Synaptic Plasticity In Aging And Neurodegenerative Disorders

突触根据环境要求改变其特性的能力（突触可塑性）对学习和记忆至关重要。突触可塑性异常与阿尔茨海默病及相关疾病有关。在我们不断努力了解突触可塑性的分子机制中，在衰老和神经退行性疾病的背景下，我们已经取得了几项重大进展。我们使用发育和繁殖正常但Notch水平降低的Notch反义转基因小鼠来证明Notch信号在突触可塑性中的作用。Notch水平降低的小鼠海马CA1突触的长期增强（LTP）受损。Notch配体增强正常小鼠的LTP，并纠正Notch反义转基因小鼠LTP的缺陷。在Notch水平降低的小鼠中，基础和刺激诱导的nf - κ B活性水平显著降低。这些发现表明Notch信号在一种已知与学习和记忆过程相关的突触可塑性形式中起着重要作用。我们发现Notch1及其配体Jagged1存在于突触中，并且神经元中的Notch信号是对突触活动的反应。此外，突触可塑性所需的活性诱导基因Arc/Arg3.1正调控神经元Notch信号。在Arc/Arg3.1突变神经元中，Notch1的蛋白水解活性在体内和体外均被破坏。出生后海马中Notch1的条件缺失破坏了长期增强（LTP）和长期抑郁（LTD），并导致学习和短期记忆的缺陷。我们的研究结果表明，Notch信号在响应神经元活动时是动态调节的，Arc/Arg3.1是一个依赖于环境的Notch调节剂，Notch1是突触可塑性的必要条件，有助于记忆的形成。

The ability of synapses to change their properties in response to environmental demands (synaptic plasticity) is essential for learning and memory. Abnormalities in synaptic plasticity are involved in Alzheimers disease and related disorders. In our continuing efforts to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in synaptic plasticity, in the contexts of aging and neurodegenerative disorders, we have made several major advances. We used Notch antisense transgenic mice that develop and reproduce normally, but exhibit reduced levels of Notch, to demonstrate a role for Notch signaling in synaptic plasticity. Mice with reduced Notch levels exhibit impaired long-term potentiation (LTP) at hippocampal CA1 synapses. A Notch ligand enhances LTP in normal mice and corrects the defect in LTP in Notch antisense transgenic mice. Levels of basal and stimulation-induced NF-kappa B activity were significantly decreased in mice with reduced Notch levels. These findings suggest an important role for Notch signaling in a form of synaptic plasticity known to be associated with learning and memory processes. We found that Notch1 and its ligand Jagged1 are present at the synapse, and that Notch signaling in neurons occurs in response to synaptic activity. In addition, neuronal Notch signaling is positively regulated by Arc/Arg3.1, an activity-induced gene required for synaptic plasticity. In Arc/Arg3.1 mutant neurons, the proteolytic activation of Notch1 is disrupted both in vivo and in vitro. Conditional deletion of Notch1 in the postnatal hippocampus disrupted both long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), and led to deficits in learning and short-term memory. Our findings show that Notch signaling is dynamically regulated in response to neuronal activity, Arc/Arg3.1 is a context-dependent Notch regulator, and Notch1 is required for the synaptic plasticity that contributes to memory formation. The synaptic insertion or removal of AMPA receptors (AMPAR) plays critical roles in the regulation of synaptic activity reflected in the expression of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). The cellular events underlying this important process in learning and memory are still being revealed. Here we describe and characterize the AAA+ ATPase Thorase, which regulates the expression of surface AMPAR. In an ATPase-dependent manner Thorase mediates the internalization of AMPAR by disassembling the AMPAR-GRIP1 complex. Following genetic deletion of Thorase, the internalization of AMPAR is substantially reduced, leading to increased amplitudes of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents, enhancement of LTP, and elimination of LTD. These molecular events are expressed as deficits in learning and memory in Thorase null mice. Thus, we have identified a novel an AAA+ ATPase that plays a critical role in regulating the surface expression of AMPAR and thereby regulates synaptic plasticity and learning and memory. Abnormal neuronal excitability and impaired synaptic plasticity might occur before the degeneration and death of neurons in Alzheimer's disease (AD). To elucidate potential biophysical alterations underlying aberrant neuronal network activity in AD, we performed whole-cell patch clamp analyses of L-type (nifedipine-sensitive) Ca2+ currents (L-VGCC), 4-aminopyridine-sensitive K+ currents, and AMPA (2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazol-4-yl)propanoic acid) and NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) currents in CA1, CA3, and dentate granule neurons in hippocampal slices from young, middle-age, and old 3xTgAD mice and age-matched wild type mice. 3xTgAD mice develop progressive widespread accumulation of amyloid β-peptide, and selective hyperphosphorylated tau pathology in hippocampal CA1 neurons, which are associated with cognitive deficits, but independent of overt neuronal degeneration. An age-related elevation of L-type Ca2+ channel current density occurred in CA1 neurons in 3xTgAD mice, but not in wild type mice, with the magnitude being significantly greater in older 3xTgAD mice. The NMDA current was also significantly elevated in CA1 neurons of old 3xTgAD mice compared with in old wild type mice. There were no differences in the amplitude of K+ or AMPA currents in CA1 neurons of 3xTgAD mice compared with wild type mice at any age. There were no significant differences in Ca2+, K+, AMPA, or NMDA currents in CA3 and dentate neurons from 3xTgAD mice compared with wild type mice at any age. Our results reveal an age-related increase of L-VGCC density in CA1 neurons, but not in CA3 or dentate granule neurons, of 3xTgAD mice. These findings suggest a potential contribution of altered L-VGCC to the selective vulnerability of CA1 neurons to tau pathology in the 3xTgAD mice and to their degeneration in AD patients. Tomosyn, a syntaxin-binding protein, is known to inhibit vesicle priming and synaptic transmission via interference with the formation of SNARE complexes. Using a lentiviral vector, we specifically overexpressed tomosyn1 in hippocampal dentate gyrus neurons in adult mice. Mice were then subjected to spatial learning and memory tasks and electrophysiological measurements from hippocampal slices. Tomosyn1-overexpression significantly impaired hippocampus-dependent spatial memory while tested in the Morris water maze. Further, tomosyn1-overexpressing mice utilize swimming strategies of lesser cognitive ability in the Morris water maze compared with control mice. Electrophysiological measurements at mossy fiber-CA3 synapses revealed impaired paired-pulse facilitation in the mossy fiber of tomosyn1-overexpressing mice. This study provides evidence for novel roles for tomosyn1 in hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and memory, potentially via decreased synaptic transmission in mossy fiber-CA3 synapses. Moreover, it provides new insight regarding the role of the hippocampal dentate gyrus and mossy fiber-CA3 synapses in swimming strategy preference, and in learning and memory. The formation, maintenance and reorganization of synapses are critical for brain development and the responses of neuronal circuits to environmental challenges. Here we describe a novel role for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator 1α, a master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis, in the formation and maintenance of dendritic spines in hippocampal neurons. In cultured hippocampal neurons, proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator 1α overexpression increases dendritic spines and enhances the molecular differentiation of synapses, whereas knockdown of proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator 1α inhibits spinogenesis and synaptogenesis. Proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator 1α knockdown also reduces the density of dendritic spines in hippocampal dentate granule neurons in vivo. We further show that brain-derived neurotrophic factor stimulates proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator-1α-dependent mitochondrial biogenesis by activating extracellular signal-regulated kinases and cyclic AMP response element-binding protein. Proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator-1α knockdown inhibits brain-derived neurotrophic factor-induced dendritic spine formation without affecting expression and activation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor receptor tyrosine receptor kinase B. Our findings suggest that proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator-1α and mitochondrial biogenesis have important roles in the formation and maintenance of hippocampal dendritic spines and synapses.