Heterozygous Cc2d1a mice show sex-dependent changes in the Beclin-1/p62 ratio with impaired prefrontal cortex and hippocampal autophagy

Şener E. F., Dana H., Tahtasakal R., Hamurcu Z., Taheri S., Delibasi N., ...More

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, vol.125, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 125
  • Publication Date: 2023
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2023.110764
  • Journal Name: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Animal Behavior Abstracts, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, Veterinary Science Database
  • Keywords: Autism, Mouse, Cc2d1a, Autophagy, RNA, Protein, Hippocampus, Prefrontal cortex
  • Erciyes University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by repetitive behaviors, lack of social interaction and communication. CC2D1A is identified in patients as an autism risk gene. Recently, we suggested that heterozygous Cc2d1a mice exhibit impaired autophagy in the hippocampus. We now report the analysis of autophagy markers (Lc3, Beclin and p62) in different regions hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus and cerebellum, with an overall decrease in autophagy and changes in Beclin-1/p62 ratio in the hippocampus. We observed sex-dependent variations in transcripts and protein expression levels. Moreover, our analyses suggest that alterations in autophagy initiated in Cc2d1a heterozygous parents are variably transmitted to offspring, even when the offspring's genotype is wild type. Aberration in the autophagy mechanism may indirectly contribute to induce synapse alteration in the ASD brain.