De Filippis Bianca, Nativio Paola, Fabbri Alessia, Ricceri Laura, Adriani Walter, Lacivita Enza, Leopoldo Marcello, Passarelli Francesca, Fuso Andrea, Laviola Giovanni
Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Department of Molecular Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Neuropsychopharmacology. 2014 Oct;39(11):2506-18. doi: 10.1038/npp.2014.105. Epub 2014 May 9.
Rett syndrome (RTT) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by severe behavioral and physiological symptoms. Mutations in the methyl CpG-binding protein 2 gene (MECP2) cause >95% of classic cases, and currently there is no cure for this devastating disorder. The serotonin receptor 7 (5-HT7R) is linked to neuro-physiological regulation of circadian rhythm, mood, cognition, and synaptic plasticity. We presently report that 5-HT7R density is consistently reduced in cortical and hippocampal brain areas of symptomatic MeCP2-308 male mice, a RTT model. Systemic repeated treatment with LP-211 (0.25 mg/kg once/day for 7 days), a brain-penetrant selective 5-HT7R agonist, was able to rescue RTT-related defective performance: anxiety-related profiles in a Light/Dark test, motor abilities in a Dowel test, the exploratory behavior in the Marble Burying test, as well as memory in the Novelty Preference task. In the brain of RTT mice, LP-211 also reversed the abnormal activation of PAK and cofilin (key regulators of actin cytoskeleton dynamics) and of the ribosomal protein (rp) S6, whose reduced activation in MECP2 mutant neurons by mTOR is responsible for the altered protein translational control. Present findings indicate that pharmacological targeting of 5-HT7R improves specific behavioral and molecular manifestations of RTT, thus representing a first step toward the validation of an innovative systemic treatment. Beyond RTT, the latter might be extended to other disorders associated with intellectual disability.
瑞特综合征(RTT)是一种罕见的神经发育障碍,其特征为严重的行为和生理症状。甲基CpG结合蛋白2基因(MECP2)的突变导致超过95%的典型病例,目前这种毁灭性疾病尚无治愈方法。血清素受体7(5-HT7R)与昼夜节律、情绪、认知和突触可塑性的神经生理调节有关。我们目前报告,在有症状的MeCP2-308雄性小鼠(一种RTT模型)的皮质和海马脑区,5-HT7R密度持续降低。用LP-211(0.25毫克/千克,每天一次,共7天)进行全身重复治疗,LP-211是一种可穿透大脑的选择性5-HT7R激动剂,能够挽救与RTT相关的缺陷表现:明暗试验中的焦虑相关表现、定位试验中的运动能力、大理石埋藏试验中的探索行为以及新奇偏好任务中的记忆。在RTT小鼠的大脑中,LP-211还逆转了PAK和丝切蛋白(肌动蛋白细胞骨架动力学的关键调节因子)以及核糖体蛋白(rp)S6的异常激活,mTOR对MECP2突变神经元中这些蛋白激活的减少导致了蛋白质翻译控制的改变。目前的研究结果表明,对5-HT7R进行药物靶向治疗可改善RTT的特定行为和分子表现,从而代表了验证一种创新的全身治疗方法的第一步。除了RTT,后者可能会扩展到与智力残疾相关的其他疾病。