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Yang HH, Han KM, Kim A, Kang Y, Tae WS, Han MR, Ham BJ. Neuroimaging and epigenetic analysis reveal novel epigenetic loci in major depressive disorder. Psychol Med 2024; 54:2585-2598. [PMID: 38721773 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291724000709] [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] [Indexed: 10/10/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, contribute to the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aimed to identify novel MDD-associated epigenetic loci using DNA methylation profiles and explore the correlations between epigenetic loci and cortical thickness changes in patients with MDD. METHODS A total of 350 patients with MDD and 161 healthy controls (HCs) were included in the epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS). We analyzed methylation, copy number alteration (CNA), and gene network profiles in the MDD group. A total of 234 patients with MDD and 135 HCs were included in neuroimaging methylation analysis. Pearson's partial correlation analysis was used to estimate the correlation between cortical thickness of brain regions and DNA methylation levels of the loci. RESULTS In total, 2018 differentially methylated probes (DMPs) and 351 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) were identified. DMP-related genes were enriched in two networks involved in the central nervous system. In neuroimaging analysis, patients with MDD showed cortical thinning in the prefrontal regions and cortical thickening in several occipital regions. Cortical thickness of the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC, i.e. pars triangularis) was negatively correlated with eight DMPs associated with six genes (EML6, ZFP64, CLSTN3, KCNMA1, TAOK2, and NT5E). CONCLUSION Through combining DNA methylation and neuroimaging analyses, negative correlations were identified between the cortical thickness of the left VLPFC and DNA methylation levels of eight DMPs. Our findings could improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of MDD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyun-Ho Yang
- Division of Life Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyu-Man Han
- Department of Psychiatry, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Brain Convergence Research Center, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Aram Kim
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Youbin Kang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Woo-Suk Tae
- Brain Convergence Research Center, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Mi-Ryung Han
- Division of Life Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Incheon National University, Incheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Byung-Joo Ham
- Department of Psychiatry, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Brain Convergence Research Center, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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2
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Stykel MG, Ryan SD. Network analysis of S-nitrosylated synaptic proteins demonstrates unique roles in health and disease. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA. MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH 2024; 1871:119720. [PMID: 38582237 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2024.119720] [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: 11/17/2023] [Revised: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
Nitric oxide can covalently modify cysteine thiols on target proteins to alter that protein's function in a process called S-nitrosylation (SNO). S-nitrosylation of synaptic proteins plays an integral part in neurotransmission. Here we review the function of the SNO-proteome at the synapse and whether clusters of SNO-modification may predict synaptic dysfunction associated with disease. We used a systematic search strategy to concatenate SNO-proteomic datasets from normal human or murine brain samples. Identified SNO-modified proteins were then filtered against proteins reported in the Synaptome Database, which provides a detailed and experimentally verified annotation of all known synaptic proteins. Subsequently, we performed an unbiased network analysis of all known SNO-synaptic proteins to identify clusters of SNO proteins commonly involved in biological processes or with known disease associations. The resulting SNO networks were significantly enriched in biological processes related to metabolism, whereas significant gene-disease associations were related to Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. Guided by an unbiased network analysis, the current review presents a thorough discussion of how clustered changes to the SNO-proteome influence health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan G Stykel
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Scott D Ryan
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
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Juković M, Ratkaj I, Kalafatovic D, Bradshaw NJ. Amyloids, amorphous aggregates and assemblies of peptides - Assessing aggregation. Biophys Chem 2024; 308:107202. [PMID: 38382283 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2024.107202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Amyloid and amorphous aggregates represent the two major categories of aggregates associated with diseases, and although exhibiting distinct features, researchers often treat them as equivalent, which demonstrates the need for more thorough characterization. Here, we compare amyloid and amorphous aggregates based on their biochemical properties, kinetics, and morphological features. To further decipher this issue, we propose the use of peptide self-assemblies as minimalistic models for understanding the aggregation process. Peptide building blocks are significantly smaller than proteins that participate in aggregation, however, they make a plausible means to bridge the gap in discerning the aggregation process at the more complex, protein level. Additionally, we explore the potential use of peptide-inspired models to research the liquid-liquid phase separation as a feasible mechanism preceding amyloid formation. Connecting these concepts can help clarify our understanding of aggregation-related disorders and potentially provide novel drug targets to impede and reverse these serious illnesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja Juković
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Ivana Ratkaj
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Daniela Kalafatovic
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
| | - Nicholas J Bradshaw
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.
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Zaharija B, Bradshaw NJ. Aggregation of Disrupted in Schizophrenia 1 arises from a central region of the protein. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2024; 130:110923. [PMID: 38135095 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2023.110923] [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: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
An emerging approach to studying major mental illness is through proteostasis, with the identification of several proteins that form insoluble aggregates in the brains of patients. One of these is Disrupted in Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), a neurodevelopmentally-important scaffold protein, and product of a classic schizophrenia risk gene. DISC1 aggregates have been detected in post mortem brain tissue from patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, as well as various model systems, although the mechanism by which it aggregates is still unclear. Aggregation of two other proteins implicated in mental illness, TRIOBP-1 and NPAS3, was shown to be dependent on very specific structural regions of the protein. We therefore looked at the domain structure of DISC1, and investigated which structural elements are key for its aggregation. While none of the known structured DISC1 regions (named D, I, S and C respectively) formed aggregates individually when expressed in neuroblastoma cells, the combination of the D and I regions, plus the linker region between them, formed visible aggregates. Further refinement revealed that a region of approximately 30 amino acids between these two regions is critical for aggregation, and deletion of this region is sufficient to abolish the aggregation propensity of DISC1. This finding from mammalian cell culture contrasts with the recent determination that the C-region of DISC1 can aggregate in vitro, although some variations of the C-terminal of DISC1 could aggregate in our system. It therefore appears likely that DISC1 aggregation, implicated in mental illness, can occur through at least two distinct mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beti Zaharija
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Croatia
| | - Nicholas J Bradshaw
- Faculty of Biotechnology and Drug Development, University of Rijeka, Croatia.
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5
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Watanabe M, Khu TM, Warren G, Shin J, Stewart CE, Roche J. Evidence of DISC1 as an arsenic binding protein and implications regarding its role as a translational activator. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1308693. [PMID: 38192336 PMCID: PMC10773898 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1308693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) is a scaffolding protein that plays a pivotal role in orchestrating signaling pathways involved in neurodevelopment, neural migration, and synaptogenesis. Among those, it has recently been reported that the role of DISC1 in the Akt/mTOR pathway can shift from a global translational repressor to a translational activator in response to oxidative stress induced by arsenic. In this study we provide evidence that DISC1 can directly bind arsenic via a C-terminal cysteine motif (C-X-C-X-C). A series of fluorescence-based binding assays were conducted with a truncated C-terminal domain construct of DISC1 and a series of single, double, and triple cysteine mutants. We found that arsenous acid, a trivalent arsenic derivative, specifically binds to the C-terminal cysteine motif of DISC1 with low micromolar affinity. All three cysteines of the motif are required for high-affinity binding. Electron microscopy experiments combined with in silico structural predictions reveal that the C-terminal of DISC1 forms an elongated tetrameric complex. The cysteine motif is consistently predicted to be located within a loop, fully exposed to solvent, providing a simple molecular framework to explain the high-affinity of DISC1 toward arsenous acid. This study sheds light on a novel functional facet of DISC1 as an arsenic binding protein and highlights its potential role as both a sensor and translational modulator within Akt/mTOR pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muneaki Watanabe
- Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, China
| | - Tung Mei Khu
- Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, China
| | - Grant Warren
- Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, China
| | - Juyoung Shin
- Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, China
| | - Charles E. Stewart
- Macromolecular X-ray Crystallography Facility, Office of Biotechnology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States
| | - Julien Roche
- Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, China
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6
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Pils M, Rutsch J, Eren F, Engberg G, Piehl F, Cervenka S, Sellgren C, Troßbach S, Willbold D, Erhardt S, Bannach O, Korth C. Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 protein aggregates in cerebrospinal fluid are elevated in patients with first-episode psychosis. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2023; 77:665-671. [PMID: 37668563 DOI: 10.1111/pcn.13594] [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: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023]
Abstract
AIM The disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) protein is a key regulator at the intersection of major signaling pathways relevant for adaptive behavior. It is prone to posttranslational changes such as misassembly and aggregation but the significance of such transformations for human mental illness has remained unclear. We aimed to demonstrate the occurrence of DISC1 protein aggregates in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP). METHOD Cerebrospinal fluid samples of patients with FEP (n = 50) and matched healthy controls (HCs; n = 47) were measured by the highly sensitive surface-based fluorescence intensity distribution analysis technology that enables single aggregate detection. RESULTS We demonstrate that DISC1 protein aggregates are increased in cerebrospinal fluid samples of patients with FEP versus HCs. The concentration was in the low femtomolar range. No correlations were found with specific symptom levels, but the difference was particularly significant in the subset of patients with the diagnoses schizophrenia, unspecified (DSM-IV 295.9) or schizoaffective disorder (DSM-IV 295.70) at 18-month follow-up. DISC1 protein aggregate levels did not significantly change within the 18-month observation interval and were on average higher for individuals carrying the major DISC1 rs821577 allele, before correction. CONCLUSION The occurrence of protein aggregates in vivo in patients with psychotic disorders has not been previously reported. It underscores the significance of posttranslational modifications of proteins both as pathogenetic mechanisms and as potential diagnostic markers in these disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene Pils
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (Structural Biochemistry: IBI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- attyloid GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Julia Rutsch
- Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Feride Eren
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Göran Engberg
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Piehl
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Neurology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Simon Cervenka
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, and Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Medical Sciences, Psychiatry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Carl Sellgren
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, and Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Svenja Troßbach
- Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Dieter Willbold
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (Structural Biochemistry: IBI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- attyloid GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Sophie Erhardt
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Oliver Bannach
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (Structural Biochemistry: IBI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- attyloid GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Carsten Korth
- Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
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7
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Watanabe M, Khu TM, Warren G, Shin J, Stewart CE, Roche J. Evidence of Disrupted-in Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) as an arsenic binding protein and implications regarding its role as a translational activator. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.06.14.544995. [PMID: 37398111 PMCID: PMC10312692 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.14.544995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) is a scaffold protein that plays a pivotal role in orchestrating signaling pathways involved in neurodevelopment, neural migration, and synaptogenesis. Among those, it has recently been reported that the role DISC1 in the Akt/mTOR pathway can shift from a global translational repressor to a translational activator in response to oxidative stress induced by arsenic. In this study we are providing evidence that DISC1 can directly bind arsenic via a C-terminal cysteine motif (C-X-C-X-C). A series of fluorescence-based binding assays were conducted with a truncated C-terminal domain construct of DISC1 and a of series of single, double, and triple cysteine mutants. We found that arsenous acid, a trivalent arsenic derivative, specifically binds to the C-terminal cysteine motif of DISC1 with low micromolar affinity. All three cysteines of the motif are required for high-affinity binding. Electron microscopy experiments combined with in silico structural predictions revealed that that the C-terminal of DISC1 forms an elongated tetrameric complex. The cysteine motif is consistently predicted to be located within a loop, fully exposed to solvent, providing a simple molecular framework to explain the high-affinity of DISC1 toward arsenous acid. This study sheds light on a novel functional facet of DISC1 as an arsenic binding protein and highlights its potential role as both a sensor and translational modulator within the Akt/mTOR pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muneaki Watanabe
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States
| | - Tung Mei Khu
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States
| | - Grant Warren
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States
| | - Juyoung Shin
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States
| | - Charles E Stewart
- Macromolecular X-ray Crystallography Facility, Office of Biotechnology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States
| | - Julien Roche
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States
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Ochneva A, Zorkina Y, Abramova O, Pavlova O, Ushakova V, Morozova A, Zubkov E, Pavlov K, Gurina O, Chekhonin V. Protein Misfolding and Aggregation in the Brain: Common Pathogenetic Pathways in Neurodegenerative and Mental Disorders. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:14498. [PMID: 36430976 PMCID: PMC9695177 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232214498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Mental disorders represent common brain diseases characterized by substantial impairments of social and cognitive functions. The neurobiological causes and mechanisms of psychopathologies still have not been definitively determined. Various forms of brain proteinopathies, which include a disruption of protein conformations and the formation of protein aggregates in brain tissues, may be a possible cause behind the development of psychiatric disorders. Proteinopathies are known to be the main cause of neurodegeneration, but much less attention is given to the role of protein impairments in psychiatric disorders' pathogenesis, such as depression and schizophrenia. For this reason, the aim of this review was to discuss the potential contribution of protein illnesses in the development of psychopathologies. The first part of the review describes the possible mechanisms of disruption to protein folding and aggregation in the cell: endoplasmic reticulum stress, dysfunction of chaperone proteins, altered mitochondrial function, and impaired autophagy processes. The second part of the review addresses the known proteins whose aggregation in brain tissue has been observed in psychiatric disorders (amyloid, tau protein, α-synuclein, DISC-1, disbindin-1, CRMP1, SNAP25, TRIOBP, NPAS3, GluA1, FABP, and ankyrin-G).
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Ochneva
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
- Healthcare Department, Mental-Health Clinic No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev of Moscow, 117152 Moscow, Russia
| | - Yana Zorkina
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
- Healthcare Department, Mental-Health Clinic No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev of Moscow, 117152 Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga Abramova
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
- Healthcare Department, Mental-Health Clinic No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev of Moscow, 117152 Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga Pavlova
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
| | - Valeriya Ushakova
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
- Healthcare Department, Mental-Health Clinic No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev of Moscow, 117152 Moscow, Russia
- Department of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna Morozova
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
- Healthcare Department, Mental-Health Clinic No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev of Moscow, 117152 Moscow, Russia
| | - Eugene Zubkov
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
| | - Konstantin Pavlov
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
- Healthcare Department, Mental-Health Clinic No. 1 Named after N.A. Alexeev of Moscow, 117152 Moscow, Russia
| | - Olga Gurina
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
| | - Vladimir Chekhonin
- Department Basic and Applied Neurobiology, V.P. Serbsky Federal Medical Research Centre of Psychiatry and Narcology, 119034 Moscow, Russia
- Department of Medical Nanobiotechnology, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia
- National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”, Leninskiy Avenue 4, 119049 Moscow, Russia
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9
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Wang AL, Chao OY, Nikolaus S, Lamounier-Zepter V, Hollenberg CP, Lubec G, Trossbach SV, Korth C, Huston JP. Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 Protein Misassembly Impairs Cognitive Flexibility and Social Behaviors in a Transgenic Rat Model. Neuroscience 2022; 493:41-51. [PMID: 35461978 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.04.013] [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: 09/13/2021] [Revised: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Alterations in cognitive functions, social behaviors and stress reactions are commonly diagnosed in chronic mental illnesses (CMI). Animal models expressing mutant genes associated to CMI represent either rare mutations or those contributing only minimally to genetic risk. Non-genetic causes of CMI can be modeled by disturbing downstream signaling pathways, for example through inducing protein misassembly or aggregation. The Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) gene was identified to be disrupted and thereby haploinsufficient in a large pedigree where it associated to CMI. The DISC1 protein misassembles to an insoluble protein in a subset of CMI patients and this has been modeled in a rat (tgDISC1 rat) where the full-length, non mutant human transgene was overexpressed and cognitive impairments were observed. Here, we investigated the scope of effects of DISC1 protein misassembly by investigating spatial memory, social behavior and stress resilience. In water maze tasks, the tgDISC1 rats showed intact spatial learning and memory, but were deficient in flexible adaptation to spatial reversal learning compared to littermate controls. They also displayed less social interaction. Additionally, there was a trend towards increased corticosterone levels after restraint stress in the tgDISC1 rats. Our findings suggest that DISC1 protein misassembly leads to disturbances of cognitive flexibility and social behaviors, and might also be involved in stress sensitization. Since the observed behavioral features resemble symptoms of CMI, the tgDISC1 rat may be a valuable model for the investigation of cognitive, social and - possibly - also stress-related symptoms of major mental illnesses.
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Affiliation(s)
- An-Li Wang
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Owen Y Chao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN, USA.
| | - Susanne Nikolaus
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | | | - Cornelis P Hollenberg
- Institute of Microbiology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Gert Lubec
- Department of Neuroproteomics, Paracelsus Private Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.
| | - Svenja V Trossbach
- Department of Neuropathology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Carsten Korth
- Department of Neuropathology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Joseph P Huston
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
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