GABAergic interneuron hypofunction is hypothesized to underlie hippocampal dysfunction in schizophrenia. Here, we use the cyclin D2 knockout (Ccnd2 −/− ) mouse model to test potential links between hippocampal interneuron deficits and psychosis-relevant neurobehavioral phenotypes. Ccnd2 −/− mice show cortical PV + interneuron reductions, prominently in hippocampus, associated with deficits in synaptic inhibition, increased in vivo spike activity of projection neurons, and increased in vivo basal metabolic activity (assessed with fMRI) in hippocampus. Ccnd2 −/− mice show several neurophysiological and behavioral phenotypes that would be predicted to be produced by hippocampal disinhibition, including increased ventral tegmental area dopamine neuron population activity, behavioral hyperresponsiveness to amphetamine, and impairments in hippocampus-dependent cognition. Remarkably, transplantation of cells from the embryonic medial ganglionic eminence (the major origin of cerebral cortical interneurons) into the adult Ccnd2 −/− caudoventral hippocampus reverses these psychosisrelevant phenotypes. Surviving neurons from these transplants are 97% GABAergic and widely distributed within the hippocampus. Up to 6 mo after the transplants, in vivo hippocampal metabolic activity is lowered, context-dependent learning and memory is improved, and dopamine neuron activity and the behavioral response to amphetamine are normalized. These findings establish functional links between hippocampal GABA interneuron deficits and psychosis-relevant dopaminergic and cognitive phenotypes, and support a rationale for targeting limbic cortical interneuron function in the prevention and treatment of schizophrenia.parvalbumin | temporal lobe-dependent cognition | neural stem cell therapy | functional magnetic resonance imaging | contextual fear conditioning P recursors of most γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-releasing interneurons of the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus originate in the embryonic medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) (1-3). A subpopulation of MGE-derived cells differentiates into fast-spiking, parvalbumin-expressing (PV +

We report on a novel role for a pre-mRNA splicing component in genome stability. The Hpr1 protein, a component of an RNA polymerase II complex and required for transcription elongation, is also required for genome stability. Deletion of HPR1 results in a 1,000-fold increase in genome instability, detected as directrepeat instability. This instability can be suppressed by the high-copy-number SUB2 gene, which is the Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue of the human splicing factor hUAP56. Although SUB2 is essential, conditional alleles grown at the permissive temperature complement the essential function of SUB2 yet reveal nonessential phenotypes. These studies have uncovered a role for SUB2 in preventing genome instability. The genomic instability observed in sub2 mutants can be suppressed by high-copy-number HPR1. A deletion mutant of CDC73, a component of a PolII complex, is also unstable for direct repeats. This too is suppressed by high-copy-number SUB2. Thus, defects in both the transcriptional machinery and the pre-mRNA splicing machinery can be sources of genome instability. The ability of a pre-mRNA splicing factor to suppress the hyperrecombination phenotype of a defective PolII complex raises the possibility of integrating transcription, RNA processing, and genome stability or a second role for SUB2.

Multiple genetic pathways have been shown to regulate life span and aging in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we show that loss of a component of the RNA polymerase II complex, Hpr1p, results in a decreased life span. Although hpr1⌬ mutants have an increased rate of recombination within the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) array, this is not accompanied by an increase in extrachromosomal rDNA circles (ERCs). Analyses of mutants that affect replication of the rDNA array and suppressors that reverse the phenotypes of the hpr1⌬ mutant show that the reduced life span is associated with increased genomic instability but not with increased ERC formation. The hpr1⌬ mutant acts in a pathway distinct from previously described mutants that reduce life span. Cellular or organismal life span is determined by genetic and extrinsic factors. Toward the end of the life span, cells often deteriorate, giving rise to the phenotypes associated with aging. Recently, experimental systems have been developed that now permit the identification of genes that influence life span. Often, although not always, mutations that reduce life span result in the phenotype of an early appearance of aging features (32). The ability to tolerate stress and the effects of caloric restriction are correlated with increased life span in mice, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (for reviews, see references 18, 23, 33, 51, and 57

Genetic pharmacotherapy is an early drug development strategy for the identification of novel CNS targets in mouse models prior to the development of specific ligands. Here for the first time, we have implemented this strategy to address the potential therapeutic value of a glutamate-based pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia involving inhibition of the glutamate recycling enzyme phosphate-activated glutaminase. Mice constitutively heterozygous for GLS1, the gene encoding glutaminase, manifest a schizophrenia resilience phenotype, a key dimension of which is an attenuated locomotor response to propsychotic amphetamine challenge. If resilience is due to glutaminase deficiency in adulthood, then glutaminase inhibitors should have therapeutic potential. However, this has been difficult to test given the dearth of neuroactive glutaminase inhibitors. So, we used genetic pharmacotherapy to ask whether adult induction of GLS1 heterozygosity would attenuate amphetamine responsiveness. We generated conditional floxGLS1 mice and crossed them with global CAGERT2cre∕+ mice to produce GLS1 iHET mice, susceptible to tamoxifen induction of GLS1 heterozygosity. One month after tamoxifen treatment of adult GLS1 iHET mice, we found a 50% reduction in GLS1 allelic abundance and glutaminase mRNA levels in the brain. While GLS1 iHET mice showed some recombination prior to tamoxifen, there was no impact on mRNA levels. We then asked whether induction of GLS heterozygosity would attenuate the locomotor response to propsychotic amphetamine challenge. Before tamoxifen, control and GLS1 iHET mice did not differ in their response to amphetamine. One month after tamoxifen treatment, amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion was blocked in GLS1 iHET mice. The block was largely maintained after 5 months. Thus, a genetically induced glutaminase reduction—mimicking pharmacological inhibition—strongly attenuated the response to a propsychotic challenge, suggesting that glutaminase may be a novel target for the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia. These results demonstrate how genetic pharmacotherapy can be implemented to test a CNS target in advance of the development of specific neuroactive inhibitors. We discuss further the advantages, limitations, and feasibility of the wider application of genetic pharmacotherapy for neuropsychiatric drug development.