported by the Marguerite-Marie Delacroix Foundation and the Fonds Léon Fredericq. Keywords: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), Projection neurons (PNs), Prenatal binge-type ethanol exposure, Cerebral cortex, Neurogenesis, neuronal migration and maturation Conference: Belgian Brain Congress 2018 — Belgian Brain Council, LIEGE, Belgium, 19 Oct - 19 Oct, 2018. Presentation Type: e-posters Topic: NOVEL STRATEGIES FOR NEUROLOGICAL AND MENTAL DISORDERS: SCIENTIFIC BASIS AND VALUE FOR PATIENT-CENTERED CARE Citation: Van Hees L, Laguesse S and Nguyen L (2019). Impact of alcohol exposure on the development and maturation of the cerebral cortex. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Belgian Brain Congress 2018 — Belgian Brain Council. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2018.95.00037 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 14 Aug 2018; Published Online: 17 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: Ms. Laura Van Hees, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium, lauravanhees@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Laura Van Hees Sophie Laguesse Laurent Nguyen Google Laura Van Hees Sophie Laguesse Laurent Nguyen Google Scholar Laura Van Hees Sophie Laguesse Laurent Nguyen PubMed Laura Van Hees Sophie Laguesse Laurent Nguyen Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.