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Suleri A, Gaiser C, Cecil CAM, Dijkzeul A, Neumann A, Labrecque JA, White T, Bergink V, Muetzel RL. Examining longitudinal associations between prenatal exposure to infections and child brain morphology. Brain Behav Immun 2024; 119:965-977. [PMID: 38750701 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 05/01/2024] [Accepted: 05/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Maternal infection during pregnancy has been identified as a prenatal risk factor for the later development of psychopathology in exposed offspring. Neuroimaging data collected during childhood has suggested a link between prenatal exposure to maternal infection and child brain structure and function, potentially offering a neurobiological explanation for the emergence of psychopathology. Additionally, preclinical studies utilizing repeated measures of neuroimaging data suggest that effects of prenatal maternal infection on the offspring's brain may normalize over time (i.e., catch-up growth). However, it remains unclear whether exposure to prenatal maternal infection in humans is related to long-term differential neurodevelopmental trajectories. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to infections on child brain development over time using repeated measures MRI data. METHODS We leveraged data from a population-based cohort, Generation R, in which we examined prospectively assessed self-reported infections at each trimester of pregnancy (N = 2,155). We further used three neuroimaging assessments (at mean ages 8, 10 and 14) to obtain cortical and subcortical measures of the offspring's brain morphology with MRI. Hereafter, we applied linear mixed-effects models, adjusting for several confounding factors, to estimate the association of prenatal maternal infection with child brain development over time. RESULTS We found that prenatal exposure to infection in the third trimester was associated with a slower decrease in volumes of the pars orbitalis, rostral anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus, and a faster increase in the middle temporal gyrus. In the temporal pole we observed a divergent pattern, specifically showing an increase in volume in offspring exposed to more infections compared to a decrease in volume in offspring exposed to fewer infections. We further observed associations in other frontal and temporal lobe structures after exposure to infections in any trimester, though these did not survive multiple testing correction. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that prenatal exposure to infections in the third trimester may be associated with slower age-related growth in the regions: pars orbitalis, rostral anterior cingulate and superior frontal gyrus, and faster age-related growth in the middle temporal gyrus across childhood, suggesting a potential sensitive period. Our results might be interpreted as an extension of longitudinal findings from preclinical studies, indicating that children exposed to prenatal infections could exhibit catch-up growth. However, given the lack of differences in brain volume between various infection groups at baseline, there may instead be either a longitudinal deviation or a subtle temporal deviation. Subsequent well-powered studies that extend into the period of full brain development (∼25 years) are needed to confirm whether the observed phenomenon is indeed catch-up growth, a longitudinal deviation, or a subtle temporal deviation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Suleri
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Carolin Gaiser
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Charlotte A M Cecil
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Annet Dijkzeul
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Alexander Neumann
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jeremy A Labrecque
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Tonya White
- Section on Social and Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Veerle Bergink
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Ryan L Muetzel
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus University Medical Center, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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Debs SR, Conn I, Navaneethan B, Penklis AG, Meyer U, Killcross S, Weickert CS, Purves-Tyson TD. Maternal immune activation and estrogen receptor modulation induce sex-specific dopamine-related behavioural and molecular alterations in adult rat offspring. Brain Behav Immun 2024; 118:236-251. [PMID: 38431238 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.02.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Dopamine dysregulation contributes to psychosis and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia that can be modelled in rodents by inducing maternal immune activation (MIA). The selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator, raloxifene, can improve psychosis and cognition in men and women with schizophrenia. However, few studies have examined how raloxifene may exert its therapeutic effects in mammalian brain in both sexes during young adulthood (age relevant to most prevalent age at diagnosis). Here, we tested the extent to which raloxifene alters dopamine-related behaviours and brain transcripts in young adult rats, both control and MIA-exposed females and males. We found that raloxifene increased amphetamine (AMPH)-induced locomotor activity in female controls, and in contrast, raloxifene reduced AMPH-induced locomotor activity in male MIA offspring. We did not detect overt prepulse inhibition (PPI) deficits in female or male MIA offspring, yet raloxifene enhanced PPI in male MIA offspring. Whereas, raloxifene ameliorated increased startle responsivity in female MIA offspring. In the substantia nigra (SN), we found reduced Drd2s mRNA in raloxifene-treated female offspring with or without MIA, and increased Comt mRNA in placebo-treated male MIA offspring relative to placebo-treated controls. These data demonstrate an underlying dopamine dysregulation in MIA animals that can become more apparent with raloxifene treatment, and may involve selective alterations in dopamine receptor levels and dopamine breakdown processes in the SN. Our findings support sex-specific, differential behavioural responses to ER modulation in MIA compared to control offspring, with beneficial effects of raloxifene treatment on dopamine-related behaviours relevant to schizophrenia found in male MIA offspring only.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie R Debs
- Preclinical Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Illya Conn
- Preclinical Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia
| | - Brendan Navaneethan
- Preclinical Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia
| | - Andriane G Penklis
- Preclinical Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia
| | - Urs Meyer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland; Switzerland Neuroscience Centre Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Simon Killcross
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | - Cynthia Shannon Weickert
- Schizophrenia Research Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, USA
| | - Tertia D Purves-Tyson
- Preclinical Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia; Discipline of Psychiatry & Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
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Guma E, Chakravarty MM. Immune alterations in the intrauterine environment shapes offspring brain development in a sex-specific manner. Biol Psychiatry 2024:S0006-3223(24)01260-5. [PMID: 38679357 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
Exposure to inflammation in utero or in early life is known to increase risk for neuropsychiatric illness. The sources of inflammation can be varied, including acute exposures due to maternal infection or acute stress, or persistent exposures due to chronic stress, obesity, malnutrition, or autoimmune diseases. These exposures may cause subtle alteration in brain development, structure, and function that can become progressively magnified across the lifespan, potentially increasing risk for neuropsychiatric conditions. There is some evidence that males are more susceptible to early life inflammatory challenges compared to females. In this review, we discuss the various sources of in utero or early life inflammation, and the known effects on fetal development. We also discuss these changes with a focus on sex differences in the brain, leveraging neuroimaging, as well as behavioral, cellular, and neurochemical findings. Gaining clarity on how the intrauterine environment affects offspring development is of critical importance for informing preventative and early intervention measures that may buffer against the effects of these early life risk factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Guma
- Section on Developmental Neurogenomics, Human Genetics Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
| | - M Mallar Chakravarty
- Computational Brain Anatomy Laboratory, Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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4
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Luppi AI, Rosas FE, Noonan MP, Mediano PAM, Kringelbach ML, Carhart-Harris RL, Stamatakis EA, Vernon AC, Turkheimer FE. Oxygen and the Spark of Human Brain Evolution: Complex Interactions of Metabolism and Cortical Expansion across Development and Evolution. Neuroscientist 2024; 30:173-198. [PMID: 36476177 DOI: 10.1177/10738584221138032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Scientific theories on the functioning and dysfunction of the human brain require an understanding of its development-before and after birth and through maturation to adulthood-and its evolution. Here we bring together several accounts of human brain evolution by focusing on the central role of oxygen and brain metabolism. We argue that evolutionary expansion of human transmodal association cortices exceeded the capacity of oxygen delivery by the vascular system, which led these brain tissues to rely on nonoxidative glycolysis for additional energy supply. We draw a link between the resulting lower oxygen tension and its effect on cytoarchitecture, which we posit as a key driver of genetic developmental programs for the human brain-favoring lower intracortical myelination and the presence of biosynthetic materials for synapse turnover. Across biological and temporal scales, this protracted capacity for neural plasticity sets the conditions for cognitive flexibility and ongoing learning, supporting complex group dynamics and intergenerational learning that in turn enabled improved nutrition to fuel the metabolic costs of further cortical expansion. Our proposed model delineates explicit mechanistic links among metabolism, molecular and cellular brain heterogeneity, and behavior, which may lead toward a clearer understanding of brain development and its disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea I Luppi
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- The Alan Turing Institute, London, UK
| | - Fernando E Rosas
- Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
- Centre for Psychedelic Research, Department of Brain Science, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Centre for Complexity Science, Imperial College London, London, UK
- Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - MaryAnn P Noonan
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Pedro A M Mediano
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
- Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Morten L Kringelbach
- Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Robin L Carhart-Harris
- Psychedelics Division-Neuroscape, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Emmanuel A Stamatakis
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Division of Anaesthesia, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Anthony C Vernon
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Federico E Turkheimer
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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5
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Hughes HK, Moreno RJ, Ashwood P. Innate Immune Dysfunction and Neuroinflammation in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). FOCUS (AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC PUBLISHING) 2024; 22:229-241. [PMID: 38680981 PMCID: PMC11046725 DOI: 10.1176/appi.focus.24022004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by communication and social behavior deficits. The presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors often accompanies these deficits, and these characteristics can range from mild to severe. The past several decades have seen a significant rise in the prevalence of ASD. The etiology of ASD remains unknown; however, genetic and environmental risk factors play a role. Multiple hypotheses converge to suggest that neuroinflammation, or at least the interaction between immune and neural systems, may be involved in the etiology of some ASD cases or groups. Repeated evidence of innate immune dysfunction has been seen in ASD, often associated with worsening behaviors. This evidence includes data from circulating myeloid cells and brain resident macrophages/microglia in both human and animal models. This comprehensive review presents recent findings of innate immune dysfunction in ASD, including aberrant innate cellular function, evidence of neuroinflammation, and microglia activation. Appeared originally in Brain Behav Immun 2023; 108:245-254.
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Affiliation(s)
- H K Hughes
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis, CA, USA (all authors);The M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California at Davis, CA, USA (all authors)
| | - R J Moreno
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis, CA, USA (all authors);The M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California at Davis, CA, USA (all authors)
| | - P Ashwood
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis, CA, USA (all authors);The M.I.N.D. Institute, University of California at Davis, CA, USA (all authors)
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Al-Beltagi M. Pre-autism: What a paediatrician should know about early diagnosis of autism. World J Clin Pediatr 2023; 12:273-294. [PMID: 38178935 PMCID: PMC10762597 DOI: 10.5409/wjcp.v12.i5.273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism, also known as an autism spectrum disorder, is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder usually diagnosed in the first three years of a child's life. A range of symptoms characterizes it and can be diagnosed at any age, including adolescence and adulthood. However, early diagnosis is crucial for effective management, prognosis, and care. Unfortunately, there are no established fetal, prenatal, or newborn screening programs for autism, making early detection difficult. This review aims to shed light on the early detection of autism prenatally, natally, and early in life, during a stage we call as "pre-autism" when typical symptoms are not yet apparent. Some fetal, neonatal, and infant biomarkers may predict an increased risk of autism in the coming baby. By developing a biomarker array, we can create an objective diagnostic tool to diagnose and rank the severity of autism for each patient. These biomarkers could be genetic, immunological, hormonal, metabolic, amino acids, acute phase reactants, neonatal brainstem function biophysical activity, behavioral profile, body measurements, or radiological markers. However, every biomarker has its accuracy and limitations. Several factors can make early detection of autism a real challenge. To improve early detection, we need to overcome various challenges, such as raising community awareness of early signs of autism, improving access to diagnostic tools, reducing the stigma attached to the diagnosis of autism, and addressing various culturally sensitive concepts related to the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammed Al-Beltagi
- Department of Pediatric, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta 31511, Algahrbia, Egypt
- Department of Pediatric, University Medical Center, King Abdulla Medical City, Arabian Gulf University, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, Manama 26671, Manama, Bahrain
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7
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Sarieva K, Kagermeier T, Khakipoor S, Atay E, Yentür Z, Becker K, Mayer S. Human brain organoid model of maternal immune activation identifies radial glia cells as selectively vulnerable. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:5077-5089. [PMID: 36878967 PMCID: PMC9986664 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-01997-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Abstract
Maternal immune activation (MIA) during critical windows of gestation is correlated with long-term neurodevelopmental deficits in the offspring, including increased risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in humans. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) derived from the gestational parent is one of the major molecular mediators by which MIA alters the developing brain. In this study, we establish a human three-dimensional (3D) in vitro model of MIA by treating induced pluripotent stem cell-derived dorsal forebrain organoids with a constitutively active form of IL-6, Hyper-IL-6. We validate our model by showing that dorsal forebrain organoids express the molecular machinery necessary for responding to Hyper-IL-6 and activate STAT signaling upon Hyper-IL-6 treatment. RNA sequencing analysis reveals the upregulation of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) genes in response to Hyper-IL-6 exposure, which have been implicated with ASD. We find a small increase in the proportion of radial glia cells after Hyper-IL-6 treatment through immunohistochemistry and single-cell RNA-sequencing. We further show that radial glia cells are the cell type with the highest number of differentially expressed genes, and Hyper-IL-6 treatment leads to the downregulation of genes related to protein translation in line with a mouse model of MIA. Additionally, we identify differentially expressed genes not found in mouse models of MIA, which might drive species-specific responses to MIA. Finally, we show abnormal cortical layering as a long-term consequence of Hyper-IL-6 treatment. In summary, we establish a human 3D model of MIA, which can be used to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the increased risk for developing disorders such as ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kseniia Sarieva
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School, Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Theresa Kagermeier
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School, Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Shokoufeh Khakipoor
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ezgi Atay
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Zeynep Yentür
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- International Max Planck Research School, Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Katharina Becker
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Simone Mayer
- Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
- International Max Planck Research School, Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
- Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Heidelberg, Germany.
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Creutzberg KC, Begni V, Orso R, Lumertz FS, Wearick-Silva LE, Tractenberg SG, Marizzoni M, Cattaneo A, Grassi-Oliveira R, Riva MA. Vulnerability and resilience to prenatal stress exposure: behavioral and molecular characterization in adolescent rats. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:358. [PMID: 37993429 PMCID: PMC10665384 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02653-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Exposure to stress can lead to long lasting behavioral and neurobiological consequences, which may enhance the susceptibility for the onset of mental disorders. However, there are significant individual differences in the outcome of stress exposure since only a percentage of exposed individuals may show pathological consequences, whereas others appear to be resilient. In this study, we aimed to characterize the effects of prenatal stress (PNS) exposure in rats at adolescence and to identify subgroup of animals with a differential response to the gestational manipulation. PNS adolescent offspring (regardless of sex) showed impaired emotionality in different pathological domains, such as anhedonia, anxiety, and sociability. However, using cluster analysis of the behavioral data we could identify 70% of PNS-exposed animals as vulnerable (PNS-vul), whereas the remaining 30% were considered resilient (PNS-res). At the molecular level, we found that PNS-res males show a reduced basal activation of the ventral hippocampus whereas other regions, such as amygdala and dorsal hippocampus, show significant PNS-induced changes regardless from vulnerability or resilience. Taken together, our results provide evidence of the variability in the behavioral and neurobiological effects of PNS-exposed offspring at adolescence. While these data may advance our understanding of the association between exposure to stress during gestation and the risk for psychopathology, the investigation of the mechanisms associated to stress vulnerability or resilience may be instrumental to develop novel strategies for therapeutic intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Veronica Begni
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Rodrigo Orso
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | | | | | - Saulo Gantes Tractenberg
- School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Moira Marizzoni
- Biological Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
- Lab of Neuroimaging and Alzheimer's Epidemiology, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Via Pilastroni, 4, Brescia, 25125, Italy
| | - Annamaria Cattaneo
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Biological Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
| | - Rodrigo Grassi-Oliveira
- School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
- Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Marco Andrea Riva
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
- Biological Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy.
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Blundell M, Doktor F, Figueira RL, Khalaj K, Biouss G, Antounians L, Zani A. Anti-inflammatory effects of antenatal administration of stem cell derived extracellular vesicles in the brain of rat fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Pediatr Surg Int 2023; 39:291. [PMID: 37955723 DOI: 10.1007/s00383-023-05578-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/22/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) survivors may experience neurodevelopmental impairment, whose etiology remains elusive. Preclinical evidence indicates that amniotic fluid stem cell extracellular vesicle (AFSC-EV) administration promotes lung development but their effects on other organs are unknown. Herein, we investigated the brain of rat fetuses with CDH for signs of inflammation and response to AFSC-EVs. METHODS CDH was induced by maternal nitrofen administration at E9.5. At E18.5, fetuses were injected intra-amniotically with saline or AFSC-EVs (isolated by ultracentrifugation, characterized as per MISEV guidelines). Fetuses from vehicle-gavaged dams served as controls. Groups were compared for: lung hypoplasia, TNFa and IL-1B brain expression, and activated microglia (Iba1) density in the subgranular zone (SGZ). RESULTS CDH lungs had fewer airspaces compared to controls, whereas AFSC-EV-treated lungs had rescued branching morphogenesis. Fluorescently labeled AFSC-EVs injected intra-amniotically into CDH fetuses had fluorescent signal in the brain. Compared to controls, the brain of CDH fetuses had higher TNFa and IL-1B levels, and increased activated microglia density. Conversely, the brain of AFSC-EV treated fetuses had inflammatory marker expression levels and microglia density similar to controls. CONCLUSION This study shows that the brain of rat fetuses with CDH has signs of inflammation that are abated by the intra-amniotic administration of AFSC-EVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matisse Blundell
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 0A4, Canada
- Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Canada
| | - Fabian Doktor
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 0A4, Canada
- Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Canada
| | - Rebeca L Figueira
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 0A4, Canada
- Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Canada
| | - Kasra Khalaj
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 0A4, Canada
- Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Canada
| | - George Biouss
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 0A4, Canada
- Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Canada
| | - Lina Antounians
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 0A4, Canada
- Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Canada
| | - Augusto Zani
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 0A4, Canada.
- Division of General and Thoracic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, M5G 1X8, Canada.
- Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5T 1P5, Canada.
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Guerrin CG, Prasad K, Vazquez-Matias DA, Zheng J, Franquesa-Mullerat M, Barazzuol L, Doorduin J, de Vries EF. Prenatal infection and adolescent social adversity affect microglia, synaptic density, and behavior in male rats. Neurobiol Stress 2023; 27:100580. [PMID: 37920548 PMCID: PMC10618826 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Maternal infection during pregnancy and childhood social trauma have been associated with neurodevelopmental and affective disorders, such as schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder and depression. These disorders are characterized by changes in microglial cells, which play a notable role in synaptic pruning, and synaptic deficits. Here, we investigated the effect of prenatal infection and social adversity during adolescence - either alone or in combination - on behavior, microglia, and synaptic density. Male offspring of pregnant rats injected with poly I:C, mimicking prenatal infection, were exposed to repeated social defeat during adolescence. We found that maternal infection during pregnancy prevented the reduction in social behavior and increase in anxiety induced by social adversity during adolescence. Furthermore, maternal infection and social adversity, alone or in combination, induced hyperlocomotion in adulthood. Longitudinal in vivo imaging with [11C]PBR28 positron emission tomography revealed that prenatal infection alone and social adversity during adolescence alone induced a transient increase in translocator protein TSPO density, an indicator of glial reactivity, whereas their combination induced a long-lasting increase that remained until adulthood. Furthermore, only the combination of prenatal infection and social adversity during adolescence induced an increase in microglial cell density in the frontal cortex. Prenatal infection increased proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β protein levels in hippocampus and social adversity reduced anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 protein levels in hippocampus during adulthood. This reduction in IL-10 was prevented if rats were previously exposed to prenatal infection. Adult offspring exposed to prenatal infection or adolescent social adversity had a higher synaptic density in the frontal cortex, but not hippocampus, as evaluated by synaptophysin density. Interestingly, such an increase in synaptic density was not observed in rats exposed to the combination of prenatal infection and social adversity, perhaps due to the long-lasting increase in microglial density, which may lead to an increase in microglial synaptic pruning. These findings suggest that changes in microglia activity and cytokine release induced by prenatal infection and social adversity during adolescence may be related to a reduced synaptic pruning, resulting in a higher synaptic density and behavioral changes in adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyprien G.J. Guerrin
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Kavya Prasad
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Daniel A. Vazquez-Matias
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Jing Zheng
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Maria Franquesa-Mullerat
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Lara Barazzuol
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
- Department of Biomedical Sciences of Cells and Systems, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Janine Doorduin
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Erik F.J. de Vries
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713, GZ, Groningen, the Netherlands
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11
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Serrano ME, Kim E, Siow B, Ma D, Rojo L, Simmons C, Hayward D, Gibbins D, Singh N, Strydom A, Fisher EM, Tybulewicz VL, Cash D. Investigating brain alterations in the Dp1Tyb mouse model of Down syndrome. Neurobiol Dis 2023; 188:106336. [PMID: 38317803 PMCID: PMC7615598 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most common birth defects and the most prevalent genetic form of intellectual disability. DS arises from trisomy of chromosome 21, but its molecular and pathological consequences are not fully understood. In this study, we compared Dp1Tyb mice, a DS model, against their wild-type (WT) littermates of both sexes to investigate the impact of DS-related genetic abnormalities on the brain phenotype. We performed in vivo whole brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and hippocampal 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) on the animals at 3 months of age. Subsequently, ex vivo MRI scans and histological analyses were conducted post-mortem. Our findings unveiled the following neuroanatomical and biochemical alterations in the Dp1Tyb brains: a smaller surface area and a rounder shape compared to WT brains, with DS males also presenting smaller global brain volume compared with the counterpart WT. Regional volumetric analysis revealed significant changes in 26 out of 72 examined brain regions, including the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus. These alterations were consistently observed in both in vivo and ex vivo imaging data. Additionally, high-resolution ex vivo imaging enabled us to investigate cerebellar layers and hippocampal sub-regions, revealing selective areas of decrease and remodelling in these structures. An analysis of hippocampal metabolites revealed an elevation in glutamine and the glutamine/glutamate ratio in the Dp1Tyb mice compared to controls, suggesting a possible imbalance in the excitation/inhibition ratio. This was accompanied by the decreased levels of taurine. Histological analysis revealed fewer neurons in the hippocampal CA3 and DG layers, along with an increase in astrocytes and microglia. These findings recapitulate multiple neuroanatomical and biochemical features associated with DS, enriching our understanding of the potential connection between chromosome 21 trisomy and the resultant phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Elisa Serrano
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Eugene Kim
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Bernard Siow
- The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Da Ma
- Department of Internal Medicine Section of Gerontology and Geriatric Science, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States
| | - Loreto Rojo
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Camilla Simmons
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Nisha Singh
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Andre Strydom
- Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Elizabeth M.C. Fisher
- UCL Queen Square Motor Neuron Disease Centre, Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK
| | | | - Diana Cash
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
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12
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Suleri A, Cecil C, Rommel AS, Hillegers M, White T, de Witte LD, Muetzel RL, Bergink V. Long-term effects of prenatal infection on the human brain: a prospective multimodal neuroimaging study. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:306. [PMID: 37789021 PMCID: PMC10547711 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02597-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
There is convincing evidence from rodent studies suggesting that prenatal infections affect the offspring's brain, but evidence in humans is limited. Here, we assessed the occurrence of common infections during each trimester of pregnancy and examined associations with brain outcomes in adolescent offspring. Our study was embedded in the Generation R Study, a large-scale sociodemographically diverse prospective birth cohort. We included 1094 mother-child dyads and investigated brain morphology (structural MRI), white matter microstructure (DTI), and functional connectivity (functional MRI), as outcomes at the age of 14. We focused on both global and focal regions. To define prenatal infections, we composed a score based on the number and type of infections during each trimester of pregnancy. Models were adjusted for several confounders. We found that prenatal infection was negatively associated with cerebral white matter volume (B = -0.069, 95% CI -0.123 to -0.015, p = 0.011), and we found an association between higher prenatal infection scores and smaller volumes of several frontotemporal regions of the brain. After multiple testing correction, we only observed an association between prenatal infections and the caudal anterior cingulate volume (B = -0.104, 95% CI -0.164 to -0.045, p < 0.001). We did not observe effects of prenatal infection on other measures of adolescent brain morphology, white matter microstructure, or functional connectivity, which is reassuring. Our results show potential regions of interest in the brain for future studies; data on the effect of severe prenatal infections on the offspring's brain in humans are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Suleri
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Charlotte Cecil
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Anna-Sophie Rommel
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
| | - Manon Hillegers
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tonya White
- Section on Social and Cognitive Developmental Neuroscience, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Lot D de Witte
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
| | - Ryan L Muetzel
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Veerle Bergink
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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13
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Abraham M, Peterburs J, Mundorf A. Oligodendrocytes matter: a review of animal studies on early adversity. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2023; 130:1177-1185. [PMID: 37138023 PMCID: PMC10460720 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-023-02643-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to adversities in early life appears to affect the development of white matter, especially oligodendrocytes. Furthermore, altered myelination is present in regions subjected to maturation during the developmental time when early adversities are experienced. In this review, studies applying two well-established animal models of early life adversity, namely maternal separation and maternal immune activation, focusing on oligodendrocyte alterations and resulting implications for psychiatric disorders are discussed. Studies revealed that myelination is reduced as a result of altered oligodendrocyte expression. Furthermore, early adversity is associated with increased cell death, a simpler morphology, and inhibited oligodendrocyte maturation. However, these effects seem to be region- specific as some brain regions show increased expression while others show decreased expression of oligodendroglia-related genes, and they occur especially in regions of ongoing development. Some studies furthermore suggest that early adversity leads to premature differentiation of oligodendrocytes. Importantly, especially early exposure results in stronger oligodendrocyte-related impairments. However, resulting alterations are not restricted to exposure during the early pre- and postnatal days as social isolation after weaning leads to fewer internodes and branches and shorter processes of oligodendrocytes in adulthood. Eventually, the found alterations may lead to dysfunction and long-lasting alterations in structural brain development associated with psychiatric disorders. To date, only few preclinical studies have focused on the effects of early adversity on oligodendrocytes. More studies including several developmental stages are needed to further disentangle the role of oligodendrocytes in the development of psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mate Abraham
- Division of Experimental and Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL University Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Jutta Peterburs
- Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Annakarina Mundorf
- Institute for Systems Medicine and Department of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
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14
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Guerrin CGJ, de Vries EFJ, Prasad K, Vazquez-Matias DA, Manusiwa LE, Barazzuol L, Doorduin J. Maternal infection during pregnancy aggravates the behavioral response to an immune challenge during adolescence in female rats. Behav Brain Res 2023; 452:114566. [PMID: 37419332 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/09/2023]
Abstract
Prenatal and early postnatal infection have been associated with changes in microglial activity and the development of psychiatric disorders. Here, we investigated the effect of prenatal immune activation and postnatal immune challenge, alone and combined, on behavior and microglial cell density in female Wistar rats. Pregnant rats were injected with poly I:C to induce a maternal immune activation (MIA). Their female offspring were subsequently exposed to a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) immune challenge during adolescence. Anhedonia, social behavior, anxiety, locomotion, and working memory were measured with the sucrose preference, social interaction, open field, elevated-plus maze, and Y-maze test, respectively. Microglia cell density was quantified by counting the number of Iba-1 positive cells in the brain cortex. Female MIA offspring were more susceptible to the LPS immune challenge during adolescence than control offspring as demonstrated by a more pronounced reduction in sucrose preference and body weight on the days following the LPS immune challenge. Furthermore, only the rats exposed to both MIA and LPS showed long-lasting changes in social behavior and locomotion. Conversely, the combination MIA and LPS prevented the anxiety induced by MIA alone during adulthood. MIA, LPS, or their combination did not change microglial cell density in the parietal and frontal cortex of adult rats. The results of our study suggest that the maternal immune activation during pregnancy aggravates the response to an immune challenge during adolescence in female rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyprien G J Guerrin
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, the Netherlands
| | - Erik F J de Vries
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, the Netherlands
| | - Kavya Prasad
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, the Netherlands
| | - Daniel A Vazquez-Matias
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, the Netherlands
| | - Lesley E Manusiwa
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, the Netherlands
| | - Lara Barazzuol
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, the Netherlands; Department of Biomedical Sciences of Cells and Systems, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, the Netherlands
| | - Janine Doorduin
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, the Netherlands.
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15
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Yotova AY, Li LL, O’Leary A, Tegeder I, Reif A, Courtney MJ, Slattery DA, Freudenberg F. Embryonic and adult synaptic proteome perturbations after maternal immune activation: Identification of persistent changes relevant for early intervention. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3100753. [PMID: 37461513 PMCID: PMC10350178 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3100753/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/28/2023]
Abstract
Maternal infections during pregnancy pose an increased risk for neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders (NPDs) in the offspring. Here, we examined age- and sex-dependent dynamic changes of the hippocampal synaptic proteome after maternal immune activation (MIA) in embryonic and adult mice. Adult male and female MIA offspring exhibited social deficits and sex-specific depression-like behaviours, among others, validating the model. Furthermore, we observed dose-, age-, and sex-dependent synaptic proteome differences. Analysis of the embryonic synaptic proteome implicates sphingolipid and ketoacid metabolism pathway disruptions during neurodevelopment for NPD-pertinent sequelae. In the embryonic hippocampus, prenatal immune activation also led to changes in neuronal guidance, glycosphingolipid metabolism important for signalling and myelination, and post-translational modification of proteins that regulate intercellular interaction and developmental timing. In adulthood, the observed changes in synaptoneurosomes revealed a dynamic shift toward transmembrane trafficking, intracellular signalling cascades, and hormone-mediated metabolism. Importantly, 68 of the proteins with differential abundance in the embryonic brains of MIA offspring were also altered in adulthood, 75% of which retained their directionality. These proteins are involved in synaptic organisation, neurotransmitter receptor regulation, and the vesicle cycle. A cluster of persistently upregulated proteins, including AKT3, PAK1/3, PPP3CA, formed a functional network enriched in the embryonic brain that is involved in cellular responses to environmental stimuli. To infer a link between the overlapping protein alterations and cognitive and psychiatric traits, we probed human phenome-wise association study data for cognitive and psychiatric phenotypes and all, but PORCN were significantly associated with the investigated domains. Our data provide insights into the dynamic effects of an early prenatal immune activation on developing and mature hippocampi and highlights targets for early intervention in individuals exposed to such immune challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Y. Yotova
- Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Frankfurt, Germany
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Institute of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Li-Li Li
- Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, 20520 Turku, Finland; Turku Brain and Mind Center, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, 20014, Turku, Finland
| | - Aet O’Leary
- Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Frankfurt, Germany
- Department of Neuropsychopharmacology, Institute of Chemistry, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Irmgard Tegeder
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Andreas Reif
- Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Michael J Courtney
- Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, 20520 Turku, Finland; Turku Brain and Mind Center, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, 20014, Turku, Finland
| | - David A. Slattery
- Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Florian Freudenberg
- Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Frankfurt, Germany
- Goethe University Frankfurt, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Institute of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Frankfurt, Germany
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16
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Spann MN, Bansal R, Aydin E, Pollatou A, Alleyne K, Bennett M, Sawardekar S, Cheng B, Lee S, Monk C, Peterson BS. Maternal prenatal immune activation associated with brain tissue microstructure and metabolite concentrations in newborn infants. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.07.01.23292113. [PMID: 37461481 PMCID: PMC10350159 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.01.23292113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Importance Few translational human studies have assessed the association of prenatal maternal immune activation with altered brain development and psychiatric risk in newborn offspring. Objective To identify the effects of maternal immune activation during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy on newborn brain metabolite concentrations, tissue microstructure, and longitudinal motor development. Design Prospective longitudinal cohort study conducted from 2012 - 2017. Setting Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College. Participants 76 nulliparous pregnant women, aged 14 to 19 years, were recruited in their 2nd trimester, and their children were followed through 14 months of age. Exposure Maternal immune activation indexed by maternal interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcomes included (1) newborn metabolite concentrations, measured as N-acetylaspartate, creatine, and choline using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; (2) newborn fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity measured using Diffusion Tensor Imaging; and (3) indices of motor development assessed prenatally and postnatally at ages 4- and 14-months. Results Maternal interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein levels in the 2nd or 3rd trimester were significantly positively associated with the N-acetylaspartate, creatine, and choline concentrations in the putamen, thalamus, insula, and anterior limb of the internal capsule. Maternal interleukin-6 was associated with fractional anisotropy in the putamen, insula, thalamus, precuneus, and caudate, and with mean diffusivity in the inferior parietal and middle temporal gyrus. C-reactive protein was associated with fractional anisotropy in the thalamus, insula, and putamen. Regional commonalities were found across imaging modalities, though the direction of the associations differed by immune marker. In addition, a significant positive association was observed between offspring motor development and both maternal interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein (in both trimesters) prenatally and 4- and 14-months of age. Conclusions and Relevance Using a healthy sample, these findings demonstrate that levels of maternal immune activation in mid- to late pregnancy associate with tissue characteristics in newborn brain regions primarily supporting motor integration/coordination and behavioral regulation and may lead to alterations in motor development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa N Spann
- Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY
| | - Ravi Bansal
- Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
- Department of Psychiatry, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Ezra Aydin
- Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Angeliki Pollatou
- Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Kiarra Alleyne
- Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Margaret Bennett
- Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY
| | | | - Bin Cheng
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY
| | - Seonjoo Lee
- Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY
| | - Catherine Monk
- Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY
- New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY
| | - Bradley S Peterson
- Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
- Department of Psychiatry, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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17
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Woods R, Lorusso J, Fletcher J, ElTaher H, McEwan F, Harris I, Kowash H, D'Souza SW, Harte M, Hager R, Glazier JD. Maternal immune activation and role of placenta in the prenatal programming of neurodevelopmental disorders. Neuronal Signal 2023; 7:NS20220064. [PMID: 37332846 PMCID: PMC10273029 DOI: 10.1042/ns20220064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Maternal infection during pregnancy, leading to maternal immune activation (mIA) and cytokine release, increases the offspring risk of developing a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including schizophrenia. Animal models have provided evidence to support these mechanistic links, with placental inflammatory responses and dysregulation of placental function implicated. This leads to changes in fetal brain cytokine balance and altered epigenetic regulation of key neurodevelopmental pathways. The prenatal timing of such mIA-evoked changes, and the accompanying fetal developmental responses to an altered in utero environment, will determine the scope of the impacts on neurodevelopmental processes. Such dysregulation can impart enduring neuropathological changes, which manifest subsequently in the postnatal period as altered neurodevelopmental behaviours in the offspring. Hence, elucidation of the functional changes that occur at the molecular level in the placenta is vital in improving our understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of NDDs. This has notable relevance to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, where inflammatory responses in the placenta to SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy and NDDs in early childhood have been reported. This review presents an integrated overview of these collective topics and describes the possible contribution of prenatal programming through placental effects as an underlying mechanism that links to NDD risk, underpinned by altered epigenetic regulation of neurodevelopmental pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca M. Woods
- Division of Evolution, Infection and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
| | - Jarred M. Lorusso
- Division of Evolution, Infection and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
| | - Jennifer Fletcher
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
| | - Heidi ElTaher
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt
| | - Francesca McEwan
- Division of Evolution, Infection and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
| | - Isabella Harris
- Division of Evolution, Infection and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
| | - Hager M. Kowash
- Division of Developmental Biology and Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9WL, U.K
| | - Stephen W. D'Souza
- Division of Developmental Biology and Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9WL, U.K
| | - Michael Harte
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
| | - Reinmar Hager
- Division of Evolution, Infection and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
| | - Jocelyn D. Glazier
- Division of Evolution, Infection and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, U.K
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18
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von Arx AS, Dawson K, Lin HY, Mattei D, Notter T, Meyer U, Schalbetter SM. Prefrontal microglia deficiency during adolescence disrupts adult cognitive functions and synaptic structures: A follow-up study in female mice. Brain Behav Immun 2023; 111:230-246. [PMID: 37100210 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) provides executive top-down control of a variety of cognitive processes. A distinctive feature of the PFC is its protracted structural and functional maturation throughout adolescence to early adulthood, which is necessary for acquiring mature cognitive abilities. Using a mouse model of cell-specific, transient and local depletion of microglia, which is based on intracerebral injection of clodronate disodium salt (CDS) into the PFC of adolescent male mice, we recently demonstrated that microglia contribute to the functional and structural maturation of the PFC in males. Because microglia biology and cortical maturation are partly sexually dimorphic, the main objective of the present study was to examine whether microglia similarly regulate this maturational process in female mice as well. Here, we show that a single, bilateral intra-PFC injection of CDS in adolescent (6-week-old) female mice induces a local and transient depletion (70 to 80% decrease from controls) of prefrontal microglia during a restricted window of adolescence without affecting neuronal or astrocytic cell populations. This transient microglia deficiency was sufficient to disrupt PFC-associated cognitive functions and synaptic structures at adult age. Inducing transient prefrontal microglia depletion in adult female mice did not cause these deficits, demonstrating that the adult PFC, unlike the adolescent PFC, is resilient to transient microglia deficiency in terms of lasting cognitive and synaptic maladaptations. Together with our previous findings in males, the present findings suggest that microglia contribute to the maturation of the female PFC in a similar way as to the prefrontal maturation occurring in males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anina S von Arx
- Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Vetsuisse, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Kara Dawson
- Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Vetsuisse, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Han-Yu Lin
- Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Vetsuisse, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Daniele Mattei
- MSSM Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tina Notter
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Urs Meyer
- Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Vetsuisse, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Sina M Schalbetter
- Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Vetsuisse, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Dutta A, Chavalparit O. Assessment of health burden due to the emissions of fine particulate matter from motor vehicles: A case of Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 872:162128. [PMID: 36773925 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Air pollution, owing to the ever-increasing transport vehicle fleet, and adverse health effects are increasing in provinces of Thailand. The study estimated that the vehicle fleet size of Nakhon Ratchasima (NR) province of Thailand will grow to 2 million vehicles by 2030, which was 1.36 million in 2021. In NR, the PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations already surpassed both WHO and NAAQS guidelines in 2019-2021. Using Pollution Control Department (PCD) approved Tier I and II Methodology of EMEP/EEA, this research estimated that the total tailpipe emission load will be 1039 tons of PM2.5, 16,630 tons of NO₂, 20,623 tons of CO, 195 tons NH₃, and 249 tons of SO₂ in NR during 2030. The emission load will increase to 1752 tons of PM2.5, 21,126 tons of NO2, 25,559 tons of CO, 361 tons of NH3 and 9344 tons of SO₂ during 2030 if upstream emissions are considered. This study has developed five control scenarios in line with the directives of PCD to mitigate the adverse health from vehicle-led air pollution in NR and implementation during 2024-2030. According to the study, different control scenarios to be implemented during 2024-2030, will be able to keep the fleet size of vehicles in the NR under control. The results show that the control scenarios will keep the annual tailpipe emission of PM2.5 at 604 tons in 2030, a 42 % reduction over the 2030 Business-As-Usual scenario (BAU). The health damage in the range of 6941 to 11,625 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) under the 2030 BAU scenario in NR due to tailpipe and upstream emissions can be reduced to 4162-7318 DALYs with the implementation of different control scenarios. The control scenarios will also provide significant economic benefits ranging from 4465 to 6718 million THB during 2024-2030 through reduced DALYs and associated costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhishek Dutta
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - Orathai Chavalparit
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, 254 Phayathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
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20
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Couch ACM, Solomon S, Duarte RRR, Marrocu A, Sun Y, Sichlinger L, Matuleviciute R, Polit LD, Hanger B, Brown A, Kordasti S, Srivastava DP, Vernon AC. Acute IL-6 exposure triggers canonical IL6Ra signaling in hiPSC microglia, but not neural progenitor cells. Brain Behav Immun 2023; 110:43-59. [PMID: 36781081 PMCID: PMC10682389 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/13/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal exposure to elevated interleukin (IL)-6 levels is associated with increased risk for psychiatric disorders with a putative neurodevelopmental origin, such as schizophrenia (SZ), autism spectrum condition (ASC) and bipolar disorder (BD). Although rodent models provide causal evidence for this association, we lack a detailed understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms in human model systems. To close this gap, we characterized the response of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC-)derived microglia-like cells (MGL) and neural progenitor cells (NPCs) to IL-6 in monoculture. RESULTS We observed that human forebrain NPCs did not respond to acute IL-6 exposure in monoculture at both protein and transcript levels due to the absence of IL6R expression and soluble (s)IL6Ra secretion. By contrast, acute IL-6 exposure resulted in STAT3 phosphorylation and increased IL6, JMJD3 and IL10 expression in MGL, confirming activation of canonical IL6Ra signaling. Bulk RNAseq identified 156 up-regulated genes (FDR < 0.05) in MGL following acute IL-6 exposure, including IRF8, REL, HSPA1A/B and OXTR, which significantly overlapped with an up-regulated gene set from human post-mortem brain tissue from individuals with schizophrenia. Acute IL-6 stimulation significantly increased MGL motility, consistent with gene ontology pathways highlighted from the RNAseq data and replicating rodent model indications that IRF8 regulates microglial motility. Finally, IL-6 induces MGLs to secrete CCL1, CXCL1, MIP-1α/β, IL-8, IL-13, IL-16, IL-18, MIF and Serpin-E1 after 3 h and 24 h. CONCLUSION Our data provide evidence for cell specific effects of acute IL-6 exposure in a human model system, ultimately suggesting that microglia-NPC co-culture models are required to study how IL-6 influences human cortical neural progenitor cell development in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amalie C M Couch
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Shiden Solomon
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Rodrigo R R Duarte
- Department of Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, NY, USA
| | - Alessia Marrocu
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; Division of Immunology, Infection and Inflammatory Disease, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Yiqing Sun
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Laura Sichlinger
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Rugile Matuleviciute
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Lucia Dutan Polit
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Bjørn Hanger
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Amelia Brown
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Shahram Kordasti
- Comprehensive Cancer Centre, School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Deepak P Srivastava
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Anthony C Vernon
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, UK.
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21
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Examining litter specific variability in mice and its impact on neurodevelopmental studies. Neuroimage 2023; 269:119888. [PMID: 36681136 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2022] [Revised: 01/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Our current understanding of litter variability in neurodevelopmental studies using mice may limit translation of neuroscientific findings. Higher variance of measures across litters than within, often termed intra-litter likeness, may be attributable to both pre- and postnatal environment. This study aimed to assess the litter-effect within behavioral assessments (2 timepoints) and anatomy using T1-weighted magnetic resonance images across 72 brain region volumes (4 timepoints) (36 C57bl/6J inbred mice; 7 litters: 19F/17M). Between-litter comparisons of brain and behavioral measures and their associations were evaluated using univariate and multivariate techniques. A power analysis using simulation methods was then performed on modeled neurodevelopment and to evaluate trade-offs between number-of-litters, number-of-mice-per-litter, and sample size. Our results show litter-specific developmental effects, from the adolescent period to adulthood for brain structure volumes and behaviors, and for their associations in adulthood. Our power simulation analysis suggests increasing the number-of-litters in experimental designs to achieve the smallest total sample size necessary for detecting different rates of change in specific brain regions. Our results demonstrate how litter-specific effects may influence development and that increasing the litters to the total sample size ratio should be strongly considered when designing neurodevelopmental studies.
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Usui N, Kobayashi H, Shimada S. Neuroinflammation and Oxidative Stress in the Pathogenesis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24065487. [PMID: 36982559 PMCID: PMC10049423 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24065487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) characterized by impairments in social communication, repetitive behaviors, restricted interests, and hyperesthesia/hypesthesia caused by genetic and/or environmental factors. In recent years, inflammation and oxidative stress have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ASD. In this review, we discuss the inflammation and oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of ASD, particularly focusing on maternal immune activation (MIA). MIA is a one of the common environmental risk factors for the onset of ASD during pregnancy. It induces an immune reaction in the pregnant mother’s body, resulting in further inflammation and oxidative stress in the placenta and fetal brain. These negative factors cause neurodevelopmental impairments in the developing fetal brain and subsequently cause behavioral symptoms in the offspring. In addition, we also discuss the effects of anti-inflammatory drugs and antioxidants in basic studies on animals and clinical studies of ASD. Our review provides the latest findings and new insights into the involvements of inflammation and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noriyoshi Usui
- Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan
- United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan
- Global Center for Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan
- Addiction Research Unit, Osaka Psychiatric Research Center, Osaka Psychiatric Medical Center, Osaka 541-8567, Japan
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +81-668-79-3124
| | - Hikaru Kobayashi
- SANKEN (Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research), Osaka University, Suita 567-0047, Japan
| | - Shoichi Shimada
- Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan
- United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan
- Global Center for Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871, Japan
- Addiction Research Unit, Osaka Psychiatric Research Center, Osaka Psychiatric Medical Center, Osaka 541-8567, Japan
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Landolfo E, Cutuli D, Decandia D, Balsamo F, Petrosini L, Gelfo F. Environmental Enrichment Protects against Neurotoxic Effects of Lipopolysaccharide: A Comprehensive Overview. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24065404. [PMID: 36982478 PMCID: PMC10049264 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24065404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroinflammation is a pathophysiological condition associated with damage to the nervous system. Maternal immune activation and early immune activation have adverse effects on the development of the nervous system and cognitive functions. Neuroinflammation during adulthood leads to neurodegenerative diseases. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is used in preclinical research to mimic neurotoxic effects leading to systemic inflammation. Environmental enrichment (EE) has been reported to cause a wide range of beneficial changes in the brain. Based on the above, the purpose of the present review is to describe the effects of exposure to EE paradigms in counteracting LPS-induced neuroinflammation throughout the lifespan. Up to October 2022, a methodical search of studies in the literature, using the PubMed and Scopus databases, was performed, focusing on exposure to LPS, as an inflammatory mediator, and to EE paradigms in preclinical murine models. On the basis of the inclusion criteria, 22 articles were considered and analyzed in the present review. EE exerts sex- and age-dependent neuroprotective and therapeutic effects in animals exposed to the neurotoxic action of LPS. EE’s beneficial effects are present throughout the various ages of life. A healthy lifestyle and stimulating environments are essential to counteract the damages induced by neurotoxic exposure to LPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenia Landolfo
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Debora Cutuli
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Davide Decandia
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Balsamo
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Human Sciences, Guglielmo Marconi University, Via Plinio 44, 00193 Rome, Italy
| | - Laura Petrosini
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Gelfo
- IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Human Sciences, Guglielmo Marconi University, Via Plinio 44, 00193 Rome, Italy
- Correspondence:
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Raymann S, Schalbetter SM, Schaer R, Bernhardt AC, Mueller FS, Meyer U, Weber-Stadlbauer U. Late prenatal immune activation in mice induces transgenerational effects via the maternal and paternal lineages. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2273-2286. [PMID: 36857721 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 04/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Prenatal exposure to infectious or noninfectious immune activation is an environmental risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders and mental illnesses. Recent research using animal models suggests that maternal immune activation (MIA) during early to middle stages of pregnancy can induce transgenerational effects on brain and behavior, likely via inducing stable epigenetic modifications across generations. Using a mouse model of viral-like MIA, which is based on gestational treatment with poly(I:C), the present study explored whether transgenerational effects can also emerge when MIA occurs in late pregnancy. Our findings demonstrate that the direct descendants born to poly(I:C)-treated mothers display deficits in temporal order memory, which are similarly present in second- and third-generation offspring. These transgenerational effects were mediated via both the maternal and paternal lineages and were accompanied by transient changes in maternal care. In addition to the cognitive effects, late prenatal immune activation induced generation-spanning effects on the prefrontal expression of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic genes, including parvalbumin and distinct alpha-subunits of the GABAA receptor. Together, our results suggest that MIA in late pregnancy has the potential to affect cognitive functions and prefrontal gene expression patterns in multiple generations, highlighting its role in shaping disease risk across generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Raymann
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sina M Schalbetter
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ron Schaer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Alexandra C Bernhardt
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Flavia S Mueller
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Urs Meyer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ulrike Weber-Stadlbauer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Winterthurerstrasse 260, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.,Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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25
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Innate immune dysfunction and neuroinflammation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Brain Behav Immun 2023; 108:245-254. [PMID: 36494048 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2022.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by communication and social behavior deficits. The presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors often accompanies these deficits, and these characteristics can range from mild to severe. The past several decades have seen a significant rise in the prevalence of ASD. The etiology of ASD remains unknown; however, genetic and environmental risk factors play a role. Multiple hypotheses converge to suggest that neuroinflammation, or at least the interaction between immune and neural systems, may be involved in the etiology of some ASD cases or groups. Repeated evidence of innate immune dysfunction has been seen in ASD, often associated with worsening behaviors. This evidence includes data from circulating myeloid cells and brain resident macrophages/microglia in both human and animal models. This comprehensive review presents recent findings of innate immune dysfunction in ASD, including aberrant innate cellular function, evidence of neuroinflammation, and microglia activation.
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26
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Bogado Lopes J, Senko AN, Bahnsen K, Geisler D, Kim E, Bernanos M, Cash D, Ehrlich S, Vernon AC, Kempermann G. Individual behavioral trajectories shape whole-brain connectivity in mice. eLife 2023; 12:e80379. [PMID: 36645260 PMCID: PMC9977274 DOI: 10.7554/elife.80379] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
It is widely assumed that our actions shape our brains and that the resulting connections determine who we are. To test this idea in a reductionist setting, in which genes and environment are controlled, we investigated differences in neuroanatomy and structural covariance by ex vivo structural magnetic resonance imaging in mice whose behavioral activity was continuously tracked for 3 months in a large, enriched environment. We confirmed that environmental enrichment increases mouse hippocampal volumes. Stratifying the enriched group according to individual longitudinal behavioral trajectories, however, revealed striking differences in mouse brain structural covariance in continuously highly active mice compared to those whose trajectories showed signs of habituating activity. Network-based statistics identified distinct subnetworks of murine structural covariance underlying these differences in behavioral activity. Together, these results reveal that differentiated behavioral trajectories of mice in an enriched environment are associated with differences in brain connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jadna Bogado Lopes
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) DresdenDresdenGermany
- Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), TU DresdenDresdenGermany
| | - Anna N Senko
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) DresdenDresdenGermany
- Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), TU DresdenDresdenGermany
| | - Klaas Bahnsen
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of MedicineDresdenGermany
| | - Daniel Geisler
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of MedicineDresdenGermany
| | - Eugene Kim
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience King's CollegeLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Michel Bernanos
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience King's CollegeLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Diana Cash
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience King's CollegeLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Stefan Ehrlich
- Division of Psychological and Social Medicine and Developmental Neurosciences, Faculty of MedicineDresdenGermany
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Eating Disorder Treatment and Research CenterDresdenGermany
| | - Anthony C Vernon
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's CollegeLondonUnited Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's CollegeLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Gerd Kempermann
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) DresdenDresdenGermany
- Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), TU DresdenDresdenGermany
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Wu J, Lin X, Wu D, Yan B, Bao M, Zheng P, Wang J, Yang C, Li Z, Jin X, Jiang K. Poly(I:C)-exposed zebrafish shows autism-like behaviors which are ameliorated by fabp2 gene knockout. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 15:1068019. [PMID: 36683854 PMCID: PMC9849760 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.1068019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders mainly representing impaired social communication. The etiology of ASD includes genetic and environmental risk factors. Rodent models containing ASD risk gene mutations or environmental risk factors, such as exposure to maternal inflammation, show abnormal behavior. Although zebrafish conserves many important brain structures of humans and has sophisticated and fine behaviors in social interaction, it is unknown whether the social behaviors of their offspring would be impaired due to exposure to maternal inflammation. Methods We exposed zebrafish to maternal immune activation (MIA) by injection with polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid [poly(I:C)], and screened their behaviors through social behavioral tests such as social preference and shoaling behavior tests. We compared phenotypes resulted from different ways of poly(I:C) exposure. RNA sequencing was performed to explore the differential expression genes (DEGs). Gene ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis was performed with the detected DEGs to find the concentrated pathways. Finally, we knocked out the fatty acid-binding protein 2 (fabp2), a key node of the concentrated PPI network, to find its rescues on the altered social behavior. Results We reported here that MIA offspring born to mothers injected with poly(I:C) exhibited impaired social approach and social cohesion that mimicked human ASD phenotypes. Both maternal exposure and direct embryo exposure to poly(I:C) resulted in activations of the innate immune system through toll-like receptors 3 and 4. RNA-sequencing results from MIA brain tissues illustrated that the numbers of overexpressed genes were significantly more than that of underexpressed genes. GO and KEGG analyses found that MIA-induced DEGs were mainly concentrated in complement and coagulation cascade pathways. PPI network analyses suggested that villin-1 (vil1) pathway might play a key role in MIA-induced ASD. Knockout of fabp2 in F0 zebrafish rescued the social behavior deficits in MIA offspring. Conclusions Overall, our work established an ASD model with assessable behavior phenotype in zebrafish and provided key insights into environmental risk factor in ASD etiology and the influence of fabp2 gene on ASD-like behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wu
- Department of Child Psychology, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xueting Lin
- Department of Child Psychology, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China
| | - Dian Wu
- Department of Child Psychology, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China
| | - Binhong Yan
- Department of Biobank Center, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China
| | - Mengyi Bao
- Department of Child Psychology, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China
| | - Peilei Zheng
- Department of Biobank Center, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiangping Wang
- Department of Child Psychology, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China
| | - Cuiwei Yang
- Department of Neurology, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhongxia Li
- Department of Pediatrics, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University (Wuzhou GongRen Hospital), Wuzhou, Guangxi, China
| | - Xiaoming Jin
- Indiana Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Group, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States,Stark Neuroscience Research Institute, Department of Neurological Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United States
| | - Kewen Jiang
- Department of Child Psychology, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China,Department of Biobank Center, The Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center For Child Health, Hangzhou, China,*Correspondence: Kewen Jiang,
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Petty A, Howes O, Eyles D. Animal Models of Relevance to the Schizophrenia Prodrome. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 3:22-32. [PMID: 36712558 PMCID: PMC9874082 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Patients with schizophrenia often undergo a prodromal phase prior to diagnosis. Given the absence of significant therapeutic improvements, attention has recently shifted to the possibility of intervention during this early stage to delay or diminish symptom severity or even prevent onset. Unfortunately, the 20 or so trials of intervention to date have not been successful in either preventing onset or improving long-term outcomes in subjects who are at risk of developing schizophrenia. One reason may be that the biological pathways an effective intervention must target are not static. The prodromal phase typically occurs during late adolescence, a period during which a number of brain circuits and structures are still maturing. We propose that developing a deeper understanding of which circuits/processes and brain structures are still maturing at this time and which processes drive the transition to schizophrenia will take us a step closer to developing better prophylactic interventions. Fortunately, such knowledge is now emerging from clinical studies, complemented by work in animal models. Our task here is to describe what would constitute an appropriate animal model to study and to potentially intervene in such processes. Such a model would allow invasive analysis of the cellular and molecular substrates of the progressive neurobiology that defines the schizophrenia prodrome and hopefully offer valuable insights into potential prophylactic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Petty
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Darryl Eyles
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.,Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, Queensland, Australia
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29
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Herrero F, Mueller FS, Gruchot J, Küry P, Weber-Stadlbauer U, Meyer U. Susceptibility and resilience to maternal immune activation are associated with differential expression of endogenous retroviral elements. Brain Behav Immun 2023; 107:201-214. [PMID: 36243285 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2022.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are ancestorial retroviral elements that were integrated into the mammalian genome through germline infections and insertions during evolution. While increased ERV expression has been repeatedly implicated in psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, recent evidence suggests that aberrant endogenous retroviral activity may contribute to biologically defined subgroups of psychotic disorders with persisting immunological dysfunctions. Here, we explored whether ERV expression is altered in a mouse model of maternal immune activation (MIA), a transdiagnostic environmental risk factor of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. MIA was induced by maternal administration of poly(I:C) on gestation day 12 in C57BL/6N mice. Murine ERV transcripts were quantified in the placentae and fetal brains shortly after poly(I:C)-induced MIA, as well as in adult offspring that were stratified according to their behavioral profiles. We found that MIA increased and reduced levels of class II ERVs and syncytins, respectively, in placentae and fetal brain tissue. We also revealed abnormal ERV expression in MIA-exposed offspring depending on whether they displayed overt behavioral anomalies or not. Taken together, our findings provide a proof of concept that an inflammatory stimulus, even when initiated in prenatal life, has the potential of altering ERV expression across fetal to adult stages of development. Moreover, our data highlight that susceptibility and resilience to MIA are associated with differential ERV expression, suggesting that early-life exposure to inflammatory factors may play a role in determining disease susceptibility by inducing persistent alterations in the expression of endogenous retroviral elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felisa Herrero
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Flavia S Mueller
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Joel Gruchot
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Patrick Küry
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Ulrike Weber-Stadlbauer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Urs Meyer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Zurich, Switzerland; Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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Increased blood neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) associated with early life stress: translational findings in recent-onset schizophrenia and rodent model. Transl Psychiatry 2022; 12:526. [PMID: 36572669 PMCID: PMC9792518 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-022-02291-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Higher levels of interleukin (IL)-6 and elevated neutrophil counts are consistently reported in the blood of patients with schizophrenia. Stressors during childhood and/or adolescence are major socioenvironmental risk factors for schizophrenia and may contribute to immune dysregulation. Previous studies using blood cytokines to stratify patients with schizophrenia suggest that only a subset presents a low-grade inflammatory state. However, these studies have not addressed whether environmental factors such as childhood maltreatment contributed to identifying inflammatory clusters. Moreover, a neutrophil-related mechanism (Neutrophil Extracellular Traps; NETs) central to both the initiation and chronicity of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases has never been investigated in psychiatry. Elevated NETs in schizophrenia may predispose patients to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases resulting in reduced life expectancy. We, therefore, investigated NETs as a novel mechanism and biological target in early schizophrenia and their role together with IL-6 and childhood maltreatment in identifying cluster subgroups. We found increased NETs in the plasma of patients with early schizophrenia (n = 78) compared to both their unaffected siblings (n = 25) and community controls (n = 78), irrespective of sex, body mass index, psychoactive drug use, or tobacco smoking. Increased NETs in patients were unrelated to antipsychotic treatment, which was further tested in vitro using fresh neutrophils. By applying unsupervised two-step clustering analysis, we integrated values of NETs, IL-6, and childhood maltreatment scores. We identified two main clusters; childhood maltreatment scores and NETs were the most important variables contributing to cluster separation (high-CL1 and low-CL2), while IL-6 was the least contributor. Patients allocated in the high-CL1 (61.5%) had significantly higher childhood maltreatment scores, NETs, and IL-6 levels than the remaining groups (patients low-CL2, siblings, and controls high-CL1 and low-CL2). We complemented these findings with a rat model based on stress exposure during adolescence that results in several schizophrenia-like changes in adulthood. We found that adolescent stressed rats had higher NETs and IL-6 levels in serum compared to non-stressed rats with a tendency to produce more NETs from the bone marrow. Altogether, this study brings a novel cellular-based mechanism in schizophrenia that, combined with early-stress, could be useful to identify subgroups for more personalised treatments.
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Bucknor MC, Gururajan A, Dale RC, Hofer MJ. A comprehensive approach to modeling maternal immune activation in rodents. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1071976. [PMID: 36590294 PMCID: PMC9800799 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1071976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Prenatal brain development is a highly orchestrated process, making it a very vulnerable window to perturbations. Maternal stress and subsequent inflammation during pregnancy leads to a state referred to as, maternal immune activation (MIA). If persistent, MIA can pose as a significant risk factor for the manifestation of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. To further elucidate this association between MIA and NDD risk, rodent models have been used extensively across laboratories for many years. However, there are few uniform approaches for rodent MIA models which make not only comparisons between studies difficult, but some established approaches come with limitations that can affect experimental outcomes. Here, we provide researchers with a comprehensive review of common experimental variables and potential limitations that should be considered when designing an MIA study based in a rodent model. Experimental variables discussed include: innate immune stimulation using poly I:C and LPS, environmental gestational stress paradigms, rodent diet composition and sterilization, rodent strain, neonatal handling, and the inclusion of sex-specific MIA offspring analyses. We discuss how some aspects of these variables have potential to make a profound impact on MIA data interpretation and reproducibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan C. Bucknor
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Anand Gururajan
- The Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Russell C. Dale
- The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Kids Neuroscience Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia,The Children’s Hospital at Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Markus J. Hofer
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia,*Correspondence: Markus J. Hofer,
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Lorusso JM, Woods RM, McEwan F, Glazier JD, Neill JC, Harte M, Hager R. Clustering of cognitive phenotypes identifies susceptible and resilient offspring in a rat model of maternal immune activation and early-life stress. Brain Behav Immun Health 2022; 25:100514. [PMID: 36177307 PMCID: PMC9513103 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders often have very heterogeneous symptoms, especially regarding cognition: while some individuals may exhibit deficient cognition, others are relatively unaffected. Studies using developmental animal models often ignore phenotypic heterogeneity in favour of traditional treatment/control comparisons. This may result in resilient or unaffected individuals masking the effects of susceptible individuals if grouped together. Here, we used maternal immune activation and limited bedding and nesting, respectively, as a two-hit neurodevelopmental model for schizophrenia. Both factors reduced cognitive function in a novel object recognition (NOR) task. While we found treatment group effects on cognitive phenotypes, behavioural clustering identified three subpopulations exposed to either insult: those exhibiting ‘typical’ cognitive performance on the NOR, an intermediate phenotype, or a marked deficit. These clusters included offspring from each treatment group, although both intermediate and marked deficit clusters were composed primarily of offspring from treated groups. Clustering allowed stratification within treatment groups into ‘susceptible’ and ‘resilient’ individuals, while also identifying conserved phenotypes across treatment groups. Using unbiased cluster analyses in preclinical models can better characterize phenotypes and enables a better understanding of both face and construct validity of phenotypic heterogeneity. The use of unbiased clustering techniques may help identify potential markers associated with individual susceptibility and resilience in neurodevelopmental disorder models. Maternal immune activation and early life stress affect recognition memory. New groups were identified using unbiased clustering based on task performance. These clusters reflected high-, low-, and intermediary recognition memory. Treatment offspring were distributed across all three unbiased clusters. These findings suggest some offspring will be resilient to developmental insults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jarred M. Lorusso
- Division of Evolution, Infection, and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
- Corresponding author.
| | - Rebecca M. Woods
- Division of Evolution, Infection, and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - Francesca McEwan
- Division of Evolution, Infection, and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - Jocelyn D. Glazier
- Division of Evolution, Infection, and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - Joanna C. Neill
- Division of Pharmacy & Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Harte
- Division of Pharmacy & Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - Reinmar Hager
- Division of Evolution, Infection, and Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
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33
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Reinl EL, Blanchard AC, Graham EL, Edwards SW, Dionisos CV, McCarthy MM. The immune cell profile of the developing rat brain. Brain Behav Immun 2022; 106:198-226. [PMID: 36049705 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2022.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Little is known about the peripheral immune cell (PIC) profile of the developing brain despite growing appreciation for these cells in the mature nervous system. To address this gap, the PIC profile, defined as which cells are present, where they are located, and for how long, was examined in the developing rat using spectral flow cytometry. Select regions of the rat brain (cerebellum, hippocampus, and hypothalamus) were examined at embryonic day 20, and postnatal days 0, 7 and 16. At their peak (E20), PICs were most abundant in the cerebellum, then the hippocampus and hypothalamus. Within the PIC pool, monocytes were most prevalent in all regions and time points, and shifted from being majority classical at E20 to non-classical by PN7. T cells increased over time, and shifted from majority cytotoxic to T-helper cells by PN7. This suggests the PIC profile transitions from reactive to adaptive and surveilling in the second postnatal week. NK cells and mast cells increased temporarily, and mast cells were restricted to the hippocampus and hypothalamus, suggesting they may play a specific role in the development of those regions. Mimicking a viral infection by administration of Poly I:C increased the influx of PICs into the neonatal brain, particularly of NK cells and in the case of males only, non-classical monocytes. This work provides a map for researchers as they study immune cell contributions to healthy and pathological brain development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin L Reinl
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, United States
| | - Alexa C Blanchard
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Program in Molecular Medicine and Medical Scientist Training Program, United States
| | - Emily L Graham
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, United States
| | - Serena W Edwards
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, United States
| | - Christie V Dionisos
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Program in Neuroscience, United States
| | - Margaret M McCarthy
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, United States; University of Maryland School of Medicine, Program in Neuroscience, United States
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34
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Meyer U. Sources and Translational Relevance of Heterogeneity in Maternal Immune Activation Models. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2022; 61:71-91. [PMID: 36306055 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2022_398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The epidemiological literature reporting increased risk for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders after prenatal exposure to maternal immune activation (MIA) is still evolving, and so are the attempts to model this association in animals. Epidemiological studies of MIA offer the advantage of directly evaluating human populations but are often limited in their ability to uncover pathogenic mechanisms. Animal models, on the other hand, are limited in their generalizability to psychiatric disorders but have made significant strides toward discovering causal relationships and biological pathways between MIA and neurobiological phenotypes. Like in any other model system, both planned and unplanned sources of variability exist in animal models of MIA. Therefore, the design, implementation, and interpretation of MIA models warrant a careful consideration of these sources, so that appropriate strategies can be developed to handle them satisfactorily. While every research group may have its own strategy to this aim, it is essential to report the methodological details of the chosen MIA model in order to enhance the transparency and comparability of models across research laboratories. Even though it poses a challenge for attempts to compare experimental findings across laboratories, variability does not undermine the utility of MIA models for translational research. In fact, variability and heterogenous outcomes in MIA models offer unique opportunities for new discoveries and developments in this field, including the identification of disease pathways and molecular mechanisms determining susceptibility and resilience to MIA. This review summarizes the most important sources of variability in animal models of MIA and discusses how model variability can be used to investigate neurobiological and immunological factors causing phenotypic heterogeneity in offspring exposed to MIA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Urs Meyer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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35
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Bhat A, Irizar H, Couch ACM, Raval P, Duarte RRR, Dutan Polit L, Hanger B, Powell T, Deans PJM, Shum C, Nagy R, McAlonan G, Iyegbe CO, Price J, Bramon E, Bhattacharyya S, Vernon AC, Srivastava DP. Attenuated transcriptional response to pro-inflammatory cytokines in schizophrenia hiPSC-derived neural progenitor cells. Brain Behav Immun 2022; 105:82-97. [PMID: 35716830 PMCID: PMC9810540 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2022.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Revised: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Maternal immune activation (MIA) during prenatal development is an environmental risk factor for psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia (SZ). Converging lines of evidence from human and animal model studies suggest that elevated cytokine levels in the maternal and fetal compartments are an important indication of the mechanisms driving this association. However, there is variability in susceptibility to the psychiatric risk conferred by MIA, likely influenced by genetic factors. How MIA interacts with a genetic profile susceptible to SZ is challenging to test in animal models. To address this gap, we examined whether differential gene expression responses occur in forebrain-lineage neural progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) generated from three individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and three healthy controls. Following acute (24 h) treatment with either interferon-gamma (IFNγ; 25 ng/μl) or interleukin (IL)-1β (10 ng/μl), we identified, by RNA sequencing, 3380 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the IFNγ-treated control lines (compared to untreated controls), and 1980 DEGs in IFNγ-treated SZ lines (compared to untreated SZ lines). Out of 4137 genes that responded significantly to IFNγ across all lines, 1223 were common to both SZ and control lines. The 2914 genes that appeared to respond differentially to IFNγ treatment in SZ lines were subjected to a further test of significance (multiple testing correction applied to the interaction effect between IFNγ treatment and SZ diagnosis), yielding 359 genes that passed the significance threshold. There were no differentially expressed genes in the IL-1β-treatment conditions after Benjamini-Hochberg correction. Gene set enrichment analysis however showed that IL-1β impacts immune function and neuronal differentiation. Overall, our data suggest that a) SZ NPCs show an attenuated transcriptional response to IFNγ treatment compared to controls; b) Due to low IL-1β receptor expression in NPCs, NPC cultures appear to be less responsive to IL-1β than IFNγ; and c) the genes differentially regulated in SZ lines - in the face of a cytokine challenge - are primarily associated with mitochondrial, "loss-of-function", pre- and post-synaptic gene sets. Our findings particularly highlight the role of early synaptic development in the association between maternal immune activation and schizophrenia risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anjali Bhat
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK; Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK; Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | - Haritz Irizar
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK; Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, NY, USA
| | - Amalie C M Couch
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK
| | - Pooja Raval
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK
| | - Rodrigo R R Duarte
- Department of Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, NY, USA
| | - Lucia Dutan Polit
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK
| | - Bjorn Hanger
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK
| | - Timothy Powell
- Department of Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, NY, USA
| | - P J Michael Deans
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK
| | - Carole Shum
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK
| | - Roland Nagy
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK
| | - Grainne McAlonan
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK; Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Conrad O Iyegbe
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jack Price
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK
| | - Elvira Bramon
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK; Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Anthony C Vernon
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK.
| | - Deepak P Srivastava
- Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, UK.
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36
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Otero AM, Antonson AM. At the crux of maternal immune activation: Viruses, microglia, microbes, and IL-17A. Immunol Rev 2022; 311:205-223. [PMID: 35979731 PMCID: PMC9804202 DOI: 10.1111/imr.13125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Inflammation during prenatal development can be detrimental to neurodevelopmental processes, increasing the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. Prenatal exposure to maternal viral infection during pregnancy is a leading environmental risk factor for manifestation of these disorders. Preclinical animal models of maternal immune activation (MIA), established to investigate this link, have revealed common immune and microbial signaling pathways that link mother and fetus and set the tone for prenatal neurodevelopment. In particular, maternal intestinal T helper 17 cells, educated by endogenous microbes, appear to be key drivers of effector IL-17A signals capable of reaching the fetal brain and causing neuropathologies. Fetal microglial cells are particularly sensitive to maternally derived inflammatory and microbial signals, and they shift their functional phenotype in response to MIA. Resulting cortical malformations and miswired interneuron circuits cause aberrant offspring behaviors that recapitulate core symptoms of human neurodevelopmental disorders. Still, the popular use of "sterile" immunostimulants to initiate MIA has limited translation to the clinic, as these stimulants fail to capture biologically relevant innate and adaptive inflammatory sequelae induced by live pathogen infection. Thus, there is a need for more translatable MIA models, with a focus on relevant pathogens like seasonal influenza viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley M. Otero
- Neuroscience ProgramUniversity of Illinois Urbana‐ChampaignUrbanaIllinoisUSA
| | - Adrienne M. Antonson
- Department of Animal SciencesUniversity of Illinois Urbana‐ChampaignUrbanaIllinoisUSA
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37
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Hanson KL, Grant SE, Funk LH, Schumann CM, Bauman MD. Impact of Maternal Immune Activation on Nonhuman Primate Prefrontal Cortex Development: Insights for Schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 92:460-469. [PMID: 35773097 PMCID: PMC9888668 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Revised: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Late adolescence is a period of dynamic change in the brain as humans learn to navigate increasingly complex environments. In particular, prefrontal cortical (PFC) regions undergo extensive remodeling as the brain is fine-tuned to orchestrate cognitive control over attention, reasoning, and emotions. Late adolescence also presents a uniquely vulnerable period as neurodevelopmental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, become evident and worsen into young adulthood. Challenges in early development, including prenatal exposure to infection, may set the stage for a cascade of maladaptive events that ultimately result in aberrant PFC connectivity and function before symptoms emerge. A growing body of research suggests that activation of the mother's immune system during pregnancy may act as a disease primer, in combination with other environmental and genetic factors, contributing to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia. Animal models provide an invaluable opportunity to examine the course of brain and behavioral changes in offspring exposed to maternal immune activation (MIA). Although the vast majority of MIA research has been carried out in rodents, here we highlight the translational utility of the nonhuman primate (NHP) as a model species more closely related to humans in PFC structure and function. In this review, we consider the protracted period of brain and behavioral maturation in the NHP, describe emerging findings from MIA NHP offspring in the context of rodent preclinical models, and lastly explore the translational relevance of the NHP MIA model to expand understanding of the etiology and developmental course of PFC pathology in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kari L Hanson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California; MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
| | - Simone E Grant
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
| | - Lucy H Funk
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
| | - Cynthia M Schumann
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California; MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.
| | - Melissa D Bauman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, California; MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, Davis, California; California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.
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38
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Pavlinek A, Matuleviciute R, Sichlinger L, Dutan Polit L, Armeniakos N, Vernon AC, Srivastava DP. Interferon-γ exposure of human iPSC-derived neurons alters major histocompatibility complex I and synapsin protein expression. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:836217. [PMID: 36186864 PMCID: PMC9515429 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.836217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Human epidemiological data links maternal immune activation (MIA) during gestation with increased risk for psychiatric disorders with a putative neurodevelopmental origin, including schizophrenia and autism. Animal models of MIA provide evidence for this association and suggest that inflammatory cytokines represent one critical link between maternal infection and any potential impact on offspring brain and behavior development. However, to what extent specific cytokines are necessary and sufficient for these effects remains unclear. It is also unclear how specific cytokines may impact the development of specific cell types. Using a human cellular model, we recently demonstrated that acute exposure to interferon-γ (IFNγ) recapitulates molecular and cellular phenotypes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, we extend this work to test whether IFNγ can impact the development of immature glutamatergic neurons using an induced neuronal cellular system. We find that acute exposure to IFNγ activates a signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1)-pathway in immature neurons, and results in significantly increased major histocompatibility complex I (MHCI) expression at the mRNA and protein level. Furthermore, acute IFNγ exposure decreased synapsin I/II protein in neurons but did not affect the expression of synaptic genes. Interestingly, complement component 4A (C4A) gene expression was significantly increased following acute IFNγ exposure. This study builds on our previous work by showing that IFNγ-mediated disruption of relevant synaptic proteins can occur at early stages of neuronal development, potentially contributing to neurodevelopmental disorder phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Pavlinek
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rugile Matuleviciute
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Sichlinger
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lucia Dutan Polit
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nikolaos Armeniakos
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony Christopher Vernon
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Deepak Prakash Srivastava
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
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Saunders JM, Muguruza C, Sierra S, Moreno JL, Callado LF, Meana JJ, Beardsley PM, González-Maeso J. Glucocorticoid receptor dysregulation underlies 5-HT 2AR-dependent synaptic and behavioral deficits in a mouse neurodevelopmental disorder model. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102481. [PMID: 36100039 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 09/01/2022] [Accepted: 09/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Prenatal environmental insults increase the risk of neurodevelopmental psychiatric conditions in the offspring. Structural modifications of dendritic spines are central to brain development and plasticity. Using maternal immune activation (MIA) as a rodent model of prenatal environmental insult, previous results have reported dendritic structural deficits in the frontal cortex. However, very little is known about the molecular mechanism underlying MIA-induced synaptic structural alterations in the offspring. Using prenatal (E12.5) injection with poly-(I:C) as a mouse MIA model, we show here that upregulation of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2AR) is at least in part responsible for some of the effects of prenatal insults on frontal cortex dendritic spine structure and sensorimotor gating processes. Mechanistically, we report that this upregulation of frontal cortex 5-HT2AR expression is associated with MIA-induced reduction of nuclear translocation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and, consequently, a decrease in the enrichment of GR at the 5-HT2AR promoter. The translational significance of these preclinical findings is supported by data in postmortem human brain samples suggesting dysregulation of GR translocation in frontal cortex of schizophrenia subjects. We also found that repeated corticosterone administration augmented frontal cortex 5-HT2AR expression and reduced GR binding to the 5-HT2AR promoter. However, virally (AAV)-mediated augmentation of GR function reduced frontal cortex 5-HT2AR expression and improved sensorimotor gating processes via 5-HT2AR. Together, these data support a negative regulatory relationship between GR signaling and 5-HT2AR expression in the mouse frontal cortex that may carry implications for the pathophysiology underlying 5-HT2AR dysregulation in neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin M Saunders
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
| | - Carolina Muguruza
- Department of Pharmacology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, CIBERSAM, Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, E-48940 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Salvador Sierra
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
| | - José L Moreno
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
| | - Luis F Callado
- Department of Pharmacology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, CIBERSAM, Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, E-48940 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - J Javier Meana
- Department of Pharmacology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, CIBERSAM, Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, E-48940 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain
| | - Patrick M Beardsley
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298, USA; Center for Biomarker Research and Precision Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
| | - Javier González-Maeso
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298, USA.
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Klein L, Van Steenwinckel J, Fleiss B, Scheuer T, Bührer C, Faivre V, Lemoine S, Blugeon C, Schwendimann L, Csaba Z, Bokobza C, Vousden DA, Lerch JP, Vernon AC, Gressens P, Schmitz T. A unique cerebellar pattern of microglia activation in a mouse model of encephalopathy of prematurity. Glia 2022; 70:1699-1719. [PMID: 35579329 PMCID: PMC9545095 DOI: 10.1002/glia.24190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Preterm infants often show pathologies of the cerebellum, which are associated with impaired motor performance, lower IQ and poor language skills at school ages. Using a mouse model of inflammation-induced encephalopathy of prematurity driven by systemic administration of pro-inflammatory IL-1β, we sought to uncover causes of cerebellar damage. In this model, IL-1β is administered between postnatal day (P) 1 to day 5, a timing equivalent to the last trimester for brain development in humans. Structural MRI analysis revealed that systemic IL-1β treatment induced specific reductions in gray and white matter volumes of the mouse cerebellar lobules I and II (5% false discovery rate [FDR]) from P15 onwards. Preceding these MRI-detectable cerebellar volume changes, we observed damage to oligodendroglia, with reduced proliferation of OLIG2+ cells at P10 and reduced levels of the myelin proteins myelin basic protein (MBP) and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) at P10 and P15. Increased density of IBA1+ cerebellar microglia were observed both at P5 and P45, with evidence for increased microglial proliferation at P5 and P10. Comparison of the transcriptome of microglia isolated from P5 cerebellums and cerebrums revealed significant enrichment of pro-inflammatory markers in microglia from both regions, but cerebellar microglia displayed a unique type I interferon signaling dysregulation. Collectively, these data suggest that perinatal inflammation driven by systemic IL-1β leads to specific cerebellar volume deficits, which likely reflect oligodendrocyte pathology downstream of microglial activation. Further studies are now required to confirm the potential of protective strategies aimed at preventing sustained type I interferon signaling driven by cerebellar microglia as an important therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisa Klein
- Department of NeonatologyCharité University Medicine BerlinBerlinGermany
| | | | - Bobbi Fleiss
- NeuroDiderot, InsermUniversité de ParisParisFrance
- School of Health and Biomedical SciencesRMIT UniversityMelbourneVictoriaAustralia
| | - Till Scheuer
- Department of NeonatologyCharité University Medicine BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Christoph Bührer
- Department of NeonatologyCharité University Medicine BerlinBerlinGermany
| | | | - Sophie Lemoine
- Genomics Core Facility, Département de Biologie, École Normale Supérieure, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS (IBENS), CNRS, INSERMUniversité PSLParisFrance
| | - Corinne Blugeon
- Genomics Core Facility, Département de Biologie, École Normale Supérieure, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS (IBENS), CNRS, INSERMUniversité PSLParisFrance
| | | | - Zsolt Csaba
- NeuroDiderot, InsermUniversité de ParisParisFrance
| | | | - Dulcie A. Vousden
- Mouse Imaging CentreThe Hospital for Sick ChildrenTorontoOntarioCanada
| | - Jason P. Lerch
- Mouse Imaging CentreThe Hospital for Sick ChildrenTorontoOntarioCanada
- Department of Medical BiophysicsUniversity of TorontoTorontoOntarioCanada
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Integrative NeuroimagingUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Anthony C. Vernon
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and NeuroscienceKing's College LondonLondonUK
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental DisordersKing's College LondonLondonUK
| | | | - Thomas Schmitz
- Department of NeonatologyCharité University Medicine BerlinBerlinGermany
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Desale H, Buekens P, Alger J, Cafferata ML, Harville EW, Herrera C, Truyens C, Dumonteil E. Epigenetic signature of exposure to maternal Trypanosoma cruzi infection in cord blood cells from uninfected newborns. Epigenomics 2022; 14:913-927. [PMID: 36039408 PMCID: PMC9475499 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2022-0153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aims: To assess the epigenetic effects of in utero exposure to maternal Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Methods: We performed an epigenome-wide association study to compare the DNA methylation patterns of umbilical cord blood cells from uninfected babies from chagasic and uninfected mothers. DNA methylation was measured using Infinium EPIC arrays. Results: We identified a differential DNA methylation signature of fetal exposure to maternal T. cruzi infection, in the absence of parasite transmission, with 12 differentially methylated sites in B cells and CD4+ T cells, including eight protein-coding genes. Conclusion: These genes participate in hematopoietic cell differentiation and the immune response and may be involved in immune disorders. They also have been associated with several developmental disorders and syndromes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans Desale
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine & Tulane University Vector-Borne & Infectious Disease Research Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Pierre Buekens
- Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Jackeline Alger
- Instituto de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Parasitologia Antonio Vidal, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.,Ministry of Health, Hospital Escuela, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
| | - Maria Luisa Cafferata
- Unidad de Investigación Clínica y Epidemiológica Montevideo (UNICEM), Hospital de Clínicas, Montevideo, 11600, Uruguay
| | - Emily Wheeler Harville
- Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Claudia Herrera
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine & Tulane University Vector-Borne & Infectious Disease Research Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
| | - Carine Truyens
- Laboratory of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, & ULB Center for Research in Immunology (UCRI), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine & Tulane University Vector-Borne & Infectious Disease Research Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
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Prendergast K, McAllister AK. Generating a Reproducible Model of Mid-Gestational Maternal Immune Activation using Poly(I:C) to Study Susceptibility and Resilience in Offspring. J Vis Exp 2022:10.3791/64095. [PMID: 36063000 PMCID: PMC9933952 DOI: 10.3791/64095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Maternal immune activation (MIA) during pregnancy is consistently linked to increased risk of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders in offspring. Animal models of MIA are used to test causality, investigate mechanisms, and develop diagnostics and treatments for these disorders. Despite their widespread use, many MIA models suffer from a lack of reproducibility and almost all ignore two important aspects of this risk factor: (i) many offspring are resilient to MIA, and (ii) susceptible offspring can exhibit distinct combinations of phenotypes. To increase reproducibility and model both susceptibility and resilience to MIA, the baseline immunoreactivity (BIR) of female mice before pregnancy is used to predict which pregnancies will result in either resilient offspring or offspring with defined behavioral and molecular abnormalities after exposure to MIA. Here, a detailed method of inducing MIA via intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of the double stranded RNA (dsRNA) viral mimic poly(I:C) at 12.5 days of gestation is provided. This method induces an acute inflammatory response in the dam, which results in perturbations in brain development in mice that map onto similarly impacted domains in human psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs).
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Białoń M, Wąsik A. Advantages and Limitations of Animal Schizophrenia Models. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23115968. [PMID: 35682647 PMCID: PMC9181262 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23115968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Mental illness modeling is still a major challenge for scientists. Animal models of schizophrenia are essential to gain a better understanding of the disease etiopathology and mechanism of action of currently used antipsychotic drugs and help in the search for new and more effective therapies. We can distinguish among pharmacological, genetic, and neurodevelopmental models offering various neuroanatomical disorders and a different spectrum of symptoms of schizophrenia. Modeling schizophrenia is based on inducing damage or changes in the activity of relevant regions in the rodent brain (mainly the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus). Such artificially induced dysfunctions approximately correspond to the lesions found in patients with schizophrenia. However, notably, animal models of mental illness have numerous limitations and never fully reflect the disease state observed in humans.
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Terpenoid Backbone Biosynthesis among Pig Hippocampal Pathways Impacted by Stressors. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13050814. [PMID: 35627199 PMCID: PMC9141200 DOI: 10.3390/genes13050814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurogenomic changes induced by maternal immune activation (MIA) during gestation and the social stress of weaning can alter brain plasticity in the hippocampus of offspring. The present study furthers the understanding of how these stressors impact hippocampus gene networks. The hippocampus transcriptome was profiled in pigs that were either exposed to MIA or not and were weaned or nursed. Overall, 1576 genes were differentially expressed (FDR-adjusted p-value < 0.05 and |log2 (fold change between pig groups)| > 1.2) in response to the main and interacting effects of MIA, weaning, and sex. Functional analysis identified 17 enriched immunological and neurological pathways in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database. The enrichment of the terpenoid backbone biosynthesis pathway was characterized by genes under-expressed in MIA relative to non-MIA exposed, males relative to females, and weaned relative to nursed pigs. On the other hand, the enrichment of drug addiction pathways was characterized by gene over-expression in MIA relative to non-exposed pigs. Our results indicate that weaning and sex can modify the effects of MIA on the offspring hippocampus. This knowledge can aid in precise identification of molecular targets to reduce the prolonged effects of pre- and postnatal stressors.
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Cattane N, Vernon AC, Borsini A, Scassellati C, Endres D, Capuron L, Tamouza R, Benros ME, Leza JC, Pariante CM, Riva MA, Cattaneo A. Preclinical animal models of mental illnesses to translate findings from the bench to the bedside: Molecular brain mechanisms and peripheral biomarkers associated to early life stress or immune challenges. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2022; 58:55-79. [PMID: 35235897 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2022.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Animal models are useful preclinical tools for studying the pathogenesis of mental disorders and the effectiveness of their treatment. While it is not possible to mimic all symptoms occurring in humans, it is however possible to investigate the behavioral, physiological and neuroanatomical alterations relevant for these complex disorders in controlled conditions and in genetically homogeneous populations. Stressful and infection-related exposures represent the most employed environmental risk factors able to trigger or to unmask a psychopathological phenotype in animals. Indeed, when occurring during sensitive periods of brain maturation, including pre, postnatal life and adolescence, they can affect the offspring's neurodevelopmental trajectories, increasing the risk for mental disorders. Not all stressed or immune challenged animals, however, develop behavioral alterations and preclinical animal models can explain differences between vulnerable or resilient phenotypes. Our review focuses on different paradigms of stress (prenatal stress, maternal separation, social isolation and social defeat stress) and immune challenges (immune activation in pregnancy) and investigates the subsequent alterations in several biological and behavioral domains at different time points of animals' life. It also discusses the "double-hit" hypothesis where an initial early adverse event can prime the response to a second negative challenge. Interestingly, stress and infections early in life induce the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, alter the levels of neurotransmitters, neurotrophins and pro-inflammatory cytokines and affect the functions of microglia and oxidative stress. In conclusion, animal models allow shedding light on the pathophysiology of human mental illnesses and discovering novel molecular drug targets for personalized treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia Cattane
- Biological Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
| | - Anthony C Vernon
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, United Kingdom; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Alessandra Borsini
- Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Catia Scassellati
- Biological Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
| | - Dominique Endres
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Lucile Capuron
- Univ. Bordeaux, INRAE, Bordeaux INP, NutriNeuro, UMR 1286, F-33000, Bordeaux, France
| | - Ryad Tamouza
- Département Medico-Universitaire de Psychiatrie et d'Addictologie (DMU ADAPT), Laboratoire Neuro-psychiatrie translationnelle, AP-HP, UniversitéParis Est Créteil, INSERM U955, IMRB, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Fondation FondaMental, F-94010 Créteil, France
| | - Michael Eriksen Benros
- Biological and Precision Psychiatry, Copenhagen Research Centre for Mental Health, Copenhagen University Hospital, Gentofte Hospitalsvej 15, 4th floor, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3B, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Juan C Leza
- Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Investigación Hospital 12 de Octubre (i+12), IUIN-UCM. Spain
| | - Carmine M Pariante
- Stress, Psychiatry and Immunology Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London, United Kingdom
| | - Marco A Riva
- Biological Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy; Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Italy
| | - Annamaria Cattaneo
- Biological Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy; Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Milan, Italy.
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Ryan AM, Bauman MD. Primate Models as a Translational Tool for Understanding Prenatal Origins of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Associated With Maternal Infection. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY. COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2022; 7:510-523. [PMID: 35276404 PMCID: PMC8902899 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2022.02.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Pregnant women represent a uniquely vulnerable population during an infectious disease outbreak, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we are at the early stages of understanding the specific impact of SARS-CoV-2 exposure during pregnancy, mounting epidemiological evidence strongly supports a link between exposure to a variety of maternal infections and an increased risk for offspring neurodevelopmental disorders. Inflammatory biomarkers identified from archived or prospectively collected maternal biospecimens suggest that the maternal immune response is the critical link between infection during pregnancy and altered offspring neurodevelopment. This maternal immune activation (MIA) hypothesis has been tested in animal models by artificially activating the immune system during pregnancy and evaluating the neurodevelopmental consequences in MIA-exposed offspring. Although the vast majority of MIA model research is carried out in rodents, the nonhuman primate model has emerged in recent years as an important translational tool. In this review, we briefly summarize human epidemiological studies that have prompted the development of translationally relevant MIA models. We then highlight notable similarities between humans and nonhuman primates, including placental structure, pregnancy physiology, gestational timelines, and offspring neurodevelopmental stages, that provide an opportunity to explore the MIA hypothesis in species more closely related to humans. Finally, we provide a comprehensive review of neurodevelopmental alterations reported in current nonhuman primate models of maternal infection and discuss future directions for this promising area of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy M Ryan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MIND Institute, University of California Davis, Davis, California; California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California
| | - Melissa D Bauman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, MIND Institute, University of California Davis, Davis, California; California National Primate Research Center, University of California Davis, Davis, California.
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47
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Desbonnet L, Konkoth A, Laighneach A, McKernan D, Holleran L, McDonald C, Morris DW, Donohoe G, Kelly J. Dual hit mouse model to examine the long-term effects of maternal immune activation and post-weaning social isolation on schizophrenia endophenotypes. Behav Brain Res 2022; 430:113930. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Massrali A, Adhya D, Srivastava DP, Baron-Cohen S, Kotter MR. Virus-Induced Maternal Immune Activation as an Environmental Factor in the Etiology of Autism and Schizophrenia. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:834058. [PMID: 35495047 PMCID: PMC9039720 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.834058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal immune activation (MIA) is mediated by activation of inflammatory pathways resulting in increased levels of cytokines and chemokines that cross the placental and blood-brain barriers altering fetal neural development. Maternal viral infection is one of the most well-known causes for immune activation in pregnant women. MIA and immune abnormalities are key players in the etiology of developmental conditions such as autism, schizophrenia, ADHD, and depression. Experimental evidence implicating MIA in with different effects in the offspring is complex. For decades, scientists have relied on either MIA models or human epidemiological data or a combination of both. MIA models are generated using infection/pathogenic agents to induce an immunological reaction in rodents and monitor the effects. Human epidemiological studies investigate a link between maternal infection and/or high levels of cytokines in pregnant mothers and the likelihood of developing conditions. In this review, we discuss the importance of understanding the relationship between virus-mediated MIA and neurodevelopmental conditions, focusing on autism and schizophrenia. We further discuss the different methods of studying MIA and their limitations and focus on the different factors contributing to MIA heterogeneity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aïcha Massrali
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Dwaipayan Adhya
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Deepak P. Srivastava
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Mark R. Kotter
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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49
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Differential effects of early or late exposure to prenatal maternal immune activation on mouse embryonic neurodevelopment. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2114545119. [PMID: 35286203 PMCID: PMC8944668 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2114545119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Prenatal exposure to maternal infection increases the risk of developing mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. Exposure to maternal immune activation has been associated with a number of neuroanatomical deficits in adolescent and adult offspring, with differing effects based on the gestational timing of infection. However, little is known about how the embryo brain is affected. We show, using whole-brain MRI, that maternal immune activation significantly affects brain anatomy. When the exposure occurs early in pregnancy, volume reductions are mainly observed, while the opposite is true for exposure later in pregnancy. Furthermore, we identify alterations to the density of certain classes of neurons and glia, which have been associated with stress and inflammation in the brain. Exposure to maternal immune activation (MIA) in utero is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. MIA-induced deficits in adolescent and adult offspring have been well characterized; however, less is known about the effects of MIA exposure on embryo development. To address this gap, we performed high-resolution ex vivo MRI to investigate the effects of early (gestational day [GD]9) and late (GD17) MIA exposure on embryo (GD18) brain structure. We identify striking neuroanatomical changes in the embryo brain, particularly in the late-exposed offspring. We further examined the putative neuroanatomical underpinnings of MIA timing in the hippocampus using electron microscopy and identified differential effects due to MIA timing. An increase in apoptotic cell density was observed in the GD9-exposed offspring, while an increase in the density of neurons and glia with ultrastructural features reflective of increased neuroinflammation and oxidative stress was observed in GD17-exposed offspring, particularly in females. Overall, our findings integrate imaging techniques across different scales to identify differential impact of MIA timing on the earliest stages of neurodevelopment.
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Schalbetter SM, von Arx AS, Cruz-Ochoa N, Dawson K, Ivanov A, Mueller FS, Lin HY, Amport R, Mildenberger W, Mattei D, Beule D, Földy C, Greter M, Notter T, Meyer U. Adolescence is a sensitive period for prefrontal microglia to act on cognitive development. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabi6672. [PMID: 35235358 PMCID: PMC8890703 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abi6672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is a cortical brain region that regulates various cognitive functions. One distinctive feature of the PFC is its protracted adolescent maturation, which is necessary for acquiring mature cognitive abilities in adulthood. Here, we show that microglia, the brain's resident immune cells, contribute to this maturational process. We find that transient and cell-specific deficiency of prefrontal microglia in adolescence is sufficient to induce an adult emergence of PFC-associated impairments in cognitive functions, dendritic complexity, and synaptic structures. While prefrontal microglia deficiency in adolescence also altered the excitatory-inhibitory balance in adult prefrontal circuits, there were no cognitive sequelae when prefrontal microglia were depleted in adulthood. Thus, our findings identify adolescence as a sensitive period for prefrontal microglia to act on cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sina M. Schalbetter
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Anina S. von Arx
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Natalia Cruz-Ochoa
- Laboratory of Neural Connectivity, Faculties of Medicine and Natural Sciences, Brain Research Institute, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Kara Dawson
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Andranik Ivanov
- Core Unit Bioinformatics, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Flavia S. Mueller
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Han-Yu Lin
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - René Amport
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Wiebke Mildenberger
- Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Daniele Mattei
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
- Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dieter Beule
- Core Unit Bioinformatics, Berlin Institute of Health, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin, Berlin, Germany
- Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC), Berlin, Germany
| | - Csaba Földy
- Laboratory of Neural Connectivity, Faculties of Medicine and Natural Sciences, Brain Research Institute, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Melanie Greter
- Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Tina Notter
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK
| | - Urs Meyer
- Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zürich-Vetsuisse, Zürich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Corresponding author.
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