Elevated Hippocampal CRMP5 Mediates Chronic Stress-Induced Cognitive Deficits by Disrupting Synaptic Plasticity, Hindering AMPAR Trafficking, and Triggering Cytokine Release

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 24; no. 5; p. 4898
• Main Authors: Lin, Yu-Fen, Chen, Ching-An, Hsu, Fang-Yu, Hsiao, Ya-Hsin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.03.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; AMPA receptor trafficking; Animals; Atrophy; Brain research; chronic unpredictable stress; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; cognitive deficits; Cognitive Dysfunction - metabolism; collapsin response mediator proteins; Cytokine storm; Cytokines; Cytokines - metabolism; Disruption; Glucocorticoids; Hippocampus; Hippocampus - metabolism; Impairment; Kinases; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Memory; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neuronal Plasticity - physiology; Pathogenesis; Phosphorylation; Protein transport; Proteins; Risk factors; Stress; Stress (Psychology); synaptic atrophy; Synaptic plasticity; α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid; α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid receptors; Massachusetts; Taiwan; cognitive deficits; chronic unpredictable stress; synaptic atrophy; collapsin response mediator proteins; AMPA receptor trafficking
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms24054898

Chronic stress is a critical risk factor for developing depression, which can impair cognitive function. However, the underlying mechanisms involved in chronic stress-induced cognitive deficits remain unclear. Emerging evidence suggests that collapsin response mediator proteins (CRMPs) are implicated in the pathogenesis of psychiatric-related disorders. Thus, the study aims to examine whether CRMPs modulate chronic stress-induced cognitive impairment. We used the chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) paradigm to mimic stressful life situations in C57BL/6 mice. In this study, we found that CUS-treated mice exhibited cognitive decline and increased hippocampal CRMP2 and CRMP5 expression. In contrast to CRMP2, CRMP5 levels strongly correlated with the severity of cognitive impairment. Decreasing hippocampal CRMP5 levels through shRNA injection rescued CUS-induced cognitive impairment, whereas increasing CRMP5 levels in control mice exacerbated memory decline after subthreshold stress treatment. Mechanistically, hippocampal CRMP5 suppression by regulating glucocorticoid receptor phosphorylation alleviates chronic stress-induced synaptic atrophy, disruption of AMPA receptor trafficking, and cytokine storms. Our findings show that hippocampal CRMP5 accumulation through GR activation disrupts synaptic plasticity, impedes AMPAR trafficking, and triggers cytokine release, thus playing a critical role in chronic stress-induced cognitive deficits.