Genetic Feedback Regulation of Frontal Cortical Neuronal Ensembles Through Activity-Dependent Arc Expression and Dopaminergic Input

Autor: Surjeet Mastwal, Vania Y. Cao, Kuan Hong Wang
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
0301 basic medicine
Nerve net
Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroscience (miscellaneous)
Nerve Tissue Proteins
Motor Activity
Feedback regulation
lcsh:RC321-571
03 medical and health sciences
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Mice
0302 clinical medicine
Arc/Arg3.1
Dopamine
medicine
Animals
lcsh:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
development
Cognitive deficit
Regulation of gene expression
Feedback
Physiological

learning
neuronal ensembles
Dopaminergic
frontal cortical circuits
Sensory Systems
Frontal Lobe
Cytoskeletal Proteins
030104 developmental biology
medicine.anatomical_structure
activity-dependent genetic feedback
Frontal lobe
Gene Expression Regulation
Perspective
neuromodulation
Developmental plasticity
medicine.symptom
Nerve Net
dopamine
Psychology
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
medicine.drug
Zdroj: Frontiers in Neural Circuits
Frontiers in Neural Circuits, Vol 10 (2016)
ISSN: 1662-5110
DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2016.00100
Popis: Mental functions involve coordinated activities of specific neuronal ensembles that are embedded in complex brain circuits. Aberrant neuronal ensemble dynamics is thought to form the neurobiological basis of mental disorders. A major challenge in mental health research is to identify these cellular ensembles and determine what molecular mechanisms constrain their emergence and consolidation during development and learning. Here, we provide a perspective based on recent studies that use activity-dependent gene Arc/Arg3.1 as a cellular marker to identify neuronal ensembles and a molecular probe to modulate circuit functions. These studies have demonstrated that the transcription of Arc is activated in selective groups of frontal cortical neurons in response to specific behavioral tasks. Arc expression regulates the persistent firing of individual neurons and predicts the consolidation of neuronal ensembles during repeated learning. Therefore, the Arc pathway represents a prototypical example of activity-dependent genetic feedback regulation of neuronal ensembles. The activation of this pathway in the frontal cortex starts during early postnatal development and requires dopaminergic input. Conversely, genetic disruption of Arc leads to a hypoactive mesofrontal dopamine circuit and its related cognitive deficit. This mutual interaction suggests an auto-regulatory mechanism to amplify the impact of neuromodulators and activity-regulated genes during postnatal development. Such a mechanism may contribute to the association of mutations in dopamine and Arc pathways with neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders. As the mesofrontal dopamine circuit shows extensive activity-dependent developmental plasticity, activity-guided modulation of dopaminergic projections or Arc ensembles during development may help to repair circuit deficits related to neuropsychiatric disorders.
Databáze: OpenAIRE