Journal: Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience
Article Title: The Hallucinogenic Serotonin 2A Receptor Agonist, 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Iodoamphetamine, Promotes cAMP Response Element Binding Protein-Dependent Gene Expression of Specific Plasticity-Associated Genes in the Rodent Neocortex
doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2021.790213
Figure Lengend Snippet: Acute treatment with the 5-HT 2A receptor agonist, DOI regulates neuronal plasticity-associated gene expression via the MAP kinase and CaMKII signaling pathways and enhances phosphorylated CREB (pCREB) expression in vitro. (A) Shown is a schematic of the treatment paradigm for cortical neurons derived from E17.5 rat embryos, allowed to differentiate till day in vitro (DIV) 10, following which neurons were treated with vehicle (DMSO) or the 5-HT 2A receptor agonist, DOI (10 μM), in the presence or absence of CaMKII and MAP kinase signaling pathway inhibitors (CaMKII inhibitor: KN-62; MAPKK inhibitor: U0126). (B) Shown is the relative mRNA expression for plasticity-associated genes following DOI treatment in the presence or absence of the 5-HT 2A receptor antagonist, MDL100,907 or PLC inhibitor, U73122, represented as fold change of vehicle ± SEM. (Representative results from n = 4 wells per treatment group/ N = 2, * p < 0.05 as compared to vehicle, @ p < 0.05 as compared to DOI, one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test). (C) Shown is the relative mRNA expression for plasticity-associated genes following DOI treatment in the presence or absence of MAP kinase and CaMKII signaling pathway inhibitors, represented as fold change of vehicle ± SEM. (Representative results from n = 3–5 wells per treatment group/ N = 3, * p < 0.05 as compared to vehicle, @ p < 0.05 as compared to DOI, one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test). (D) Shown is a schematic summarizing the putative signaling pathways that may contribute to DOI-induced gene expression. The CaMKII inhibitor, KN-62 and the MAPKK inhibitor, U0126 inhibit the CaMKII and MAP kinase signaling pathways respectively. The DOI-mediated upregulation of Arc , Bdnf1 , Cebpb , and Egr2 mRNA levels was blocked by both the MAPKK and CaMKII inhibitors, whereas the increase in cFos mRNA was blocked by the CaMKII, not the MAPKK, inhibitor and the upregulation of Egr1 mRNA was blocked by the MAPKK, not the CaMKII, inhibitor. (E) Shown are representative immunofluorescence images of rat cortical neurons in vitro with double staining for the neuronal marker MAP2 (red) and 5-HT 2A receptor (green). Scale bar: 30 μm. Magnification: 20X. (F) Shown are representative immunofluorescence images of rat cortical neurons with double staining for pCREB (green) and the neuronal marker MAP2 (red) – upper panel: Vehicle; lower panel: DOI. Scale bar: 30 μm. Magnification: 20X. (G–J) Shown are representative immunoblots for pCREB and CREB protein levels in rat cortical neurons treated with DOI (G) or with DOI in the presence or absence of the MAPKK inhibitor U0126 (H) or the CaMKII inhibitor KN-62 (I) . (J) Quantitative densitometric analysis of pCREB/CREB levels in rat cortical neurons treated with DOI in the presence or absence of U0126 or KN-62. Results are expressed as fold change of vehicle ± SEM. (Representative results from n = 3–5 wells per treatment group/ N = 3, * p < 0.05 as compared to vehicle, @ p < 0.05 as compared to DOI, one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s post hoc test). (K) Shown is a schematic depicting the putative pathway via which pCREB levels are enhanced following DOI administration, indicative of a role for the MAP kinase and CaMKII signaling pathways.
Article Snippet: The tissue was placed in a pre-chilled Dounce homogenizer, sonicated and immunoprecipitated using a phosphorylated CREB (pCREB) antibody (1 μg; Cell Signaling Technology, MA, United States).
Techniques: Gene Expression, Protein-Protein interactions, Expressing, In Vitro, Derivative Assay, Immunofluorescence, Double Staining, Marker, Western Blot