Regulation of quinolinic acid neosynthesis in mouse, rat and human brain by iron and iron chelators in vitro.

Several lines of evidence indicate that excess iron may play an etiologically significant role in neurodegenerative disorders. This idea is supported, for example, by experimental studies in animals demonstrating significant neuroprotection by iron chelation. Here, we tested whether this effect might be related to a functional link between iron and the endogenous excitotoxin quinolinic acid (QUIN), a presumed pathogen in several neurological disorders. In particular, the present in vitro study was designed to examine the effects of Fe(2+), a known co-factor of oxygenases, on the activity of QUIN's immediate biosynthetic enzyme, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid dioxygenase (3HAO), in the brain. In crude tissue homogenate, addition of Fe(2+) (2-40 µM) stimulated 3HAO activity 4- to 6-fold in all three species tested (mouse, rat and human). The slope of the iron curve was steepest in rat brain where an increase from 6 to 14 µM resulted in a more than fivefold higher enzyme activity. In all species, the Fe(2+)-induced increase in 3HAO activity was dose-dependently attenuated by the addition of ferritin, the main iron storage protein in the brain. The effect of iron was also readily prevented by N,N'-bis(2-hydroxybenzyl) ethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acid (HBED), a synthetic iron chelator with neuroprotective properties in vivo. All these effects were reproduced using neostriatal tissue obtained postmortem from normal individuals and patients with end-stage Huntington's disease. Our results suggest that QUIN levels and function in the mammalian brain might be tightly controlled by endogenous iron and proteins that regulate the bioavailability of iron.

Increased expression of Kalirin-9 in the auditory cortex of schizophrenia subjects: its role in dendritic pathology.

Reductions in dendritic arbor length and complexity are among the most consistently replicated changes in neuronal structure in post mortem studies of cerebral cortical samples from subjects with schizophrenia, however, the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been identified. This study is the first to identify an alteration in a regulatory protein which is known to promote both dendritic length and arborization in developing neurons, Kalirin-9. We found Kalirin-9 expression to be paradoxically increased in schizophrenia. We followed up this observation by overexpressing Kalirin-9 in mature primary neuronal cultures, causing reduced dendritic length and complexity. Kalirin-9 overexpression represents a potential mechanism for dendritic changes seen in schizophrenia.

Impaired kynurenine pathway metabolism in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with schizophrenia.

The levels of kynurenic acid (KYNA), an astrocyte-derived metabolite of the branched kynurenine pathway (KP) of tryptophan degradation and antagonist of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, are elevated in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of individuals with schizophrenia (SZ). Because endogenous KYNA modulates extracellular glutamate and acetylcholine levels in the PFC, these increases may be pathophysiologically significant. Using brain tissue from SZ patients and matched controls, we now measured the activity of several KP enzymes (kynurenine 3-monooxygenase [KMO], kynureninase, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid dioxygenase [3-HAO], quinolinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase [QPRT], and kynurenine aminotransferase II [KAT II]) in the PFC, ie, Brodmann areas (BA) 9 and 10. Compared with controls, the activities of KMO (in BA 9 and 10) and 3-HAO (in BA 9) were significantly reduced in SZ, though there were no significant differences between patients and controls in kynureninase, QPRT, and KAT II. In the same samples, we also confirmed the increase in the tissue levels of KYNA in SZ. As examined in rats treated chronically with the antipsychotic drug risperidone, the observed biochemical changes were not secondary to medication. A persistent reduction in KMO activity may have a particular bearing on pathology because it may signify a shift of KP metabolism toward enhanced KYNA synthesis. The present results further support the hypothesis that the normalization of cortical KP metabolism may constitute an effective new treatment strategy in SZ.

Dysfunctional kynurenine pathway metabolism in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Elevated concentrations of neurotoxic metabolites of the kynurenine pathway (KP) of tryptophan degradation may play a causative role in Huntington's disease (HD). The brain levels of one of these compounds, 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HK), are increased in both HD and several mouse models of the disease. In the present study, we examined this impairment in greater detail using the R6/2 mouse, a well-established animal model of HD. Initially, mutant and age-matched wild-type mice received an intrastriatal injection of (3)H-tryptophan to assess the acute, local de novo production of kynurenine, the immediate bioprecursor of 3-HK, in vivo. No effect of genotype was observed between 4 and 12 weeks of age. In contrast, intrastriatally applied (3)H-kynurenine resulted in significantly increased neosynthesis of (3)H-3-HK, but not other tritiated KP metabolites, in the R6/2 striatum. Subsequent ex vivo studies in striatal, cortical and cerebellar tissue revealed substantial increases in the activity of the biosynthetic enzyme of 3-HK, kynurenine 3-monooxygenase and significant reductions in the activity of its degradative enzyme, kynureninase, in HD mice starting at 4 weeks of age. Decreased kynureninase activity was most evident in the cortex and preceded the increase in kynurenine 3-monooxygenase activity. The activity of other KP enzymes showed no consistent brain abnormalities in the mutant mice. These findings suggest that impairments in its immediate metabolic enzymes jointly account for the abnormally high brain levels of 3-HK in the R6/2 model of HD.