Dyrk1a gene dosage in glutamatergic neurons has key effects in cognitive deficits observed in mouse models of MRD7 and Down syndrome

PLoS Genet. 2021 Sep 29;17(9):e1009777. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009777. eCollection 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Perturbation of the excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance leads to neurodevelopmental diseases including to autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disability, and epilepsy. Loss-of-function mutations in the DYRK1A gene, located on human chromosome 21 (Hsa21,) lead to an intellectual disability syndrome associated with microcephaly, epilepsy, and autistic troubles. Overexpression of DYRK1A, on the other hand, has been linked with learning and memory defects observed in people with Down syndrome (DS). Dyrk1a is expressed in both glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons, but its impact on each neuronal population has not yet been elucidated. Here we investigated the impact of Dyrk1a gene copy number variation in glutamatergic neurons using a conditional knockout allele of Dyrk1a crossed with the Tg(Camk2-Cre)4Gsc transgenic mouse. We explored this genetic modification in homozygotes, heterozygotes and combined with the Dp(16Lipi-Zbtb21)1Yey trisomic mouse model to unravel the consequence of Dyrk1a dosage from 0 to 3, to understand its role in normal physiology, and in MRD7 and DS. Overall, Dyrk1a dosage in postnatal glutamatergic neurons did not impact locomotor activity, working memory or epileptic susceptibility, but revealed that Dyrk1a is involved in long-term explicit memory. Molecular analyses pointed at a deregulation of transcriptional activity through immediate early genes and a role of DYRK1A at the glutamatergic post-synapse by deregulating and interacting with key post-synaptic proteins implicated in mechanism leading to long-term enhanced synaptic plasticity. Altogether, our work gives important information to understand the action of DYRK1A inhibitors and have a better therapeutic approach.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Autistic Disorder / genetics*
  • Brain / pathology
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2 / metabolism
  • Cognition Disorders / complications
  • Cognition Disorders / genetics*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Down Syndrome / complications
  • Down Syndrome / genetics*
  • Gene Dosage*
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Glutamic Acid / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Intellectual Disability / genetics*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Neurons / metabolism*
  • Proteomics / methods
  • Speech Disorders / genetics*
  • Synaptic Transmission / genetics
  • Transcription, Genetic

Substances

  • Glutamic Acid
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2
  • Camk2a protein, mouse

Grants and funding

This work has been supported by the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), the University of Strasbourg (Unistra), the French state funds through the “Agence Nationale de la Recherche” under the frame programme Investissements d’Avenir [ANR-10-IDEX-0002-02, ANR-10-LABX-0030-INRT, ANR-10-INBS-07 PHENOMIN, ANR-18-CE16-0020 DYRKDOWN to YH]. This project has received funding from the Jérôme Lejeune foundation and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 848077. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.