TY - JOUR A1 - Hommers, L. G. A1 - Richter, J. A1 - Yang, Y. A1 - Raab, A. A1 - Baumann, C. A1 - Lang, K. A1 - Schiele, M. A. A1 - Weber, H. A1 - Wittmann, A. A1 - Wolf, C. A1 - Alpers, G. W. A1 - Arolt, V. A1 - Domschke, K. A1 - Fehm, L. A1 - Fydrich, T. A1 - Gerlach, A. A1 - Gloster, A. T. A1 - Hamm, A. O. A1 - Helbig-Lang, S. A1 - Kircher, T. A1 - Lang, T. A1 - Pané-Farré, C. A. A1 - Pauli, P. A1 - Pfleiderer, B. A1 - Reif, A. A1 - Romanos, M. A1 - Straube, B. A1 - Ströhle, A. A1 - Wittchen, H.-U. A1 - Frantz, S. A1 - Ertl, G. A1 - Lohse, M. J. A1 - Lueken, U. A1 - Deckert, J. T1 - A functional genetic variation of SLC6A2 repressor hsa-miR-579-3p upregulates sympathetic noradrenergic processes of fear and anxiety JF - Translational Psychiatry N2 - Increased sympathetic noradrenergic signaling is crucially involved in fear and anxiety as defensive states. MicroRNAs regulate dynamic gene expression during synaptic plasticity and genetic variation of microRNAs modulating noradrenaline transporter gene (SLC6A2) expression may thus lead to altered central and peripheral processing of fear and anxiety. In silico prediction of microRNA regulation of SLC6A2 was confirmed by luciferase reporter assays and identified hsa-miR-579-3p as a regulating microRNA. The minor (T)-allele of rs2910931 (MAFcases = 0.431, MAFcontrols = 0.368) upstream of MIR579 was associated with panic disorder in patients (pallelic = 0.004, ncases = 506, ncontrols = 506) and with higher trait anxiety in healthy individuals (pASI = 0.029, pACQ = 0.047, n = 3112). Compared to the major (A)-allele, increased promoter activity was observed in luciferase reporter assays in vitro suggesting more effective MIR579 expression and SLC6A2 repression in vivo (p = 0.041). Healthy individuals carrying at least one (T)-allele showed a brain activation pattern suggesting increased defensive responding and sympathetic noradrenergic activation in midbrain and limbic areas during the extinction of conditioned fear. Panic disorder patients carrying two (T)-alleles showed elevated heart rates in an anxiety-provoking behavioral avoidance test (F(2, 270) = 5.47, p = 0.005). Fine-tuning of noradrenaline homeostasis by a MIR579 genetic variation modulated central and peripheral sympathetic noradrenergic activation during fear processing and anxiety. This study opens new perspectives on the role of microRNAs in the etiopathogenesis of anxiety disorders, particularly their cardiovascular symptoms and comorbidities. KW - clinical genetics KW - psychiatric disorders Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-322497 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gál, Bernadett I. A1 - Kilencz, Tünde A1 - Albert, Anita A1 - Demeter, Ildikó A1 - Hegedűs, Klára Mária A1 - Janka, Zoltán A1 - Csifcsák, Gábor A1 - Álmos, Péter Z. T1 - Mild Effect of Nalmefene on Alcoholic Cue-Induced Response Invigoration in Alcohol Use Disorder Without Accompanying Changes in Electrophysiological Signatures of Early Visual Processing and Executive Control JF - Frontiers in Pharmacology N2 - Nalmefene is approved for as-needed pharmacological treatment in alcohol use disorder (AUD) by the European Medicines Agency. While the cellular effects of nalmefene have been thoroughly investigated, data are very limited on how this agent influences neural signals associated with inhibitory control and the visual analysis of environmental cues. This double-blind crossover study assessed the behavioral and neural effects of acute nalmefene administration in patients diagnosed with AUD. In experiment 1, we validated our experimental paradigm (electroencephalography combined with a modified Go/NoGo task using images of alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks as prime stimuli) in 20 healthy adults to ensure that our protocol is suitable for assessing the behavioral and neural aspects of executive control. In experiment 2, we recruited 19 patients with AUD, and in a double-blind crossover design, we investigated the effects of nalmefene versus placebo on task performance (response accuracy, the sensitivity index, and reaction times), visual responses to appetitive cues (occipital P1, N1, and P2 components), and electrophysiological markers of conflict detection and response inhibition (frontal N2 and P3 waveforms). Under placebo, patients produced faster reaction times to alcohol-primed Go stimuli, an effect that was weak despite being statistically significant. However, the effect of alcoholic cues on the speed of response initiation disappeared after receiving nalmefene. We found no placebo versus nalmefene difference regarding our patients’ ability to accurately inhibit responses to NoGo stimuli or for occipital and frontal event-related potentials. Our results suggest that nalmefene might be potent in reducing the vigor to act upon alcoholic cues in AUD patients, but this effect is most probably mediated via subcortical (rather than cortical) neural circuits. KW - nalmefene KW - alcohol use disorder KW - response inhibition KW - incentive salience KW - event-related potentials KW - Go/NoGo task Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-369182 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gilder, Stuart A. A1 - Wack, Michael A1 - Kaub, Leon A1 - Roud, Sophie C. A1 - Petersen, Nikolai A1 - Heinsen, Helmut A1 - Hillenbrand, Peter A1 - Milz, Stefan A1 - Schmitz, Chistoph T1 - Distribution of magnetic remanence carriers in the human brain JF - Scientific Reports N2 - That the human brain contains magnetite is well established; however, its spatial distribution in the brain has remained unknown. We present room temperature, remanent magnetization measurements on 822 specimens from seven dissected whole human brains in order to systematically map concentrations of magnetic remanence carriers. Median saturation remanent magnetizations from the cerebellum were approximately twice as high as those from the cerebral cortex in all seven cases (statistically significantly distinct, p = 0.016). Brain stems were over two times higher in magnetization on average than the cerebral cortex. The ventral (lowermost) horizontal layer of the cerebral cortex was consistently more magnetic than the average cerebral cortex in each of the seven studied cases. Although exceptions existed, the reproducible magnetization patterns lead us to conclude that magnetite is preferentially partitioned in the human brain, specifically in the cerebellum and brain stem. KW - brain KW - neurophysiology Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-233035 VL - 8 ER - TY - THES A1 - Blickle, Marc Manuel T1 - Das Zusammenspiel von Herz und Gehirn: Interozeptive Genauigkeit, Herzratenvariabilität und funktionelle Konnektivität kortikaler Netzwerke bei depressiven Patientinnen und Patienten T1 - The interplay of heart and brain: Interoceptive accuracy, heart rate variability, and functional connectivity of cortical networks in patients with depression N2 - Hintergrund: Depressionen zählen zu den häufigsten psychischen Erkrankungen. Depressive Symptome umfassen beeinträchtigte kognitive Funktionen, vegetative Beschwerden und ein verändertes emotionales Erleben. Die defizitäre Wahrnehmung interner körperlicher Signale wird sowohl mit der Pathogenese der Depression als auch mit Angststörungen in Verbindung gebracht. Interozeptive Genauigkeit (IAc) beschreibt dabei die Fähigkeit, körperliche Empfindungen wie den eigenen Herzschlag akkurat wahrzunehmen und wird mit einer Herzwahrnehmungsaufgabe erfasst. In bildgebenden Verfahren wie der funktionellen Magnetresonanztomografie (fMRT) war eine niedrigere IAc mit einer verringerten Inselaktivität assoziiert. Während der Ruhezustandsmessung des Gehirns (resting-state fMRT) kann in Abwesenheit einer Aufgabe die intrinsische Aktivität des Gehirns gemessen werden. Dies ermöglicht die Identifizierung von kortikalen Netzwerken. Depressive Patienten weisen eine veränderte funktionelle Konnektivität innerhalb und zwischen einzelnen Netzwerken wie dem Salience Network (SN), welchem die Insel zugerechnet wird, und dem Default Mode Network (DMN) auf. Bisherige Studien, in denen überwiegend jüngere depressive Patienten untersucht wurden, kamen jedoch hinsichtlich der IAc und den kortikalen Netzwerken zu inkonsistenten Ergebnissen. Insbesondere ist unklar, inwieweit sich die IAc nach einem Therapieansprechen verändert, von der Herzratenvariabilität (HRV) moduliert wird und welche Auswirkungen dies auf die funktionelle Konnektivität kortikaler Netzwerke hat. Ziele: Eine veränderte IAc und HRV wie auch funktionelle Konnektivitätsunterschiede im DMN und SN könnten Biomarker der Depression darstellen. Im Rahmen einer Längsschnittuntersuchung wurde getestet, ob ältere depressive Patienten über eine verringerte IAc, eine geringere HRV und über eine veränderte funktionelle Konnektivität im SN sowie DMN verfügen. Darüber hinaus sollte erforscht werden, in welchem Ausmaß sich Patienten, die auf die Behandlung ansprachen (Responder), von sogenannten Non-Respondern in Bezug auf die IAc, die HRV, das SN und das DMN unterschieden. Methoden: In Studie 1 (Baseline) wurden 30 größtenteils medizierte, schwer depressive Patienten (> 50 Jahre) und 30 gesunde Kontrollprobanden untersucht. Die IAc wurde in einer Herzwahrnehmungsaufgabe ermittelt und die HRV bestimmt. Zusätzlich wurde eine resting-state fMRT durchgeführt. Eine funktionelle Konnektivitätsanalyse für Saatregionen im SN und DMN wurde mit einem saatbasierten Ansatz (seed-to-voxel) durchgeführt. Für eine Subgruppenanalyse wurde die Patientengruppe in ängstlich-depressive und nicht-ängstlich depressive Patienten unterteilt. In Studie 2 (sechs Monate Follow-up) wurde die Studienkohorte nochmals untersucht. Es nahmen 21 Personen der Patientengruppe und 28 Probanden der Kontrollgruppe teil. Wiederum wurden die IAc und die HRV bestimmt. Außerdem fand eine resting-state fMRT-Messung statt. Die Patientengruppe wurde unterteilt in depressive Responder und Non-Responder. Ergebnisse: In Studie 1 zeigten depressive Patienten eine funktionelle Hypokonnektivität zwischen einzelnen Saatregionen der Insel (SN) und Teilen des superioren frontalen Gyrus, des supplementärmotorischen Cortex, des lateralen okzipitalen Cortex sowie des Okzipitalpols. Zudem wiesen depressive Patienten zwischen der Saatregion im anterioren Teil des DMN und der Insel sowie dem Operculum eine erhöhte funktionelle Konnektivität auf. Die Gruppen unterschieden sich nicht in der IAc und der HRV. Ängstlich-depressive Patienten zeigten eine höhere funktionelle Konnektivität innerhalb der Insel als nicht-ängstlich depressive Patienten, jedoch zeigten sich keine Unterschiede in der IAc und der HRV. In Studie 2 wiesen depressive Non-Responder im Vergleich zu Respondern eine Hyperkonnektivität zwischen dem posterioren DMN und dem Frontalpol sowie zwischen dem posterioren DMN und temporalen Arealen im SN auf. Keine funktionellen Konnektivitätsunterschiede zeigten sich für die Saatregionen im SN. Depressive Responder, Non-Responder und die Kontrollprobanden unterschieden sich in ihrer IAc und HRV nicht. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Ergebnisse der Studien unterstreichen, dass bei depressiven Patienten, Respondern und Non-Respondern Unterschiede in der intrinsischen Gehirnaktivität funktioneller Netzwerke bestehen, jedoch nicht in der akkuraten Wahrnehmung des eigenen Herzschlages und der HRV. Therapeutische Interventionen, die auf eine Verbesserung der IAc abzielen, könnten insbesondere für Non-Responder dennoch eine zusätzliche Behandlungsmöglichkeit darstellen. Für eine personalisierte Medizin könnte die weitere Erforschung von kortikalen Netzwerken einen wesentlichen Beitrag leisten, um ein individuelles Therapieansprechen zu prädizieren. N2 - Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders. Symptoms include impaired cognitive functions, vegetative complaints, and altered emotional experience. The deficient perception of internal body signals is associated with the pathogenesis of depression and anxiety disorders. Interoceptive accuracy (IAc) refers to the ability to accurately perceive bodily sensations (e.g., own heartbeat) and is assessed via a heartbeat perception task. In neuroimaging studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) lower IAc was associated with reduced insula activity. Resting-state fMRI allows to measure intrinsic brain activity without performing a task. This enables the identification of cortical networks. Patients with depression exhibit altered functional connectivity within and between various networks: the salience network (SN), which comprises the insula, and the default mode network (DMN). Previous studies investigating IAc and cortical networks in predominantly younger patients with depression yielded inconsistent results. In particular it remains unclear to what extent IAc alters after treatment response and how it is modulated by heart rate variability (HRV). The impact of changed IAc on the functional connectivity of cortical networks is insufficiently understood. Objectives: Altered IAc and HRV as well as functional connectivity differences in DMN and SN could serve as biomarkers of MDD. In a longitudinal study it was investigated, whether middle-aged and older patients with depression exhibit lower IAc, reduced HRV, and altered functional connectivity in SN and DMN. Furthermore, differences between depressed responders and non-responders with regard to IAc, HRV, SN, and DMN were investigated. Methods: In Study 1 (baseline) 30 mostly medicated patients with depression (> 50 years) and 30 healthy controls were examined. IAc was measured by the heartbeat perception task and HRV was assessed. Additionally, all participants underwent resting-state fMRI. Seed-to-voxel resting-state functional connectivity analysis with seeds in the SN and the DMN was conducted. The patient group was divided into anxious and non-anxious depressed patients for a subgroup analysis. In Study 2 (six-month follow-up) participants were invited again. 21 persons from the former patient group and 28 healthy controls participated. IAc was measured, HRV assessed, and resting-state fMRI acquired. The former depressed patient group was split into responders and non-responders. Results: In Study 1 patients with depression showed functional hypoconnectivity between several seeds in the insula (SN) and parts of the superior frontal gyrus, the supplementary motor cortex, the lateral occipital cortex, and the occipital pole. Patients with depression exhibited higher functional connectivity between the seed region in the anterior DMN and the insula together with the operculum. Groups did not differ with regard to IAc and HRV. Patients with anxious depression showed higher functional connectivity within the insula than patients with non-anxious depression without alterations in IAc and HRV. In Study 2 non-responders exhibited hyperconnectivity between the posterior DMN and the frontal pole as well as between the posterior DMN and temporal areas in the SN compared to responders. No functional connectivity differences were found for seed regions in the SN. There were no group differences between responders, non-responders, and healthy controls with regard to IAc and HRV. Conclusions: The findings underscore differences in intrinsic functional connectivity between patients with depression, responders, and non-responders. However, patients with depression showed normal IAc and HRV. Yet, therapeutical interventions enhancing IAc could be a useful additional treatment option especially for non-responders. In terms of personal medicine, further research of functional connectivity of cortical networks might contribute to a prediction of treatment response. KW - Depression KW - Interozeption KW - Funktionelle Kernspintomografie KW - Interozeptive Genauigkeit KW - Herzratenvariabilität KW - resting-state fMRT KW - Herzfrequenzvariabilität Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-316762 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Morimoto, Yoshiro A1 - Shimada-Sugimoto, Mihoko A1 - Otowa, Takeshi A1 - Yoshida, Shintaro A1 - Kinoshita, Akira A1 - Mishima, Hiroyuki A1 - Yamaguchi, Naohiro A1 - Mori, Takatoshi A1 - Imamura, Akira A1 - Ozawa, Hiroki A1 - Kurotaki, Naohiro A1 - Ziegler, Christiane A1 - Domschke, Katharina A1 - Deckert, Jürgen A1 - Umekage, Tadashi A1 - Tochigi, Mamoru A1 - Kaiya, Hisanobu A1 - Okazaki, Yuji A1 - Tokunaga, Katsushi A1 - Sasaki, Tsukasa A1 - Yoshiura, Koh-ichiro A1 - Ono, Shinji T1 - Whole-exome sequencing and gene-based rare variant association tests suggest that PLA2G4E might be a risk gene for panic disorder JF - Translational Psychiatry N2 - Panic disorder (PD) is characterized by recurrent and unexpected panic attacks, subsequent anticipatory anxiety, and phobic avoidance. Recent epidemiological and genetic studies have revealed that genetic factors contribute to the pathogenesis of PD. We performed whole-exome sequencing on one Japanese family, including multiple patients with panic disorder, which identified seven rare protein-altering variants. We then screened these genes in a Japanese PD case–control group (384 sporadic PD patients and 571 controls), resulting in the detection of three novel single nucleotide variants as potential candidates for PD (chr15: 42631993, T>C in GANC; chr15: 42342861, G>T in PLA2G4E; chr20: 3641457, G>C in GFRA4). Statistical analyses of these three genes showed that PLA2G4E yielded the lowest p value in gene-based rare variant association tests by Efficient and Parallelizable Association Container Toolbox algorithms; however, the p value did not reach the significance threshold in the Japanese. Likewise, in a German case–control study (96 sporadic PD patients and 96 controls), PLA2G4E showed the lowest p value but again did not reach the significance threshold. In conclusion, we failed to find any significant variants or genes responsible for the development of PD. Nonetheless, our results still leave open the possibility that rare protein-altering variants in PLA2G4E contribute to the risk of PD, considering the function of this gene. KW - clinical genetics KW - medical genetics Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-224192 VL - 8 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - de Jong, Simone A1 - Diniz, Mateus Jose Abdalla A1 - Saloma, Andiara A1 - Gadelha, Ary A1 - Santoro, Marcos L. A1 - Ota, Vanessa K. A1 - Noto, Cristiano A1 - Curtis, Charles A1 - Newhouse, Stephen J. A1 - Patel, Hamel A1 - Hall, Lynsey S. A1 - O'Reilly, Paul F. A1 - Belangero, Sintia I. A1 - Bressan, Rodrigo A. A1 - Breen, Gerome T1 - Applying polygenic risk scoring for psychiatric disorders to a large family with bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder JF - Communications Biology N2 - Psychiatric disorders are thought to have a complex genetic pathology consisting of interplay of common and rare variation. Traditionally, pedigrees are used to shed light on the latter only, while here we discuss the application of polygenic risk scores to also highlight patterns of common genetic risk. We analyze polygenic risk scores for psychiatric disorders in a large pedigree (n ~ 260) in which 30% of family members suffer from major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. Studying patterns of assortative mating and anticipation, it appears increased polygenic risk is contributed by affected individuals who married into the family, resulting in an increasing genetic risk over generations. This may explain the observation of anticipation in mood disorders, whereby onset is earlier and the severity increases over the generations of a family. Joint analyses of rare and common variation may be a powerful way to understand the familial genetics of psychiatric disorders. KW - bipolar disorder KW - depression KW - genetic association study KW - genetic linkage study Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-223622 VL - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Diehl-Schmid, Janine A1 - Licata, Abigail A1 - Goldhardt, Oliver A1 - Förstl, Hans A1 - Yakushew, Igor A1 - Otto, Markus A1 - Anderl-Straub, Sarah A1 - Beer, Ambros A1 - Ludolph, Albert Christian A1 - Landwehrmeyer, Georg Bernhard A1 - Levin, Johannes A1 - Danek, Adrian A1 - Fliessbach, Klaus A1 - Spottke, Annika A1 - Fassbender, Klaus A1 - Lyros, Epameinondas A1 - Prudlo, Johannes A1 - Krause, Bernd Joachim A1 - Volk, Alexander A1 - Edbauer, Dieter A1 - Schroeter, Matthias Leopold A1 - Drzezga, Alexander A1 - Kornhuber, Johannes A1 - Lauer, Martin A1 - Grimmer, Timo T1 - FDG-PET underscores the key role of the thalamus in frontotemporal lobar degeneration caused by C9ORF72 mutations JF - Translational Psychiatry N2 - C9ORF72 mutations are the most common cause of familial frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). MRI studies have investigated structural changes in C9ORF72-associated FTLD (C9FTLD) and provided first insights about a prominent involvement of the thalamus and the cerebellum. Our multicenter, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography study of 22 mutation carriers with FTLD, 22 matched non-carriers with FTLD, and 23 cognitively healthy controls provided valuable insights into functional changes in C9FTLD: compared to non-carriers, mutation carriers showed a significant reduction of glucose metabolism in both thalami, underscoring the key role of the thalamus in C9FTLD. Thalamic metabolism did not correlate with disease severity, duration of disease, or the presence of psychotic symptoms. Against our expectations we could not demonstrate a cerebellar hypometabolism in carriers or non-carriers. Future imaging and neuropathological studies in large patient cohorts are required to further elucidate the central role of the thalamus in C9FTLD. KW - diagnostic markers KW - psychiatric disorders Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-225308 VL - 9 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schroeter, Matthias L. A1 - Pawelke, Sarah A1 - Bisenius, Sandrine A1 - Kynast, Jana A1 - Schuemberg, Katharina A1 - Polyakova, Maryna A1 - Anderl-Straub, Sarah A1 - Danek, Adrian A1 - Fassbender, Klaus A1 - Jahn, Holger A1 - Jessen, Frank A1 - Kornhuber, Johannes A1 - Lauer, Martin A1 - Prudlo, Johannes A1 - Schneider, Anja A1 - Uttner, Ingo A1 - Thöne-Otto, Angelika A1 - Otto, Markus A1 - Diehl-Schmid, Janine T1 - A Modified Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test Predicts Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia Better Than Executive Function Tests JF - Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience N2 - Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is characterized by deep alterations in behavior and personality. Although revised diagnostic criteria agree for executive dysfunction as most characteristic, impairments in social cognition are also suggested. The study aimed at identifying those neuropsychological and behavioral parameters best discriminating between bvFTD and healthy controls. Eighty six patients were diagnosed with possible or probable bvFTD according to Rascovsky et al. (2011) and compared with 43 healthy age-matched controls. Neuropsychological performance was assessed with a modified Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), Stroop task, Trail Making Test (TMT), Hamasch-Five-Point Test (H5PT), and semantic and phonemic verbal fluency tasks. Behavior was assessed with the Apathy Evaluation Scale, Frontal Systems Behavioral Scale, and Bayer Activities of Daily Living Scale. Each test’s discriminatory power was investigated by Receiver Operating Characteristic curves calculating the area under the curve (AUC). bvFTD patients performed significantly worse than healthy controls in all neuropsychological tests. Discriminatory power (AUC) was highest in behavioral questionnaires, high in verbal fluency tasks and the RMET, and lower in executive function tests such as the Stroop task, TMT and H5PT. As fluency tasks depend on several cognitive functions, not only executive functions, results suggest that the RMET discriminated better between bvFTD and control subjects than other executive tests. Social cognition should be incorporated into diagnostic criteria for bvFTD in the future, such as in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, as already suggested in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM)-5. KW - behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia KW - diagnostic criteria KW - executive function KW - social cognition KW - theory of mind Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-234254 VL - 10 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullrich, M A1 - Weber, M A1 - Post, A M A1 - Popp, S A1 - Grein, J A1 - Zechner, M A1 - González, H Guerrero A1 - Kreis, A A1 - Schmitt, A G A1 - Üҫeyler, N A1 - Lesch, K-P A1 - Schuh, K T1 - OCD-like behavior is caused by dysfunction of thalamo-amygdala circuits and upregulated TrkB/ERK-MAPK signaling as a result of SPRED2 deficiency JF - Molecular Psychiatry N2 - Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common neuropsychiatric disease affecting about 2% of the general population. It is characterized by persistent intrusive thoughts and repetitive ritualized behaviors. While gene variations, malfunction of cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuits, and dysregulated synaptic transmission have been implicated in the pathogenesis of OCD, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here we show that OCD-like behavior in mice is caused by deficiency of SPRED2, a protein expressed in various brain regions and a potent inhibitor of Ras/ERK-MAPK signaling. Excessive self-grooming, reflecting OCD-like behavior in rodents, resulted in facial skin lesions in SPRED2 knockout (KO) mice. This was alleviated by treatment with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine. In addition to the previously suggested involvement of cortico-striatal circuits, electrophysiological measurements revealed altered transmission at thalamo-amygdala synapses and morphological differences in lateral amygdala neurons of SPRED2 KO mice. Changes in synaptic function were accompanied by dysregulated expression of various pre- and postsynaptic proteins in the amygdala. This was a result of altered gene transcription and triggered upstream by upregulated tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB)/ERK-MAPK signaling in the amygdala of SPRED2 KO mice. Pathway overactivation was mediated by increased activity of TrkB, Ras, and ERK as a specific result of SPRED2 deficiency and not elicited by elevated brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels. Using the MEK inhibitor selumetinib, we suppressed TrkB/ERK-MAPK pathway activity in vivo and reduced OCD-like grooming in SPRED2 KO mice. Altogether, this study identifies SPRED2 as a promising new regulator, TrkB/ERK-MAPK signaling as a novel mediating mechanism, and thalamo-amygdala synapses as critical circuitry involved in the pathogenesis of OCD. KW - molecular biology KW - neuroscience KW - physiology KW - psychiatric disorders Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-232096 VL - 23 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Levy, Marion J. F. A1 - Boulle, Fabien A1 - Emerit, Michel Boris A1 - Poilbout, Corinne A1 - Steinbusch, Harry W. M. A1 - Van den Hove, Daniel L. A. A1 - Kenis, Gunter A1 - Lanfumey, Laurence T1 - 5-HTT independent effects of fluoxetine on neuroplasticity JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are among the most prescribed antidepressants. Fluoxetine is the lead molecule which exerts its therapeutic effects, at least in part, by promoting neuroplasticity through increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tropomyosin-related receptor kinase B (TrkB) signalling. It is unclear however, to which extent the neuroplastic effects of fluoxetine are solely mediated by the inhibition of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT). To answer this question, the effects of fluoxetine on neuroplasticity were analysed in both wild type (WT) and 5-Htt knock-out (KO) mice. Using Western blotting and RT-qPCR approaches, we showed that fluoxetine 10 µM activated BDNF/TrkB signalling pathways in both CD1 and C57BL/6J mouse primary cortical neurons. Interestingly, effects on BDNF signalling were observed in primary cortical neurons from both 5-Htt WT and KO mice. In addition, a 3-week in vivo fluoxetine treatment (15 mg/kg/d; i.p.) increased the expression of plasticity genes in brains of both 5-Htt WT and KO mice, and tended to equally enhance hippocampal cell proliferation in both genotypes, without reaching significance. Our results further suggest that fluoxetine-induced neuroplasticity does not solely depend on 5-HTT blockade, but might rely, at least in part, on 5-HTT-independent direct activation of TrkB. KW - depression KW - neurotrophic factors Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-236759 VL - 9 ER -