Activation of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Reverses Cognitive and Respiratory Symptoms in a Mouse Model of Rett Syndrome

eNeuro. 2018 Jan 10;4(6):ENEURO.0277-17.2017. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0277-17.2017. eCollection 2017 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2; Amir et al., 1999), a transcriptional regulatory protein (Klose et al., 2005). Mouse models of RTT (Mecp2 mutants) exhibit excitatory hypoconnectivity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC; Sceniak et al., 2015), a region critical for functions that are abnormal in RTT patients, ranging from learning and memory to regulation of visceral homeostasis (Riga et al., 2014). The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that increasing the activity of mPFC pyramidal neurons in heterozygous female Mecp2 mutants (Hets) would ameliorate RTT-like symptoms, including deficits in respiratory control and long-term retrieval of auditory conditioned fear. Selective activation of mPFC pyramidal neurons in adult animals was achieved by bilateral infection with an AAV8 vector expressing excitatory hm3D(Gq) DREADD (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) (Armbruster et al., 2007) under the control of the CamKIIa promoter. DREADD activation in Mecp2 Hets completely restored long-term retrieval of auditory conditioned fear, eliminated respiratory apneas, and reduced respiratory frequency variability to wild-type (Wt) levels. Reversal of respiratory symptoms following mPFC activation was associated with normalization of Fos protein levels, a marker of neuronal activity, in a subset of brainstem respiratory neurons. Thus, despite reduced levels of MeCP2 and severe neurological deficits, mPFC circuits in Het mice are sufficiently intact to generate normal behavioral output when pyramidal cell activity is increased. These findings highlight the contribution of mPFC hypofunction to the pathophysiology of RTT and raise the possibility that selective activation of cortical regions such as the mPFC could provide therapeutic benefit to RTT patients.

Keywords: DREADD; Mecp2; autism spectrum disorder; hypofrontality; mPFC; memory.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Auditory Perception / physiology
  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Conditioning, Psychological / physiology
  • Designer Drugs
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Fear / physiology
  • Female
  • Genetic Vectors
  • Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2 / genetics
  • Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2 / metabolism
  • Mice, 129 Strain
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Prefrontal Cortex / physiopathology*
  • Pyramidal Cells / physiology*
  • Random Allocation
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / genetics
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / metabolism
  • Respiration*
  • Rett Syndrome / physiopathology*

Substances

  • Designer Drugs
  • Mecp2 protein, mouse
  • Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2
  • Receptors, Cell Surface