Natural peptides displaying agonist activity on the orphan G protein-coupled receptor GPR54 were isolated from human placenta. These 54-, 14,-and 13-amino acid peptides, with a common RF-amide C terminus, derive from the product of KiSS-1, a metastasis suppressor gene for melanoma cells, and were therefore designated kisspeptins. They bound with low nanomolar affinities to rat and human GPR54 expressed in Chinese hamster ovary K1 cells and stimulated PIP 2 hydrolysis, Ca 2؉ mobilization, arachidonic acid release, ERK1/2 and p38 MAP kinase phosphorylation, and stress fiber formation but inhibited cell proliferation. Human GPR54 was highly expressed in placenta, pituitary, pancreas, and spinal cord, suggesting a role in the regulation of endocrine function. Stimulation of oxytocin secretion after kisspeptin administration to rats confirmed this hypothesis.

The cerebral cortex develops through the coordinated generation of dozens of neuronal subtypes, but the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Here we show that mouse embryonic stem cells, cultured without any morphogen but in the presence of a sonic hedgehog inhibitor, recapitulate in vitro the major milestones of cortical development, leading to the sequential generation of a diverse repertoire of neurons that display most salient features of genuine cortical pyramidal neurons. When grafted into the cerebral cortex, these neurons develop patterns of axonal projections corresponding to a wide range of cortical layers, but also to highly specific cortical areas, in particular visual and limbic areas, thereby demonstrating that the identity of a cortical area can be specified without any influence from the brain. The discovery of intrinsic corticogenesis sheds new light on the mechanisms of neuronal specification, and opens new avenues for the modelling and treatment of brain diseases.

Adenosine is released from metabolically active cells by facilitated diffusion, and is generated extracellularly by degradation of released ATP. It is a potent biological mediator that modulates the activity of numerous cell types, including various neuronal populations, platelets, neutrophils and mast cells, and smooth muscle cells in bronchi and vasculature. Most of these effects help to protect cells and tissues during stress conditions such as ischaemia. Adenosine mediates its effects through four receptor subtypes: the A1, A2a, A2b and A3 receptors. The A2a receptor (A2aR) is abundant in basal ganglia, vasculature and platelets, and stimulates adenylyl cyclase. It is a major target of caffeine, the most widely used psychoactive drug. Here we investigate the role of the A2a receptor by disrupting the gene in mice. We found that A2aR-knockout (A2aR-/-) mice were viable and bred normally. Their exploratory activity was reduced, whereas caffeine, which normally stimulates exploratory behaviour, became a depressant of exploratory activity. Knockout animals scored higher in anxiety tests, and male mice were much more aggressive towards intruders. The response of A2aR-/- mice to acute pain stimuli was slower. Blood pressure and heart rate were increased, as well as platelet aggregation. The specific A2a agonist CGS 21680 lost its biological activity in all systems tested.

The study of human cortical development has major implications for brain evolution and diseases but has remained elusive due to paucity of experimental models. Here we found that human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), cultured without added morphogens, recapitulate corticogenesis leading to the sequential generation of functional pyramidal neurons of all six layer identities. After transplantation into mouse neonatal brain, human ESC-derived cortical neurons integrated robustly and established specific axonal projections and dendritic patterns corresponding to native cortical neurons. The differentiation and connectivity of the transplanted human cortical neurons complexified progressively over several months in vivo, culminating in the establishment of functional synapses with the host circuitry. Our data demonstrate that human cortical neurons generated in vitro from ESC/iPSC can develop complex hodological properties characteristic of the cerebral cortex in vivo, thereby offering unprecedented opportunities for the modeling of human cortex diseases and brain repair.

The primary cilium is an antenna-like structure that protrudes from the cell surface of quiescent/differentiated cells and participates in extracellular signal processing [1][2][3] . Here, we report that mice deficient for the lipid 5-phosphatase Inpp5e develop a multiorgan disorder associated with structural defects of the primary cilium. In ciliated mouse embryonic fibroblasts, Inpp5e is concentrated in the axoneme of the primary cilium. Inpp5e inactivation did not impair ciliary assembly but altered the stability of pre-established cilia after serum addition. Blocking phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activity or ciliary platelet-derived growth factor receptor a (PDGFRa) restored ciliary stability. In human INPP5E, we identified a mutation affecting INPP5E ciliary localization and cilium stability in a family with MORM syndrome, a condition related to Bardet-Biedl syndrome. Together, our results show that INPP5E plays an essential role in the primary cilium by controlling ciliary growth factor and PI3K signaling and stability, and highlight the consequences of INPP5E dysfunction.Lipid 5-phosphatases selectively remove the phosphate from position D-5 of the inositol ring of phosphoinositides and inositolphosphates 4,5 . To characterize the functions of the 5-phosphatase Inpp5e 6-8 , we generated Inpp5e D/+ mice ( Supplementary Fig. 1a). We obtained no adult Inpp5e D/D mutant mice from intercrosses between Inpp5e D/+ mice. However, at embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5) and E18.5, 16.9% (11/65) and 14.8% (12/81) of embryos were homozygous for the deletion allele, respectively. The mutant mice died soon after birth, indicating that total inactivation of Inpp5e led to embryonic and postnatal death. Analyses confirmed the absence of Inpp5e protein in mutant cells and tissues (Fig. 1a). Inpp5e D/D mice presented with bilateral anophthalmos (100%, n ¼ 43) and postaxial hexadactyly (62.5%, n ¼ 16; Fig. 1b,c). Histological analyses revealed that eye development ceased at the optic vesicle stage, just before the appearance of the optic cup (Fig. 1d). Analysis of kidneys from the mice revealed the presence of multiple cysts (100%, n ¼ 10; Fig. 1e). Of the cysts, 84% expressed AQP2 and 14% expressed AQP1, indicating an origin in cortical collecting and connecting ducts (when AQP2 + ) as well as proximal tubules and the descending limb of the loop of Henle (when AQP1 + ) ( Supplementary Fig. 2). Only 2% of the renal glomeruli were cystic. Inpp5e D/D embryos had skeletal abnormalities such as a bifid sternum (50%, n ¼ 6), delayed ossification of metacarpals and phalanges (100%, n ¼ 5) and cleft palate (75%, n ¼ 4; Fig. 1f-h). We identified cerebral developmental defects, such as anencephaly and exencephaly, in 30% of Inpp5e D/D embryos at E15.5 (n ¼ 30; Fig. 1i,j). We did not detect liver alterations, laterality defects or respiratory cilium defects in mutant animals. The tissue localization of lesions observed in Inpp5e D/D embryos matched the tissue expression of Inpp5e mRNA during mouse embryogenesis ( Supplementary Fig. 3).Becau...

Ciliary transport is required for ciliogenesis, signal transduction, and trafficking of receptors to the primary cilium. Mutations in inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase E (INPP5E) have been associated with ciliary dysfunction; however, its role in regulating ciliary phosphoinositides is unknown. Here we report that in neural stem cells, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) is found in high levels in cilia whereas phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2) is not detectable. Upon INPP5E inactivation, PI(4,5)P2 accumulates at the ciliary tip whereas PI4P is depleted. This is accompanied by recruitment of the PI(4,5)P2-interacting protein TULP3 to the ciliary membrane, along with Gpr161. This results in an increased production of cAMP and a repression of the Shh transcription gene Gli1. Our results reveal the link between ciliary regulation of phosphoinositides by INPP5E and Shh regulation via ciliary trafficking of TULP3/Gpr161 and also provide mechanistic insight into ciliary alterations found in Joubert and MORM syndromes resulting from INPP5E mutations.

Adenosine A2A receptors are highly enriched in the basal ganglia system. They are predominantly expressed in enkephalin-expressing GABAergic striatopallidal neurons and therefore are highly relevant to the function of the indirect efferent pathway of the basal ganglia system. In these GABAergic enkephalinergic neurons, the A2A receptor tightly interacts structurally and functionally with the dopamine D2 receptor. Both by forming receptor heteromers and by targeting common intracellular signaling cascades, A2A and D2 receptors exhibit reciprocal antagonistic interactions that are central to the function of the indirect pathway and hence to basal ganglia control of movement, motor learning, motivation and reward. Consequently, this A2A/D2 receptors antagonistic interaction is also central to basal ganglia dysfunction in Parkinson's disease. However, recent evidence demonstrates that, in addition to this post-synaptic site of action, striatal A2A receptors are also expressed and have physiological relevance on pre-synaptic glutamatergic terminals of the cortico-limbic-striatal and thalamo-striatal pathways, where they form heteromeric receptor complexes with adenosine A1 receptors. Therefore, A2A receptors play an important fine-tuning role, boosting the efficiency of glutamatergic information flow in the indirect pathway by exerting control, either pre- and/or post-synaptically, over other key modulators of glutamatergic synapses, including D2 receptors, group I metabotropic mGlu5 glutamate receptors and cannabinoid CB1 receptors, and by triggering the cAMP-protein kinase A signaling cascade.

Calretinin (CR), calbindin D-28k (CB) and parvalbumin (PV) belong to the large family of EF-hand calcium-binding proteins, which comprises more than 200 members in man. Structurally these proteins are characterized by the presence of a variable number of evolutionary well-conserved helix-loop-helix motives, which bind Ca2+ ions with high affinity. Functionally, they fall into two groups: by interaction with target proteins, calcium sensors translate calcium concentrations into signaling cascades, whereas calcium buffers are thought to modify the spatiotemporal aspects of calcium transients. Although CR, CB and PV are currently being considered calcium buffers, this may change as we learn more about their biology. Remarkable differences in their biophysical properties have led to the distinction of fast and slow buffers and suggested functional specificity of individual calcium buffers. Evaluation of the physiological roles of CR, CB and PV has been facilitated by the recent generation of mouse strains deficient in these proteins. Here, we review the biology of these calcium-binding proteins with distinct reference to the cerebellum, since they are particularly enriched in specific cerebellar neurons. CR is principally expressed in granule cells and their parallel fibres, while PV and CB are present throughout the axon, soma, dendrites and spines of Purkinje cells. PV is additionally found in a subpopulation of inhibitory interneurons, the stellate and basket cells. Studies on deficient mice together with in vitro work and their unique cell type-specific distribution in the cerebellum suggest that these calcium-binding proteins have evolved as functionally distinct, physiologically relevant modulators of intracellular calcium transients. Analysis of different brain regions suggests that these proteins are involved in regulating calcium pools critical for synaptic plasticity. Surprisingly, a major role of any of these three calcium-binding proteins as an endogenous neuroprotectant is not generally supported.