1
|
Kamm GB, Siemens J. Neuroscience: Detection of systemic inflammation by the brain. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R751-R753. [PMID: 35820388 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
When confronted with illness, humans and animals undergo critical changes in their behavior and physiology. New research shows how neuronal circuits detect sickness and coordinate illness-specific responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gretel B Kamm
- Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jan Siemens
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU), European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Kamm GB, Boffi JC, Zuza K, Nencini S, Campos J, Schrenk-Siemens K, Sonntag I, Kabaoğlu B, El Hay MYA, Schwarz Y, Tappe-Theodor A, Bruns D, Acuna C, Kuner T, Siemens J. A synaptic temperature sensor for body cooling. Neuron 2021; 109:3283-3297.e11. [PMID: 34672983 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 08/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Deep brain temperature detection by hypothalamic warm-sensitive neurons (WSNs) has been proposed to provide feedback information relevant for thermoregulation. WSNs increase their action potential firing rates upon warming, a property that has been presumed to rely on the composition of thermosensitive ion channels within WSNs. Here, we describe a synaptic mechanism that regulates temperature sensitivity of preoptic WSNs and body temperature. Experimentally induced warming of the mouse hypothalamic preoptic area in vivo triggers body cooling. TRPM2 ion channels facilitate this homeostatic response and, at the cellular level, enhance temperature responses of WSNs, thereby linking WSN function with thermoregulation for the first time. Rather than acting within WSNs, we-unexpectedly-find TRPM2 to temperature-dependently increase synaptic drive onto WSNs by disinhibition. Our data emphasize a network-based interoceptive paradigm that likely plays a key role in encoding body temperature and that may facilitate integration of diverse inputs into thermoregulatory pathways.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gretel B Kamm
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Juan C Boffi
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Functional Neuroanatomy, Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kristina Zuza
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sara Nencini
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Joaquin Campos
- Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation, Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Katrin Schrenk-Siemens
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ivo Sonntag
- Department of Functional Neuroanatomy, Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Burçe Kabaoğlu
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Muad Y Abd El Hay
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Yvonne Schwarz
- Institute for Physiology, Center of Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Anke Tappe-Theodor
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Dieter Bruns
- Institute for Physiology, Center of Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
| | - Claudio Acuna
- Chica and Heinz Schaller Foundation, Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Thomas Kuner
- Department of Functional Neuroanatomy, Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jan Siemens
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit (MMPU), European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Affiliation(s)
- Gretel B Kamm
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg , Im Neuenheimer Feld 366 . 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jan Siemens
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg , Im Neuenheimer Feld 366 . 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Song K, Wang H, Kamm GB, Pohle J, de Castro Reis F, Heppenstall P, Wende H, Siemens J. The TRPM2 channel is a hypothalamic heat sensor that limits fever and can drive hypothermia. Science 2016; 353:1393-1398. [PMID: 27562954 PMCID: PMC7612276 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf7537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 237] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2016] [Accepted: 07/27/2016] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Body temperature homeostasis is critical for survival and requires precise regulation by the nervous system. The hypothalamus serves as the principal thermostat that detects and regulates internal temperature. We demonstrate that the ion channel TRPM2 [of the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel family] is a temperature sensor in a subpopulation of hypothalamic neurons. TRPM2 limits the fever response and may detect increased temperatures to prevent overheating. Furthermore, chemogenetic activation and inhibition of hypothalamic TRPM2-expressing neurons in vivo decreased and increased body temperature, respectively. Such manipulation may allow analysis of the beneficial effects of altered body temperature on diverse disease states. Identification of a functional role for TRP channels in monitoring internal body temperature should promote further analysis of molecular mechanisms governing thermoregulation and foster the genetic dissection of hypothalamic circuits involved with temperature homeostasis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kun Song
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Hong Wang
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Gretel B. Kamm
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jörg Pohle
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Fernanda de Castro Reis
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Adriano Buzzati-Traverso Campus, Via Ramarini 32, 00016 Monterotondo, Italy
| | - Paul Heppenstall
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Adriano Buzzati-Traverso Campus, Via Ramarini 32, 00016 Monterotondo, Italy
- Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, EMBL, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Hagen Wende
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jan Siemens
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, EMBL, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Kamm GB, López-Leal R, Lorenzo JR, Franchini LF. A fast-evolving human NPAS3 enhancer gained reporter expression in the developing forebrain of transgenic mice. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2013; 368:20130019. [PMID: 24218632 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The developmental brain gene NPAS3 stands out as a hot spot in human evolution because it contains the largest number of human-specific, fast-evolving, conserved, non-coding elements. In this paper we studied 2xHAR142, one of these elements that is located in the fifth intron of NPAS3. Using transgenic mice, we show that the mouse and chimp 2xHAR142 orthologues behave as transcriptional enhancers driving expression of the reporter gene lacZ to a similar NPAS3 expression subdomain in the mouse central nervous system. Interestingly, the human 2xHAR142 orthologue drives lacZ expression to an extended expression pattern in the nervous system. Thus, molecular evolution of 2xHAR142 provides the first documented example of human-specific heterotopy in the forebrain promoted by a transcriptional enhancer and suggests that it may have contributed to assemble the unique properties of the human brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gretel B Kamm
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), , Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
6
|
Kamm GB, Pisciottano F, Kliger R, Franchini LF. The developmental brain gene NPAS3 contains the largest number of accelerated regulatory sequences in the human genome. Mol Biol Evol 2013; 30:1088-102. [PMID: 23408798 PMCID: PMC3670734 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/mst023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
To identify the evolutionary genetic novelties that contributed to shape human-specific traits such as the use of a complex language, long-term planning and exceptional learning abilities is one of the ultimate frontiers of modern biology. Evolutionary signatures of functional shifts could be detected by comparing noncoding regions that are highly conserved across mammals or primates and rapidly accumulated nucleotide substitutions only in the lineage leading to humans. As gene loci densely populated with human-accelerated elements (HAEs) are more likely to have contributed to human-specific novelties, we sought to identify the transcriptional units and genomic 1 Mb intervals of the entire human genome carrying the highest number of HAEs. To this end, we took advantage of four available data sets of human genomic accelerated regions obtained through different comparisons and algorithms and performed a meta-analysis of the combined data. We found that the brain developmental transcription factor neuronal PAS domain-containing protein 3 (NPAS3) contains the largest cluster of noncoding-accelerated regions in the human genome with up to 14 elements that are highly conserved in mammals, including primates, but carry human-specific nucleotide substitutions. We then tested the ability of the 14 HAEs identified at the NPAS3 locus to act as transcriptional regulatory sequences in a reporter expression assay performed in transgenic zebrafish. We found that 11 out of the 14 HAEs present in NPAS3 act as transcriptional enhancers during development, particularly within the nervous system. As NPAS3 is known to play a crucial role during mammalian brain development, our results indicate that the high density of HAEs present in the human NPAS3 locus could have modified the spatiotemporal expression pattern of NPAS3 in the developing human brain and, therefore, contributed to human brain evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gretel B Kamm
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular, INGEBI, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|