Adult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.

The medial habenula (mHb) is an understudied small brain nucleus linking forebrain and midbrain structures controlling anxiety and fear behaviors. The mechanisms that maintain the structural and functional integrity of mHb neurons and their synapses remain unknown. Using spatiotemporally controlled...

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Autores principales: Diana Fernández-Suárez, Favio A Krapacher, Katarzyna Pietrajtis, Annika Andersson, Lilian Kisiswa, Alvaro Carrier-Ruiz, Marco A Diana, Carlos F Ibáñez
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Publicado: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/a81eeea4f70a466bb47cb01ec936e466
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:a81eeea4f70a466bb47cb01ec936e4662021-12-02T19:54:33ZAdult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.1544-91731545-788510.1371/journal.pbio.3001350https://doaj.org/article/a81eeea4f70a466bb47cb01ec936e4662021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001350https://doaj.org/toc/1544-9173https://doaj.org/toc/1545-7885The medial habenula (mHb) is an understudied small brain nucleus linking forebrain and midbrain structures controlling anxiety and fear behaviors. The mechanisms that maintain the structural and functional integrity of mHb neurons and their synapses remain unknown. Using spatiotemporally controlled Cre-mediated recombination in adult mice, we found that the glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor receptor alpha 1 (GFRα1) is required in adult mHb neurons for synaptic stability and function. mHb neurons express some of the highest levels of GFRα1 in the mouse brain, and acute ablation of GFRα1 results in loss of septohabenular and habenulointerpeduncular glutamatergic synapses, with the remaining synapses displaying reduced numbers of presynaptic vesicles. Chemo- and optogenetic studies in mice lacking GFRα1 revealed impaired circuit connectivity, reduced AMPA receptor postsynaptic currents, and abnormally low rectification index (R.I.) of AMPARs, suggesting reduced Ca2+ permeability. Further biochemical and proximity ligation assay (PLA) studies defined the presence of GluA1/GluA2 (Ca2+ impermeable) as well as GluA1/GluA4 (Ca2+ permeable) AMPAR complexes in mHb neurons, as well as clear differences in the levels and association of AMPAR subunits with mHb neurons lacking GFRα1. Finally, acute loss of GFRα1 in adult mHb neurons reduced anxiety-like behavior and potentiated context-based fear responses, phenocopying the effects of lesions to septal projections to the mHb. These results uncover an unexpected function for GFRα1 in the maintenance and function of adult glutamatergic synapses and reveal a potential new mechanism for regulating synaptic plasticity in the septohabenulointerpeduncular pathway and attuning of anxiety and fear behaviors.Diana Fernández-SuárezFavio A KrapacherKatarzyna PietrajtisAnnika AnderssonLilian KisiswaAlvaro Carrier-RuizMarco A DianaCarlos F IbáñezPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleBiology (General)QH301-705.5ENPLoS Biology, Vol 19, Iss 11, p e3001350 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
spellingShingle Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
Diana Fernández-Suárez
Favio A Krapacher
Katarzyna Pietrajtis
Annika Andersson
Lilian Kisiswa
Alvaro Carrier-Ruiz
Marco A Diana
Carlos F Ibáñez
Adult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.
description The medial habenula (mHb) is an understudied small brain nucleus linking forebrain and midbrain structures controlling anxiety and fear behaviors. The mechanisms that maintain the structural and functional integrity of mHb neurons and their synapses remain unknown. Using spatiotemporally controlled Cre-mediated recombination in adult mice, we found that the glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor receptor alpha 1 (GFRα1) is required in adult mHb neurons for synaptic stability and function. mHb neurons express some of the highest levels of GFRα1 in the mouse brain, and acute ablation of GFRα1 results in loss of septohabenular and habenulointerpeduncular glutamatergic synapses, with the remaining synapses displaying reduced numbers of presynaptic vesicles. Chemo- and optogenetic studies in mice lacking GFRα1 revealed impaired circuit connectivity, reduced AMPA receptor postsynaptic currents, and abnormally low rectification index (R.I.) of AMPARs, suggesting reduced Ca2+ permeability. Further biochemical and proximity ligation assay (PLA) studies defined the presence of GluA1/GluA2 (Ca2+ impermeable) as well as GluA1/GluA4 (Ca2+ permeable) AMPAR complexes in mHb neurons, as well as clear differences in the levels and association of AMPAR subunits with mHb neurons lacking GFRα1. Finally, acute loss of GFRα1 in adult mHb neurons reduced anxiety-like behavior and potentiated context-based fear responses, phenocopying the effects of lesions to septal projections to the mHb. These results uncover an unexpected function for GFRα1 in the maintenance and function of adult glutamatergic synapses and reveal a potential new mechanism for regulating synaptic plasticity in the septohabenulointerpeduncular pathway and attuning of anxiety and fear behaviors.
format article
author Diana Fernández-Suárez
Favio A Krapacher
Katarzyna Pietrajtis
Annika Andersson
Lilian Kisiswa
Alvaro Carrier-Ruiz
Marco A Diana
Carlos F Ibáñez
author_facet Diana Fernández-Suárez
Favio A Krapacher
Katarzyna Pietrajtis
Annika Andersson
Lilian Kisiswa
Alvaro Carrier-Ruiz
Marco A Diana
Carlos F Ibáñez
author_sort Diana Fernández-Suárez
title Adult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.
title_short Adult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.
title_full Adult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.
title_fullStr Adult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.
title_full_unstemmed Adult medial habenula neurons require GDNF receptor GFRα1 for synaptic stability and function.
title_sort adult medial habenula neurons require gdnf receptor gfrα1 for synaptic stability and function.
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/a81eeea4f70a466bb47cb01ec936e466
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