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Endosomal sorting plays a fundamental role in directing neural development. By altering the temporal and spatial distribution of membrane receptors, endosomes regulate signaling pathways that control the differentiation and function of neural cells. Several genes linked to inherited demyelinating peripheral neuropathies, known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, encode proteins that directly interact with components of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT). Our previous studies demonstrated that a point mutation in the ESCRT component hepatocyte growth-factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate (HGS), an endosomal scaffolding protein that identifies internalized cargo to be sorted by the endosome, causes a peripheral neuropathy in the neurodevelopmentally impaired teetering mice. Here, we constructed a Schwann cell-specific deletion of Hgs to determine the role of endosomal sorting during myelination. Inactivation of HGS in Schwann cells resulted in motor and sensory deficits, slowed nerve conduction velocities, delayed myelination and hypomyelinated axons, all of which occur in demyelinating forms of CMT. Consistent with a delay in Schwann cell maturation, HGS-deficient sciatic nerves displayed increased mRNA levels for several promyelinating genes and decreased mRNA levels for genes that serve as markers of myelinating Schwann cells. Loss of HGS also altered the abundance and activation of the ERBB2/3 receptors, which are essential for Schwann cell development. We therefore hypothesize that HGS plays a critical role in endosomal sorting of the ERBB2/3 receptors during Schwann cell maturation, which further implicates endosomal dysfunction in inherited peripheral neuropathies. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Schwann cells myelinate peripheral axons, and defects in Schwann cell function cause inherited demyelinating peripheral neuropathies known as CMT. Although many CMT-linked mutations are in genes that encode putative endosomal proteins, little is known about the requirements of endosomal sorting during myelination. In this study, we demonstrate that loss of HGS disrupts the endosomal sorting pathway in Schwann cells, resulting in hypomyelination, aberrant myelin sheaths, and impairment of the ERBB2/3 receptor pathway. These findings suggest that defective endosomal trafficking of internalized cell surface receptors may be a common mechanism contributing to demyelinating CMT., (Copyright © 2022 the authors.)

Only a small fraction of neurotransmitter-containing synaptic vesicles (SVs), the readily releasable pool, is available for fast Ca(2+)-induced release at any synapse. Most SVs are sequestered at sites away from the plasma membrane and cannot be exocytosed directly. Recruitment of SVs to the releasable pool is thought to be an important component of short-term synaptic facilitation by serotonin (5-HT) at Aplysia sensorimotor synapses. Synapsins are associated with SVs and hypothesized to play a central role in the regulation of SV mobilization in nerve terminals. Aplysia synapsin was cloned to examine its role in synaptic plasticity at the well characterized sensorimotor neuron synapse of this animal. Acute 5-HT treatment of ganglia induced synapsin phosphorylation. Immunohistochemical analyses of cultured Aplysia neurons revealed that synapsin is distributed in distinct puncta in the neurites. These puncta are rapidly dispersed after treatment of the neurons with 5-HT. The dispersion of synapsin puncta by 5-HT was fully reversible after washout of the modulator. Both 5-HT-induced phosphorylation and dispersion of synapsin were mediated, at least in part, by cAMP-dependent protein kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinase. These experiments indicate that synapsin and its regulation by 5-HT may play an important role in the modulation of SV trafficking in short-term synaptic plasticity.

We have examined the influence of glutamate on cortical brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Kainic acid (KA) produced an upregulation of hippocampal and neocortical BDNF mRNA as well as BDNF protein that was blocked by a non-NMDA antagonist, 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX), but was not affected by the NMDA antagonist 2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid (AP7). Basal levels of BDNF mRNA were not affected by NMDA, DNQX, or AP7 treatment. BDNF protein was also increased after kainate exposure with a spatial and temporal course distinct from that seen for the expression of BDNF mRNA. A dramatic shift in BDNF immunoreactivity (-IR) was observed from intracellular compartments to the neuropil surrounding CA3 pyramidal cells 2-3 hr after KA exposure. This shift in localization of BDNF-IR suggests a constitutive release of BDNF at the level of the cell body and dendrites. Moreover, we have localized mRNAs for full-length and truncated trkB, to a co-incident population of neurons and glia. These data suggest the neurons that produce BDNF also express components necessary for a biological response to the same neurotrophic factor. The present study also demonstrates increased BDNF-IR in the mossy fiber terminal zone of hippocampus after exposure to KA, as well as an increase in trkB mRNA, and provides evidence of local release of this neurotrophin into the surrounding neuropil where it would be available for local utilization. The synthesis and putative release of BDNF from somatic and/or dendritic sites within the hippocampus provide evidence of a potential autocrine or paracrine role for BDNF, and establish a local source of trophic support for the maintenance of synaptic plasticity and anatomic reorganization in the mature nervous system.

In vivo microdialysis coupled with HPLC and radioimmuno-assay techniques were used to analyze dopamine (DA) and neurotensin (NT) in prefrontal cortical extracellular fluid following electrical stimulation of mesocortical axons. The release (overflow into the extracellular fluid) of both DA and NT increased with increasing number of impulses and with frequency. At the lowest frequency tested (2.5 Hz), DA release was significantly increased, while there was no significant increase in the release of NT. As the frequency of stimulation was increased from 2.5 to 20 Hz, the ratio of extracellular DA:NT decreased exponentially. Stimulation in a burst pattern produced greater release of both DA and NT than tonic stimulation when the number of impulses per second and the total number of impulses were held constant. Furthermore, blockade of DA autoreceptors with sulpiride stereoselectively increased the release of DA while decreasing the release of NT. These data suggest that the release of coexistent molecules (DA and NT) from mesocortical neurons can be influenced by physiological and pharmacological factors such that under certain conditions simultaneous or differential release may occur.

Interactions between striatal dopamine (DA) and neurotensin (NT) have been suggested by anatomical, behavioral, and biochemical studies. Nigrostriatal DA neurons, in contrast to mesocorticolimbic DA neurons, do not appear to contain NT. Thus, distinct neuronal elements subserve interactions between DA and NT within the striatum. We have previously demonstrated that reserpine-induced depletion of striatal DA is accompanied by a dose- and time-dependent increase in striatal NT concentrations. In order to further characterize the effects of reserpine and to define the mechanism by which reserpine acts to increase striatal NT concentrations, we have used immunohistochemical and biochemical approaches. Immunohistochemical examination of rats pretreated with reserpine revealed marked increases in the density of NT-like immunoreactive (NT-li) perikarya and fibers, and the development of NT-li patches. Pretreatment with reserpine had no apparent effect on NT synthesis, as assessed by examination of cycloheximide-induced inhibition of protein synthesis. However, reserpine administration resulted in a significant decrease in the release of both DA and NT into the striatal extracellular fluid, as measured by in vivo microdialysis. These data suggest that the increase in striatal NT concentrations observed after reserpine treatment results from decreased release, rather than increased synthesis of the peptide.