Increased forebrain EAAT3 expression confers resilience to chronic stress

Abstract

Depression is a disabling and highly prevalent psychiatric illness. Multiple studies have linked glutamatergic dysfunction with the pathophysiology of depression, but the exact alterations in the glutamatergic system that contribute to depressive-like behaviors are not fully understood. Recent evidence suggests that a decreased level in neuronal glutamate transporter (EAAT3), known to control glutamate levels and limit the activation of glutamate receptors at synaptic sites, may contribute to the manifestation of a depressive phenotype. Here, we tested the possibility that increased EAAT3 expression at excitatory synapses could reduce the susceptibility of mice to develop depressive-like behaviors when challenged to a 5-week unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) protocol. Mice overexpressing EAAT3 in the forebrain (EAAT3^glo/CMKII) and control littermates (EAAT3^glo) were assessed for depressive-like behaviors and long-term memory performance after being subjected to UCMS conditions. We found that, after UCMS, EAAT3^glo/CMKII mice did not exhibit depressive-like behaviors or memory alterations observed in control mice. Moreover, we found that EAAT3^glo/CMKII mice did not show alterations in phasic dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens neither in long-term synaptic plasticity in the CA1 region of the hippocampus after UCMS, as observed in control littermates. Altogether these results suggest that forebrain EAAT3 overexpression may be related to a resilient phenotype, both at behavioral and functional level, to the deleterious effect of chronic stress, highlighting the importance of neuronal EAAT3 in the pathophysiology of depressive-like behaviors.

Keywords: EAAT3; chronic stress; depression; glutamate transporter; resilience.