Efficacy of Vafidemstat in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Highlights the KDM1A/RCOR1/HDAC Epigenetic Axis in Multiple Sclerosis.

Lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1; also known as KDM1A), is an epigenetic modulator that modifies the histone methylation status. KDM1A forms a part of protein complexes that regulate the expression of genes involved in the onset and progression of diseases such as cancer, central nervous system (CNS) disorders, viral infections, and others. Vafidemstat (ORY-2001) is a clinical stage inhibitor of KDM1A in development for the treatment of neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.

Modulation of KDM1A with vafidemstat rescues memory deficit and behavioral alterations.

Transcription disequilibria are characteristic of many neurodegenerative diseases. The activity-evoked transcription of immediate early genes (IEGs), important for neuronal plasticity, memory and behavior, is altered in CNS diseases and governed by epigenetic modulation. KDM1A, a histone 3 lysine 4 demethylase that forms part of transcription regulation complexes, has been implicated in the control of IEG transcription.

Understanding Epigenetic Alterations in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease: Towards Targeted Biomarkers and Therapies.

Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease represent the two most common neurodegenerative disorders, affecting an increasing number of patients worldwide. Population ageing and lack of effective therapies and biomarkers strongly contribute to the socio-economical impact of these conditions. Message and Conclusion: The aim of the review is to present a summary of the discoveries made on the epigenetics of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, with a special focus on the recent advances towards the identification of new targeted therapies and biomarkers.

Depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors and stress-related neuronal activation in vasopressin-deficient female Brattleboro rats.

Vasopressin can contribute to the development of stress-related psychiatric disorders, anxiety and depression. Although these disturbances are more common in females, most of the preclinical studies have been done in males. We compared female vasopressin-deficient and +/+ Brattleboro rats.

The neuroendocrine response to stress under the effect of drugs: Negative synergy between amphetamine and stressors.

There have been numerous studies into the interaction between stress and addictive drugs, yet few have specifically addressed how the organism responds to stress when under the influence of psychostimulants. Thus, we studied the effects of different acute stressors (immobilization, interleukin-1β and forced swimming) in young adult male rats simultaneously exposed to amphetamine (AMPH, 4 mg/kg SC), evaluating classic biological markers. AMPH administration itself augmented the plasma hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) hormones, adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and corticosterone, without affecting plasma glucose levels.

Stress-induced brain histone H3 phosphorylation: contribution of the intensity of stressors and length of exposure.

Expression of c-fos is used for the characterization of brain areas activated by stressors. Recently, some epigenetic markers associated with enhanced transcription have been identified that may be also useful to detect neuronal populations important for the processing of stressors: phosphorylation of histone H3 in serine 10 or 28 (pH3S₁₀ or pH3S₂₈). Then, we compared in rats the response to stress of c-fos and these epigenetic changes.

Maternal neglect with reduced depressive-like behavior and blunted c-fos activation in Brattleboro mothers, the role of central vasopressin.

Early mother-infant relationships exert important long-term effects in offspring and are disturbed by factors such as postpartum depression. We aimed to clarify if lack of vasopressin influences maternal behavior paralleled by the development of a depressive-like phenotype. We compared vasopressin-deficient Brattleboro mothers with heterozygous and homozygous normal ones.

Brain pattern of histone H3 phosphorylation after acute amphetamine administration: its relationship to brain c-fos induction is strongly dependent on the particular brain area.

Recent evidence strongly suggests a critical role of chromatin remodelling in the acute and chronic effects of addictive drugs. We reasoned that Immunohistochemical detection of certain histone modifications may be a more specific tool than induction of immediate early genes (i.e.

Immediate-early gene response to repeated immobilization: Fos protein and arc mRNA levels appear to be less sensitive than c-fos mRNA to adaptation.

Stress exposure resulted in brain induction of immediate-early genes (IEGs), considered as markers of neuronal activation. Upon repeated exposure to the same stressor, reduction of IEG response (adaptation) has been often observed, but there are important discrepancies in literature that may be in part related to the particular IEG and methodology used. We studied the differential pattern of adaptation of the IEGs c-fos and arc (activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein) after repeated exposure to a severe stressor: immobilization on wooden boards (IMO).

Enduring effects of environmental enrichment from weaning to adulthood on pituitary-adrenal function, pre-pulse inhibition and learning in male and female rats.

Environmental enrichment (EE) increases stimulation and provides richer sensory, cognitive and motor opportunities through the interaction with the social and physical environment. EE produces a wide range of neuroanatomical, neurochemical and behavioural effects in several animal species. However, the effects of EE have mainly been studied shortly after the treatment, so its long-lasting effects remain to be elucidated.

Exposure to severe stressors causes long-lasting dysregulation of resting and stress-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Exposure to some predominantly emotional (electric shock) and systemic (interleukin-1beta) stressors has been found to induce long-term sensitization of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) responsiveness to further superimposed stressors. Since exposure to immobilization on wooden boards (IMO) is a severe stressor and may have interest regarding putative animal models of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), we have characterized long-lasting effects of a single exposure to IMO and other stressors on the HPA response to the same (homotypic) and to novel (heterotypic) stressors and the putative mechanisms involved. A single exposure to IMO caused a long-lasting reduction of peripheral and central responses of the HPA axis, likely to be mediated by some brain areas, such as the lateral septum and the medial amygdala.

Differential effects of stress and amphetamine administration on Fos-like protein expression in corticotropin releasing factor-neurons of the rat brain.

Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) appears to be critical for the control of important aspects of the behavioral and physiological response to stressors and drugs of abuse. However, the extent to which the different brain CRF neuronal populations are similarly activated after stress and drug administration is not known. We then studied, using double immunohistochemistry for CRF and Fos protein, stress and amphetamine-induced activation of CRF neurons in cortex, central amygdala (CeA), medial parvocellular dorsal, and submagnocellular parvocellular regions of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVNmpd and PVNsm, respectively) and Barrington nucleus (Bar).

Dynamics of immediate early gene and neuropeptide gene response to prolonged immobilization stress: evidence against a critical role of the termination of exposure to the stressor.

Stress-induced expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) appears to be transient even if the exposure to the stressor persists. However, there are some exceptions which suggest that particular characteristics of stressors can affect the dynamics of IEG expression. We studied in selected telencephalic, diencephalic and brainstem regions the mRNA levels of two clearly distinct IEGs (c-fos and arc) during prolonged exposure to a severe stressor such as immobilization (IMO) and after releasing the rats from the situation.

Evidence that metyrapone can act as a stressor: effect on pituitary-adrenal hormones, plasma glucose and brain c-fos induction.

Metyrapone, a 11-beta steroid hydroxylase inhibitor that blocks stress-induced glucocorticoid release, is extensively used to study the physiological and behavioural roles of glucocorticoids. However, there is circumstantial evidence suggesting that metyrapone could act as a pharmacological stressor. Thus, the effects of various doses of metyrapone on two well-characterized stress markers (ACTH and glucose) were studied in male rats.