Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in childhood.

BACKGROUND: Neurotrophic factors are essential regulators of neuronal maturation including synaptic synthesis. Among those, Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been in particular focus in the understanding of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to investigate whether BNDF could be used as diagnostic/biological marker for ASD. For this purpose we examined the plasma levels of BDNF and the precursors pro- BDNF in patients with ASD and compared it with non-autistic controls; determined whether there was a correlation between the BDNF and proBDNF levels and clinical severity. We also investigated the coding region of BDNF identify for well-variations which could be associated to ASD. METHODS: The 65 ASD patients (51 boys) were enrolled from a recent completed epidemiological survey covering two counties (Oppland and Hedmark) in Norway. The mean age of the total number of children who participated in this study was 11,7 years. 30 non-autistic children were included as controls, 14 boys and 16 girls. The mean age was 11.3 years. Exclusion criteria for control group were individuals suffering from either neurological, endocrine, or immune insuffiency. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ASD were characterized by moderately but significantly elevated plasma levels of BDNF compared to matched controls. No differences were observed in the proBDNF level between patients and controls. Within the ASD group, children with intellectual disability demonstrated increased BDNF, but not proBDNF levels, while the presence of ADHD had no impact on circulating proBDNF or BDNF. No further associations between plasma proBDNF or BDNF and other clinical demographics were observed.

Identification of an amino acid sequence motif in the cytoplasmic domain of the NCAM-140 kDa isoform essential for its neuritogenic activity.

The functions of the extracellular domains of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) have been studied extensively, whereas the roles of the cytoplasmic domains of the transmembrane forms of NCAM are less elucidated. We investigated the importance of the cytoplasmic domain of the 140-kDa NCAM isoform (cytNCAM-140) and of the 180-kDa NCAM isoform (cytNCAM-180) in NCAM-induced neurite extension by estimating NCAM-dependent neurite outgrowth from PC12-E2 cells grown in coculture with NCAM-negative or NCAM-positive fibroblasts. PC12-E2 cells were transiently transfected with expression plasmids encoding cytNCAM-140, cytNCAM-180, the constitutively active form of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK2), and the enhanced variant of the green fluorescent protein (EGFP). EGFP expression was used for identification of transfected cells. We found that expression of cytNCAM-180 had no effect on NCAM-stimulated neuritogenesis, whereas expression of cytNCAM-140 strongly inhibited this process. However, if MEK2 was expressed concomitantly with cytNCAM-140, neurite outgrowth was rescued, indicating that cytNCAM-140 is involved in signaling via the Ras-MAP kinase pathway. PC12-E2 cells were subsequently transiently transfected with constructs encoding a series of fragments of cytNCAM-140 and various full-length cytNCAM-140 mutants, and the residues Thr-Glu-Val-Lys-Thr (839-843) were identified as essential in NCAM-stimulated neuritogenesis. The combined substitution of Glu(840) and Lys(842) with Ala abrogated the effect of the construct, assigning a critical role to these two residues.

Neural cell adhesion molecule-stimulated neurite outgrowth depends on activation of protein kinase C and the Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

The signal transduction pathways associated with neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM)-induced neuritogenesis are only partially characterized. We here demonstrate that NCAM-induced neurite outgrowth depends on activation of p59(fyn), focal adhesion kinase (FAK), phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma), protein kinase C (PKC), and the Ras-mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway. This was done using a coculture system consisting of PC12-E2 cells grown on fibroblasts, with or without NCAM expression, allowing NCAM-NCAM interactions resulting in neurite outgrowth. PC12-E2 cells were transiently transfected with expression plasmids encoding constitutively active forms of Ras, Raf, MAP kinase kinases MEK1 and 2, dominant negative forms of Ras and Raf, and the FAK-related nonkinase. Alternatively, PC12-E2 cells were submitted to treatment with antibodies to the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor, inhibitors of the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase p59(fyn), PLC, PKC and MEK and an activator of PKC, phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA). MEK2 transfection rescued cells treated with all inhibitors. The same was found for PMA treatment, except when cells concomitantly were treated with the MEK inhibitor. Arachidonic acid rescued cells treated with antibodies to the FGF receptor or the PLC inhibitor, but not cells in which the activity of PKC, p59(fyn), FAK, Ras, or MEK was inhibited. Interaction of NCAM with a synthetic NCAM peptide ligand, known to induce neurite outgrowth, was shown to stimulate phosphorylation of the MAP kinases extracellular signal-regulated kinases ERK1 and ERK2. The MAP kinase activation was sustained, because ERK1 and ERK2 were phosphorylated in PC12-E2 cells and primary hippocampal neurons even after 24 hr of cultivation on NCAM-expressing fibroblasts. Based on these results, we propose a model of NCAM signaling involving two pathways: NCAM-Ras-MAP kinase and NCAM-FGF receptor-PLCgamma-PKC, and we propose that PKC serves as the link between the two pathways activating Raf and thereby creating the sustained activity of the MAP kinases necessary for neuronal differentiation.