Neurotransmitters and neuromodulators during early human development

Herlenius, Eric; Lagercrantz, Hugo

doi:10.1016/s0378-3782(01)00189-x

Cited by 242 publications

(183 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…A number of neurotransmitter systems are affected by prenatal exposure to nicotine (Slotkin, 2004;Slotkin et al, 2006). Neurotransmitters, such as serotonin or acetylcholine, may affect the number of cellular elements in the cortex during both prenatal and postnatal periods (Levitt et al, 1997;Levitt, 1998;Herlenius and Lagercrantz, 2001;Luo et al, 2003;van Kesteren and Spencer, 2003). We speculate that the observed 'thinning' of the OFC in the female adolescents exposed in utero to maternal cigarette smoking may reflect nicotine-induced downregulation of the serotoninergic and/or cholinergic systems with subsequent decrease in activity-triggered neuronal (eg dendrites) and glial growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Cigarette Smoking and the Adolescent Cerebral Cortex

Toro

Leonard

Lerner

et al. 2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

130

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Smoking during pregnancy is associated with long-term consequences on offspring behavior. We measured thickness of the cerebral cortex using magnetic resonance images obtained in 155 adolescents exposed in utero to maternal smoking and compared them with 159 non-exposed subjects matched by maternal education. Orbitofrontal, middle frontal, and parahippocampal cortices were thinner in exposed, as compared with non-exposed, individuals; these differences were more pronounced in female adolescents. In exposed females, the thickness of the orbitofrontal cortex correlated negatively with a self-rated assessment of caring, one of the components of a model of positive youth development. These findings provide evidence of the long-term impact of prenatal environment on a neural substrate of cognition and social behavior.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Cigarette Smoking and the Adolescent Cerebral Cortex

Toro

Leonard

Lerner

et al. 2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

130

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“…In addition to growth factors, hormones, integrins, and extracellular matrix components, neurotransmitters are present in the developing brain well before the onset of synaptic activity and have been shown to be part of the extrinsic control of CNS neurogenesis involving progenitor cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation as well as cell death (for review see Lauder, 1993;Cameron et al, 1998;Herlenius and Lagercrantz, 2001;Nguyen et al, 2001). Recent studies reported that functional neurotransmitter receptors are expressed by a wide variety of neuronal progenitors during embryonic development, thus pointing to a possible role in the transduction of important developmental cues (LoTurco et al, 1995;Flint et al, 1998;Haydar et al, 2000;Maric et al, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autocrine/Paracrine Activation of the GABA_AReceptor Inhibits the Proliferation of Neurogenic Polysialylated Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule-Positive (PSA-NCAM⁺) Precursor Cells from Postnatal Striatum

et al. 2003

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GABA and its type A receptor (GABA A R) are present in the immature CNS and may function as growth-regulatory signals during the development of embryonic neural precursor cells. In the present study, on the basis of their isopycnic properties in a buoyant density gradient, we developed an isolation procedure that allowed us to purify proliferative neural precursor cells from early postnatal rat striatum, which expressed the polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM). These postnatal striatal PSA-NCAM ϩ cells were shown to proliferate in the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and formed spheres that preferentially generated neurons in vitro. We demonstrated that PSA-NCAM ϩ neuronal precursors from postnatal striatum expressed GABA A R subunits in vitro and in situ. GABA elicited chloride currents in PSA-NCAM ϩ cells by activation of functional GABA A R that displayed a typical pharmacological profile. GABA A R activation in PSA-NCAM ϩ cells triggered a complex intracellular signaling combining a tonic inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade and an increase of intracellular calcium concentration by opening of voltagegated calcium channels. We observed that the activation of GABA A R in PSA-NCAM ϩ neuronal precursors from postnatal striatum inhibited cell cycle progression both in neurospheres and in organotypic slices. Furthermore, postnatal PSA-NCAM ϩ striatal cells synthesized and released GABA, thus creating an autocrine/paracrine mechanism that controls their proliferation. We showed that EGF modulated this autocrine/paracrine loop by decreasing GABA production in PSA-NCAM ϩ cells. This demonstration of GABA synthesis and GABA A R function in striatal PSA-NCAM ϩ cells may shed new light on the understanding of key extrinsic cues that regulate the developmental potential of postnatal neuronal precursors in the CNS.

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“…This information is crucial, as the brain undergoes significant developmental changes during the first few weeks of life that are potentially influenced by an immune challenge. For example, various neurotransmitters such as GABA and catecholamines (Herlenius and Lagercrantz, 2001), components of the respiratory control system (Carroll, 2003), pain processing (Nandi and Fitzgerald, 2005;Kostarczyk, 1999), and the stress response systems (Levine, 2001;Seckl and Meaney, 2004) are all functionally immature at birth and continue to develop throughout the first few weeks of life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early-Life Immune Challenge: Defining a Critical Window for Effects on Adult Responses to Immune Challenge

Spencer

Martin

Mouihate

et al. 2006

Neuropsychopharmacol

100

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Many aspects of mammalian physiology are functionally immature at birth and continue to develop throughout at least the first few weeks of life. Animals are therefore vulnerable during this time to environmental influences such as stress and challenges to the immune system that may permanently affect adult function. The adult immune system is uniquely sensitive to immune challenges encountered during the neonatal period, but it is unknown where the critical window for this programming lies. We subjected male Sprague-Dawley rats at postnatal day (P)7, P14, P21, and P28 to either a saline or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection and examined them in adulthood for differences in responses to a further LPS injection. Adult febrile and cyclooxygenase-2 responses to LPS were attenuated in rats given LPS at P14 and P21, but not in those treated at P7 or P28, while P7-LPS rats displayed lower adult body weights than those treated at other times. P28-LPS rats also tended to display enhanced anxiety in the elevated plus maze. In further experiments, we examined maternal-pup interactions, looking at the mothers' preference in two pup-retrieval tasks, and found no differences in maternal attention to LPS-treated pups. We therefore demonstrate a 'critical window' for the effects of a neonatal immune challenge on adult febrile responses to inflammation and suggest that there are other critical time points during development for the programming of adult physiology. We also show that the neonatal LPS effects on the adult immune system are not likely due to overt differences in maternal attention.

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Neurotransmitters and neuromodulators during early human development

Cited by 242 publications

References 44 publications

Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Cigarette Smoking and the Adolescent Cerebral Cortex

Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Cigarette Smoking and the Adolescent Cerebral Cortex

Autocrine/Paracrine Activation of the GABA_AReceptor Inhibits the Proliferation of Neurogenic Polysialylated Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule-Positive (PSA-NCAM⁺) Precursor Cells from Postnatal Striatum

Early-Life Immune Challenge: Defining a Critical Window for Effects on Adult Responses to Immune Challenge

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Neurotransmitters and neuromodulators during early human development

Cited by 242 publications

References 44 publications

Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Cigarette Smoking and the Adolescent Cerebral Cortex

Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Cigarette Smoking and the Adolescent Cerebral Cortex

Autocrine/Paracrine Activation of the GABAAReceptor Inhibits the Proliferation of Neurogenic Polysialylated Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule-Positive (PSA-NCAM+) Precursor Cells from Postnatal Striatum

Early-Life Immune Challenge: Defining a Critical Window for Effects on Adult Responses to Immune Challenge

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Autocrine/Paracrine Activation of the GABA_AReceptor Inhibits the Proliferation of Neurogenic Polysialylated Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule-Positive (PSA-NCAM⁺) Precursor Cells from Postnatal Striatum