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D-Serine has been shown to play an important role in the expression and control of a variety of brain functions by acting as the endogenous coagonist for the N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor (NMDAR), at least, in the forebrain. To obtain further insight into the still debatable cellular localization of the D-amino acid, we have examined the effects of the selective destruction of the neuronal cell bodies by quinolinate on the tissue or extracellular D-serine concentrations in the medial prefrontal cortex of the rat. A local quinolinate infusion into the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex produced a cortical lesion with a marked (- 65%) and non-significant alteration (- 5%) in the cortical and striatal tissue D-serine concentrations, respectively, 7 days post-infusion. In vivo microdialysis experiments in the right prefrontal lesion site 9 days after the quinolinate application revealed that the basal extracellular D-serine levels were also dramatically reduced (- 64%). A prominent reduction in the tissue levels of GABA in the interneurons of the prefrontal cortex (- 78%) without significant changes in those in the striatum (+ 12%) verified that a major lesion part was confined to the cortical portion. The lack of a significant influence of the prefrontal quinolinate lesion on its dopamine concentrations in the mesocortical dopamine projections suggests that the nerve terminals and axons in the lesion site may be spared. These findings are consistent with the perikarya-selective nature of the present quinolinate-induced lesion and further support the view that neuronal cell bodies of intrinsic neurons in the prefrontal cortical region contain substantial amounts of D-serine, which may sustain the basal extracellular concentrations of D-serine., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Lithium's inhibitory effect on enzymes involved in sulfation process, such as inhibition of 3'(2')-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphate (PAP) phosphatase, is a possible mechanism of its therapeutic effect for bipolar disorder (BD). 3'-Phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS) is translocated from cytosol to Golgi lumen by PAPS transporter 1 (PAPST1/SLC35B2), where it acts as a sulfa donor. Since SLC35B2 was previously recognized as a molecule that facilitates the release of D-serine, a co-agonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor, altered function of SLC35B2 might be associated with the pathophysiology of BD and schizophrenia (SCZ). We performed genetic association analyses of the SLC35B2 gene using Japanese cohorts with 366 BD cases and 370 controls and 2012 SCZ cases and 2170 controls. We then investigated expression of SLC35B2 mRNA in postmortem brains by QPCR using a Caucasian cohort with 33 BD and 34 SCZ cases and 34 controls and by in situ hybridization using a Caucasian cohort with 37 SCZ and 29 controls. We found significant associations between three SNPs (rs575034, rs1875324, and rs3832441) and BD, and significantly reduced SLC35B2 mRNA expression in postmortem dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of BD. Moreover, we observed normalized SLC35B2 mRNA expression in BD subgroups who were medicated with lithium. While there was a significant association of SLC35B2 with SCZ (SNP rs2233437), its expression was not changed in SCZ. These findings indicate that SLC35B2 might be differentially involved in the pathophysiology of BD and SCZ by influencing the sulfation process and/or glutamate system in the central nervous system., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)

SAP97 gene encodes the synaptic scaffolding PDZ proteins that interact with the L: -alpha-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA), kainate and N-methyl-D: -aspartate (NMDA) type glutamate receptors. Because the disturbed glutamate neurotransmission has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, we investigated association between the SAP97 gene and schizophrenia. We genotyped 23 SNPs capturing the known common haplotype variations of the gene in a sample comprising 229 schizophrenic patients and 214 matched controls. In a single marker analysis, ten SNPs displayed nominally significant (P < 0.05) association with schizophrenia, although the P values of these SNPs were non-significant after the Bonferroni correction. We also compared haplotype estimates based on case--control genotypes and observed significant association of eight-two- and three- SNP haplotypes with schizophrenia following permutation-based correction. Further examination of the above series of SNPs or haplotypes in each gender revealed significant associations between some of these SNPs or haplotypes and the disorder only in males. The present findings suggest that the SAP97 gene may be a susceptibility factor in male schizophrenics and that the modification of the glutamate receptors-SAP97 signaling pathway could be involved in the disease pathophysiology.

D-serine in mammalian brains has been suggested to be an endogenous co-agonist of the NMDA-type glutamate receptor. We have explored the molecules regulating D-serine uptake and release from the rat neocortex cDNA library using a Xenopus oocyte expression system, and isolated a cDNA clone designated as dsm-1 (D-serine modulator-1) encoding a protein that reduces the accumulation of D-serine to the oocyte. dsm-1 is the rat orthologue of the human 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate transporter 1 (PAPST1) gene. The hydropathy analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of the Dsm-1 protein predicts the 10 transmembrane domains with a long hydrophobic stretch in the C-terminal like some amino acid transporters. The dsm-1 mRNA is predominantly expressed in the forebrain areas that are enriched with D-serine and NMDA receptors, and in the liver. The transient expression of dsm-1 in COS-7 cells demonstrates a partially Golgi apparatus-related punctuate distribution throughout the cytoplasm with a concentration near the nucleus. dsm-1-expressing oocytes diminishes the sodium-dependent and -independent accumulation of D-serine and the basal levels of the intrinsic D-serine and increases the rate of release of the pre-loaded D-serine. These findings indicate that dsm-1 may, at least in part, be involved in the D-serine translocation across the vesicular or plasma membranes in the brain, and thereby control the extra- and intracellular contents of D-serine.

D-serine is now considered to be an endogenous co-agonist of the NMDA receptor in mammalian brain. To obtain insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying D-serine metabolism and function, we explored transcripts that are responsive to D-serine in the neocortex of the 8-day-old infant rat by a differential cloning technique, RNA arbitrarily primed PCR. We isolated a novel D-serine inducible transcript, D-serine-responsive transcript-2 (dsr-2), that was exclusively expressed in the brain. Sequence analysis of the corresponding cDNAs to the transcript revealed that the dsr-2 mRNA consists of 7199 nucleotides with an open reading frame encoding 111 amino acids. The dsr-2 gene was located on the reverse strand within an intron of the neurexin-3alpha gene, mapped to rat chromosome 6q24-31. The regional distribution of the basal expression of dsr-2 and its ontogenic changes in the brain closely correlated with those of free D-serine and of NMDA receptor R2B subunit mRNA, but were somewhat different from those of the neurexin-3alpha transcript. These findings suggest that dsr-2 may be involved in D-serine metabolism and/or function, and in the interactions between D-serine, NMDA receptor and neurexin-3alpha, in mammalian brain.

A subcutaneous injection of small and moderate doses (1.6, 3.2, 4.0 and 4.8 mg/kg) of the schizophrenomimetic methamphetamine caused a dose-related increase in the tissue content (the net content) of L-Arg and L-Asn in the neocortex and striatum at 60 min, but not at 360 min, after injection. The methamphetamine-induced (4.8 mg/kg) increases in levels of these amino acids were significantly attenuated by pretreatment with an antipsychotic drug, haloperidol (1 mg/kg) or clozapine (10 mg/kg). In the neocortex, a clozapine-reversible increase in the level of L-Thr was also observed 60 min after methamphetamine administration. Striatal concentrations of L-Glu, L-Ser, LThr, Gly and L-Ala were augmented by the same regimen in a haloperidol- and clozapine-sensitive fashion. A moderate dose of another schizophrenomimetic phencyclidine (7.5 mg/kg) given subcutaneously induced robust abnormal behavior, a diminution in the neocortical and striatal levels of L-Asp and an increase in the striatal L-Ala content without significant effects on the other amino acids studied. These results suggest that neocortical and striatal L-Arg, L-Asn, L-Thr, Gly, L-Ala or L-Ser may be implicated in the psychotomimetic effects of methamphetamine and might display mutual interaction with cerebral dopaminergic transmission. The differential effects of methamphetamine and phencyclidine on the net neocortical and striatal concentrations of various amino acids might, at least in part, underlie the distinct features of psychoses induced by these two drugs.