title: Region-specific regulation of RGS4 (Regulator of G-protein-signaling protein type 4) in brain by stress and glucocorticoids: in vivo and in vitro studies.
abstract: The present study demonstrates that the regulator of G-protein-signaling protein type 4 (RGS4) is differentially regulated in the locus coeruleus (LC) and the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus by chronic stress and glucocorticoid treatments. Acute or chronic administration of corticosterone to adult rats decreased RGS4 mRNA levels in the PVN but increased these levels in the LC. Similarly, chronic unpredictable stress decreased RGS4 mRNA levels in the PVN but had a strong trend to increase these levels in the LC. Chronic stress also decreased RGS4 mRNA levels in the pituitary. The molecular mechanisms of RGS4 mRNA regulation were further investigated in vitro in the LC-like CATH.a cell line and the neuroendocrine AtT20 cell line using the synthetic corticosterone analog dexamethasone. Consistent with the findings in vivo, dexamethasone treatment caused a dose- and time-dependent decrease in RGS4 mRNA levels in AtT20 cells but a dose- and time-dependent increase in CATH.a cells. RGS4 mRNA regulation seen in these two cell lines seems to be attributable, at least in part, to opposite changes in mRNA stability. The differential regulation of RGS4 expression in the LC and in key relays of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis could contribute to the brain's region-specific and long-term adaptations to stress.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry and Departments of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06508, USA.
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Iredale
authors.forename: R Z
authors.initials: RZ
authors.lastname: Terwilliger
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Duman
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Nestler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000502:physiology; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology; D005246:Feedback; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020710:RGS Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D020710:RGS Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C098799:RGS4 protein; D003907:Dexamethasone; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D003345:Corticosterone