Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States.
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, United States.
Exp Neurol. 2024 Dec;382:114963. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2024.114963. Epub 2024 Sep 18.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a prevalent problem with survivors suffering from chronic cognitive impairments. Following TBI there is a series of neuropathological changes including neurogenesis. It is well established that neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus is important for hippocampal dependent learning and memory functions. Following TBI, injury-enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis is believed to contribute to post-injury cognitive recovery. Behavioral function is connected to synaptic plasticity and neuronal dendritic branching is critical for successful synapse formation. To ascertain the functional contribution of injury-induced DG new neurons in post-TBI cognitive recovery, it is necessary to study their dendritic morphological development and the molecular mechanisms controlling this process. Utilizing transgenic mice with tamoxifen-induced GFP expression and Notch1 knock-out in nestin+ neural stem cells, this study examined dendritic morphology, the role of Notch1 in regulating dendritic complexity of injury-induced DG new neurons, and their association to post-TBI cognitive recovery. We found that at 8 weeks after a moderate TBI, injury-induced DG new neurons in the injured control mice displayed a similar dendritic morphology as the cells in non-injured mice accompanied with cognitive recovery. In comparison, in Notch1 conditional knock-out mice, DG new neurons in the injured mice had a significant reduction in dendritic morphological development including dendritic arbors, volume span, and number of branches in comparison to the cells in non-injured mice concomitant with persistent cognitive dysfunction. The results of this study confirm the importance of post-injury generated new neurons in cognitive recovery following TBI and the role of Notch1 in regulating their maturation process.
创伤性脑损伤(TBI)是一种普遍存在的问题,幸存者会遭受慢性认知障碍。TBI 后会发生一系列神经病理学变化,包括神经发生。众所周知,海马齿状回(DG)中的神经发生对于海马依赖的学习和记忆功能很重要。TBI 后,增强的海马神经发生被认为有助于损伤后的认知恢复。行为功能与突触可塑性有关,神经元树突分支对于成功的突触形成至关重要。为了确定损伤诱导的 DG 新神经元在 post-TBI 认知恢复中的功能贡献,有必要研究它们的树突形态发育以及控制这一过程的分子机制。本研究利用 tamoxifen 诱导 GFP 表达和 nestin+神经干细胞中 Notch1 敲除的转基因小鼠,检查了树突形态、Notch1 在调节损伤诱导的 DG 新神经元树突复杂性中的作用,以及它们与 post-TBI 认知恢复的关系。我们发现,在中度 TBI 后 8 周,受伤对照小鼠的损伤诱导的 DG 新神经元表现出与未受伤小鼠相似的树突形态,伴随着认知恢复。相比之下,在 Notch1 条件性敲除小鼠中,受伤小鼠的 DG 新神经元的树突形态发育明显减少,包括树突枝、体积跨度和分支数量,与未受伤小鼠相比,同时伴随着持续的认知功能障碍。这项研究的结果证实了 post-injury 产生的新神经元在 TBI 后认知恢复中的重要性,以及 Notch1 在调节其成熟过程中的作用。