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There is strong evidence indicating neuroinflammation is an important mediator in multiple sclerosis (MS), with astrogliosis playing a significant role in this process. Surprisingly, astrocytes exert paradoxical roles during disease development, but the mechanisms remain unknown. Previously, we have reported that administering an interfering peptide (GluA2-G-Gpep) which specifically disrupts the GluA2-GAPDH interaction rescued neurological symptoms in the EAE mouse model of MS. In this study, we validated that the GluA2-GAPDH complex was elevated in LPS-induced primary reactive astrocytes, and GluA2-G-Gpep treatment significantly reduced GFAP expression levels in both EAE mice and reactive astrocytes. Further in vivo and in vitro analyses revealed that GluA2-G-Gpep administration normalized EAAT1 and EAAT2 expression, rescued compromised blood-brain barrier integrity via AQP4, promoted actin reorganization and changed mitochondrial dynamics. These alterations may partially be explained by changes in the nuclear GAPDH and p53 transcription pathways. Our findings provide critical implications for understanding the astrocyte properties regulated by GluA2-GAPDH associated with MS, and insights for novel treatment options targeting at astrocytes.

Summary Current antipsychotic drugs primarily target dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs), in conjunction with other receptors such as those for serotonin. However, these drugs have serious side effects such as extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) and diabetes. Identifying a specific D2R signaling pathway that could be targeted for antipsychotic effects, without inducing EPS, would be a significant improvement in the treatment of schizophrenia. We report here that the D2R forms a protein complex with Disrupted in Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) that facilitates D2R-mediated glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 signaling and inhibits agonist-induced D2R internalization. D2R-DISC1 complex levels are increased in conjunction with decreased GSK-3α/β (Ser21/9) phosphorylation in both postmortem brain tissue from schizophrenia patients and in Disc1 -L100P mutant mice, an animal model with behavioral abnormalities related to schizophrenia. Administration of an interfering peptide that disrupts the D2R-DISC1 complex successfully reverses behaviors relevant to schizophrenia but does not induce catalepsy, a strong predictor of EPS in humans. Video Abstract

Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a strong candidate gene for schizophrenia and other mental disorders. DISC1 regulates neurodevelopmental processes including neurogenesis, neuronal migration, neurite outgrowth, and neurotransmitter signaling. Abnormal neuronal morphology and cortical architecture are seen in human postmortem brain from patients with schizophrenia. However, the etiology and development of these histological abnormalities remain unclear. We analyzed the histology of twoDisc1mutant mice with point mutations (Q31L and L100P) and found a relative reduction in neuron number, decreased neurogenesis, and altered neuron distribution compared to wild-type littermates. Frontal cortical neurons have shorter dendrites and decreased surface area and spine density. Overall, the histology ofDisc1mutant mouse cortex is reminiscent of the findings in schizophrenia. These results provide further evidence thatDisc1participates in cortical development, including neurogenesis and neuron migration.

Cullin 4B (CUL4B) mutations have been implicated in mental retardation and dopamine-related behaviors due to disruptions in their interaction with cullin-RING E3 ligases (CRLs). Thus, further identification of CUL4B substrates can increase the knowledge of protein homeostasis and illuminate the role of CUL4B in neuropsychiatric disease. However, the transient nature of the coupling between CUL4B and its substrates is difficult to detect in vivo using current approaches, thus hampers efforts to investigate functions of CRLs within unperturbed living systems. In this study, we sought to discover CUL4B interactants with or without dopamine stimulation. BirA (118G) proximity-dependent biotin labeling combined with LC-MS was employed to biotinylate and identify transient and weak interactants of CUL4B. After purification with streptavidin beads and identified by LC-MS, a total of 150 biotinylated proteins were identified at baseline condition, 53 of which are well-known CUL4B interactants. After dopamine stimulation, 29 proteins disappeared and were replaced by 21 different protein interactants. The altered CUL4B interactants suggest that CUL4B regulates protein turnover and homeostasis in response to dopamine stimulation. Our results demonstrate the potential of this approach to identify novel CUL4B-related molecules in respond to cellular stimuli, which may be applied to other types of signaling pathways.

Disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1) is associated with mental disorders, including major depression. We previously showed that DISC1-Q31L mutant mice have depression-like behaviors and can therefore be used to study neurobiological mechanisms of depression and antidepressant (AD) medication action. First, we found reduced levels of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine in the nucleus accumbens (NAC) of DISC1-Q31L mutants. Next, we assessed social-conditioned place preference as a reward-dependent task and the capacity of distinct ADs to correct impaired social behavior in DISC1-Q31L mice. Bupropion, but not fluoxetine or desipramine, was able to correct deficient social facilitation, social reward, and social novelty in DISC1-Q31L mutants, whereas all three ADs were able to improve social motivation and behavioral despair in DISC1-Q31L mutants. Furthermore, we sought to correlate social anhedonia with molecular and cellular features including dendritic spine density, β-arrestin-1,2, and cAMP-response-element-binding protein (CREB) in the NAC as biomarkers related to depression and the DISC1 pathway. DISC1-Q31L mutants showed reduced levels of β-arrestin-1,2, CREB, and spine density in the NAC, further supporting the construct validity of the genetic model. Bupropion induced the greatest effect on CREB in DISC1-Q31L mutants, whereas all studied ADs corrected the reduced levels of β-arrestin-1,2 and modestly ameliorated deficient spine density in this brain region. Overall, we find neurobiological changes accompanying social anhedonia in the NAC of DISC1-Q31L mutant mice, consistent with a role for DISC1 in regulating social reward as an endophenotype of depression.

Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), a strong candidate gene for schizophrenia and other mental disorders, regulates neurodevelopmental processes including neurogenesis, neuronal migration, neurite outgrowth and spine development. Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) directly interacts with DISC1 and also plays a role in neurodevelopment. Recently, our group showed that the Disc1-L100P mutant protein has reduced interaction with both GSK3α and β. Genetic and pharmacological inhibition of GSK3 activity rescued behavioral abnormalities in Disc1-L100P mutant mice. However, the cellular mechanisms mediating these effects of GSK3 inhibition in Disc1 mutant mice remain unclear. We sought to investigate the effects of genetic inactivation of GSK3α on frontal cortical neuron morphology in Disc1 L100P mutant mice using Golgi staining. We found a significant decrease in dendritic length and surface area in Disc1-L100P, GSK3α null and L100P/GSK3α double mutants. Dendritic spine density was significantly reduced only in Disc1-L100P and L100P/GSK3α +/− mice when compared to wild-type littermates. There was no difference in dendritic arborization between the various genotypes. No significant rescue in dendritic length and surface area was observed in L100P/GSK3α mutants versus L100P mice, but spine density in L100P/GSK3α mice was comparable to wild-type. Neurite outgrowth and spine development abnormalities induced by Disc1 mutation may be partially corrected through GSK3α inactivation, which also normalizes behavior. However, many of the other dendritic abnormalities in the Disc1-L100P mutant mice were not corrected by GSK3α inactivation, suggesting that only some of the anatomical defects have observable behavioral effects. These findings suggest novel treatment approaches for schizophrenia, and identify a histological read-out for testing other therapeutic interventions.

Background Interneuron deficits are one of the most consistent findings in post-mortem studies of schizophrenia patients and are likely important in the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), a strong susceptibility gene for schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, is involved in neurodevelopment, including that of interneurons. However, the mechanism by which DISC1 regulates interneuron development remains unknown. In this study, we analyzed interneuron histology in the Disc1-L100P single point mutation mouse, that was previously shown to have behavioral abnormalities and cortical developmental defects related to schizophrenia. Results We sought to determine whether a Disc1-L100P point mutation in the mouse would alter interneuron density and location. First, we examined interneuron position in the developing mouse cortex during embryonic days 14–16 as an indicator of interneuron tangential migration, and found striking migration deficits in Disc1-L100P mutants. Further analysis of adult brains revealed that the Disc1-L100P mutants have selective alterations of calbindin- and parvalbumin-expressing interneurons in the cortex and hippocampus, decreased GAD67/PV co-localization and mis-positioned interneurons across the neocortex when compared to wild-type littermates. Conclusion Our results are consistent with the anomalies seen in post-mortem schizophrenia studies and other Disc1 mutant mouse models. Future research is required to determine the specific mechanisms underlying these cellular deficits. Overall, these findings provide further evidence that DISC1 participates in interneuron development and add to our understanding of how DISC1 variants can affect susceptibility to psychiatric illness.