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The activating molecule in Beclin-1-regulated autophagy (Ambra1) is a highly intrinsically disordered protein best known for its role as a mediator in autophagy, by favoring the formation of autophagosomes. Additional studies have revealed that Ambra1 is able to coordinate cell responses to stress conditions such as starvation, and it actively participates in cell proliferation, cytoskeletal modification, apoptosis, mitochondria removal, and cell cycle downregulation. All these functions highlight the importance of Ambra1 in crucial physiological events, including metabolism, cell death, and cell division. Importantly, Ambra1 is also crucial for proper embryonic development, and its complete absence in knock-out animal models leads to severe brain morphology defects. In line with this, it has recently been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders affecting humans, particularly autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Here, we discuss the recent links between Ambra1 and neurodevelopment, particularly focusing on its role during the maturation of hippocampal parvalbumin interneurons and its importance for maintaining a proper excitation/inhibition balance in the brain.

Imbalances between excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission cause brain network dysfunction and are central to the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders. Parvalbumin interneurons are highly implicated in this imbalance. Here, we probed the social behavior and hippocampal function of mice carrying a haploinsufficiency for Ambra1, a pro-autophagic gene crucial for brain development. We show that heterozygous Ambra1 mice (Ambra +/- ) are characterized by loss of hippocampal parvalbumin interneurons, decreases in the inhibition/excitation ratio, and altered social behaviors that are solely restricted to the female gender. Loss of parvalbumin interneurons in Ambra1 +/- females is further linked to reductions of the inhibitory drive onto principal neurons and alterations in network oscillatory activity, CA1 synaptic plasticity, and pyramidal neuron spine density. Parvalbumin interneuron loss is underlined by increased apoptosis during the embryonic development of progenitor neurons in the medial ganglionic eminence. Together, these findings identify an Ambra1-dependent mechanism that drives inhibition/excitation imbalance in the hippocampus, contributing to abnormal brain activity reminiscent of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are devastating conditions of the central nervous system (CNS) for which there are no restorative therapies. Neuronal death at the primary lesion site and in remote regions that are functionally connected to it is one of the major contributors to neurological deficits following SCI.Disruption of autophagic flux induces neuronal death in many CNS injuries, but its mechanism and relationship with remote cell death after SCI are unknown. We examined the function and effects of the modulation of autophagy on the fate of axotomized rubrospinal neurons in a rat model of spinal cord dorsal hemisection (SCH) at the cervical level. Following SCH, we observed an accumulation of LC3-positive autophagosomes (APs) in the axotomized neurons 1 and 5 days after injury. Furthermore, this accumulation was not attributed to greater initiation of autophagy but was caused by a decrease in AP clearance, as demonstrated by the build-up of p62, a widely used marker of the induction of autophagy. In axotomized rubrospinal neurons, the disruption of autophagic flux correlated strongly with remote neuronal death and worse functional recovery. Inhibition of AP biogenesis by 3-methyladenine (3-MA) significantly attenuated remote degeneration and improved spontaneous functional recovery, consistent with the detrimental effects of autophagy in remote damage after SCH. Collectively, our results demonstrate that autophagic flux is blocked in axotomized neurons on SCI and that the inhibition of AP formation improves their survival. Thus, autophagy is a promising target for the development of therapeutic interventions in the treatment of SCIs.

The compensation that follows cerebellar lesions is based on synaptic modifications in many cortical and subcortical regions, although its cellular mechanisms are still unclear. Changes in glutamatergic receptor expression may represent the synaptic basis of the compensated state. We analyzed in rats the involvement of glutamatergic system of the cerebello-frontal network in the compensation following a right hemicerebellectomy. We evaluated motor performances, spatial competencies and molecular correlates in compensated hemicerebellectomized rats which in the frontal cortex contralateral to the hemicerebellectomy side received injections of anti-NMDA antibodies from patients affected by anti-NMDA encephalitis. In the compensated hemicerebellectomized rats, the frontal injections of anti-NMDA antibodies elicited a marked decompensation state characterized by slight worsening of the motor symptoms as well as severe impairment of spatial mnesic and procedural performances. Conversely, in the sham-operated group the frontal injections of anti-NMDA antibodies elicited slight motor and spatial impairment. The molecular analyses indicated that cerebellar compensatory processes were related to a relevant rearrangement of glutamatergic synapses (NMDA and AMPA receptors and other glutamatergic components) along the entire cortico-cerebellar network. The long-term maintenance of the rearranged glutamatergic activity plays a crucial role in the maintenance of recovered function.

Transgenic mice overexpressing spermine oxidase (SMO) in the cerebral cortex (Dach-SMO mice) showed increased vulnerability to excitotoxic brain injury and kainate-induced epileptic seizures. To investigate the mechanisms by which SMO overexpression leads to increased susceptibility to kainate excitotoxicity and seizure, in the cerebral cortex of Dach-SMO and control mice we assessed markers for astrocyte proliferation and neuron loss, and the ability of kainate to evoke glutamate release from nerve terminals and astrocyte processes. Moreover, we assessed a possible role of astrocytes in an in vitro model of epileptic-like activity in combined cortico-hippocampal slices recorded with a multi-electrode array device. In parallel, as the brain is a major metabolizer of oxygen and yet has relatively feeble protective antioxidant mechanisms, we analyzed the oxidative status of the cerebral cortex of both SMO-overexpressing and control mice by evaluating enzymatic and non-enzymatic scavengers such as metallothioneins. The main findings in the cerebral cortex of Dach-SMO mice as compared to controls are the following: astrocyte activation and neuron loss; increased oxidative stress and activation of defense mechanisms involving both neurons and astrocytes; increased susceptibility to kainate-evoked cortical epileptogenic activity, dependent on astrocyte function; appearance of a glutamate-releasing response to kainate from astrocyte processes due to activation of Ca(2+)-permeable AMPA receptors in Dach-SMO mice. We conclude that reactive astrocytosis and activation of glutamate release from astrocyte processes might contribute, together with increased reactive oxygen species production, to the vulnerability to kainate excitotoxicity in Dach-SMO mice. This mouse model with a deregulated polyamine metabolism would shed light on roles for astrocytes in increasing vulnerability to excitotoxic neuron injury.

Functional and ultrastructural investigations support the concept that altered brain connectivity, exhausted neural plasticity, and synaptic loss are the strongest correlates of cognitive decline in age-related neurodegenerative dementia of Alzheimer's type. We have previously demonstrated that in transgenic mice, expressing amyloid-β precursor protein-Swedish mutation active caspase-3 accumulates in hippocampal postsynaptic compartments leading to altered postsynaptic density (PSD) composition, increased long-term depression (LTD), and dendritic spine loss. Furthermore, we found strong evidence that dendritic spine alteration is mediated by calcineurin activation, a calcium-dependent phosphatase involved in synapse signaling. In the present work, we analyzed the molecular mechanism linking alteration of synaptic plasticity to the increase of calcineurin activity. We found that acute treatment of young and plaque-free transgenic mice with the calcineurin inhibitor FK506 leads to a complete rescue of LTD and PSD composition. Our findings are in agreement with other results reporting that calcineurin inhibition improves memory function and restores dendritic spine density, confirming that calcineurin inhibition may be explored as a neuroprotective treatment to stop or slowdown synaptic alterations in Alzheimer's disease.

The insulin receptor (IR) is a protein tyrosine kinase playing a pivotal role in the regulation of peripheral glucose metabolism and energy homoeostasis. IRs are also abundantly distributed in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, where they regulate synaptic activity required for learning and memory. As the major anabolic hormone in mammals, insulin stimulates protein synthesis partially through the activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, playing fundamental roles in neuronal development, synaptic plasticity and memory. Here, by means of a multidisciplinary approach, we report that long-term synaptic plasticity and recognition memory are impaired in IR β-subunit heterozygous mice. Since IR expression is diminished in type-2 diabetes as well as in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, these data may provide a mechanistic link between insulin resistance, impaired synaptic transmission and cognitive decline in humans with metabolic disorders.

The mature brain is a highly dynamic organ that constantly changes its organization by destroying and forming new connections. Collectively, these changes are referred to as brain plasticity and are associated with functional changes, such as memory, addiction, and recovery of function after brain damage. Neuronal plasticity is sustained by the fine regulation of protein synthesis and organelle biogenesis and their degradation to ensure efficient turnover. Thus, autophagy, as quality control mechanism of proteins and organelles in neurons, is essential to their physiology and pathology. Here, we review recent several findings proving that defects in autophagy affect neuronal function and impair functional recovery after brain insults, contributing to neurodegeneration, in chronic and acute neurological disorders. Thus, an understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which the autophagy machinery is finely regulated might accelerate the development of therapeutic interventions in many neurological disorders for which no cure is available.

Alzheimer's Disease (AD), the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, synaptic loss, the formation of extracellular β-amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, and neuronal cell death. Despite the massive neuronal loss in the 'late stage' of disease, dendritic spine loss represents the best pathological correlate to the cognitive impairment in AD patients. The 'amyloid hypothesis' of AD recognizes the Aβ peptide as the principal player in the pathological process. Many lines of evidence point out to the neurotoxicity of Aβ, highlighting the correlation between soluble Aβ oligomer accumulation, rather than insoluble Aβ fibrils and disease progression. Pathological increase of Aβ in AD brains, resulting from an imbalance between its production, aggregation and clearance, might target mitochondrial function promoting a progressive synaptic impairment. The knowledge of the exact mechanisms by which Aβ peptide impairs neuronal function will help us to design new pharmacological tools for preventing AD neurodegeneration.