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Molecular Neurobiology Branch, NIDA-IRP, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA
1Correspondence: Molecular Neurobiology, Rm. 302, 5500 Nathan Shock Dr., Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. E-mail guhl{at}intra.nida.nih.gov
| ABSTRACT |
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Key Words: VMAT2 serotonin histamine dopamine norepinephrine synaptic vesicle Parkinsonism MPTP
| VMAT2 |
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Monoamine transmitters and the neurons in which they are selectively expressed are implicated in a broad range of pharmacologic, neurological, and psychiatric states. Data from humans and mouse models indicate significant genetic contributions to many of the states in which the monoamine transmitters are implicated. Better understanding of the VMAT2 gene and of individual differences at this locus could contribute to improved understanding the biology of these disorders. Understanding the differences in behavioral, pharmacologic, and physiological responses found when VMAT2 expression is altered in animal models is also important. Together, these views of this gene, its allelic variants, and the different phenotypes conferred by altering VMAT2 expression in animals provide a basis for examination of the contributions that individual differences in VMAT2 structure and/or expression could make to human individual differences in several phenotypes of interest. These phenotypes include amphetamine responsiveness, vulnerabilities to addiction, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, sleep disorders, schizophrenia and depression, individual differences in locomotor activity and cardiac arrhythmias, as well as features of aging and vulnerability to dopaminergic toxins.
In this study, we review work on the structure of the human, rat, and murine VMAT2 genes, current evidence for human polymorphisms in this gene, the consequences of altering VMAT2 expression through knockout techniques in mice, and initial attempts to assess the individual differences in the VMAT2 gene in humans.
| VMAT2 GENES: HUMAN AND MURINE GENES, FOCAL 5' SEQUENCE CONSERVATION, SEQUENCE VARIANTS, DISTRIBUTIONS IN CAUCASIAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN CONTROL AND DISEASE POPULATIONS |
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Data about the mouse gene can now be assembled with data from the human
cDNAs and genes from Uhl and colleagues, Xu and colleagues
(5
6
7)
, Hasama, Uhl et al. (unpublished results); from the
rat gene from Watson and co-workers (8)
; and from genomic
databases to provide the human VMAT2 gene structures noted in
Fig. 1
. Variants and patterns of linkage disequilibrium are also superimposed
on this figure, as discussed below.
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The murine VMAT2 gene encodes most of the mRNAs 5' untranslated
region on its first exon (4)
. Assignment of a similar
transcriptional start site for the human gene allows comparison of the
human with mouse candidate 5' flanking region sequences. Comparisons of
ca. 6 kb of human and murine VMAT2 5' flanking genomic sequences
(4)
elucidates a >3.5 kb region that displays multifocal
sequence conservation between these species (Fig. 2
).
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Many of the misalignments in this area come from the presence of
Alu-like repeats in the human sequence. This 5' flanking region is also
rich in transcription factor recognition motifs. Approximately 2 kb
portions of this region can drive reporter gene expression in rat
lymphoid precursor cells that normally express VAMT2 (8)
.
This promoter sequence fragment is also able to support expression of a
sensitive reporter gene in SHSY-5Y cells that normally express little
VMAT2 (7)
. Within the 5' regions most conserved between
mouse and human genes, there are several islands of quite highly
conserved sequence. One of these is a 154 bp region immediately 5' to
the transcription initiation site. This region shows 55% sequence
identity between mouse and human sequences. The human and mouse genes
share many of the same candidate transcription factor binding elements
in this area, including Sp1, AP1-like, AP2-like, and CRE-like motifs.
Many of these features are also found in the rat gene 5' flanking
sequences (8
; GENBANK accession # AF047575). The human
gene sequences reported by Xu and co-workers (7)
also show
sequence similarities in this region, retaining transcription factor
binding sites that include CRE and Sp1 elements. None of these genomic
sequences displays a TATA or CCAAT box. Although these regions are thus
good candidates for providing promoter/enhancer elements important for
proper cell-specific patterns of brain expression, no current mouse or
human data provide unequivocal evidence to identify the sequences
important for the cell specificity of expression that is a hallmark of
the wild-type VMAT2 expression.
| MURINE MODELS FOR VMAT2 GENE VARIATION: INFLUENCES ON AMPHETAMINE ACTIONS, LETHALITY, MPP+ TOXICITY, CARDIAC CONDUCTION, AND AGING |
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Heterozygous mice manifest modest differences from wild-type mice in
monoaminergic markers, heart rate, and blood pressure. They display
weight gain, fertility, habituation, passive avoidance, and locomotor
activities similar to wild-type littermates (9)
.
In VMAT2 heterozygous knockout mice, amphetamine produces diminished
behavioral reward, as measured by conditioned place preference, while
enhancing locomotor responses to amphetamine (9)
.
Administration of the MPP+ precursor MPTP
(N-methyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) to heterozygotes produces more
than twice the dopamine cell losses found in wild-type mice
(9)
. Amphetamine sensitization and lethality are also
altered (N. Takayashi and G. R. Uhl, unpublished results). Cardiac
conduction differences that could predispose to fatal arrhythmia are
identified in these animals, manifest as prolonged QT intervals
(12)
. Initial data indicate that age-related alterations
in locomotion might also be altered in these mice (K. Itokawa and
G. R. Uhl, unpublished results).
Properties of VMAT2 knockout mice
Expression of VMAT2 protein in neonatal brains, measured by
saturation analyses of [3H]dihydrotetrabenazine
binding, is decreased
50% in heterozygotes compared to wild-type
mice and is undetectable in homozygous mice (9)
. Analyses
of offspring of matings between heterozygotes revealed that whereas the
expected fractions of homozygous and heterozygous mice emerged at
birth, homozygous mice were poorly viable postnatally. Pathological
examination of homozygous mice killed on P1 revealed only reduced milk
in the stomachs. Heterozygote VMAT2 knockout mice were histologically
normal, viable into adult life, gained weight at rates similar to their
wild-type littermate controls, and expressed VMAT2 protein levels (as
examined by binding studies) about half those of wild-type mice.
Although expression of at least some VMAT2 is thus necessary for good
viability past the immediate postnatal period, mice with half the
wild-type levels of VMAT2 expression are able to develop and display
many normal baseline behaviors that include complex reproductive
behaviors. Most heterozygous knockout mice with half of wild-type
levels of VMAT2 expression are viable into adult life. However,
1015% of these animals die suddenly between 2 and 4 months of age
without apparent antecedents (9
, 12)
.
Cardiovascular effects
Anesthetized mice: heart rate, blood pressure, and baseline
behaviors
Heterozygous mice reveal heart rates, systolic, diastolic, and
mean femoral arterial blood pressures greater than those of wild-type
mice when assessed under anesthesia using femoral catheters
(9)
. They are similar to wild-type mice in expression of a
previously conditioned passive avoidance habit, stress responses
emitted in a stressful novel environment, the ability to hang onto an
inverted screen, and gross locomotor activity measured under bright
illumination.
Freely moving mice: heart rates and conduction intervals
To further explore cardiovascular parameters in mice free from
anesthesia and assess possible mechanisms for the apparent sudden death
that afflicts as many as 1015% of the heterozygotes in their second
and third months of life, we telemetered EKG data from these mice
(12)
. Freely moving mice with normal VMAT2 expression and
heterozygous knockout littermates had similar resting heart rates, PQ
intervals, and QRS durations. However, heterozygous mice displayed 20%
increases in QT intervals. These differences were also seen when QT
intervals were corrected for heart rate. A single heterozygous mouse
that later died displayed the most prolonged QT interval
(12)
. Variation in expression of the VMAT2 gene could
contribute to interindividual differences in QT interval duration and
to differences in vulnerability to lethal arrhythmias.
VMAT2 is expressed in several locations where altered expression could
contribute to the prolonged QT intervals found in heterozygous VMAT2
knockout mice, including sympathetic neurons, hypothalamic, and
brainstem sites. If altered VMAT2 expression in humans leads to the
same prolongation of QT intervals noted in these mice, this gene could
be a candidate to contribute to human cardiac sudden death syndromes.
Since human individual differences in the extent of expression of VMAT2
in central neurons can be even greater than those that distinguish
wild-type from heterozygous mice (15)
, allelic variants of
the VMAT2 gene are attractive candidates for studies seeking other gene
differences that could predispose to human long QT syndromes, cardiac
arrhythmia, and sudden death.
Amphetamine effects
Acute
Gross locomotion
One and 3 mg/kg amphetamine doses enhance
locomotor activity in both wild-type and heterozygous mice. At 1 mg/kg,
heterozygote locomotion was almost 1.5-fold that of wild-type values
(9)
.
Reward
In a test of amphetamine reward, wild-type and
heterozygote animals also displayed conditioning for an initially
nonpreferred place where they received 1 or 3 mg/kg conditioning doses
of amphetamine (9)
. Heterozygote mice displayed less
conditioned place preference than wild-type control mice when they
received either of these doses in the initially nonpreferred place.
Heterozygotes also displayed less conditioned place preference when
they received 1 mg/kg amphetamine at the initially preferred place,
suggesting that amphetamine pairing enhances the rewarding properties
associated with a specific environment rather than reducing aversive
features.
Lethality
Amphetamine administration can be lethal; speed
does kill. Methamphetamine also kills animals from many species, with
mechanisms that are likely to include but not be limited to
cardiovascular and central nervous system phenomena, including
induction of cardiac arrhythmia and epileptiform processes
(1)
. In heterozygous VMAT2 knockout mice, amphetamine
LD50 values shift leftward compared to values
noted in wild-type littermate control mice (N. Takayashi and G. R.
Uhl, unpublished results).
To improve the understanding of mechanisms of this lethality, mice were pretreated 15 min prior to amphetamine injection with doses of the D1 antagonist SCH23390 or the D2 antagonist sulpiride (RBI, Natick, Mass.). Pretreatment with SCH23390 caused a striking dose- dependent reduction in the lethality induced by 65 mg/kg amphetamine doses in the heterozygous knockout animals. In contrast, when sulpiride pretreatments were given at 20 or 40 mg/kg, the lethality induced by 50 mg/kg amphetamine doses was substantially enhanced (N. Takayashi and G. R. Uhl, unpublished results).
These data are consistent with roles for vesicular monoamine storage in the lethality that amphetamine induces. Finding enhanced toxicity in mice with fewer vesicular transporters who are likely to have more modest intravesicular monoamine stores could suggest that enhanced quantal release from these vesicles by calcium-dependent mechanisms might not play the major role in amphetamine toxicity. The enhanced cytoplasmic neurotransmitter concentrations likely to result from reduced VMAT2 expression could also enhance neurotransmitter release through nonexocytotic, calcium-independent mechanisms. The effects of receptor antagonists also suggest that the toxicity differences are related to actions of extracellularly released dopamine, as reported in wild-type mice. Observations that D2- and D-1 family receptor blockers can enhance or reduce lethality support prominent roles for both dopaminergic receptor systems in amphetamine toxic phenomena. These data fit with observations that dopamine depletion protects against amphetamine toxicity, suggesting that amphetamine-induced elevations of dopamine in and released from cytoplasmic/extra-vesicular compartments may be key to its lethality.
Chronic amphetamine responses: sensitization
Behavioral changes induced by repeated psychostimulant
administration can include tolerance, conditioned responses, and
enhanced responses termed sensitization (16
17
18)
.
Sensitization is most easily measured as enhanced locomotor responses
to later moderate daily doses of amphetamine or cocaine
(19)
. The exact biochemical mechanisms underlying
sensitization are not clearly understood, although interference with
behavioral sensitization by blockers of protein synthesis, dopaminergic
and glutaminergic receptors, G-proteins, calcium channels, and protein
kinases, including protein kinase C, have suggested that different
biochemical steps must be necessary for sensitization (18
, 19)
. To assess possible contributions from amphetamines
vesicular actions in sensitization, we studied methamphetamine- and
cocaine-induced sensitization in transgenic heterozygous knockout mice
that express half of wild-type levels of VMAT2 (N. Takayashi and
G. R. Uhl, unpublished results).
Wild-type mice showed methamphetamine- and cocaine-induced sensitization. Day 1 drug-induced activities were almost doubled after the seventh of the daily methamphetamine challenges. As noted above, the initial responses to 1 mg/kg amphetamine challenges in heterozygous mice were substantially greater than the locomotor responses to its first administration in the wild-type mice. Heterozygotes, however, revealed no statistically significant sensitization to amphetamine, only a slight trend in this direction. These results contrasted with those for cocaine sensitization. Both wild-type and heterozygous mice treated with cocaine manifested significant sensitization.
The differences between the effects of the two psychostimulant types in the VMAT2 heterozygote mice suggest a substantial contribution of amphetamines actions at synaptic vesicles to its sensitizing properties. The modest, statistically insignificant difference between day 1 and day 7 amphetamine responses in the heterozygous VMAT2 knockout mice could be explained by the fact that half of the vesicular transporters remain in the heterozygous knockout mice. This could also reflect participation of a different site for this component of amphetamine sensitization, such as the plasma membrane transporters. Unfortunately, the postnatal lethality of homozygous VMAT2 knockout mice prevents assessments of amphetamine sensitization in mice devoid of VMAT2.
Since sensitization provides one useful experimental model for some of the long-term sequelae of psychostimulant administration, the differential effect of vesicular transporter disruption on this adaptation to long-term psychostimulant administration suggests that actions at synaptic vesicles must be kept in mind when thinking about long-term consequences of amphetamine use.
MPTP toxicity
Young VMAT2 heterozygotes appear to display ventral midbrains that
are histologically indistinguishable from wild-type mice. Substantia
nigra dopaminergic neuronal numbers, estimated via counting tyrosine
hydroxylase-immunostained neurons in 6-wk-old heterozygote mice, were
similar to those of wild-type animals (9)
. However, the
effects of an MPTP regimen were substantially different in VMAT2
heterozygotes. MPTP treatments that led to 13% fewer TH immunoreactive
neurons in wild-type mice led to 30% reductions in heterozygotes.
These data reveal the importance of normal levels of vesicular
transport for full MPP+ resistance, even in
heterozygote animals with half of wild-type levels of VMAT2 expression.
| Aging |
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| HUMAN VMAT GENE POLYMORPHISMS AND STUDIES IN HUMAN DISORDERS |
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In the upstream border of the conserved 5' flanking sequence region, we
have recognized imperfect dinucleotide repeat sequences located ca. 5
kb 5' from exon 1 (Fig. 1
; M. Hazama and G. R. Uhl, unpublished
results). This -5 kb simple sequence repeat consisted, in the initial
individual studied, of (CA)7 and
(GA)11 gapped with four nucleotides that resemble
the cognate repeat GAGAAA. Since such dinucleotide repeats often reveal
polymorphism, we tested whether this microsatellite could show
polymorphisms.
Polymerase chain reaction products from this region showed several distinct patterns in different individuals. Three common alleles are termed A (161 bp), B (165 bp) and C (172 bp) (M. Hazama and G. R. Uhl, unpublished results). Sequencing amplification products from individuals with these genotypes revealed that they are formed by different numbers of dinucleotide repeats. The A, B, and C alleles have (CA)7/(GA)9, (CA)7/(GA)11, and (CA)14/(GA)11, respectively. These alleles generally distribute across genotypes according to Hardy-Weinberg equilibria. In addition to these common genotypes, we have tentatively identified several other genotype patterns present more rarely, most in African-Americans.
Genotype frequencies of the more common alleles differ between Caucasian and African-Americans. AA genotypes are present in more than 54% of Caucasians and only 16% of African-Americans. Conversely, BB and BC genotypes are more frequent (14 vs. 6 and 16 vs. 1%) in African-Americans than in Caucasians.
To seek possible functional correlations with these polymorphisms, we
typed these markers in several control individuals dying without
substantial neurological disease whose striatal
[3H]dihydro-tetrabenazine
Bmax values had been previously determined (M.
Hazama, S. Kish, and G. R. Uhl, unpublished results).
The average striatal VMAT2 expression levels, determined by postmortem
binding, were
1015% different between individuals with one and
those with two A genotypes. This trend suggests that further attempts
to link genotype with disorders that can be modulated with VMAT2
expression level differences, including substance abuse and
Parkinsonism, might be valuable.
VMAT25 kb simple sequence repeat genotypes were assessed in 177 and 120 Caucasians characterized as polysubstance abusers and control nonabusers of addictive substances. No significant differences were noted (M. Hazama and G. R. Uhl, unpublished results). The distributions of these gene markers in 82 individuals diagnosed with Parkinsonism again did not differ from those of these drug abusers or controls.
Failure to identify different frequencies of the simple sequence repeat polymorphism in polysubstance abusers and controls could indicate that no VMAT2 promoter sequence variant in linkage disequilibrium with these markers exists. Alternatively, the complex mix of likely polygenic and environmental factors that contribute to substance abuse vulnerabilities could simply provide too much noise for such an approach. Under these circumstances, the sorts of single gene VMAT2 expression level variant effects on drug responses that can be readily elucidated in transgenic mice with other genetic backgrounds and environment held constant might be difficult to identify. Conceivably, effects on acute drug responses noted in mice could also be identified in humans even in the absence of noticeable influences on overall vulnerability to substance abuse and dependence disorders.
| SUMMARY |
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| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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