title: Prenatal exposure to PCP produces behavioral deficits accompanied by the overexpression of GLAST in the prefrontal cortex of postpubertal mice.
abstract: Altered glutamatergic neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been implicated in a myriad of neuropsychiatric disorders. We previously reported that prenatal exposure to PCP produced long-lasting behavioral deficits, accompanied by the abnormal expression and dysfunction of NMDA receptors. In addition, these behavioral changes were attenuated by clozapine treatment. However, whether the prenatal exposure adversely affects pre-synaptic glutamatergic neurotransmission in postpubertal mice remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of prefrontal glutamatergic neurotransmission in the impairment of cognitive and emotional behavior after prenatal PCP treatment (5mg/kg/day) from E6 to E18 in mice. The PCP-treated mice showed an impairment of recognition memory in a novel object recognition test and enhancement of immobility in a forced swimming test at 8 weeks of age. Moreover, the prenatal treatment reduced the extracellular glutamate level, but increased the expression of a glial glutamate transporter (GLAST) in the PFC. The microinjection of DL-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartate (DL-TBOA, 10 nmol/site/bilaterally), a potent blocker of glutamate transporters, reversed these behavioral deficits by enhancing the prefrontal glutamatergic neurotransmission. Taken together, prenatal exposure to PCP produced impairments of long-term memory and emotional function which are associated with abnormalities of pre-synaptic glutamate transmission in the PFC of postpubertal mice. These findings suggest the prenatal inhibition of NMDA receptor function to contribute partly to the pathophysiology of neurodevelopment-related disorders, such as schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Pharmacology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Meijo University, Nagoya 468-8503, Japan.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mamiya
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toriumi
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mouri
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hiramatsu
authors.forename: Li-Bo
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Toshitaka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nabeshima
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects; D027341:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 1 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D017551:Microdialysis / Q000379:methods; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D010622:Phencyclidine / Q000009:adverse effects; D011188:Potassium / Q000494:pharmacology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects; D013550:Swimming / Q000523:psychology
chemical_list: D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D027341:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 1; C493393:Slc1a3 protein, mouse; C120673:benzyloxyaspartate; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D010622:Phencyclidine; D011188:Potassium