title: Isoform switching of steroid receptor co-activator-1 attenuates glucocorticoid-induced anxiogenic amygdala CRH expression.
abstract: Maladaptive glucocorticoid effects contribute to stress-related psychopathology. The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) that mediates many of these effects uses multiple signaling pathways. We have tested the hypothesis that manipulation of downstream factors ('coregulators') can abrogate potentially maladaptive GR-mediated effects on fear-motivated behavior that are linked to corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH). For this purpose the expression ratio of two splice variants of steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1) was altered via antisense-mediated 'exon-skipping' in the central amygdala of the mouse brain. We observed that a change in splicing towards the repressive isoform SRC-1a strongly reduced glucocorticoid-induced responsiveness of Crh mRNA expression and increased methylation of the Crh promoter. The transcriptional GR target gene Fkbp5 remained responsive to glucocorticoids, indicating gene specificity of the effect. The shift of the SRC-1 splice variants altered glucocorticoid-dependent exploratory behavior and attenuated consolidation of contextual fear memory. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that manipulation of GR signaling pathways related to the Crh gene can selectively diminish potentially maladaptive effects of glucocorticoids.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zalachoras
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Verhoeve
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Toonen
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L T C M
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: van Weert
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: van Vlodrop
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Mol
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meelis
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Department of Medical Pharmacology, Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: de Kloet
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.|Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: O C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Meijer
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000679:Amygdala; D000818:Animals; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000378:metabolism; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000378:metabolism*; D005239:Fear; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D056920:Nuclear Receptor Coactivator 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics; D059368:RNA Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid / Q000378:metabolism; D011987:Receptors, Steroid; D022021:Tacrolimus Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D000099159:Tacrolimus Binding Protein 5
chemical_list: D003345:Corticosterone; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D056920:Nuclear Receptor Coactivator 1; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D059368:RNA Isoforms; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011965:Receptors, Glucocorticoid; D011987:Receptors, Steroid; D022021:Tacrolimus Binding Proteins; D000099159:Tacrolimus Binding Protein 5; C538861:Ncoa1 protein, mouse