Effect and regulation ofα-dstroglycan glyco⁃sylation on chronic social defeat induced depressive-like behaviors of mice

摘要

OBJECTIVEα-Dstroglycan(α-DG)is a predominant component in the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex(DGC)and a recently char⁃acterized receptor for several extracellular matrix components with high affinity.Recent research⁃es have reported that hypoglycosylation ofα-DG is associated with the pathophysiology of diseas⁃es,especially muscular dystrophy,but little is known about major depressive disorder(MDD).Like-acetylglucosaminyl transferase(Large)is a key enzyme for glycosylation ofα-DG,which mainly modifies two points in the middle domain ofα-DG:Thr-317 and Thr-319.Glycosylatedα-DG(GLY-α-DG)can bind with high affinity to extracellular matrix(ECM)molecules that con⁃tain laminin globular(LG)domains,including per⁃lecan,agrin and neurexin.Agrin is mainly derived from neurons rather than glial cells.In cultured hippocampal neurons,it was found that agrin could regulate the homeostatic plasticity of inhibi⁃tory neurons by acting on GLY-α-DG.Mdx mice are transgenetic models for the investigation of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.Many studies have shown that the expression of GLY-α-DG in the peripheral and brain tissues of Mdx mice is significantly down-regulated.Mdx mice show cognitive impairment and high levels of anxiety.In this study,we employed chronic social defeat stress(CSDS)to establish an animal model of depression and detected the expression of GLY-α-DG among the brain areas associated with the pathophysiology of depression.METHODS So⁃cial interaction test(SIT)and sucrose preference test(SPT)were used to evaluate depressive-like behavior.Open field(OF)and elevated plus maze(EPM)test were used to determine the anxiety-like behavior of Mdx mice.Novelty-sup⁃pressed feeding test(NSFT)forced swim test(FST)and tail suspension test(TST)were used to detect the depressive-like behavior of Mdx mice.Novel object recognition test(NOR)was applied to evaluate the cognition of Mdx mice.Subthreshold social defeat stress was used to explore the susceptibility to stress in Mdx mice.Stereotactic infusion of agrin into the ventral hippocampus(vHip),FST and TST were used to investigate the antidepressant effects of agrin.Adeno-associated virus(AAV)-mediated overex⁃pression techniques,behavior tests and whole-cell path-clamp technique were conducted to determine the impact of Large overexpression on CSDS susceptible mice.RESULTS The expres⁃sion ofα-DG and GLY-α-DG were significantly decreased in the vHip of CSDS susceptible mice.Mdx mice showed decreased expression of GLY-α-DG and increased anxiety-like behav⁃iors.Mdx mice displayed some depressive-like behaviors,and the susceptibility to stress was significantly increased.Downregulation of the expressionα-DG in the vHip by lentivirus increased the susceptibility to stress.Administra⁃tion of agrin to CSDS susceptible mice exerted antidepressant effects,and this effect could par⁃tially sustain for a week.The expression of Large was decreased in vHip.Overexpression of Large through AAV-Large reversed the depressive-like behaviors and restored the decreased frequency and amplitude of mIPSC.CONCLUSION GLY-α-DG and its glycosylase are significantly decreased in CSDS susceptible mice.Adminis⁃tration of agrin and overexpression of Large displays antidepressant effect,which may be related to its promotion of inhibitory synaptic transmission.