心得安对ICR小鼠吗啡诱导的条件化位置偏爱记忆获得和提取的影响

利用心得安阻断β-肾上腺素受体(β-受体),从而干扰药物成瘾患者对药物环境线索记忆的某些环节(如再巩固等),进而降低或抑制其对成瘾药物的渴求,已成为未来治疗复吸的潜在途径.但目前,心得安对吗啡相关环境线索记忆的获得及提取的影响尚不清楚.因此,该实验检测了心得安对小鼠吗啡诱导的条件化位置偏爱(conditioned place preference,CPP)环境线索记忆的获得和提取的影响.该研究首次发现在吗啡CPP记忆的获得期,心得安不影响CPP的表达和消退,提示β-受体不参与吗啡诱导CPP学习记忆的获得;而在吗啡CPP记忆的提取期,心得安可延缓CPP的消退,提示β-受体与吗啡诱导CPP学习记忆的提取相关.该结果表明,药物成瘾过程与β-受体相关,为成瘾等精神疾病的治疗提供了新的理论依据.     

青春期小鼠与成年小鼠在吗啡和食物诱导条件化位置偏爱建立上的异同

该实验通过采用吗啡诱导的条件位置偏爱(conditioned place preference,CPP)与食物诱导CPP相结合的方法来研究青春期小鼠和成年小鼠的普通学习记忆和成瘾学习记忆之间是否存在差异。结果发现:1)成年小鼠能够建立吗啡诱导CPP,而青春期小鼠不能建立;2)青春期小鼠和成年小鼠都能够建立食物诱导CPP。吗啡诱导CPP的结果提示,青春期小鼠和成年小鼠在成瘾学习记忆上有差异,青春期小鼠的成瘾记忆能力较弱。食物诱导CPP的结果提示,青春期小鼠和成年小鼠在普通学习记忆上没有差异。吗啡诱导CPP和食物诱导CPP的结果比较提示,小鼠的普通学习记忆系统和成瘾学习记忆系统发育进程是不平行的。     

多巴胺D2受体拮抗剂、激动剂对SD大鼠条件化位置偏好的影响

通过慢性吗啡处理方式建立起SD大鼠吗啡依赖的条件化位置偏好(CPP)模型,用行为学手段研究多巴胺(DA)D2受体拮抗剂及激动剂对SD大鼠CPP的影响,探讨眶额叶DAD2受体在阿片精神依赖中的作用。通过腹腔注射吗啡同环境因素相结合,建立大鼠吗啡依赖的CPP模型;采用局部脑内微量注射法向额叶注射DAD2受体拮抗剂或激动剂或盐水(对照组),以得到SD大鼠在戒断期间的CPP的时间数据。CPP显示DAD2受体拮抗剂组与对照组相比,从戒断第2天起,前者表现出更明显的CPP增加现象,差异显著(P<0·05)。而DAD2受体激动剂组与对照组相比无显著差异(P>0·05)。采用腹腔小剂量注射吗啡,成功地建立了吗啡依赖SD大鼠的CPP模型;眶额叶微量注射DAD2受体拮抗剂增加了CPP时间,提示眶额叶多巴胺系统在吗啡依赖的过程中有着较为重要的作用;也提示了对于已经成瘾的动物,损伤其眶额叶,会使药物渴求增强。因而提示对于药物依赖患者进行手术干预治疗要极其慎重。     

组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂对大鼠应激性心肌损伤的保护作用

目的:观察组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂在应激性心肌损伤发生过程中的作用。方法:健康雄性Wistar大鼠随机分为3组(n=6),用束缚应激方法建立慢性应激性心肌损伤模型,采用组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂曲古抑菌素A(TSA)干预,观察TSA对应激性心肌损伤的保护作用。Western blot检测实验各组大鼠心肌的组蛋白乙酰化水平,采用分光光度法动态监测大鼠血清乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)和肌酸激酶同工酶-MB(CK-MB)活性以及心肌组织Caspase 3活性,Nagar Olsen染色观察心肌的早期损伤。结果:束缚应激可以显著降低大鼠心肌的组蛋白乙酰化水平(P0.05),而TSA干预可以抑制应激所致的心肌组蛋白乙酰化水平降低(P0.05);束缚应激可以引起大鼠血清LDH和CK-MB活性、心肌组织Caspase 3活性显著升高(P0.05),发生心肌早期损伤,而TSA干预可显著降低束缚应激引起的LDH(P0.05)、CK-MB活性(P0.05)、Caspase 3活性升高(P0.05)。结论:组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂TSA对应激性心肌损伤具有一定的保护作用。     

恒河猕猴吗啡成瘾模型的初步建立

吗啡成瘾的非人灵长类动物恒河猕猴(Macaca mulatta)模型的实验结果表明,猕猴可建立吗啡条件化位置偏好(conditioned place preference,CPP),且其与吗啡线索相关的记忆可持续(36.3±1.3)月。该研究可以为药物成瘾研究提供有效的非人灵长类动物行为模型。     

伏隔核壳部巴氯芬灌注阻断吗啡成瘾小鼠条件位置性偏爱记忆再巩固

氨基丁酸B型受体(GABAB受体)是治疗药物成瘾的潜在靶点,伏隔核壳部(nucleus accumbens shell, AcbSh)是成瘾环路的关键节点,但AcbSh GABA_B受体与记忆再巩固的关系尚不清楚。本文旨在探讨AcbSh微量灌注GABA_B受体激动剂巴氯芬(baclofen, BLF)对吗啡奖赏记忆再巩固及复吸行为的影响。建立吗啡条件位置性偏爱(conditioned place preference, CPP)小鼠模型,采用吗啡奖赏记忆提取激活实验,对比观察环境线索激活吗啡奖赏记忆后,双侧AcbSh灌注BLF对吗啡CPP、吗啡激发CPP重建以及自主活动量的影响。结果表明,吗啡奖赏记忆激活后,Acb Sh单次注入0.06nmol/0.2μL/侧或0.12nmol/0.2μL/侧BLF显著抑制吗啡CPP,且吗啡激发不能重建CPP,而0.01nmol/0.2μL/侧BLF灌注不能抑制吗啡CPP。激活后注入生理盐水及未激活组BLF灌注均未抑制CPP。无论是否激活吗啡奖赏记忆,BLF注入AcbSh都不影响小鼠自主活动。以上结果提示,AcbSh GABA_B受体参与了吗啡CPP的记忆再巩固。记忆激活后激动AcbSh GABA_B受体可通过阻断吗啡CPP的记忆再巩固,消除奖赏记忆,抑制复吸行为。     

巴氯芬对慢性吗啡依赖后条件化位置偏好和戒断症状的抑制

小鼠连续7天腹腔注射吗啡(40mg/kg)建立条件化位置偏好模型,连续皮下递增注射吗啡(25、50、75、100、125、150mg/kg),成瘾后腹腔注射纳络酮(6mg/kg)诱导戒断症状(跳跃行为)建立戒断模型。腹腔注射GABAB受体激动剂巴氯芬(2mg/kg)可以有效地抑制吗啡诱导的条件化位置偏好和减轻纳络酮诱导的戒断症状,结果表明GABA系统参与动物成瘾后渴求和戒断过程,激动GABAB受体可以在一定程度上抑制成瘾的心理和生理戒断症状。     

Ku70乙酰化介导TSA诱导的结肠癌细胞凋亡

目的:探讨组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂(HDI)trichostatin A(TSA)对Ku70的乙酰化及其在TSA诱导结肠癌细胞凋亡中的作用。方法:以TSA处理结肠癌细胞HCT116和HT29细胞,采用免疫沉淀结合Western blot检测TSA对Ku70乙酰化的作用,流式细胞术检测TSA诱导的细胞凋亡,Western blot检测凋亡相关蛋白Bax和细胞色素c(cytochrom c)的转位和表达。结果:TSA可引起结肠癌HCT116和HT29细胞Ku70乙酰化,并与凋亡密切相关,与对照组相比,HCT116凋亡率(P=0.007)和HT29细胞凋亡率(P=0.005)均显著增高,免疫共沉淀检测到TSA处理细胞后,Bax和Ku70之间的相互作用减弱,表明TSA引起的乙酰化促进Bax从Bax-Ku70复合物中释放,Western blot结果显示TSA促进Bax由胞浆向线粒体转位,同时促进cytochrom c由线粒体向胞浆转位。结论:Ku70乙酰化作用介导了TSA诱导的结肠癌细胞凋亡。     

HDAC抑制剂TSA抑制乳腺癌MCF-7细胞增殖并促进乳腺癌细胞凋亡

曲古抑菌素A (trichostatin A, TSA) 作为组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂(histone deacetylase inhibitor, HDACi),是近年来发现的一类新型抗肿瘤药物,对多种实体瘤及血液系统肿瘤具有显著抗肿瘤作用.体外实验及动物模型显示,TSA对于乳腺癌也有一定杀伤作用.目前认为,TSA可以通过抑制组蛋白去乙酰化作用而影响细胞内基因转录,但其抗肿瘤作用的分子机理尚不清楚.本文通过MTT法检测不同剂量的TSA对乳腺癌细胞生长的影响,发现TSA可以剂量依赖地抑制乳腺癌细胞MCF-7的生长.膜联蛋白（annexin）-Ⅴ/PI双染法和PAPR水解检测证实TSA同时促进MCF-7细胞凋亡.Western 印迹分析表明,在分子水平上,TSA诱导MCF-7细胞中的周期抑制蛋白p21表达,同时使得抗凋亡因子Bcl-2的表达水平降低,表明TSA可能通过调控p21和Bcl-2的表达来实现抑制乳腺癌细胞生长并促使其凋亡,从而发挥抗肿瘤作用.     

曲古抑菌素A对体外培养牛成纤维细胞组蛋白乙酰化和甲基化的影响

Trichostatin A(TSA)是一种特异的组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂。研究显示,TSA可以特异地抑制组蛋白去乙酰化酶活性,提高细胞的组蛋白乙酰化水平,激活基因的表达。但是,目前还不是很清楚TSA处理是否对组蛋白甲基化产生影响。本研究以成纤维细胞为研究对象,利用免疫细胞化学技术及激光共聚焦显微镜,探讨了TSA处理体细胞对其组蛋白乙酰化及甲基化修饰的影响。结果显示,随TSA浓度增加,体细胞形态发生明显的改变,细胞变得扁平且核区较大,处理后组蛋白H4K8位点的乙酰化水平随着TSA浓度的增加明显提高。检测组蛋白H3上两个甲基化位点发现,随组蛋白乙酰化水平的增加,H3K4位点的三甲基化（H3K4me3）水平也显著提高。但是,对于H3K9的二甲基化水平（H3K9me2）则没有明显变化。以上结果显示,TSA的处理不仅可以提高体细胞的组蛋白乙酰化水平,同时也增加了与基因表达激活相关组蛋白修饰位点的甲基化水平,但是对于与沉默基因相关的组蛋白修饰位点则没有明显的影响。     

Expression Levels of the BDNF Gene and Histone Modifications Around Its Promoters in the Ventral Tegmental Area and Locus Ceruleus of Rats During Forced Abstinence from Morphine

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in mediating molecular, cellular, and behavioral adaptations underlying drug addiction. Here, we examined the influence of withdrawal from repeated morphine treatment on the expression of BDNF mRNA in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and locus coeruleus (LC) of the rat brain. We also studied whether alternations in mRNA levels of BDNF in these tissues are associated with histone modifications around promoters II and III of the BDNF gene. Thus, chromatin immunoprecipitation (CHIP) and quantitative (q)-PCR were employed to assess acetylation of histone H3 at K9/K14 and trimethylation of histone H3 at K9. Results of qRT-PCR showed that levels of BDNF mRNA in both VTA and LC were significantly increased 7 days rather than 2 h or 24 h following the last injection of morphine. Consistently, CHIP and qPCR analysis revealed that on day 7 of morphine abstinence, both VTA and LC levels of histone methylation at BDNF promoters II and III of morphine treated rats were significantly lower than control animals. Morphine withdrawal caused only a significant increase in H3 acetylation at the promoter II in the LC. These data demonstrate the involvement of histone H3 methylation in the regulation of gene expression in the VTA and LC of rats during forced abstinence of morphine.     

Dynamic reprogramming of histone acetylation and methylation in the first cell cycle of cloned mouse embryos

Epigenetic reprogramming is thought to play an important role in the development of cloned embryos reconstructed by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In the present study, dynamic reprogramming of histone acetylation and methylation modifications was investigated in the first cell cycle of cloned embryos. Our results demonstrated that part of somatic inherited lysine acetylation on core histones (H3K9, H3K14, H4K16) could be quickly deacetylated following SCNT, and reacetylation occurred following activation treatment. However, acetylation marks of the other lysine residues on core histones (H4K8, H4K12) persisted in the genome of cloned embryos with only mild deacetylation occurring in the process of SCNT and activation treatment. The somatic cloned embryos established histone acetylation modifications resembling those in normal embryos produced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection through these two different programs. Moreover, treatment of cloned embryos with a histone deacetylase inhibitor, Trichostatin A (TSA), improved the histone acetylation in a manner similar to that in normal embryos, and the improved histone acetylation in cloned embryos treated with TSA might contribute to improved development of TSA-treated clones. In contrast to the asymmetric histone H3K9 tri- and dimethylation present in the parental genomes of fertilized embryos, the tri- and dimethylations of H3K9 were gradually demethylated in the cloned embryos, and this histone H3K9 demethylation may be crucial for gene activation of cloned embryos. Together, our results indicate that dynamic reprogramming of histone acetylation and methylation modifications in cloned embryos is developmentally regulated.     

Changes in histone modifications during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes

Nuclear core histone modifications influence chromosome structures and functions. Recently, the involvement of histone acetylations in the cell memory of gene expression has been suggested in mouse oocyte maturation. At present, there is little available data on histone modifications in mammalian oocyte maturation. In the present study, we examined changes in the acetylation of histone H3 lysines 9 (H3K9) and 14 (H3K14), and histone H4 lysines 5 (H4K5), 8 (H4K8) and 12 (H4K12), and trimethylation of H3K9 during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes. Immunocytochemical analyses revealed that the all of the lysines examined were highly acetylated in the germinal vesicle stage, and this level of acetylation was maintained until the first prometaphase. In the first metaphase, the lysines near the N-terminal end, H3K9 and H4K5, were completely deacetylated. The acetylation of the lysines far from the N-terminal end, H3K14, H4K8, and H4K12, was markedly decreased but still present. The acetylations were increased transiently at the first anaphase and telophase, and then decreased again at the second metaphase to the same level as the first metaphase. Since effective concentrations of trichostatin A (TSA) to inhibit the deacetylation were different in various lysine residues, multiple histone deacetylases (HDACs) were suggested to function during meiotic maturation. The trimethylation of H3K9 was maintained in a high level throughout maturation. These results suggest that the histone acetylation during porcine oocyte maturation is precisely controlled by the cell cycle.     

Individual differences in the effect of social defeat on anhedonia and histone acetylation in the rat hippocampus

Major depression is a growing problem worldwide with variation in symptoms and response to treatment. Individual differences in response to stress may contribute to such observed individual variation in behavior and pathology. Therefore, we investigated depressive-like behavior following exposure to repeated social defeat in a rat model of individual differences in response to novelty. Rats are known to exhibit either high locomotor activity and sustained exploration (high responders, HR) or low activity with minimal exploration (low responders, LR) in a novel environment. We measured anhedonia using the sucrose preference test in HR and LR rats following exposure to social defeat stress or in basal, non-defeated conditions. We then compared histone acetylation in the hippocampus in HR and LR defeat and non-defeated rats and measured mRNA levels of histone deacetylases (HDAC) 3, 4, 5, and Creb binding protein (CBP). We found that basally, HR rats consumed more sucrose solution than LR rats, but reduced consumption after exposure to defeat. LR rats' preference was unaffected by social defeat. We found that HR rats had higher levels of histone acetylation on H3K14 and H2B than LR rats in non-stress conditions. Following defeat, this acetylation pattern changed differentially, with HR rats decreasing acetylation of H3K14 and H2B and LR's increasing acetylation of H3K14. Acetylation on histone H4 decreased following defeat with no individual variation. Basal differences in CBP expression levels may underlie the observed acetylation pattern; however we found no significant effects of defeat in levels of HDACs 3, 4, 5 in the hippocampus.     

Histone Acetylation Regulation in Sleep Deprivation-Induced Spatial Memory Impairment

Sleep disorders negatively affect cognition and health. Recent evidence has indicated that chromatin remodeling via histone acetylation regulates cognitive function. This study aimed to investigate the possible roles of histone acetylation in sleep deprivation (SD)-induced cognitive impairment. Results of the Morris water maze test showed that 3 days of SD can cause spatial memory impairment in Wistar rats. SD can also decrease histone acetylation levels, increase histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) expression, and decrease histone acetyltransferase (CBP) expression. Furthermore, SD can reduce H3 and H4 acetylation levels in the promoters of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) gene and thus significantly downregulate BDNF expression and impair the activity of key BDNF signaling pathways (pCaMKII, pErk2, and pCREB). However, treatment with the HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A attenuated all the negative effects induced by SD. Therefore, BDNF and its histone acetylation regulation may play important roles in SD-induced spatial memory impairment, whereas HDAC inhibition possibly confers protection against SD-induced impairment in spatial memory and hippocampal functions.     

Epigenetic alterations are critical for fear memory consolidation and synaptic plasticity in the lateral amygdala

Epigenetic mechanisms, including histone acetylation and DNA methylation, have been widely implicated in hippocampal-dependent learning paradigms. Here, we have examined the role of epigenetic alterations in amygdala-dependent auditory Pavlovian fear conditioning and associated synaptic plasticity in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) in the rat. Using Western blotting, we first show that auditory fear conditioning is associated with an increase in histone H3 acetylation and DNMT3A expression in the LA, and that training-related alterations in histone acetylation and DNMT3A expression in the LA are downstream of ERK/MAPK signaling. Next, we show that intra-LA infusion of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor TSA increases H3 acetylation and enhances fear memory consolidation; that is, long-term memory (LTM) is enhanced, while short-term memory (STM) is unaffected. Conversely, intra-LA infusion of the DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitor 5-AZA impairs fear memory consolidation. Further, intra-LA infusion of 5-AZA was observed to impair training-related increases in H3 acetylation, and pre-treatment with TSA was observed to rescue the memory consolidation deficit induced by 5-AZA. In our final series of experiments, we show that bath application of either 5-AZA or TSA to amygdala slices results in significant impairment or enhancement, respectively, of long-term potentiation (LTP) at both thalamic and cortical inputs to the LA. Further, the deficit in LTP following treatment with 5-AZA was observed to be rescued at both inputs by co-application of TSA. Collectively, these findings provide strong support that histone acetylation and DNA methylation work in concert to regulate memory consolidation of auditory fear conditioning and associated synaptic plasticity in the LA.     

HDAC inhibitor protects chronic cerebral hypoperfusion and oxygen‐glucose deprivation injuries via H3K14 and H4K5 acetylation‐mediated BDNF expression

Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second most common cause of dementia, but the treatment is still lacking. Although many studies have reported that histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) confer protective effects against ischemic and hypoxic injuries, their role in VaD is still uncertain. Previous studies shown, one HDACi protected against cognitive decline in animals with chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH). However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we tested several 10,11‐dihydro‐5H‐dibenzo[b,f]azepine hydroxamates, which act as HDACis in the CCH model (in vivo), and SH‐SY5Y (neuroblastoma cells) with oxygen‐glucose deprivation (OGD, in vitro). We identified a compound 13, which exhibited the best cell viability under OGD. The compound 13 could increase, in part, the protein levels of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It increased acetylation status on lysine 14 residue of histone 3 (H3K14) and lysine 5 of histone 4 (H4K5). We further clarified which promoters (I, II, III, IV or IX) could be affected by histone acetylation altered by compound 13. The results of chromatin immunoprecipitation and Q‐PCR analysis indicate that an increase in H3K14 acetylation leads to an increase in the expression of BDNF promoter II, while an increase in H4K5 acetylation results in an increase in the activity of BDNF promoter II and III. Afterwards, these cause an increase in the expression of BDNF exon II, III and coding exon IX. In summary, the HDACi compound 13 may increase BDNF specific isoforms expression to rescue the ischemic and hypoxic injuries through changes of acetylation on histones.