Koehl, M. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2020

The atypical Rho GTPase Rnd2 is critical for dentate granule neuron development and anxiety-like behavior during adult but not neonatal neurogenesis

Despite the central role of Rho GTPases in neuronal development, their functions in adult hippocampal neurogenesis remain poorly explored. Here, by using a retrovirus-based loss-of-function approach in vivo, we show that the atypical Rho GTPase Rnd2 is crucial for the survival, positioning, somatodendritic morphogenesis and functional maturation of adult-born dentate granule neurons. Interestingly, most of these functions are specific to granule neurons generated during adulthood since the deletion of Rnd2 in neonatally-born granule neurons only affects dendritogenesis. In addition, suppression of Rnd2 in adult-born dentate granule neurons increases anxiety-like behaviour whereas its deletion in pups has no such effect, a finding supporting the adult neurogenesis hypothesis of anxiety disorders. Thus, our results provide mechanistic insight into the differential regulation of hippocampal neurogenesis during development and adulthood, and establishes a causal relationship between Rnd2 expression and anxiety.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Inhibition of mTOR signaling by genetic removal of p70 S6 Kinase 1 leads to anxiety-like disorders

The mechanistic target or rapamycin (mTOR) is a ubiquitously expressed kinase that acts through two complexes, mTORC1 and mTORC2, to regulate protein homeostasis as well as long lasting forms of synaptic and behavioral plasticity. Alteration of the mTOR pathway is classically involved in neurodegenerative disorders, and it has been linked to dysregulation of cognitive functions and affective states. However, information concerning the specific involvement of the p70 S6 kinase 1 (S6K1), a downstream target of the mTORC1 pathway, in learning and memory processes and in the regulation of affective states remains scant. To fill this gap, we exposed adult male mice lacking S6K1 to a battery of behavioral tests aimed at measuring their learning and memory capabilities by evaluating reference memory and flexibility with the Morris water maze, and associative memory using the contextual fear conditioning task. We also studied their anxiety- and depression-like behaviors by respectively performing elevated plus maze, open field, light-dark emergence tests, and sucrose preference and forced swim tests. We found that deleting S6K1 leads to a robust anxious phenotype concomitant with associative learning deficits; these symptoms are associated with a reduction of adult neurogenesis and neuronal atrophy in the hippocampus. Collectively, these results provide grounds for the understanding of anxiety reports after treatments with mTOR inhibitors and will be critical for the development of novel compounds targeting anxiety.

neuroscience↗