The fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is an RNA-binding protein involved in translational regulation of mRNAs that play key roles in synaptic morphology and plasticity. The functional absence of FMRP causes the fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of inherited intellectual disability and the most common monogenic cause of autism. No effective treatment is available for FXS. We recently identified the Phosphodiesterase 2A (Pde2a) mRNA as a prominent target of FMRP. PDE2A enzymatic activity is increased in the brain of Fmr1-KO mice, a recognized model of FXS, leading to decreased levels of cAMP and cGMP. Here, we pharmacologically inhibited PDE2A in Fmr1-KO mice and observed a rescue both of the maturity of dendritic spines and of the exaggerated hippocampal mGluR-dependent long-term depression. Remarkably, PDE2A blockade rescued the social and communicative deficits of both mouse and rat Fmr1-KO animals. Importantly, chronic inhibition of PDE2A in newborn Fmr1-KO mice followed by a washout interval, resulted in the rescue of the altered social behavior observed in adolescent mice. Altogether, these results reveal the key role of PDE2A in the physiopathology of FXS and suggest that its pharmacological inhibition represents a novel therapeutic approach for FXS.

The calcium-regulated phosphodiesterase 1 (PDE1) family is highly expressed in the brain, but its functional role in neurones is poorly understood. Using the selective PDE1 inhibitor Lu AF64196 and biosensors for cyclic nucleotides including a novel biosensor for cGMP, we analyzed the effect of PDE1 on cAMP and cGMP in individual neurones in brain slices from male newborn mice. Release of caged NMDA triggered a transient increase of intracellular calcium, which was associated with a decrease in cAMP and cGMP in medium spiny neurones in the striatum. Lu AF64196 alone did not increase neuronal cyclic nucleotide levels, but blocked the NMDA-induced reduction in cyclic nucleotides indicating that this was mediated by calcium-activated PDE1. Similar effects were observed in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. Upon corelease of dopamine and NMDA, PDE1 was shown to down-regulate the D1-receptor mediated increase in cAMP. PDE1 inhibition increased long-term potentiation in rat ventral striatum, showing that PDE1 is implicated in the regulation of synaptic plasticity. Overall, our results show that PDE1 reduces cyclic nucleotide signaling in the context of glutamate and dopamine coincidence. This effect could have a therapeutic value for treating brain disorders related to dysfunctions in dopamine neuromodulation.

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Dopamine in the striatum plays a crucial role in reward processes and action selection. Dopamine signals are transduced by D1 and D2 dopamine receptors which trigger mirror effects through the cAMP/PKA signalling cascade in D1 and D2 medium-sized spiny neurones (MSNs). Phosphodiesterases (PDEs), which determine the profile of cAMP signals, are highly expressed in MSNs, but their respective roles in dopamine signal integration remain poorly understood. We used genetically-encoded FRET biosensors to monitor at the single cell level the functional contribution of PDE2A, PDE4 and PDE10A in the changes of the cAMP/PKA response to transient and continuous dopamine in mouse striatal brain slices. We found that PDE2A, PDE4 and PDE10A operate on the moderate to high cAMP levels elicited by D1 or A2A receptor stimulation. In contrast, only PDE10A is able to reduce cAMP down to baseline in both type of neurones, leading to the dephosphorylation of PKA substrates. PDE10A is therefore critically required for dopamine signal integration in both D1 and D2 MSNs.

Background and Purpose: Dopamine in the striatum plays a crucial role in reward processes and action selection. Dopamine signals are transduced by D 1 and D 2 dopamine receptors which trigger mirror effects through the cAMP/PKA signalling cascade in D 1 and D 2 medium-sized spiny neurons (MSNs). Phosphodiesterases (PDEs), which determine the profile of cAMP signals, are highly expressed in MSNs, but their respective roles in dopamine signal integration remain poorly understood. Experimental Approach: We used genetically encoded FRET biosensors to monitor at the single cell level the functional contribution of PDE2A, PDE4 and PDE10A in the changes of the cAMP/PKA response to transient and continuous dopamine in mouse striatal brain slices.

The present study explores the effect of oligonucleotide composition on the mechanism of retention to l-methionine agarose support by chromatography and saturation transfer difference (STD)-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. All chromatographic experiments were performed using 1.5 M (NH4 )2 SO4 . The binding profiles obtained by chromatography show that oligonucleotides with thymine had the highest retention time. In general, the larger homo-oligonucleotides are more retained to the l-methionine agarose support. Moreover, the study with hetero-oligonucleotides confirms that the presence of guanine reduces the retention on the l-methionine chromatographic support. These results are in accord with STD-NMR experiments, which show that the strongest signals were observed for the methyl group of thymine, and no STD signals were observed for the guanosine protons. Finally, the retention behaviour of linear plasmid DNA (pDNA) with different sizes and base composition (2.7-kbp pUC19, 6.05-kbp pVAX1-LacZ, 7.4-kbp pVAX1-LacZgag and 14-kbp pcDNA-based plasmid) was also evaluated by chromatography. The results indicate that the underlying mechanism of retention involves not only hydrophobic interactions but also other elementary interactions responsible for the biorecognition of pDNA molecules by l-methionine ligands.

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This study explores the use of l-methionine derivative as a potential affinity ligand for nucleic acids purification. The l-methionine derivative is synthesized by activation of the carboxylic acid group with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide follow by immobilization on amine sensor surface, previously activated and treated with ethylenediamine. Their affinity towards oligonucleotides has been determined by surface plasmon resonance biosensor. The highest affinity is found for cytosine and thymine, followed by adenine, whereas the lowest affinity is found for guanine. For hetero-oligonucleotides the affinity order is CCCTTT > CCCAAA ≈ AAATTT > GGGTTT, showing that nucleotides with cytosine have the highest affinity, and the presence of guanine reduces the affinity, corroborating with the results obtained with homo-oligonucleotides.