TY  - JOUR
A1  - Aboagye, B.
A1  - Weber, T.
A1  - Merdian, H. L.
A1  - Bartsch, D.
A1  - Lesch, K. P.
A1  - Waider, J.
T1  - Serotonin deficiency induced after brain maturation rescues consequences of early life adversity
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Brain serotonin (5-HT) system dysfunction is implicated in depressive disorders and acute depletion of 5-HT precursor tryptophan has frequently been used to model the influence of 5-HT deficiency on emotion regulation. Tamoxifen (TAM)-induced Cre/loxP-mediated inactivation of the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene (Tph2) was used to investigate the effects of provoked 5-HT deficiency in adult mice (Tph2 icKO) previously subjected to maternal separation (MS). The efficiency of Tph2 inactivation was validated by immunohistochemistry and HPLC. The impact of Tph2 icKO in interaction with MS stress (Tph2 icKOxMS) on physiological parameters, emotional behavior and expression of 5-HT system-related marker genes were assessed. Tph2 icKO mice displayed a significant reduction in 5-HT immunoreactive cells and 5-HT concentrations in the rostral raphe region within four weeks following TAM treatment. Tph2 icKO and MS differentially affected food and water intake, locomotor activity as well as panic-like escape behavior. Tph2 icKO prevented the adverse effects of MS stress and altered the expression of the genes previously linked to stress and emotionality. In conclusion, an experimental model was established to study the behavioral and neurobiological consequences of 5-HT deficiency in adulthood in interaction with early-life adversity potentially affecting brain development and the pathogenesis of depressive disorders.
KW  - emotion
KW  - molecular medicine
KW  - neuroscience
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-258626
SN  - 2045-2322
VL  - 11
IS  - 1
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Jarick, I.
A1  - Volckmar, A. L.
A1  - Pütter, C.
A1  - Pechlivanis, S.
A1  - Nguyen, T. T.
A1  - Dauvermann, M. R.
A1  - Beck, S.
A1  - Albayrak, Ö.
A1  - Scherag, S.
A1  - Gilsbach, S.
A1  - Cichon, S.
A1  - Hoffmann, P.
A1  - Degenhardt, F.
A1  - Nöthen, M. M.
A1  - Schreiber, S.
A1  - Wichmann, H. E.
A1  - Jöckel, K. H.
A1  - Heinrich, J.
A1  - Tiesler, C. M. T.
A1  - Faraone, S. V.
A1  - Walitza, S.
A1  - Sinzig, J.
A1  - Freitag, C.
A1  - Meyer, J.
A1  - Herpertz-Dahlmann, B.
A1  - Lehmkuhl, G.
A1  - Renner, T. J.
A1  - Warnke, A.
A1  - Romanos, M.
A1  - Lesch, K. P.
A1  - Reif, A.
A1  - Schimmelmann, B. G.
A1  - Hebebrand, J.
A1  - Scherag, A.
A1  - Hinney, A.
T1  - Genome-wide analysis of rare copy number variations reveals PARK2 as a candidate gene for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
JF  - Molecular Psychiatry
N2  - Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common, highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder. Genetic loci have not yet been identified by genome-wide association studies. Rare copy number variations (CNVs), such as chromosomal deletions or duplications, have been implicated in ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders. To identify rare (frequency ≤1%) CNVs that increase the risk of ADHD, we performed a whole-genome CNV analysis based on 489 young ADHD patients and 1285 adult population-based controls and identified one significantly associated CNV region. In tests for a global burden of large (>500 kb) rare CNVs, we observed a nonsignificant (P=0.271) 1.126-fold enriched rate of subjects carrying at least one such CNV in the group of ADHD cases. Locus-specific tests of association were used to assess if there were more rare CNVs in cases compared with controls. Detected CNVs, which were significantly enriched in the ADHD group, were validated by quantitative (q)PCR. Findings were replicated in an independent sample of 386 young patients with ADHD and 781 young population-based healthy controls. We identified rare CNVs within the parkinson protein 2 gene (PARK2) with a significantly higher prevalence in ADHD patients than in controls \((P=2.8 × 10^{-4})\) after empirical correction for genome-wide testing). In total, the PARK2 locus (chr 6: 162 659 756-162 767 019) harboured three deletions and nine duplications in the ADHD patients and two deletions and two duplications in the controls. By qPCR analysis, we validated 11 of the 12 CNVs in ADHD patients \((P=1.2 × 10^{-3})\) after empirical correction for genome-wide testing). In the replication sample, CNVs at the PARK2 locus were found in four additional ADHD patients and one additional control \((P=4.3 × 10^{-2})\). Our results suggest that copy number variants at the PARK2 locus contribute to the genetic susceptibility of ADHD. Mutations and CNVs in PARK2 are known to be associated with Parkinson disease.
KW  - children
KW  - ADHD
KW  - CNVs
KW  - GWAS
KW  - PARK2
Y1  - 2014
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-121131
VL  - 19
IS  - 19
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schraut, K. G.
A1  - Jakob, S. B.
A1  - Weidner, M. T.
A1  - Schmitt, A. G.
A1  - Scholz, C. J.
A1  - Strekalova, T.
A1  - El Hajj, N.
A1  - Eijssen, L. M. T.
A1  - Domschke, K.
A1  - Reif, A.
A1  - Haaf, T.
A1  - Ortega, G.
A1  - Steinbusch, H. W. M.
A1  - Lesch, K. P.
A1  - Van den Hove, D. L.
T1  - Prenatal stress-induced programming of genome-wide promoter DNA methylation in 5-HTT-deficient mice
JF  - Translational Psychiatry
N2  - The serotonin transporter gene (5-HTT/SLC6A4)-linked polymorphic region has been suggested to have a modulatory role in mediating effects of early-life stress exposure on psychopathology rendering carriers of the low-expression short (s)-variant more vulnerable to environmental adversity in later life. The underlying molecular mechanisms of this gene-by-environment interaction are not well understood, but epigenetic regulation including differential DNA methylation has been postulated to have a critical role. Recently, we used a maternal restraint stress paradigm of prenatal stress (PS) in 5-HTT-deficient mice and showed that the effects on behavior and gene expression were particularly marked in the hippocampus of female 5-Htt+/- offspring. Here, we examined to which extent these effects are mediated by differential methylation of DNA. For this purpose, we performed a genome-wide hippocampal DNA methylation screening using methylated-DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) on Affymetrix GeneChip Mouse Promoter 1.0 R arrays. Using hippocampal DNA from the same mice as assessed before enabled us to correlate gene-specific DNA methylation, mRNA expression and behavior. We found that 5-Htt genotype, PS and their interaction differentially affected the DNA methylation signature of numerous genes, a subset of which showed overlap with the expression profiles of the corresponding transcripts. For example, a differentially methylated region in the gene encoding myelin basic protein (Mbp) was associated with its expression in a 5-Htt-, PS- and 5-Htt × PS-dependent manner. Subsequent fine-mapping of this Mbp locus linked the methylation status of two specific CpG sites to Mbp expression and anxiety-related behavior. In conclusion, hippocampal DNA methylation patterns and expression profiles of female prenatally stressed 5-Htt+/- mice suggest that distinct molecular mechanisms, some of which are promoter methylation-dependent, contribute to the behavioral effects of the 5-Htt genotype, PS exposure and their interaction.
KW  - mice
KW  - DNA
Y1  - 2014
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-119199
VL  - 4
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Chen, Y.
A1  - Palm, F.
A1  - Lesch, K. P.
A1  - Gerlach, M.
A1  - Moessner, R.
A1  - Sommer, C.
T1  - 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA), a main metabolite of serotonin, is responsible for complete Freund's adjuvant-induced thermal hyperalgesia in mice
N2  - Background: The role of serotonin (5-hydroxytrptamine, 5-HT) in the modulation of pain has been widely studied. Previous work led to the hypothesis that 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5-HIAA), a main metabolite of serotonin, might by itself influence pain thresholds. Results: In the present study, we investigated the role of 5-HIAA in inflammatory pain induced by intraplantar injection of complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) into the hind paw of mice. Wild-type mice were compared to mice deficient of the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT-/- mice) using behavioral tests for hyperalgesia and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine tissue levels of 5-HIAA. Wild-type mice reproducibly developed thermal hyperalgesia and paw edema for 5 days after CFA injection. 5-HTT-/- mice treated with CFA had reduced thermal hyperalgesia on day 1 after CFA injection and normal responses to heat hereafter. The 5-HIAA levels in spinal cord and sciatic nerve as measured with HPLC were lower in 5-HTT-/- mice than in wild-type mice after CFA injection. Pretreatment of wild-type mice with intraperitoneal injection of para-chlorophenylalanine (p-CPA), a serotonin synthesis inhibitor, resulted in depletion of the 5-HIAA content in spinal cord and sciatic nerve and decrease in thermal hyperalgesia in CFA injected mice. The application of exogenous 5-HIAA resulted in potentiation of thermal hyperalgesia induced by CFA in 5-HTT-/- mice and in wild-type mice pretreated with p- CPA, but not in wild-type mice without p-CPA pretreatment. Further, methysergide, a broad-spectrum serotonin receptor antagonist, had no effect on 5-HIAA-induced potentiation of thermal hyperalgesia in CFA-treated wildtype mice. Conclusion: Taken together, the present results suggest that 5-HIAA plays an important role in modulating peripheral thermal hyperalgesia in CFA induced inflammation, probably via a non-serotonin receptor mechanism.
KW  - Medizin
Y1  - 2011
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-68858
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lesch, K. P.
A1  - Stöber, Gerald
A1  - Balling, U.
A1  - Franzek, Ernst
A1  - Li, S. H.
A1  - Ross, C. A.
A1  - Newman, M.
A1  - Beckmann, H.
A1  - Riederer, P.
T1  - Triplet repeats in clinical subtypes of schizophrenia: variation at the DRPLA (B37 CAG repeat) locus is not associated with periodic catatonia
N2  - Clinical evidence for a dominant mode of inheritance and anticipation in periodic catatonia, a distinct subtype of schizophrenia, indicates that genes with triplet repeat expansions or other unstable repetitive elements affecting gene expression may be involved in the etiology of this disorder. Because patients affected with dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) may present with "schizophrenic" symptoms, we have investigated the DRPLA (B 37 CAG repeat) locus on chromosome 12 in 41 patients with periodic catatonia. The B 37 CAG repeat locus was highly polymorphic but all alleles in both the patient and control group had repeat sizes within the normal range. We conclude that variation at the DRPLA locus is unlikely to be associated with periodic catatonia. The evidence for dominant inheritance and anticipation as well as the high prevalence of human brain genes containing trinucleotide repeats justifies further screening for triplet repeat expansions in periodic catatonia.
KW  - Schizophrenie
KW  - Association study
KW  - B 37 CAG repeat locus
KW  - chromosome 12
KW  - schizophrenia
KW  - periodic catatonia
Y1  - 1994
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-63369
ER  -