Laura Musazzi

Chronic Antidepressants Reduce Depolarization-Evoked Glutamate Release and Protein Interactions Favoring Formation of SNARE Complex in Hippocampus

Glutamate neurotransmission was recently implicated in the action of stress and in antidepressant mechanisms. We report that chronic (not acute) treatment with three antidepressants with different primary mechanisms (fluoxetine, reboxetine, and desipramine) markedly reduced depolarization-evoked release of glutamate, stimulated by 15 or 25 mm KCl, but not release of GABA. Endogenous glutamate and GABA release was measured in superfused synaptosomes, freshly prepared from hippocampus of drug-treated rats. Interestingly, treatment with the three drugs only barely changed the release of glutamate (and of GABA) induced by ionomycin. In synaptic membranes of chronically treated rats we found a marked reduction in the protein-protein interaction between syntaxin 1 and Thr286-phosphorylated αCaM kinase II (α-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II) (an interaction previously proposed to promote neurotransmitter release) and a marked increase in the interaction between syntaxin 1 and Munc-18 (an interaction proposed to reduce neurotransmitter release). Furthermore, we found a selective reduction in the expression level of the three proteins forming the core SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) complex. These findings suggest that antidepressants work by stabilizing glutamate neurotransmission in the hippocampus and that they may represent a useful tool for the study of relationship between functional and molecular processes in nerve terminals.

Acute Stress Increases Depolarization-Evoked Glutamate Release in the Rat Prefrontal/Frontal Cortex: The Dampening Action of Antidepressants

Background Behavioral stress is recognized as a main risk factor for neuropsychiatric diseases. Converging evidence suggested that acute stress is associated with increase of excitatory transmission in certain forebrain areas. Aim of this work was to investigate the mechanism whereby acute stress increases glutamate release, and if therapeutic drugs prevent the effect of stress on glutamate release. Methodology/Findings Rats were chronically treated with vehicle or drugs employed for therapy of mood/anxiety disorders (fluoxetine, desipramine, venlafaxine, agomelatine) and then subjected to unpredictable footshock stress. Acute stress induced marked increase in depolarization-evoked release of glutamate from synaptosomes of prefrontal/frontal cortex in superfusion, and the chronic drug treatments prevented the increase of glutamate release. Stress induced rapid increase in the circulating levels of corticosterone in all rats (both vehicle- and drug-treated), and glutamate release increase was blocked by previous administration of selective antagonist of glucocorticoid receptor (RU 486). On the molecular level, stress induced accumulation of presynaptic SNARE complexes in synaptic membranes (both in vehicle- and drug-treated rats). Patch-clamp recordings of pyramidal neurons in the prefrontal cortex revealed that stress increased glutamatergic transmission through both pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms, and that antidepressants may normalize it by reducing release probability. Conclusions/Significance Acute footshock stress up-regulated depolarization-evoked release of glutamate from synaptosomes of prefrontal/frontal cortex. Stress-induced increase of glutamate release was dependent on stimulation of glucocorticoid receptor by corticosterone. Because all drugs employed did not block either elevation of corticosterone or accumulation of SNARE complexes, the dampening action of the drugs on glutamate release must be downstream of these processes. This novel effect of antidepressants on the response to stress, shown here for the first time, could be related to the therapeutic action of these drugs.

The Action of Antidepressants on the Glutamate System: Regulation of Glutamate Release and Glutamate Receptors

Recent compelling evidence has suggested that the glutamate system is a primary mediator of psychiatric pathology and also a target for rapid-acting antidepressants. Clinical research in mood and anxiety disorders has shown alterations in levels, clearance, and metabolism of glutamate and consistent volumetric changes in brain areas where glutamate neurons predominate. In parallel, preclinical studies with rodent stress and depression models have found dendritic remodeling and synaptic spines reduction in corresponding areas, suggesting these as major factors in psychopathology. Enhancement of glutamate release/transmission, in turn induced by stress/glucocorticoids, seems crucial for structural/functional changes. Understanding mechanisms of maladaptive plasticity may allow identification of new targets for drugs and therapies. Interestingly, traditional monoaminergic-based antidepressants have been repeatedly shown to interfere with glutamate system function, starting with modulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Subsequently, it has been shown that antidepressants reduce glutamate release and synaptic transmission; in particular, it was found antidepressants prevent the acute stress-induced enhancement of glutamate release. Additional studies have shown that antidepressants may partly reverse the maladaptive changes in synapses/circuitry in stress and depression models. Finally, a number of studies over the years have shown that these drugs regulate glutamate receptors, reducing the function of NMDA receptors, potentiating the function of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid receptors, and, more recently, exerting variable effects on different subtypes of metabotropic glutamate receptors. The development of NMDA receptor antagonists has opened new avenues for glutamatergic, rapid acting, antidepressants, while additional targets in the glutamate synapse await development of new compounds for better, faster antidepressant action.

Regulation of Editing and Expression of Glutamate α-Amino-Propionic-Acid (AMPA)/Kainate Receptors by Antidepressant Drugs

BACKGROUND Several reports have shown that the glutamatergic system is involved in both the pathogenesis of affective and stress-related disorders and in the action of antidepressant drugs. In particular, antidepressant treatment was shown to modulate expression and function of ionotropic glutamate receptors, to inhibit glutamate release and to restore synaptic plasticity impaired by stress. METHODS We analyzed the mRNA expression and RNA editing of alpha-amino-propionic-acid (AMPA) and kainate (KA) receptor subunits, in the pre-frontal/frontal cortex (P/FC) and hippocampus (HI) of rats chronically treated with three different drugs: the selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine, the selective noradrenaline (NA) reuptake inhibitor reboxetine and the tricyclic antidepressant desipramine. RESULTS Our data showed that fluoxetine and desipramine exerted moderate but selective effects on glutamate receptor expression and editing, while reboxetine appeared to be the drug that affects glutamate receptors (GluR) most. The most consistent effect, observed with pronoradrenergic drugs (desipramine and reboxetine), was a decrease of GluR3 expression both in P/FC and HI. Interestingly, in HI, the same drugs also decreased the editing levels of either the flip (desipramine) or flop (reboxetine) form of GluR3. CONCLUSIONS Overall, these results point to specific and regionally discrete changes in the expression and editing level of glutamate receptors and, in particular, to a selective reduction of conductance for GluR3-containing receptors following treatment with antidepressant drugs. These data support the hypothesis that changes in glutamate neurotransmission are involved in the therapeutic effects induced by these drugs.

Mode of action of agomelatine: Synergy between melatonergic and 5-HT2C receptors

Abstract Objectives. The association between depression and circadian rhythm disturbances is well established and successful treatment of depressed patients is accompanied by restoration of circadian rhythms. The new antidepressant agomelatine is an agonist of melatonergic MT1/MT2 receptors as well as an antagonist of serotonergic 5-HT2C receptors. Animal studies showed that agomelatine resynchronizes disturbed circadian rhythms and reduces depression-like behaviour. Methods. This review analyzes results from different experimental studies. Results. Recent data on the effects of agomelatine on cellular processes involved in antidepressant mechanisms have shown that the drug is able to increase the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, as well as the expression of activity-regulated cytoskeleton associated protein (Arc) in the prefrontal cortex. In line with this, prolonged treatment with agomelatine increases neurogenesis within the hippocampus, particularly via enhancement of neuronal cell survival. Agomelatine attenuates stress-induced glutamate release in the prefrontal/frontal cortex. Treatment with 5-HT2C antagonists or melatonin alone failed to reproduce these effects. Conclusions. The unique mode of action of agomelatine may improve the management of major depression by counteracting the pathogenesis of depression at cellular level, thereby relieving the symptoms of depression. These effects are suggested to be due to a synergistic action on MT1/MT2 and 5-HT2C receptors.

Stress, glucocorticoids and glutamate release: Effects of antidepressant drugs

Stressful life events impact on memory, cognition and emotional responses, and are known to precipitate mood/anxiety disorders. It is increasingly recognized that stress and its neurochemical and endocrine mediators induce changes in glutamate synapses and circuitry, and this in turn modify mental states. Half a century after the monoamine hypothesis, it is widely accepted that maladaptive changes in excitatory/inhibitory circuitry have a primary role in the pathophysiology of mood/anxiety disorders. The neuroplasticity hypothesis posits that volumetric changes consistently found in limbic and cortical areas of depressed subjects are in good part due to remodeling of neuronal dendritic arbors and loss of synaptic spines. A considerable body of work, carried out with in vivo microdialysis as well as alternative methodologies, has shown that both stress and corticosterone treatment induce enhancement of activity-dependent glutamate release. Accordingly, results from preclinical studies suggest that stress- and glucocorticoid-induced enhancement of glutamate release and transmission plays a main role in the induction of maladaptive cellular effects, in turn responsible for dendritic remodeling. Additional recent work has showed that drugs employed for therapy of mood/anxiety disorders (antidepressants) prevent the enhancement of glutamate release induced by stress. Understanding the action of traditional drugs on glutamate transmission could be of great help in developing drugs that may work directly at this level.

Remodelling by early-life stress of NMDA receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity in a gene–environment rat model of depression

An animal model of depression combining genetic vulnerability and early-life stress (ELS) was prepared by submitting the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rats to a standard paradigm of maternal separation. We analysed hippocampal synaptic transmission and plasticity in vivo and ionotropic receptors for glutamate in FSL rats, in their controls Flinders Resistant Line (FRL) rats, and in both lines subjected to ELS. A strong inhibition of long-term potentiation (LTP) and lower synaptic expression of NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor were found in FSL rats. Remarkably, ELS induced a remodelling of synaptic plasticity only in FSL rats, reducing inhibition of LTP; this was accompanied by marked increase of synaptic NR1 subunit and GluR2/3 subunits of AMPA receptors. Chronic treatment with escitalopram inhibited LTP in FRL rats, but this effect was attenuated by prior ELS. The present results suggest that early gene-environment interactions cause lifelong synaptic changes affecting functional and molecular aspects of plasticity, partly reversed by antidepressant treatments.

Physical Exercise and Antidepressants Enhance BDNF Targeting in Hippocampal CA3 Dendrites: Further Evidence of a Spatial Code for BDNF Splice Variants

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is encoded by multiple BDNF transcripts, whose function is unclear. We recently showed that a subset of BDNF transcripts can traffic into distal dendrites in response to electrical activity, while others are segregated into the somatoproximal domains. Physical exercise and antidepressant treatments exert their beneficial effects through upregulation of BDNF, which is required to support survival and differentiation of newborn dentate gyrus (DG) neurons. While these DG processes are required for the antidepressant effect, a role for CA1 in antidepressant action has been excluded, and the effect on CA3 neurons remains unclear. Here, we show for the first time that physical exercise and antidepressants induce local increase of BDNF in CA3. Voluntary physical exercise for 28 consecutive days, or 2-week treatment with 10 mg/kg per day fluoxetine or reboxetine, produced a global increase of BDNF mRNA and protein in the neuronal somata of the whole hippocampus and a specific increase of BDNF in dendrites of CA3 neurons. This increase was accounted for by BDNF exon 6 variant. In cultured hippocampal neurons, application of serotonin or norepinephrine (10–50 μM) induced increase in synaptic transmission and targeting of BDNF mRNA in dendrites. The increased expression of BDNF in CA3 dendrites following antidepressants or exercise further supports the neurotrophin hypothesis of antidepressants action and confirms that the differential subcellular localization of BDNF mRNA splice variants provides a spatial code for a selective expression of BDNF in specific subcellular districts. This selective expression may be exploited to design more specific antidepressants.

Early raise of BDNF in hippocampus suggests induction of posttranscriptional mechanisms by antidepressants.

BackgroundThe neurotrophin BDNF has been implicated in the regulation of neuroplasticity, gene expression, and synaptic function in the adult brain, as well as in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders and the mechanism of action of antidepressants. Antidepressant treatments have been shown to increase the expression of BDNF mRNA, although the changes measured were found to be different depending on various factors. A few studies only have measured levels of BDNF protein after antidepressant treatments, and poor correlation was found between mRNA and protein changes. We studied the time course of expression of BDNF mRNA and protein during drug treatments, in order to elucidate the temporal profile of regulation of this effector and whether mRNA and protein levels correlate. Rat groups were treated for 1, 2 or 3 weeks with fluoxetine or reboxetine; in additional groups drug treatment was followed by a washout week (3+1). Total BDNF mRNA was measured by Real Time PCR, pro- and mature BDNF proteins were measured by Western blot.ResultsWe found that mature BDNF protein is induced more rapidly than mRNA, by both drugs in hippocampus (weeks 1–2) and by reboxetine in prefrontal/frontal cortex (week 1). The temporal profile of BDNF protein expression was largely inconsistent with that of mRNA, which followed the protein induction and reached a peak at week 3.ConclusionThese results suggest that BDNF protein is rapidly elevated by antidepressant treatments by posttranscriptional mechanisms, and that induction of BDNF mRNA is a slower process.

Stress and corticosterone increase the readily releasable pool of glutamate vesicles in synaptic terminals of prefrontal and frontal cortex.

Stress and glucocorticoids alter glutamatergic transmission, and the outcome of stress may range from plasticity enhancing effects to noxious, maladaptive changes. We have previously demonstrated that acute stress rapidly increases glutamate release in prefrontal and frontal cortex via glucocorticoid receptor and accumulation of presynaptic SNARE complex. Here we compared the ex vivo effects of acute stress on glutamate release with those of in vitro application of corticosterone, to analyze whether acute effect of stress on glutamatergic transmission is mediated by local synaptic action of corticosterone. We found that acute stress increases both the readily releasable pool (RRP) of vesicles and depolarization-evoked glutamate release, while application in vitro of corticosterone rapidly increases the RRP, an effect dependent on synaptic receptors for the hormone, but does not induce glutamate release for up to 20 min. These findings indicate that corticosterone mediates the enhancement of glutamate release induced by acute stress, and the rapid non-genomic action of the hormone is necessary but not sufficient for this effect.