The influence of 5-HT receptor agonists on the expression of BDNF in brain was determined. Administration of a hallucinogenic 5-HT 2A /2C receptor agonist, but not a 5-HT 1A receptor agonist, resulted in a significant but differential regulation of BDNF mRNA levels in hippocampus and neocortex. In the hippocampus, the 5-HT 2A /2C receptor agonist significantly decreased BDNF mRNA expression in the dentate gyrus granule cell layer but did not influence expression of the neurotrophin in the CA subfields. In parietal cortex and other neocortical areas, but not piriform cortex, the 5-HT 2A /2C receptor agonist dramatically increased the expression of BDNF mRNA. The effect of the 5-HT 2A /2C receptor agonist on BDNF mRNA in both the hippocampus and the neocortex was blocked by pretreatment with a selective 5-HT 2A , but not 5-HT 2C , receptor antagonist.The expression of BDNF mRNA in the hippocampus is reported to be decreased by stress, raising the possibility that the 5-HT 2A receptor mediates this effect. Pretreatment with ketanserin, a 5-HT 2A /2C receptor antagonist, significantly blocked the stress-induced downregulation of BDNF mRNA in hippocampus, in support of this hypothesis. The results of this study raise the possibility that regulation of BDNF expression by hallucinogenic 5-HT 2A receptor agonists leads to adaptations of synaptic strength in the hippocampus and the neocortex that may mediate some of the acute and long-term behavioral effects of these agents.

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Background Adult-onset stressors exert opposing effects on hippocampal neurogenesis and cognition, with enhancement observed following mild stress and dysfunction following severe chronic stress. While early life stress evokes persistent changes in anxiety, it is unknown whether early stress differentially regulates hippocampal neurogenesis, trophic factor expression, and cognition across the life span. Methods Hippocampal-dependent cognitive behavior, neurogenesis, and epigenetic regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) expression was examined at distinct time points across the life span in rats subjected to the early stress of maternal separation (ES) and control groups. We also examined the influence of chronic antidepressant treatment on the neurogenic, neurotrophic, and cognitive changes in middle-aged ES animals. Results Animals subjected to early stress of maternal separation examined during postnatal life and young adulthood exhibited enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis, decreased repressive histone methylation at the Bdnf IV promoter along with enhanced Bdnf levels, and improved performance on the stress-associated Morris water maze. Strikingly, opposing changes in hippocampal neurogenesis and epigenetic regulation of Bdnf IV expression, concomitant with impairments on hippocampal-dependent cognitive tasks, were observed in middle-aged ES animals. Chronic antidepressant treatment with amitriptyline attenuated the maladaptive neurogenic, epigenetic, transcriptional, and cognitive effects in middle-aged ES animals. Conclusions Our study provides novel insights into the short- and long-term consequences of ES, demonstrating both biphasic and unique, age-dependent changes at the molecular, epigenetic, neurogenic, and behavioral levels. These results indicate that early stress may transiently endow animals with a potential adaptive advantage in stressful environments but across a life span is associated with long-term deleterious effects.

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Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is a critical form of cellular plasticity that is greatly influenced by neural activity. Among the neurotransmitters that are widely implicated in regulating this process are serotonin and norepinephrine, levels of which are modulated by stress, depression and clinical antidepressants. However, studies to date have failed to address a direct role for either neurotransmitter in regulating hippocampal precursor activity. Here we show that norepinephrine but not serotonin directly activates self-renewing and multipotent neural precursors, including stem cells, from the hippocampus of adult mice. Mechanistically, we provide evidence that ␤ 3 -adrenergic receptors, which are preferentially expressed on a Hes5-expressing precursor population in the subgranular zone (SGZ), mediate this norepinephrine-dependent activation. Moreover, intrahippocampal injection of a selective ␤ 3 -adrenergic receptor agonist in vivo increases the number of proliferating cells in the SGZ. Similarly, systemic injection of the ␤-adrenergic receptor agonist isoproterenol not only results in enhancement of proliferation in the SGZ but also leads to an increase in the percentage of nestin/glial fibrillary acidic protein double-positive neural precursors in vivo. Finally, using a novel ex vivo "slice-sphere" assay that maintains an intact neurogenic niche, we demonstrate that antidepressants that selectively block the reuptake of norepinephrine, but not serotonin, robustly increase hippocampal precursor activity via ␤-adrenergic receptors. These findings suggest that the activation of neurogenic precursors and stem cells via ␤ 3 -adrenergic receptors could be a potent mechanism to increase neuronal production, providing a putative target for the development of novel antidepressants.

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Stress regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in the hippocampal damage observed in depression. BDNF has a complex gene structure with four 5 0 untranslated exons (I-IV) with unique promoters, and a common 3 0 coding exon (V). To better understand the stress regulation of BDNF, we addressed whether distinct stressors differentially regulate exon-specific BDNF transcripts in the postnatal and adult hippocampus. The early life stress of maternal separation (MS) resulted in a time point-dependent differential upregulation of BDNF transcripts restricted to early postnatal life (P14-BDNF II, P21-BDNF IV, V). In adulthood, distinct stressors regulated BDNF transcripts in a signature manner. Immobilization stress, administered once, decreased all BDNF splice variants but had differing effects on BDNF I/II (increase) and III/IV (decrease) when administered chronically. Although immobilization stress reduced BDNF (V) mRNA, chronic unpredictable stress did not influence total BDNF despite altering specific BDNF transcripts. Furthermore, a prior history of MS altered the signature pattern in which adult-onset stress regulated specific BDNF transcripts. We also examined the expression of cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB), an upstream transcriptional activator of BDNF, and observed a CREB induction in the postnatal hippocampus following MS. As a possible consequence of enhanced CREB and BDNF expression following MS, we examined hippocampal progenitor proliferation and observed a significant increase restricted to early life. These results suggest that alterations in CREB/BDNF may contribute to the generation of individual differences in stress neurocircuitry, providing a substrate for altered vulnerability to depressive disorders.