Kiersten S. Smith

Essential Role for TRPC5 in Amygdala Function and Fear-Related Behavior

The transient receptor potential channel 5 (TRPC5) is predominantly expressed in the brain where it can form heterotetrameric complexes with TRPC1 and TRPC4 channel subunits. These excitatory, nonselective cationic channels are regulated by G protein, phospholipase C-coupled receptors. Here, we show that TRPC5(-/-) mice exhibit diminished innate fear levels in response to innately aversive stimuli. Moreover, mutant mice exhibited significant reductions in responses mediated by synaptic activation of Group I metabotropic glutamate and cholecystokinin 2 receptors in neurons of the amygdala. Synaptic strength at afferent inputs to the amygdala was diminished in P10-P13 null mice. In contrast, baseline synaptic transmission, membrane excitability, and spike timing-dependent long-term potentiation at cortical and thalamic inputs to the amygdala were largely normal in older null mice. These experiments provide genetic evidence that TRPC5, activated via G protein-coupled neuronal receptors, has an essential function in innate fear.

Antidepressant-like properties of α2-containing GABAA receptors

Growing evidence suggests that altered function of the GABAergic system can contribute to the pathophysiology of depression. Many GABAergic effects are mediated via ionotropic GABA(A) receptors, which are functionally defined by their α subunit (α1-α6). Although it remains unknown which specific GABA(A) receptor population mediates depressive-like effects, we posit that α2-containing GABA(A) receptors, which are highly expressed in limbic regions, may underlie these behaviors. We hypothesized that genetic inactivation of α2-containing GABA(A) receptors would generate a depressive-like phenotype in mice. Male and female wild type, α2 heterozygous, and α2 homozygous knockout mice generated on the 129X1/SvJ background were examined in the novelty-suppressed feeding (NSF) test, the forced swim test (FST) and the tail suspension test (TST). Male α2 knockout mice took longer to eat in the NSF test and became immobile faster and remained immobile longer when challenged in the FST and the TST compared to wild types. In females significant genotypic differences were only observed in the FST. We conclude that GABAergic inhibition acting via α2-containing GABA(A) receptors has an antidepressant-like effect in vivo and that these receptors represent a specific molecular substrate that can regulate depressive-like states. α2-containing GABA(A) receptors may therefore represent a novel target for the development of more effective antidepressants.

Benzodiazepine-induced anxiolysis and reduction of conditioned fear are mediated by distinct GABAA receptor subtypes in mice

GABA(A) receptor modulating drugs such as benzodiazepines (BZs) have been used to treat anxiety disorders for over five decades. In order to determine whether the same or different GABA(A) receptor subtypes are necessary for the anxiolytic-like action of BZs in unconditioned anxiety and conditioned fear models, we investigated the role of different GABA(A) receptor subtypes by challenging wild type, α1(H101R), α2(H101R) and α3(H126R) mice bred on the C57BL/6J background with diazepam or chlordiazepoxide in the elevated plus maze and the fear-potentiated startle paradigms. Both drugs significantly increased open arm exploration in the elevated plus maze in wild type, α1(H101R) and α3(H126R), but this effect was abolished in α2(H101R) mice; these were expected results based on previous published results. In contrast, while administration of diazepam and chlordiazepoxide significantly attenuated fear-potentiated startle (FPS) in wild type mice and α3(H126R) mice, the fear-reducing effects of these drugs were absent in both α1(H101R) and α2(H101R) point mutants, indicating that both α1- and α2-containing GABA(A) receptors are necessary for BZs to exert their effects on conditioned fear responses. Our findings illustrate both an overlap and a divergence between the GABA(A) receptor subtype requirements for the impact of BZs, specifically that both α1- and α2-containing GABA(A) receptors are necessary for BZs to reduce conditioned fear whereas only α2-containing GABA(A) receptors are needed for BZ-induced anxiolysis in unconditioned tests of anxiety. This raises the possibility that GABAergic pharmacological interventions for specific anxiety disorders can be differentially tailored.

Decreased Anxiety-Like Behavior and Gαq/11-Dependent Responses in the Amygdala of Mice Lacking TRPC4 Channels

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are abundant in the brain where they regulate transmission of sensory signals. The expression patterns of different TRPC subunits (TRPC1, 4, and 5) are consistent with their potential role in fear-related behaviors. Accordingly, we found recently that mutant mice lacking a specific TRP channel subunit, TRPC5, exhibited decreased innate fear responses. Both TRPC5 and another member of the same subfamily, TRPC4, form heteromeric complexes with the TRPC1 subunit (TRPC1/5 and TRPC1/4, respectively). As TRP channels with specific subunit compositions may have different functional properties, we hypothesized that fear-related behaviors could be differentially controlled by TRPCs with distinct subunit arrangements. In this study, we focused on the analysis of mutant mice lacking the TRPC4 subunit, which, as we confirmed in experiments on control mice, is expressed in brain areas implicated in the control of fear and anxiety. In behavioral experiments, we found that constitutive ablation of TRPC4 was associated with diminished anxiety levels (innate fear). Furthermore, knockdown of TRPC4 protein in the lateral amygdala via lentiviral-mediated gene delivery of RNAi mimicked the behavioral phenotype of constitutive TRPC4-null (TRPC4−/−) mouse. Recordings in brain slices demonstrated that these behavioral modifications could stem from the lack of TRPC4 potentiation in neurons in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala through two Gαq/11 protein-coupled signaling pathways, activated via Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors and cholecystokinin 2 receptors, respectively. Thus, TRPC4 and the structurally and functionally related subunit, TRPC5, may both contribute to the mechanisms underlying regulation of innate fear responses.

Neural basis of benzodiazepine reward: Requirement for α2 containing GABAA receptors in the nucleus accumbens.

Despite long-standing concerns regarding the abuse liability of benzodiazepines, the mechanisms underlying properties of benzodiazepines that may be relevant to abuse are still poorly understood. Earlier studies showed that compounds selective for α1-containing GABAA receptors (α1GABAARs) are abused by humans and self-administered by animals, and that these receptors may underlie a preference for benzodiazepines as well as neuroplastic changes observed in the ventral tegmental area following benzodiazepine administration. There is some evidence, however, that even L-838, 417, a compound with antagonistic properties at α1GABAARs and agonistic properties at the other three benzodiazepine-sensitive GABAA receptor subtypes, is self-administered, and that the α2GABAARs may have a role in benzodiazepine-induced reward enhancement. Using a two-bottle choice drinking paradigm to evaluate midazolam preference and an intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) paradigm to evaluate the impact of midazolam on reward enhancement, we demonstrated that mice carrying a histidine-to-arginine point mutation in the α2 subunit which renders it insensitive to benzodiazepines (α2(H101R) mice) did not prefer midazolam and did not show midazolam-induced reward enhancement in ICSS, in contrast to wild-type controls, suggesting that α2GABAARs are necessary for the reward enhancing effects and preference for oral benzodiazepines. Through a viral-mediated knockdown of α2GABAARs in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), we demonstrated that α2 in the NAc is necessary for the preference for midazolam. Findings imply that α2GABAARs in the NAc are involved in at least some reward-related properties of benzodiazepines, which might partially underlie repeated drug-taking behavior.

Modulation of anxiety and fear via distinct intrahippocampal circuits

Recent findings indicate a high level of specialization at the level of microcircuits and cell populations within brain structures with regards to the control of fear and anxiety. The hippocampus, however, has been treated as a unitary structure in anxiety and fear research despite mounting evidence that different hippocampal subregions have specialized roles in other cognitive domains. Using novel cell-type- and region-specific conditional knockouts of the GABAA receptor α2 subunit, we demonstrate that inhibition of the principal neurons of the dentate gyrus and CA3 via α2-containing GABAA receptors (α2GABAARs) is required to suppress anxiety, while the inhibition of CA1 pyramidal neurons is required to suppress fear responses. We further show that the diazepam-modulation of hippocampal theta activity shows certain parallels with our behavioral findings, suggesting a possible mechanism for the observed behavioral effects. Thus, our findings demonstrate a double dissociation in the regulation of anxiety versus fear by hippocampal microcircuitry. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14120.001

Behavioral differences between late preweanling and adult female Sprague-Dawley rat exploration of animate and inanimate stimuli and food.

The late preweanling rat has potential as a preclinical model for disorders initially manifested in early childhood that are characterized by dysfunctional interactions with specific stimuli (e.g., obsessive-compulsive disorder and autism). No reports, however, of specific-stimulus exploration in the late preweanling rat are found in the literature. We examined the behavioral responses of normal late preweanling (PND 18-19) and adult rats when presented with exemplars of categorically-varied stimuli, including inanimate objects systematically varied in size and interactive properties, biological stimuli, and food. Preweanlings were faster to initiate specific stimulus exploration and were more interactive with most specific stimuli than adults; the magnitude of these preweanling-adult quantitative differences ranged from fairly small to very large depending upon the stimulus. In contrast, preweanlings were adult-like in their interaction with food and prey. Preweanling response to some stimuli, for example to live pups, was qualitatively different from that of adults; the preweanling behavioral repertoire was characterized by pup-seeking while the adult response was characterized by pup-avoidance. The specific stimulus interactions of preweanlings were less impacted than those of adults by the time of day of testing and placement of a stimulus in an anxiety-provoking location. The impact of novelty was stimulus dependent. The differences in interactions of preweanlings versus adults with specific stimuli suggests that CNS systems underlying these behavior patterns are at different stages of immaturity at PND 18 such that there may be an array of developmental trajectories for various categories of specific stimuli. These data provide a basis for the use of the preweanling as a preclinical model for understanding and medicating human disorders during development that are characterized by dysfunctional interactions with specific stimuli.