Postinduction requirement of NMDA receptor activation for late-phase long-term potentiation of developing retinotectal synapses in vivo

Neuronal membrane proteasomes regulate neuronal circuit activity in vivo and are required for learning-induced behavioral plasticity

Protein degradation is critical for brain function through processes that remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the in vivo function of the 20S neuronal membrane proteasome (NMP) in the brain of Xenopus laevis tadpoles. With biochemistry, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy, we demonstrated that NMPs are conserved in the tadpole brain and preferentially degrade neuronal activity-induced newly synthesized proteins in vivo. Using in vivo calcium imaging in the optic tectum, we showed that acute NMP inhibition rapidly increased spontaneous neuronal activity, resulting in hypersynchronization across tectal neurons. At the circuit level, inhibiting NMPs abolished learning-dependent improvement in visuomotor behavior in live animals and caused a significant deterioration in basal behavioral performance following visual training with enhanced visual experience. Our data provide in vivo characterization of NMP functions in the vertebrate nervous system and suggest that NMP-mediated degradation of activity-induced nascent proteins may serve as a homeostatic modulatory mechanism in neurons that is critical for regulating neuronal activity and experience-dependent circuit plasticity.

Axonal mRNA localization and translation: local events with broad roles

Messenger RNA (mRNA) can be transported and targeted to different subcellular compartments and locally translated. Local translation is an evolutionally conserved mechanism that in mammals, provides an important tool to exquisitely regulate the subcellular proteome in different cell types, including neurons. Local translation in axons is involved in processes such as neuronal development, function, plasticity, and diseases. Here, we summarize the current progress on axonal mRNA transport and translation. We focus on the regulatory mechanisms governing how mRNAs are transported to axons and how they are locally translated in axons. We discuss the roles of axonally synthesized proteins, which either function locally in axons, or are retrogradely trafficked back to soma to achieve neuron-wide gene regulation. We also examine local translation in neurological diseases. Finally, we give a critical perspective on the remaining questions that could be answered to uncover the fundamental rules governing local translation, and discuss how this could lead to new therapeutic targets for neurological diseases.

Short-Term Visual Experience Leads to Potentiation of Spontaneous Activity in Mouse Superior Colliculus

Spontaneous activity in the brain maintains an internal structured pattern that reflects the external environment, which is essential for processing information and developing perception and cognition. An essential prerequisite of spontaneous activity for perception is the ability to reverberate external information, such as by potentiation. Yet its role in the processing of potentiation in mouse superior colliculus (SC) neurons is less studied. Here, we used electrophysiological recording, optogenetics, and drug infusion methods to investigate the mechanism of potentiation in SC neurons. We found that visual experience potentiated SC neurons several minutes later in different developmental stages, and the similarity between spontaneous and visually-evoked activity increased with age. Before eye-opening, activation of retinal ganglion cells that expressed ChR2 also induced the potentiation of spontaneous activity in the mouse SC. Potentiation was dependent on stimulus number and showed feature selectivity for direction and orientation. Optogenetic activation of parvalbumin neurons in the SC attenuated the potentiation induced by visual experience. Furthermore, potentiation in SC neurons was blocked by inhibiting the glutamate transporter GLT1. These results indicated that the potentiation induced by a visual stimulus might play a key role in shaping the internal representation of the environment, and serves as a carrier for short-term memory consolidation.

Matrix Metalloprotease 3 Activity Supports Hippocampal EPSP-to-Spike Plasticity Following Patterned Neuronal Activity via the Regulation of NMDAR Function and Calcium Flux

Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) comprise a family of endopeptidases that are involved in remodeling the extracellular matrix and play a critical role in learning and memory. At least 24 different MMP subtypes have been identified in the human brain, but less is known about the subtype-specific actions of MMP on neuronal plasticity. The long-term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory synaptic transmission and scaling of dendritic and somatic neuronal excitability are considered substrates of memory storage. We previously found that MMP-3 and MMP-2/9 may be differentially involved in shaping the induction and expression of excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP)-to-spike (E-S) potentiation in hippocampal brain slices. MMP-3 and MMP-2/9 proteolysis was previously shown to affect the integrity or mobility of synaptic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in vitro. However, the functional outcome of such MMP-NMDAR interactions remains largely unknown. The present study investigated the role of these MMP subtypes in E-S plasticity and NMDAR function in mouse hippocampal acute brain slices. The temporal requirement for MMP-3/NMDAR activity in E-S potentiation within the CA1 field largely overlapped, and MMP-3 but not MMP-2/9 activity was crucial for the gain-of-function of NMDARs following LTP induction. Functional changes in E-S plasticity following MMP-3 inhibition largely correlated with the expression of cFos protein, a marker of activity-related gene transcription. Recombinant MMP-3 promoted a gain in NMDAR-mediated field potentials and somatodendritic Ca²⁺ waves. These results suggest that long-term hippocampal E-S potentiation requires transient MMP-3 activity that promotes NMDAR-mediated postsynaptic Ca²⁺ entry that is vital for the activation of downstream signaling cascades and gene transcription.

Free D-aspartate regulates neuronal dendritic morphology, synaptic plasticity, gray matter volume and brain activity in mammals

D-aspartate (D-Asp) is an atypical amino acid, which is especially abundant in the developing mammalian brain, and can bind to and activate N-methyl-D-Aspartate receptors (NMDARs). In line with its pharmacological features, we find that mice chronically treated with D-Asp show enhanced NMDAR-mediated miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents and basal cerebral blood volume in fronto-hippocampal areas. In addition, we show that both chronic administration of D-Asp and deletion of the gene coding for the catabolic enzyme D-aspartate oxidase (DDO) trigger plastic modifications of neuronal cytoarchitecture in the prefrontal cortex and CA1 subfield of the hippocampus and promote a cytochalasin D-sensitive form of synaptic plasticity in adult mouse brains. To translate these findings in humans and consistent with the experiments using Ddo gene targeting in animals, we performed a hierarchical stepwise translational genetic approach. Specifically, we investigated the association of variation in the gene coding for DDO with complex human prefrontal phenotypes. We demonstrate that genetic variation predicting reduced expression of DDO in postmortem human prefrontal cortex is mapped on greater prefrontal gray matter and activity during working memory as measured with MRI. In conclusion our results identify novel NMDAR-dependent effects of D-Asp on plasticity and physiology in rodents, which also map to prefrontal phenotypes in humans.

Effects of NR2A and NR2B-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors on neuronal-firing properties

The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) play a key role in synaptic plasticity, but it remains unclear whether the intrinsic-firing properties, another major determinant of the functional output of neurons, are regulated by activation of NMDARs. Here, we examine the effects of NMDAR activation on the intrinsic-firing properties of medium spiny neurons in nucleus accumbens in vitro. NMDAR activation by bath application of NMDA increased both the intrinsic excitability and the spike adaptation of these neurons. Furthermore, selective activation of NR2A-containing NMDARs mediated the enhancement of spike adaptation, whereas selective activation of NR2B-containing NMDARs increased the intrinsic excitability, suggesting that NR2A-containing and NR2B-containing NMDARs play different roles in mediating the intrinsic-firing properties of neurons.

A late phase of LTD in cultured cerebellar Purkinje cells requires persistent dynamin-mediated endocytosis

Long-term synaptic depression (LTD) of cerebellar parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses is a form of use-dependent synaptic plasticity that may be studied in cell culture. One form of LTD is induced postsynaptically through an mGlu1/Ca influx/protein kinase Cα (PKCα) cascade, and its initial expression requires phosphorylation of ser-880 in the COOH-terminal PDZ-ligand region of GluA2 and consequent binding of PICK1. This triggers postsynaptic clathrin/dynamin-mediated endocytosis of GluA2-containing surface AMPA receptors. Cerebellar LTD also has a late phase beginning 45-60 min after induction that is blocked by transcription or translation inhibitors. Here, I have sought to determine the expression mechanism of this late phase of LTD by applying various drugs and peptides after the late phase has been established. Neither bath application of mGluR1 antagonists (JNJ-16259685, LY-456236) nor the PKC inhibitor GF-109203X starting 60-70 min after LTD induction attenuated the late phase. Similarly, achieving the whole cell configuration with a second pipette loaded with the peptide PKC inhibitor PKC(19-36) starting 60 min postinduction also failed to alter the late phase. Late internal perfusion with peptides designed to disrupt PICK1-GLUA2 interaction or PICK1 dimerization failed to impact late phase LTD expression. However, late internal perfusion with two different blockers of dynamin, the drug dynasore and a dynamin inhibitory peptide (QVPSRPNRAP), produced rapid and complete reversal of cerebellar LTD expression. These findings suggest that the protein synthesis-dependent late phase of LTD requires persistent dynamin-mediated endocytosis, but not persistent PICK1-GluA2 binding nor persistent activation of the upstream mGluR1/PKCα signaling cascade.

Making and breaking synapses through local mRNA regulation

Neurons are exquisitely polarized cells that extend intricate axonal and dendritic arbors. Developmental cues guide axons and dendrites into circuits by inducing rapid changes in local protein expression and cytoskeletal structure. Neurons can transduce these signals through local mRNA regulation. Here, we review the latest insights regarding post-transcriptional control of gene expression through mRNA transport and local protein synthesis in developing neurons. We focus on local mRNA regulation during axon growth and guidance, dendrite morphogenesis, and synapse formation and refinement. Dysregulated mRNA transport and translation in neurological disorders are also discussed. The collection of molecules and mechanisms reviewed includes sequence-specific RNA binding proteins, microtubule motors and adaptors, microRNAs, translation initiation factors, and the receptor-mediated signaling that modulates these molecules.