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Rap1 signaling is important for migration, differentiation, axonal growth, and during neuronal polarity. Rap1 can be activated by external stimuli, which in turn regulates specific guanine nucleotide exchange factors such as C3G, among others. Cdk5 functions are also important to neuronal migration and differentiation. Since we found that pharmacological inhibition of Cdk5 by using roscovitine reduced Rap1 protein levels in COS-7 cells and also C3G contains three putative phosphorylation sites for Cdk5, we examined whether the Cdk5-dependent phosphorylation of C3G could affect Rap1 expression and activity. We co-transfected C3G and tet-OFF system for p35 over-expression, an activator of Cdk5 activity into COS-7 cells, and then we evaluated phosphorylation in serine residues in C3G by immunoprecipitation and Western blot. We found that p35 over-expression increased C3G-serine-phosphorylation while inhibition of p35 expression by tetracycline or inhibition of Cdk5 activity with roscovitine decreased it. Interestingly, we found that MG-132, a proteasome inhibitor, rescue Rap1 protein levels in the presence of roscovitine. Besides, C3G-serine-phosphorylation and Rap1 protein levels were reduced in brain from Cdk5(-/-) as compared with the Cdk5(+/+) brain. Finally, we found that p35 over-expression increased Rap1 activity while inhibition of p35 expression by tetracycline or roscovitine decreased Rap1 activity. These results suggest that Cdk5-mediated serine-phosphorylation of C3G may control Rap1 stability and activity, and this may potentially impact various neuronal functions such as migration, differentiation, and polarity.

Dichlorvos is the active molecule of the pro-drug metrifonate used to revert the cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease. A few years ago it was reported that dichlorvos inhibits the enzyme acylpeptide hydrolase at lower doses than those necessary to inhibit acetylcholinesterase to the same extent. Therefore, the aim of our investigation was to test the hypothesis that dichlorvos can enhance synaptic efficacy through a mechanism that involves acylpeptide hydrolase instead of acetylcholinesterase inhibition. We used long-term potentiation induced in rat hippocampal slices as a model of synaptic plasticity. Our results indicate that short-term exposures (20 min) to 50 {mu}M dichlorvos enhance long-term potentiation in about 200% compared to the control condition. This effect is correlated with approximately 60% inhibition of acylpeptide hydrolase activity, whereas acetylcholinesterase activity remains unaffected. Paired-pulse facilitation and inhibition experiments indicate that dichlorvos does not have any presynaptic effect in the CA3 {yields} CA1 pathway nor affect gabaergic interneurons. Interestingly, the application of 100 nM methyllicaconitine, an {alpha}{sub 7} nicotinic receptor antagonist, blocked the enhancing effect of dichlorvos on long-term potentiation. These results indicate that under the exposure conditions described above, dichlorvos enhances long-term potentiation through a postsynaptic mechanism that involves (a) the inhibition of themore » enzyme acylpeptide hydrolase and (b) the modulation of {alpha}{sub 7} nicotinic receptors.« less

Organophosphate pesticides have been classically described as inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in insects and invertebrates. However, there is now more evidence supporting the hypothesis that these compounds also act through noncholinergic pathways, especially those related to cognitive processes. The enzyme acylpeptide hydrolase was identified as a new target for organophosphate pesticides. This enzyme is more sensitive than AChE to some organophosphates (OP), including dichlorvos, which is the parent compound for metrifonate, a therapeutic agent used in the treatment of cognitive impairment associated to Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, there is some doubt as to whether the mechanism of action of this drug is mediated by a potentiation of cholinergic transmission. However, the direct action of acylpeptide hydrolase in cognitive processes and the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying subacute exposure to OP have yet to be demonstrated. This review deals with evidence demonstrating the existence of mechanisms of actions of OP, which are independent of cholinergic pathway potentiation and which have an effect on cognitive processes. In addition, the possible participation of the enzyme acylpeptide hydrolase in these processes is also discussed. Finally, the possibility of using this enzyme activity as a new biomarker for exposure to OP is considered.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is a proline-directed serine/threonine kinase predominantly active in the nervous system where it regulates several processes such as neuronal migration, cytoskeletal dynamics, axonal guidance, and neurotransmission. We constructed a position specific scoring matrix (PSSM) based on a dataset of sites shown to be phosphorylated both in vivo and in vitro by Cdk5. This dataset was curated manually through an exhaustive search of published experimental data. We then used this PSSM to perform a search in the mouse proteome through Scansite, a web-based tool for matching sequence patterns in large databases. Considering a stringent cut-off score of 0.5, we identified 354 new putative sites present in 291 proteins. In order to assess the robustness of our results, ten random subsets (of 80 sites each) of the original dataset were used to construct new PSSMs, which were then used as input for a new Scansite search, leading to the recovery of 81% of the 354 sites by at least 5 PSSMs. In order to reduce the number of false positives in our sequence-based approach, we evaluated which of these predicted sites were phosphorylated in vivo as determined by multiple phosphoproteomics studies carried out through mass spectrometry and available in the PhosphoSitePlus database. This step resulted in a very promising list of 132 putative phosphorylation sites for Cdk5, of which, 51 are specifically phosphorylated in brain tissue, and some are involved in functions regulated by Cdk5 such as axonal growth, synaptic plasticity and neurotransmission. Other phosphorylation sites in our list suggest that Cdk5 might regulate processes through mechanisms not previously recognized such as the control of mRNA splicing.