Isolation and Culture of Chick Ciliary Ganglion Neurons

Chick ciliary ganglia (CG) are part of the parasympathetic nervous system and are responsible for the innervation of the muscle tissues present in the ...

University of Aveiro

University of Coimbra

Differentiation of the presynaptic terminal is a complex and rapid event that normally occurs in spatially specific axonal regions distant from the soma; thus, it is believed to be dependent on intra-axonal mechanisms. However, the full nature of the local events governing presynaptic assembly remains unknown. Herein, we investigated the involvement of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), the major degradative pathway, in the local modulation of presynaptic differentiation. We found that proteasome inhibition has a synaptogenic effect on isolated axons. In addition, formation of a stable cluster of synaptic vesicles onto a postsynaptic partner occurs in parallel to an on-site decrease in proteasome degradation. Accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins at nascent sites is a local trigger for presynaptic clustering. Finally, proteasome-related ubiquitin chains (K11 and K48) function as signals for the assembly of presynaptic terminals. Collectively, we propose a new axon-intrinsic mechanism for presynaptic assembly through local UPS inhibition. Subsequent on-site accumulation of proteins in their polyubiquitinated state triggers formation of presynapses. 

The proteasome controls presynaptic differentiation through modulation of an on-site pool of polyubiquitinated conjugates.

Proneurotrophins were initially thought to be simple inactive precursors, only responsible for promoting the folding of the mature domain and for the regulation of the neurotrophin secretory pathway. However, recent evidence shows that proneurotrophins can be secreted to the extracellular space, bind with high affinity to specific receptor complexes and induce activation of the apoptotic machinery with subsequent cell death of different neuronal populations. These pathways can be activated due to injury and to several neurodegenerative disorders, which promote proneurotrophin secretion to the extracellular space. In addition to neuropathology, extracellular proneurotrophins also play a pivotal role in many other cellular mechanisms in the nervous system. Proneurotrophins were shown to mediate synaptic plasticity, namely long-term depression in hippocampal neurons. They are also important in axonal development, and an increase of pro- to mature neurotrophin ratio has been described as a trigger of cell death. The conversion of proneurotrophins into the respective mature form is controlled by the action of several enzymes and regulators. The failure in this regulation is now considered one of the possible mechanisms responsible for pathological cell death associated to proneurotrophins. Here, we discuss the processes behind proneurotrophin action, with particular focus on proBDNF and proNGF and their regulatory pathways. Additionally, we review the most recent studies concerning proneurotrophin involvement in neuronal death, in several disease-associated states in the CNS and PNS, and discuss future avenues of investigation in the proneurotrophin field.

PROneurotrophins and CONSequences.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used for cell-based therapies in regenerative medicine, with increasing importance in central and peripheral nervous system repair. However, MSCs grafting present disadvantages, such as, a high number of cells required for transplantation and low survival rate when transplanted into the central nervous system (CNS). In line with this, MSCs secretome which present on its composition a wide range of molecules (neurotrophins, cytokines) and microvesicles, can be a solution to surpass these problems. However, the effect of MSCs secretome in axonal elongation is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that application of MSCs secretome to both rat cortical and hippocampal neurons induces an increase in axonal length. In addition, we show that this growth effect is axonal intrinsic with no contribution from the cell body. To further understand which are the molecules required for secretome-induced axonal outgrowth effect, we depleted brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) from the secretome. Our results show that in the absence of BDNF, secretome-induced axonal elongation effect is lost and that axons present a reduced axonal growth rate. Altogether, our results demonstrate that MSCs secretome is able to promote axonal outgrowth in CNS neurons and this effect is mediated by BDNF.

Mesenchymal stem cells secretome-induced axonal outgrowth is mediated by BDNF.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important mediator of long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. The local effects of BDNF depend on the activation of translation activity, which requires the delivery of transcripts to the synapse. In this work, we found that neuronal activity regulates the dendritic localization of the RNA-binding protein heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hnRNP K) in cultured rat hippocampal neurons by stimulating BDNF-Trk signaling. Microarray experiments identified a large number of transcripts that are coimmunoprecipitated with hnRNP K, and about 60% of these transcripts are dissociated from the protein upon stimulation of rat hippocampal neurons with BDNF.  studies also showed a role for TrkB signaling in the dissociation of transcripts from hnRNP K upon high-frequency stimulation (HFS) of medial perforant path-granule cell synapses of male rat dentate gyrus (DG). Furthermore, treatment of rat hippocampal synaptoneurosomes with BDNF decreased the coimmunoprecipitation of hnRNP K with mRNAs coding for glutamate receptor subunits, Ca- and calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIβ (CaMKIIβ) and BDNF. Downregulation of hnRNP K impaired the BDNF-induced enhancement of NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated mEPSC, and similar results were obtained upon inhibition of protein synthesis with cycloheximide. The results demonstrate that BDNF regulates specific populations of hnRNP-associated mRNAs in neuronal dendrites and suggests an important role of hnRNP K in BDNF-dependent forms of synaptic plasticity.

The RNA-Binding Protein hnRNP K Mediates the Effect of BDNF on Dendritic mRNA Metabolism and Regulates Synaptic NMDA Receptors in Hippocampal Neurons.

The effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP) are thought to underlie learning and memory formation and are partly mediated by local protein synthesis. Here, we investigated the mechanisms that mediate BDNF-induced alterations in the synaptic proteome that are coupled to synaptic strengthening. BDNF induced the synaptic accumulation of GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors (NMDARs) and increased the amplitude of NMDAR-mediated miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in cultured rat hippocampal neurons by a mechanism requiring activation of the protein tyrosine kinase Pyk2 and dependent on cellular protein synthesis. Single-particle tracking using quantum dot imaging revealed that the increase in the abundance of synaptic NMDAR currents correlated with their enhanced stability in the synaptic compartment. Furthermore, BDNF increased the local synthesis of Pyk2 at the synapse, and the observed increase in Pyk2 protein abundance along dendrites of cultured hippocampal neurons was mediated by a mechanism dependent on the ribonucleoprotein hnRNP K, which bound to  mRNA and dissociated from it upon BDNF application. Knocking down hnRNP K reduced the BDNF-induced synaptic synthesis of Pyk2 protein, whereas its overexpression enhanced it. Together, these findings indicate that hnRNP K mediates the synaptic distribution of Pyk2 synthesis, and hence the synaptic incorporation of GluN2B-containing NMDARs, induced by BDNF, which may affect LTP and synaptic plasticity.

BDNF increases synaptic NMDA receptor abundance by enhancing the local translation of Pyk2 in cultured hippocampal neurons.

Ribosomes and a subset of cellular mRNAs are trafficked into axons of developing neurons. The axonal localization of translational machinery allows new proteins to be rapidly and locally synthesized during axonal growth and pathfinding. However, in mature neurons, axonal ribosomes are significantly reduced or even absent. The mechanism that elicits this removal is currently unknown. Here, we demonstrate that synapse formation is the trigger for ribosome reduction in mature axons. In vivo analysis shows that axonal ribosome levels decrease in rat brain at a developmental stage coincident with synapse formation. Next, we observe in vitro that different synaptogenic inducers trigger an overall decrease of ribosomal proteins and rRNA in the axons of spinal motor neurons. We further observe that this process is dependent on the ubiquitin-proteasome system but not on autophagy. Together, these data identify synaptogenesis as the long missing biological trigger that leads to ribosome disappearance during axonal maturation.

Ramiro D. Almeida

Institute of Biomedicine,
Department of Medical Sciences - iBiMED,
Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Medical Sciences - iBiMED

University of Aveiro

Isolation and Culture of Chick Ciliary Ganglion Neurons

Ramiro D. Almeida

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University of Aveiro

Isolation and Culture of Chick Ciliary Ganglion Neurons

Institute of Biomedicine,
Department of Medical Sciences - iBiMED,
Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Medical Sciences - iBiMED