Pennucci Roberta, Talpo Francesca, Astro Veronica, Montinaro Valentina, Morè Lorenzo, Cursi Marco, Castoldi Valerio, Chiaretti Sara, Bianchi Veronica, Marenna Silvia, Cambiaghi Marco, Tonoli Diletta, Leocani Letizia, Biella Gerardo, D'Adamo Patrizia, de Curtis Ivan
Cell Adhesion Unit, Division of Neuroscience.
Department of Biology and Biotechnology "L. Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Italy.
Cereb Cortex. 2016 Feb;26(2):873-890. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhv274. Epub 2015 Nov 17.
Rac GTPases regulate the development of cortical/hippocampal GABAergic interneurons by affecting the early development and migration of GABAergic precursors. We have addressed the function of Rac1 and Rac3 proteins during the late maturation of hippocampal interneurons. We observed specific phenotypic differences between conditional Rac1 and full Rac3 knockout mice. Rac1 deletion caused greater generalized hyperactivity and cognitive impairment compared with Rac3 deletion. This phenotype matched with a more evident functional impairment of the inhibitory circuits in Rac1 mutants, showing higher excitability and reduced spontaneous inhibitory currents in the CA hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Morphological analysis confirmed a differential modification of the inhibitory circuits: deletion of either Rac caused a similar reduction of parvalbumin-positive inhibitory terminals in the pyramidal layer. Intriguingly, cannabinoid receptor-1-positive terminals were strongly increased only in the CA1 of Rac1-depleted mice. This increase may underlie the stronger electrophysiological defects in this mutant. Accordingly, incubation with an antagonist for cannabinoid receptors partially rescued the reduction of spontaneous inhibitory currents in the pyramidal cells of Rac1 mutants. Our results show that Rac1 and Rac3 have independent roles in the formation of GABAergic circuits, as highlighted by the differential effects of their deletion on the late maturation of specific populations of interneurons.
Rac GTP酶通过影响GABA能前体细胞的早期发育和迁移来调节皮质/海马GABA能中间神经元的发育。我们研究了Rac1和Rac3蛋白在海马中间神经元晚期成熟过程中的功能。我们观察到条件性Rac1基因敲除小鼠和完全Rac3基因敲除小鼠之间存在特定的表型差异。与Rac3基因敲除相比,Rac1基因缺失导致更严重的全身性多动和认知障碍。这种表型与Rac1突变体中抑制性回路更明显的功能障碍相匹配,表现为海马CA区锥体神经元兴奋性更高,自发抑制电流减少。形态学分析证实了抑制性回路的差异改变:任何一种Rac的缺失都会导致锥体层小白蛋白阳性抑制性终末数量类似的减少。有趣的是,大麻素受体-1阳性终末仅在Rac1缺失小鼠海马CA1区显著增加。这种增加可能是该突变体中更强的电生理缺陷的基础。因此,用大麻素受体拮抗剂孵育可部分挽救Rac1突变体锥体细胞自发抑制电流的减少。我们的结果表明,Rac1和Rac3在GABA能回路形成中具有独立作用,这一点从它们的缺失对特定中间神经元群体晚期成熟的不同影响中得到了突出体现。