Lecture 34- Developmental disorders II Flashcards
How does the dendritic arbor develop?
-Basic plan is genetically specified– programs of gene transcription -Growth and branching influenced by environmental factors: • local signals (contact dependent or diffusible cues) • active synapses
How do dendritic spines acquire their mature shape and density?
-from active neuronal inputs
- Spine size and shape reflects strength of synapse
- Changing inputs changes in size/shape: dynamic system (morphological and functional “plasticity”)
- Large spines with prominent heads (“mushroom”) correlate with more glutamate receptors and stronger “mature” synapses filopodium is the early stage, as mature get to the mushroom morphology this is when they are mature
What is the definition of mental retardation and what are the symptoms?
• MR defined by an intelligence quotient (IQ) below 70 (two standard deviations below the average IQ of 100), corresponding to ~2% of the general population • Mental retardation often associated with other clinical symptoms – called syndromic MR • In syndromic MR, the cognitive disability is associated with a defined array of body and brain malformations, neurological or psychiatric symptoms or metabolic defects • In non syndromic MR, no abnormalities are observed apart from sub normal intelligence
What are the two syndromes involving mental retardation that are genetically caused?
-Down and Patau’s syndromes
What is Down syndrome?
- Trisomy (or partial triplication) of Chr 21 -Most common chromosomal abnormality in humans (~1/1000 births) - Neurological: intellectual delay, progressive neurodegeneration similar to Alzheimer’s disease, also associated with epilepsy –Other: distinct facial features, problems with the heart and digestive tract -doesn’t have to be the whole chromosome 21 that is extra, can be partial -accelerated neurodegeneration
What is Patau’s syndrome?
-Trisomy (or partial triplication) of Chr 13 - Complex dysmorphic syndrome: -Neurological: small brain, cognitive and motor problems, spina bifida (myelomenigocoele), eye problems – Other: musculoskeletal, urogenital, polydactyly -Most patients die within the first year of life
What are the autism spectrum disorders (ASD’s)?
-family of related disorders with varied clinical manifestations
What are the core symptoms of autism spectrum?
- impairment in social interaction, verbal and non verbal communication -repetitive, stereotyped behaviours, restricted interests -definition: - have to have the core symptom -adjunct symptoms= sometimes, not every case
What are adjunct symptoms of autism?
-intellectual disability -seizure disorders • ~25% of cases have a known genetic cause, some chromosomal loci (e.g.16p11.2 containing 25 genes incl. Sez6L2) and risk genes known
What are some autism spectrum disorders that can be caused by single gene mutations?
• Fragile X syndrome CGG repeat expansion causes “fragile” site on the end of the X chromosome that silences the Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 gene (FMR1) coding for FXMR1 protein) • Rett syndrome Mutation of MeCP2 gene (on X chr, affects females)– transcription repressor -Between 2 10 years of age, language and motor skills regress, seizures, and stereotypic movements and MR develop
What are abnormal dendrite and synapse development in syndromic MR?
• Patau’s syndrome (trisomy 13): • Protrusions have immature, filopodial like morphologies • Down syndrome (trisomy 21): • Very small, poorly developed spines
What are the dendrite and dendritic spine abnormalities in ASDs, Rett syndrome, Fragile X MR and non-specific mental retardation?
• Post-mortem analysis of brains from patients with an autism spectrum disorder or Rett syndrome showed:
– Smaller neuron cell bodies,reduced size of dendritic trees
• Neurons from patients with MR/ASD’s bear fewer mature spines:
– Non-syndromic MR–long, thin with small heads, reduced in number
– Fragile X syndrome: long tortuous protrusions with immature filopodial morphology, increased in number
What are the spinal abnormalities commonly associated with cognitive disorders?
-Changes in spine density and shape caused by both GENETIC and ENVIRONMENTAL factors
What types of genes/proteins cause mental retardation and/or ASD’s when mutated?
• >450 different genes or genetic loci now known • Can be classified according to the function of their encoded proteins • Functional groups strongly represented include synapse formation, reorganization of the cytoskeleton, synapse signalling
What are the proteins involved in mental retardation and autism spectrum disorder?
- neurexin, neuregulin
- CASK
- Munc18
- AMPA and NMDA receptors
- GKAP
- SHANK
What are the dendrite and spine cytoskeleton regulated by?
- dendrite and spine cytoskeleton regulated by small GTPases of the Rho family
- Dendrite & spine growth via actin
- Dendrite formation & stabilization via effects on microtubules
- Dendrite & spine growth via actin
- Gene transcription for dendrite formation
- Small GTPases of Rho family (e.g. Rho, Rac, cdc42) signal to alter actin cytoskeleton
- ultimately all 3 end up in affecting the cytoskeletal components of the cell
- small GTPases of Rho family: Rho, Rac, cdc42= these act like signalling swithces that switch on signals and affect cytoskleteon
What are the Rho small GTPases?
-molecular switches regulating the actin cytoskeleton
• Most studied Rho GTPases: RhoA, Rac1 and Cdc42
• Act as molecular switches:
– active, GTP bound
– inactive, GDP bound state
- Activated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors – GEFs
- Inactivated: Bound GTP converted to GDP by the GTPase activity of the protein, stimulated by GTPase activating proteins GAPs
- have activators= GEFs
- inactivators= GAPs
-cycle between active and inactive (GDP- to GTP)
What are the RhoGTPase effectors?
-Include kinases (signal via adding phosphate groups) and regulators of the actin / myosin cytoskeleton
(know only the overall effects of cdc42 + Rac and Rho)
What happens in many single-gene causes of mental retardation?
-in many single-gene causes of Mental Retardation, mutations occur in genesencoding:
• Rho GTPase activators (GEFs)
- inactivators (GAPs)
- effector
-Abnormal cytoskeletal responses (growth cones, dendritic filopodia and spines)
aberrant circuit development reduction in spine growth & plasticity intellectual disability
What is the therapeutic approach for Fragile X mental retardation?
• If excess protein synthesis after mGluR signalling contributes to FXMR pathology,
then drugs blocking mGluR (antagonists, negative modulators) should help:
• Does it?
-Yes mGluR5 blocker improves behavioural outcomes in Fragile X
patients
Lecture summary II?
-Many synaptic proteins found to be mutated in
MR/ASDs, including pre synaptic vesicle release proteins and post synaptic organizers
-One major class of actin cytoskeletal regulatory proteins Rho GTPases and their activators (GEF’s), inactivators (GAP’s) and effectors (kinases and actomyosin regulatory proteins) is strongly implicated in MR
• Post-natal developmental disorder (Rett syndrome) is (genetically) reversible and may be amenable to treatment in adult
-Possible therapeutic approaches to rectify synaptic
pathologies:
