Autoimmune synaptic encephalitides are recently described human brain diseases leading to psychiatric and neurological syndromes through inappropriate brain-autoantibody interactions. The most frequent synaptic autoimmune encephalitis is associated with autoantibodies against extracellular domains of the glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor, with patients developing psychotic and neurological symptoms in an autoantibody titre-dependent manner. Although N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors are the primary target of these antibodies, the cellular and molecular pathway(s) that rapidly lead to N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor dysfunction remain poorly understood. In this report, we used a unique combination of high-resolution nanoparticle and bulk live imaging approaches to demonstrate that anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor autoantibodies from patients with encephalitis strongly alter, in a time-dependent manner, the surface content and trafficking of GluN2-NMDA receptor subtypes. Autoantibodies laterally displaced surface GluN2A-NMDA receptors out of synapses and completely blocked synaptic plasticity. This loss of extrasynaptic and synaptic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor is prevented both in vitro and in vivo, by the activation of EPHB2 receptors. Indeed, the anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor autoantibodies weaken the interaction between the extracellular domains of the N-methyl-d-aspartate and Ephrin-B2 receptors. Together, we demonstrate that the anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor autoantibodies from patients with encephalitis alter the dynamic retention of synaptic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor through extracellular domain-dependent mechanism(s), shedding new light on the pathology of the neurological and psychiatric disorders observed in these patients and opening possible new therapeutic strategies.

Tubulin is subject to a special cycle of detyrosination͞tyrosination in which the C-terminal tyrosine of ␣-tubulin is cyclically removed by a carboxypeptidase and readded by a tubulin-tyrosine-ligase (TTL). This tyrosination cycle is conserved in evolution, yet its physiological importance is unknown. Here, we find that TTL suppression in mice causes perinatal death. A minor pool of tyrosinated (Tyr-)tubulin persists in TTL null tissues, being present mainly in dividing TTL null cells where it originates from tubulin synthesis, but it is lacking in postmitotic TTL null cells such as neurons, which is apparently deleterious because early death in TTL null mice is, at least in part, accounted for by a disorganization of neuronal networks, including a disruption of the cortico-thalamic loop. Correlatively, cultured TTL null neurons display morphogenetic anomalies including an accelerated and erratic time course of neurite outgrowth and a premature axonal differentiation. These anomalies may involve a mislocalization of CLIP170, which we find lacking in neurite extensions and growth cones of TTL null neurons. Our results demonstrate a vital role of TTL for neuronal organization and suggest a requirement of Tyr-tubulin for proper control of neurite extensions.CLIP170 ͉ tubulin code

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Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) regulates angiogenesis, but also has important, yet poorly characterized roles in neuronal wiring. Using several genetic and in vitro approaches, we discovered a novel role for VEGF in the control of cerebellar granule cell (GC) migration from the external granule cell layer (EGL) toward the Purkinje cell layer (PCL). GCs express the VEGF receptor Flk1, and are chemoattracted by VEGF, whose levels are higher in the PCL than EGL. Lowering VEGF levels in mice in vivo or ectopic VEGF expression in the EGL ex vivo perturbs GC migration. Using GC-specific Flk1 knock-out mice, we provide for the first time in vivo evidence for a direct chemoattractive effect of VEGF on neurons via Flk1 signaling. Finally, using knock-in mice expressing single VEGF isoforms, we show that pericellular deposition of matrix-bound VEGF isoforms around PC dendrites is necessary for proper GC migration in vivo. These findings identify a previously unknown role for VEGF in neuronal migration.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be required for the action of antidepressant therapies but its impact on brain synaptic function is poorly characterized. Using a combination of electrophysiological, single-molecule imaging and conditional transgenic approaches, we identified the molecular basis of the VEGF effect on synaptic transmission and plasticity. VEGF increases the postsynaptic responses mediated by the N-methyl-D-aspartate type of glutamate receptors (GluNRs) in hippocampal neurons. This is concurrent with the formation of new synapses and with the synaptic recruitment of GluNR expressing the GluN2B subunit (GluNR-2B). VEGF induces a rapid redistribution of GluNR-2B at synaptic sites by increasing the surface dynamics of these receptors within the membrane. Consistently, silencing the expression of the VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) in neural cells impairs hippocampal-dependent synaptic plasticity and consolidation of emotional memory. These findings demonstrated the direct implication of VEGF signaling in neurons via VEGFR2 in proper synaptic function. They highlight the potential of VEGF as a key regulator of GluNR synaptic function and suggest a role for VEGF in new therapeutic approaches targeting GluNR in depression.

In both human and Old World primates visual information is conveyed by two parallel pathways: the magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P) streams that project to separate layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus and are involved primarily in motion and color͞form discrimination. The present study provides evidence that retinal ganglion cells in the macaque monkey embryo diverge into M and P subtypes soon after their last mitotic division and that optic axons project directly and selectively to either the M or P moieties of the developing lateral geniculate nucleus. Thus, initial M projections from the eyes overlap only in prospective layers 1 and 2, whereas initial P projections overlap within prospective layers 3-6. We suggest that the divergence of the M and P pathways requires developmental mechanisms different from those underlying competition-driven segregation of initially intermixed eye-specific domains in the primate visual system.The segregation of motion and feature vision is a pervasive attribute of primate brain organization at all levels of the neuraxis, from the retina to the frontal lobe (1, 2). In Old World primates motion and color͞form discrimination is carried out by separate, magnocellular (M) and parvocellular (P) neuronal pathways that originate in the retina and project to separate M-and P-dedicated layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) situated in the thalamus (refs. 3 and 4; Fig. 1). This segregated information then is transmitted from the LGN to M-and P-related sublayers and modules in the visual cortex (5-8). Although the details of the physiology have not been agreed on, it is generally accepted that neurons belonging to these separate streams can be distinguished on the basis of their time of origin (9), morphology (10, 11), connectivity (12, 13), biochemistry (14, 15), and different signaling molecules (16,17).In spite of the significance of the separation of M and P systems for understanding the functional anatomy of the human brain, surprisingly little is known about their development. In contrast, the development of ocular dominance pathways, which transmit information from the eyes via separate synaptic chains to the cerebral cortex, has been extensively studied and used as a premier model system for understanding principles governing the segregation of neuronal connections in the mammalian brain (18-21). A major step in understanding the development of this system was made in the 1970s when the injection of radioactive axonal tracers into the eyes of macaque embryos revealed that visual connections from the eyes initially overlap in the LGN (22, 23). The subsequent discovery that optic axons are more numerous during this early period of overlap than in adults (24), and that prenatal enucleation results in the maintenance of a widespread projection from the remaining eye (25), demonstrated that competitive interactions play an important role in the segregation of initially overlapping retinal projections. These findings, as well as the seminal studies of Hubel, ...

Collapsin response mediator proteins (CRMPs) consist of five homologous cytosolic proteins that participate in signal transduction involved in a variety of physiological events. CRMP1 is highly expressed during brain development; however, its functions remains unclear. To gain insight into its function, we generated CRMP1 -/-mice with a knock-in LacZ gene. No gross anatomical changes or behavioral alterations were observed. Expression of CRMP1 was examined by the expression of the knocked-in LacZ gene, in situ hybridization with riboprobes and by imunohistochemistry. CRMP1 was found to be highly expressed in the developing the cerebellum, olfactory bulbs, hypothalamus and retina. In adults, expression level was high in the olfactory bulbs and hippocampus but very low in the retina and cerebellum and undetectable in hypothalamus. To study potential roles of CRMP1, we focused on cerebellum development. CRMP1 -/-mice showed a decrease in the number of granule cells migrating out of explants of developing cerebellum, as did treatment of the explants from normal mice with anti-CRMP1 specific antibodies. CRMP1 -/-mice showed a decrease in granule cell proliferation and apoptosis in external granule cell layers in vivo . Adult cerebellum of CRMP1 -/-did not show any abnormalities.

The segregation of callosal and association pathways in the developing visual cortex of the monkey was studied using the retrograde tracers fast blue and diamidino yellow. Quantitative analysis of the laminar distribution of labeled callosal and association neurons made it possible to reveal the shifting pattern of connections that characterizes the development of these two pathways. In the adult, callosal neurons are restricted to supragranular layers, where they are concentrated at the bottom of layer 3. Association neurons are located both in infra- and supragranular layers. Supragranular layer association neurons are concentrated in layer 2, with limited spread into layer 3 so that there is little overlap with callosal neurons. In the immature brain, callosal neurons are characterized by a tangential distribution that is more widespread than in the adult, while their laminar distribution undergoes little developmental change. Association neurons show two types of changes in their laminar distribution: (1) in the early fetus, there is a large excess of association neurons in supragranular layers, the adult distribution being achieved some time after birth; and (2) during maturation there is a selective elimination of at least 50% of the projections originating from the lower part of layers 2/3. Hence, the adult radial segregation of association and callosal pathways is achieved in part by regressive phenomena. The developmental reduction of bihemispheric projections is largely independent of changes in the organization of association neurons. Quantitative analysis of the morphology and spatial location of neurons sending axon collaterals to both hemispheres suggests that they constitute a subset of callosal neurons and that their frequency is determined by factors that regulate directly this population. These results are discussed with respect to the specification of visual cortical pathways during ontogenesis.