CORTICOSTERONE AFFECTS THE DIFFERENTIATION OF A NEURONAL CEREBRAL CORTEX-DERIVED CELL LINE THROUGH MODULATION OF THE NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR

BAIER CJ; FRANCO DL; GALLEGOS CE; MONGIAT LA; DIONISIO, L.; BOUZAT, C.; CAVIEDES P.; BARRANTES FJ

NEUROSCIENCE

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2014 p. 369 - 382

0306-4522

Chronic exposure to stress hormones has an impact on brain structures involved in cognition and mental health. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) are involved in numerous processes such as learning, memory formation, and other important cognitive functions. In order to better understand the molecular mechanisms of chronic stress-triggered mental disease, the effect of corticosterone (CORT) on the biology of AChRs was studied in the neuronal cell line CNh. We found that chronic treatment with CORT reduced the expression levels of the 7-type neuronal AChR and, to a lesser extent, of 4-AChR. CORT also delayed the acquisition of the mature cell phenotype in CNh cells, an effect that was reverted by the overexpression of 7-AChR-GFP. Moreover, chronic nicotine treatment affected the differentiation of CNh cells and exerted a synergistic effect with CORT, suggesting that AChR could participate in signalling pathways that control the cell cycle. Whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings showed a very significant decrease in nicotine-evoked currents in CORT-treated cells. Taken together, these observations indicate that AChRs, and particularly, 7-AChR, could act as a modulator of the differentiation of CNh cells and that CORT could impair the acquisition of a mature phenotype by affecting the function of acetylcholine receptors.