Background: Maternal infection during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia and autism in the offspring. Supporting this correlation, experimentally activating the maternal immune system during pregnancy in rodents produces offspring with abnormal brain and behavioral development. We have developed a nonhuman primate model to bridge the gap between clinical populations and rodent models of maternal immune activation (MIA). Methods: A modified form of the viral mimic, synthetic double-stranded RNA (polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid stabilized with poly-L-lysine) was delivered to two separate groups of pregnant rhesus monkeys to induce MIA: 1) late first trimester MIA (n = 6), and 2) late second trimester MIA (n = 7). Control animals (n = 11) received saline injections at the same first or second trimester time points or were untreated. Sickness behavior, temperature, and cytokine profiles of the pregnant monkeys confirmed a strong inflammatory response to MIA. Results: Behavioral development of the offspring was studied for 24 months. Following weaning at 6 months of age, MIA offspring exhibited abnormal responses to separation from their mothers. As the animals matured, MIA offspring displayed increased repetitive behaviors and decreased affiliative vocalizations. When evaluated with unfamiliar conspecifics, first trimester MIA offspring deviated from species-typical macaque social behavior by inappropriately approaching and remaining in immediate proximity of an unfamiliar animal. Conclusions: In this rhesus monkey model, MIA yields offspring with abnormal repetitive behaviors, communication, and social interactions. These results extended the findings in rodent MIA models to more human-like behaviors resembling those in both autism and schizophrenia.

Phosphorylation has emerged as a crucial regulatory mechanism in the nervous system to integrate the dynamic signaling required for proper synaptic development, function, and plasticity, particularly during changes in neuronal activity. Here we present evidence that Minibrain (Mnb; also known as Dyrk1A), a serine/threonine kinase implicated in autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome, is required presynaptically for normal synaptic growth and rapid synaptic vesicle endocytosis at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ). We find that Mnb-dependent phosphorylation of synaptojanin (Synj) is required, in vivo, for complex endocytic protein interactions and to enhance Synj activity. Neuronal stimulation drives Mnb mobilization to endocytic zones and triggers Mnb-dependent phosphorylation of Synj. Our data identify Mnb as a synaptic kinase that promotes efficient synaptic vesicle recycling by dynamically calibrating Synj function at the Drosophila NMJ, and in turn endocytic capacity, to adapt to conditions of high synaptic activity.

The main objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that in vivo post-translational modifications in proteins, induced by the endogenously generated reactive oxygen and nitrogen molecules, can alter protein function and thereby have an effect on metabolic pathways during the aging process. Succinyl-CoA:3-ketoacid coenzyme A transferase (SCOT), the mitochondrial enzyme involved in the breakdown of ketone bodies in the extrahepatic tissues, was identified in rat heart to undergo age-associated increase in a novel, nitro-hydroxy, addition to tryptophan 372, located in close proximity ( approximately 10 A) of the enzyme active site. Between 4 and 24 months of age, the molar content of nitration was more than doubled while specific enzyme activity increased significantly. The amount of SCOT protein, however, remained unchanged. In vitro treatment of heart mitochondrial soluble proteins with relatively low concentrations of peroxynitrite enhanced the nitration as well as specific activity of SCOT. Results of this study identify tryptophan to be a specific target of nitration in vivo, for the first time. We hypothesize that increases in tryptophan nitration of SCOT and catalytic activity constitute a plausible mechanism for the age-related metabolic shift toward enhanced ketone body consumption as an alternative source of energy supply in the heart.

Hypoxic ischemia (HI) is an acute brain threat across all age groups. Therapeutic hypothermia ameliorates resulting injury in neonates but its side effects prevent routine use in adults. Hypothermia up-regulates a small protein subset that includes RNA-binding motif protein 3 (RBM3), which is neuroprotective under stressful conditions. Here we show how RBM3 stimulates neuronal differentiation and inhibits HI-induced apoptosis in the two areas of persistent adult neurogenesis, the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the subgranular zone (SGZ), while promoting neural stem/progenitor cell (NSPC) proliferation after HI injury only in the SGZ. RBM3 interacts with IGF2 mRNA binding protein 2 (IMP2), elevates its expression and thereby stimulates IGF2 release in SGZ but not SVZ-NSPCs. In summary, we describe niche-dependent regulation of neurogenesis after adult HI injury via the novel RBM3-IMP2-IGF2 signaling pathway.

A key feature of the aging process is that the mitochondrial respiratory capacity declines and production of reactive oxygen species increases in the later part of life span. In previous studies, cytochrome c oxidase (CcO), the terminal component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, was found to be the only oxidoreductase exhibiting an age-related decrease in activity in Drosophila melanogaster. The present study tested the hypothesis that decreases in the abundance of catalytic subunits of CcO, encoded in mitochondrial DNA, could underlie the age-associated loss of enzyme activity. Protein amounts of subunits I, II and III, which form the catalytic core of CcO, were determined by immunoblot analysis in 15-, 25-, 35-, 47-and 60-day-old flies. Subunits II and III decreased with age by up to 43% and 75%, respectively, whereas the decrease in subunit I was only 15%. The results pinpoint specific changes in a component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which could underlie the age-related decrease in mitochondrial respiratory activity and an increase in oxidant production. Apparently, the stoichiometry of CcO holoprotein is dynamically altered during the aging process in Drosophila melanogaster.

Oxygen and nitrogen centered reactive species can cause specific structural modifications in amino acids and proteins, such as the addition of a nitro group onto aromatic residues. Heretofore, studies on protein nitration have mainly focused on the in vitro and in vivo nitro addition to tyrosine residues (3-nitrotyrosine or 3NT), whereas the formation of nitrotryptophan in proteins in vivo and/or its functional significance has remained quite obscure. A novel structural modification, involving the addition of nitro and hydroxy groups to tryptophan, has been detected in the mitochondrial protein succinyl-CoA:3-oxoacid CoA transferase (SCOT) in rat heart. Modified SCOT accumulated progressively with age, which was associated with an elevation of its activity. The specific biochemical properties of this novel amino acid were characterized by a combination of HPLC-electrochemical detection and mass spectrometric analysis. This chapter describes the experimental steps involved in the characterizations and a procedure for the synthesis of nitrohydroxytryptophan. Similar methodology can be applied to the identification of nitrohydroxytryptophan in other proteins.

Nitration and oxidation of tyrosine, tryptophan, and methionine residues in proteins are potential markers of their interaction with peroxynitrite. This chapter describes the procedure for the detection of these nitro-oxidative modifications by tandem mass spectrometry. The peptide YGDLANWMIPGK, shown to contain a nitrohydroxytryptophan in the mitochondrial enzyme succinyl-CoA:3-ketoacid coenzyme A transferase (SCOT) in vivo, was synthesized and exposed to peroxynitrite in order to test whether an identical tryptophan derivative could be generated in vitro. Data show that the occurrence of specific fragmented ions corresponding to the oxidation of methionine, nitration of tyrosine, and nitration/oxidation of tryptophan residues can be used to identify the sites of the nitration and oxidation of proteins in vitro and in vivo. It is also demonstrated that a nitrohydroxy addition to the tryptophan, similar to that present in SCOT in vivo, can be produced in vitro.

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) in the dentate gyrus is known to respond to environmental enrichment, chronic stress, and many other factors. The function of AHN may vary across the septo-temporal axis of the hippocampus, as different subdivisions are responsible for different functions. The dorsal pole regulates cognitive-related behaviors, while the ventral pole mediates mood-related responses through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In this study, we investigate different methods of quantifying the effect of environmental enrichment on AHN in the dorsal and ventral parts of the dentate gyrus (dDG and vDG). To this purpose, 11-week-old female CD-1 mice were assigned for 8 days to one of two conditions: the Environmental Enrichment (E) group received (i) running wheels, (ii) larger cages, (iii) plastic tunnels, and (iv) bedding with male urine, while the Control (C) group received standard housing. Dorsal CA (Cornu Ammonis) and DG regions were larger in the E than the C animals. Distance run linearly predicted the volume of the dorsal hippocampus, as well as of the intermediate and ventral CA regions. In the dDG, the amount of Doublecortin (DCX) immunoreactivity was significantly higher in E than in C mice. Surprisingly, this pattern was the opposite in the vDG (C > E). Real-time PCR measurement of Dcx mRNA and DCX protein analysis using ELISA showed the same pattern. Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) immunoreactivity and mRNA displayed no difference between E and C, suggesting that upregulation of DCX was not caused by changes in BDNF levels. BDNF levels were higher in vDG than in dDG, as measured by both methods. Bdnf expression in vDG correlated positively with the distance run by individual E mice. The similarity in the patterns of immunoreactivity, mRNA and protein for differential DCX expression and for BDNF distribution suggests that the latter two methods might be effective tools for more rapid quantification of AHN.