Browsing by Author "Klempin, Friederike"

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Melatonin Modulates Cell Survival of New Neurons in the Hippocampus of Adult Mice
(Elsevier Science INC, 360 Park Ave South, New York, NY 10010-1710 USA, 2009) Ramírez-Rodríguez, Gerardo; Klempin, Friederike; Babu, Harish; Benítez-King, Gloria; Kempermann, Gerd; Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany; gerd.kempermann@crt-dresden.de
Regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis is influenced by circadian rhythm, affected by the manipulation of sleep, and is disturbed in animal models of affective disorders. These observations and the link between dysregulation of the circadian production of melatonin and neuropsychiatric disorders prompted us to investigate the potential role of melatonin in controlling adult hippocampal neurogenesis. In vitro, melatonin increased the number of new neurons derived from adult hippocampal neural precursor cells in vitro by promoting cell survival. This effect was partially dependent on the activation of melatonin receptors as it could be blocked by the application of receptor antagonist luzindole. There was no effect of melatonin on cell proliferation. Similarly, in the dentate gyrus of adult C57BL/6 mice in vivo, exogenous melatonin (8_mg/kg) also increased the survival of neuronal progenitor cells and post-mitotic immature neurons. Melatonin did not affect precursor cell proliferation in vivo and also did not influence neuronal and glial cell maturation. Moreover, melatonin showed antidepressant-like effects in the Porsolt forced swim test. These results indicate that melatonin through its receptor can modulate the survival of newborn neurons in the adult hippocampus, making it the first known exogenously applicable substance with such specificity
The α Domain of Small Heat Shock Protein b8 (Hspb8) Acts as Survival and Differentiation Factor in Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis
(2013) Ramírez-Rodríguez, Gerardo; Babu, Harish; Klempin, Friederike; Krylyshkina, Olga; Baekelandt, Veerle; Gijsbers, Rik; Debyser, Zeger; Overall, Rupert; Nicola, Zeina; Fabel, Klaus; Kempermann, Gerd; Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Calz, México-Xochimilco 101, Col. Sn Lorenzo Huipulco 14370, México, D.F., Mexico; gerd.kempermann@crt-dresden.de
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is to a large degree controlled at the level of cell survival, and a number of potential mediators of this effect have been postulated. Here, we investigated the small heat shock protein Hspb8, which, because of its pleiotropic prosurvival effects in other systems, was considered a particularly promising candidate factor. Hspb8 is, for example, found in plaques of Alzheimer disease but exerts neuroprotective effects. We found that expression of Hspb8 increased during differentiation in vitro and was particularly associated with later stages (48–96 h) of differentiation. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function experiments supported the hypothesis that Hspb8 regulates cell survival of new neurons in vitro. In the dentate gyrus of adult mice in vivo, lentiviral overexpression of Hspb8 doubled the surviving cells and concomitantly promoted differentiation and net neurogenesis without affecting precursor cell proliferation. We also discovered that the truncated form of the crystallin domain of Hspb8 was sufficient to affect cell survival and neuronal differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Precursor cell experiments in vitro revealed that Hspb8 increases the phosphorylation of Akt and suggested that the prosurvival effect can be produced by a cell-autonomous mechanism. Analysis of hippocampal Hspb8 expression in mice of 69 strains of the recombinant inbred set BXD revealed that Hspb8 is a cis-acting gene whose expression was associated with clusters of transcript enriched in genes linked to growth factor signaling and apoptosis. Our results strongly suggest that Hspb8 and its _-crystallin domain might act as pleiotropic prosurvival factor in the adult hippocampus.
Variability of doublecortin-associated dendrite maturation in adult hippocampal neurogenesis is independent of the regulation of precursor cell proliferation
(2006) Plümpe, Tobias; Ehninger, Dan; Steiner, Barbara; Klempin, Friederike; Jessberger, Sebastian; Brandt, Moritz; Römer, Benedikt; Ramírez Rodríguez, Gerardo; Kronenberg, Golo; Kempermann, Gerd; Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany; gerd.kempermann@mdc-berlin.de
Background: In the course of adult hippocampal neurogenesis most regulation takes place during the phase of doublecortin (DCX) expression, either as pro-proliferative effect on precursor cells or as survival-promoting effect on postmitotic cells. We here obtained quantitative data about the proliferative population and the dynamics of postmitotic dendrite development during the period of DCX expression. The question was, whether any indication could be obtained that the initiation of dendrite development is timely bound to the exit from the cell cycle. Alternatively, the temporal course of morphological maturation might be subject to additional regulatory events. Results: We found that (1) 20% of the DCX population were precursor cells in cell cycle, whereas more than 70% were postmitotic, (2) the time span until newborn cells had reached the most mature stage associated with DCX expression varied between 3 days and several weeks, (3) positive or negative regulation of precursor cell proliferation did not alter the pattern and dynamics of dendrite development. Dendrite maturation was largely independent of close contacts to astrocytes. Conclusion: These data imply that dendrite maturation of immature neurons is initiated at varying times after cell cycle exit, is variable in duration, and is controlled independently of the regulation of precursor cell proliferation. We conclude that in addition to the major regulatory events in cell proliferation and selective survival, additional micro-regulatory events influence the course of adult hippocampal neurogenesis.