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Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), via activation of TrkB receptors, mediates vital physiological functions in the brain, ranging from neuronal survival to synaptic plasticity, and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders. Although transcriptional regulation of the BDNF gene (Bdnf) has been extensively studied, much remains to be understood. We discovered a sequence within Bdnf promoter 4 that binds the basic helix-loop-helix protein BHLHB2 and is a target for BHLHB2-mediated transcriptional repression. NMDA receptor activation de-repressed promoter 4-mediated transcription and correlated with reduced occupancy of the promoter by BHLHB2 in cultured hippocampal neurons. Bhlhb2 gene -/- mice showed increased hippocampal exon 4-specific Bdnf mRNA levels compared with +/+ littermates under basal and activity-dependent conditions. Bhlhb2 knock-out mice also showed increased status epilepticus susceptibility, suggesting that BHLHB2 alters neuronal excitability. Together, these results support a role for BHLHB2 as a new modulator of Bdnf transcription and neuronal excitability.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2262-07.2008 | DOI Listing |
Cell Rep
September 2025
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address:
An adverse gestational environment is a risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders. Although studies have implicated modifications in neuronal DNA and chromatin, how these changes come about and lead to abnormal behaviors is not known. We sought to identify persistent DNA/chromatin and transcriptomic signatures induced by a proinflammatory gestational environment in the ventral dentate gyrus (vDG), a hippocampal region linked to anxiety.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRev Esp Anestesiol Reanim (Engl Ed)
September 2025
Department of Neurology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, China. Electronic address:
Objective: This study aims to investigate the effects of anaesthesia and surgical procedures on the cognitive function of both young and aged mice. It will also explore the role and mechanisms of c-Fos expression in altering hippocampal neuron excitability and its relationship with perioperative neurocognitive disorders in mice.
Methods: In this study, we used a murine laparotomy model to assess cognitive behavioural changes in both young and aged mice at 1, 3, and 7 days post-surgery.
Clin Neurophysiol
August 2025
University of Queensland, Centre for Clinical Research, Herston, QLD, Australia; Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, Herston, QLD, Australia. Electronic address:
Objective: High-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) is a non-invasive and quantitative tool for studying neuromuscular disorders, enabling assessments of muscle excitation, motor unit (MU) characteristics and firing patterns. This systematic review reports the published evidence on the clinical applications of HD-sEMG across neuromuscular disorders, identifying the range of disorders studied, indexes utilized, and gaps in the literature.
Methods: Systematic searches in PubMed and Scopus identified 200 studies, of which 55 met the inclusion criteria.
Neurobiol Aging
September 2025
Departamento de Farmacobiología. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México 14330, Mexico. Electronic address:
The physiological decline associated with aging is often accompanied by a progressive deterioration in cognitive processing abilities driven by a series of cellular dysfunctions that remain poorly understood. In the hippocampus, a critical area for learning and memory, aging affects the functional expression of ionotropic and metabotropic receptors, including the metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). mGluRs play a critical role in multiple cellular functions, including modulation of ion channels and intrinsic excitability, synaptic transmission, and induction of synaptic plasticity, processes considered part of the cellular substrates for learning and memory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Psychiatry
September 2025
Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai Key Lab of Reproduction and Development, Shanghai Key Lab of Female Reproductive Endocrine Related Diseases, Shanghai, China.
Dramatic drop in reproductive hormone, especially estrogen level, from pregnancy to postpartum period is known to contribute to postpartum depression (PPD), but the underlying mechanism and the role of the estrogen receptors (ERs) in this process were unclear. Here, we used an estrogen-withdrawal-induced PPD model following hormone simulated pregnancy (HSP) in female Sprague-Dawley rats to induce depressive-like behaviors. After estrogen withdrawal, we observe an up-regulation of astrocyte-specific potassium channel (Kir4.
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