The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism regulates glucocorticoid-induced corticohippocampal remodeling and behavioral despair.

TitleThe BDNF Val66Met polymorphism regulates glucocorticoid-induced corticohippocampal remodeling and behavioral despair.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsNotaras M, Du X, Gogos J, van den Buuse M, Hill RA
JournalTransl Psychiatry
Volume7
Issue9
Paginatione1233
Date Published2017 Sep 19
ISSN2158-3188
Abstract

The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism has been associated with sensitivity to stress and affective disorders. We therefore sought to model the inter-causality of these relationships under controlled laboratory conditions. We subjected humanized BDNF Val66Met (hBDNFVal66Met) transgenic mice to a history of stress, modeled by chronic late-adolescent corticosterone (CORT) exposure, before evaluating affective-related behavior using the forced-swim test (FST) in adulthood. While hBDNFMet/Met mice had a depression-like phenotype in the FST irrespective of CORT, hBDNFVal/Val wildtype mice had a resilient phenotype but developed an equally robust depressive-like phenotype following CORT. A range of stress-sensitive molecules were studied across the corticohippocampal axis, and where genotype differences occurred following CORT they tended to inversely coincide with the behavior of the hBDNFVal/Val group. Notably, tyrosine hydroxylase was markedly down-regulated in the mPFC of hBDNFVal/Val mice as a result of CORT treatment, which mimicked expression levels of hBDNFMet/Met mice and the FST behavior of both groups. The expression of calretinin, PSD-95, and truncated TrkB were also concomitantly reduced in the mPFC of hBDNFVal/Val mice by CORT. This work establishes BDNFVal66Met genotype as a regulator of behavioral despair, and identifies new biological targets of BDNF genetic variation relevant to stress-inducible disorders such as depression.

DOI10.1038/tp.2017.205
Alternate JournalTransl Psychiatry
PubMed ID28926000
PubMed Central IDPMC5639248