Nucleoporin 153 deficiency in adult neural stem cells defines a pathological protein-network signature and defective neurogenesis in a mouse model of AD.

Background: Reduction of adult hippocampal neurogenesis is an early critical event in Alzheimer's disease (AD), contributing to progressive memory loss and cognitive decline. Reduced levels of the nucleoporin 153 (Nup153), a key epigenetic regulator of NSC stemness, characterize the neural stem cells isolated from a mouse model of AD (3×Tg) (AD-NSCs) and determine their altered plasticity and gene expression.

Methods: Nup153-regulated mechanisms contributing to NSC function were investigated: (1) in cultured NSCs isolated from AD and wild type (WT) mice by proteomics; (2) in vivo by lentiviral-mediated delivery of Nup153 or GFP in the hippocampus of AD and control mice analyzing neurogenesis and cognitive function; (3) in human iPSC-derived brain organoids obtained from AD patients and control subjects as a model of neurodevelopment.

Glycine-induced activation of GPR158 increases the intrinsic excitability of medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens.

It has been recently established that GPR158, a class C orphan G protein-coupled receptor, serves as a metabotropic glycine receptor. GPR158 is highly expressed in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a major input structure of the basal ganglia that integrates information from cortical and subcortical structures to mediate goal-directed behaviors. However, whether glycine modulates neuronal activity in the NAc through GPR158 activation has not been investigated yet.

Acute restraint stress impairs histamine type 2 receptor ability to increase the excitability of medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens.

Histamine, a monoamine implicated in stress-related arousal states, is synthesized in neurons exclusively located in the hypothalamic tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN) from where they diffusely innervate striatal and mesolimbic networks including the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a vital node in the limbic loop. Since histamine-containing TMN neuron output increases during stress, we hypothesized that exposure of mice to acute restrain stress (ARS) recruits endogenous histamine type 2 receptor (H2R) signaling in the NAc, whose activation increases medium spiny neurons (MSNs) intrinsic excitability via downregulation of A-type K currents. We employed an ARS paradigm in which mice were restrained for 120 min, followed by a 20-min recovery period, after which brain slices were prepared for ex vivo electrophysiology.