title: Role of disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) in stress-induced prefrontal cognitive dysfunction.
abstract: Recent genetic studies have linked mental illness to alterations in disrupted in schizophrenia 1 (DISC1), a multifunctional scaffolding protein that regulates cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling via interactions with phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4). High levels of cAMP during stress exposure impair function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), a region gravely afflicted in mental illness. As stress can aggravate mental illness, genetic insults to DISC1 may worsen symptoms by increasing cAMP levels. The current study examined whether viral knockdown (KD) of the Disc1 gene in rat PFC increases susceptibility to stress-induced PFC dysfunction. Rats were trained in a spatial working memory task before receiving infusions of (a) an active viral construct that knocked down Disc1 in PFC (DISC1 KD group), (b) a 'scrambled' construct that had no effect on Disc1 (Scrambled group), or (c) an active construct that reduced DISC1 expression dorsal to PFC (Anatomical Control group). Data were compared with an unoperated Control group. Cognitive performance was assessed following mild restraint stress that had no effect on normal animals. DISC1 KD rats were impaired by 1  h restraint stress, whereas Scrambled, Control, and Anatomical Control groups were unaffected. Thus, knocking down Disc1 in PFC reduced the threshold for stress-induced cognitive dysfunction, possibly through disinhibited cAMP signaling at neuronal network synapses. These findings may explain why patients with DISC1 mutations may be especially vulnerable to the effects of stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Gamo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duque
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Paspalas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kata
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fine
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boven
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bryan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anighoro
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bermudez
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Annor
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raja
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mansson
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Simen
authors.forename: A F T
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Arnsten
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C498795:Disc1 protein, rat; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D000242:Cyclic AMP