Retrograde signaling in biology is the process where a signal travels backwards from a target source to its original source. For example, the nucleus of a cell is the original source for creating signaling proteins. During retrograde signaling, instead of signals leaving the nucleus, they are sent to the nucleus. [1] In cell biology, this type of signaling typically occurs between the mitochondria or chloroplast and the nucleus. Signaling molecules from the mitochondria or chloroplast act on the nucleus to affect nuclear gene expression. In this regard, the chloroplast or mitochondria act as a sensor for internal external stimuli which activate a signaling pathway. [2]
In neuroscience, retrograde signaling (or retrograde neurotransmission) refers more specifically to the process by which a retrograde messenger, such as anandamide or nitric oxide, is released by a postsynaptic dendrite or cell body, and travels "backwards" across a chemical synapse to bind to the axon terminal of a presynaptic neuron. [3]
Retrograde signals are transmitted from plastids to the nucleus in plants and eukaryotic algae, [4] [2] and from mitochondria to the nucleus in most eukaryotes. [5] Retrograde signals are generally considered to convey intracellular signals related to stress and environmental sensing. [6] Many of the molecules associated with retrograde signaling act on modifying the transcription or by directly binding and acting as a transcription factor. The outcomes of these signaling pathways vary by organism and by stimuli or stress. [4]
Retrograde signaling is believed to have arisen after endocytosis of the mitochondria and chloroplast billions of years ago. [7] Originally believed to be photosynthetic bacteria, the mitochondria and chloroplast transferred some of their DNA to the membrane protected nucleus. [8] Thus, some of the proteins required for the mitochondria or chloroplast are within the nucleus. This transfer of DNA further required a network of communication to properly respond to external and internal signals and produce requisite proteins. [9]
The first retrograde signaling pathways discovered in yeast is the RTG pathway. [10] [11] The RTG pathway plays an important role in maintaining the metabolic homeostasis of yeast. [11] Under limited resources the mitochondria must maintain a balance of glutamate for the citric acid cycle. [12] Retrograde signaling from the mitochondria initiates production precursor molecules of glutamate to properly balance supplies within the mitochondria. [13] Retrograde signaling can also act to arrest growth if problems are encountered. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, if the mitochondria fails to develop properly, they will stop growing until the issue is addressed or cell death is induced. [13] These mechanism are vital to maintain homeostasis of the cell and ensure proper function of the mitochondria. [13]
One of the most studied retrograde signaling molecules in plants are reactive oxygen species (ROS). [14] These compounds, previously believed to be damaging to the cell, have since been discovered to act as a signaling molecule. [15] Reactive oxygen species are created as a by-product of aerobic respiration and act on genes involved in the stress response. [15] Depending on the stress, reactive oxygen species can act on neighboring cells to initiate a local signal. [16] By doing this, surrounding cells are "primed" to react to the stress because genes involved in stress response are initiated prior to encountering the stress. [16] The chloroplast can also act as a sensor for pathogen response and drought. Detection of these stresses in the cell will induce the formation of compounds that can then act on the nucleus to produce pathogen resistance genes or drought tolerance. [17]
The primary purpose of retrograde neurotransmission is regulation of chemical neurotransmission. [3] For this reason, retrograde neurotransmission allows neural circuits to create feedback loops. In the sense that retrograde neurotransmission mainly serves to regulate typical, anterograde neurotransmission, rather than to actually distribute any information, it is similar to electrical neurotransmission.
In contrast to conventional (anterograde) neurotransmitters, retrograde neurotransmitters are synthesized in the postsynaptic neuron, and bind to receptors on the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron. [18] Additionally, retrograde signaling initiates a signaling cascade that focuses on the presynaptic neuron. Once retrograde signaling is initiated, there is an increase in action potentials that begin in the presynaptic neuron, which directly impacts the postsynaptic neuron by increasing the number of its receptors. [19]
Endocannabinoids like anandamide are known to act as retrograde messengers, [20] [21] [22] as is nitric oxide. [23] [24]
Retrograde signaling may also play a role in long-term potentiation (LTP), a proposed mechanism of learning and memory, although this is controversial. [25] [26] [27]
In 2009, Regehr et al. proposed criteria for defining retrograde neurotransmitters. According to their work, a signaling molecule can be considered a retrograde neurotransmitter if it satisfies all of the following criteria: [3]
The most prevalent endogenous retrograde neurotransmitters are nitric oxide [23] [24] and various endocannabinoids, which are lipophilic ligands. [19] [28]
The retrograde neurotransmitter, nitric oxide (NO) is a soluble gas that can readily diffuse through various cell membranes. [29] Nitric oxide synthase is the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of NO in various presynaptic cells. [30] Specifically, NO is known to play a critical role in LTP, which plays an important role in memory storage within the hippocampus. [31] Additionally, literature suggests that NO can act as intracellular messengers in the brain and can also have an effect on the presynaptic glutamatergic and GABAergic synapses. [32]
Utilizing retrograde signaling, endocannabinoids, a type of retrograde neurotransmitter, are activated when they bind to G-protein coupled receptors on the presynaptic terminals of neurons. [33] The activation of endocannabinoids results in the release of particular neurotransmitters at the excitatory and inhibitory synapses of a neuron, ultimately impacting various forms of plasticity. [34] [19] [33]
As it pertains to LTP, retrograde signaling is a hypothesis describing how events underlying LTP may begin in the postsynaptic neuron but be propagated to the presynaptic neuron, even though normal communication across a chemical synapse occurs in a presynaptic to postsynaptic direction. It is used most commonly by those who argue that presynaptic neurons contribute significantly to the expression of LTP. [35]
Long-term potentiation is the persistent increase in the strength of a chemical synapse that lasts from hours to days. [36] It is thought to occur via two temporally separated events, with induction occurring first, followed by expression. [36] Most LTP investigators agree that induction is entirely postsynaptic, whereas there is disagreement as to whether expression is principally a presynaptic or postsynaptic event. [26] Some researchers believe that both presynaptic and postsynaptic mechanisms play a role in LTP expression. [26]
Were LTP entirely induced and expressed postsynaptically, there would be no need for the postsynaptic cell to communicate with the presynaptic cell following LTP induction. However, postsynaptic induction combined with presynaptic expression requires that, following induction, the postsynaptic cell must communicate with the presynaptic cell. Because normal synaptic transmission occurs in a presynaptic to postsynaptic direction, postsynaptic to presynaptic communication is considered a form of retrograde transmission. [25]
The retrograde signaling hypothesis proposes that during the early stages of LTP expression, the postsynaptic cell "sends a message" to the presynaptic cell to notify it that an LTP-inducing stimulus has been received postsynaptically. The general hypothesis of retrograde signaling does not propose a precise mechanism by which this message is sent and received. One mechanism may be that the postsynaptic cell synthesizes and releases a retrograde messenger upon receipt of LTP-inducing stimulation. [37] [38] Another is that it releases a preformed retrograde messenger upon such activation. Yet another mechanism is that synapse-spanning proteins may be altered by LTP-inducing stimuli in the postsynaptic cell, and that changes in conformation of these proteins propagates this information across the synapse and to the presynaptic cell. [39]
Of these mechanisms, the retrograde messenger hypothesis has received the most attention. Among proponents of the model, there is disagreement over the identity of the retrograde messenger. A flurry of work in the early 1990s to demonstrate the existence of a retrograde messenger and to determine its identity generated a list of candidates including carbon monoxide, [40] platelet-activating factor, [41] [42] arachidonic acid, [43] and nitric oxide. Nitric oxide has received a great deal of attention in the past, but has recently been superseded by adhesion proteins that span the synaptic cleft to join the presynaptic and postsynaptic cells. [39] The endocannabinoids anandamide and/or 2-AG, acting through G-protein coupled cannabinoid receptors, may play an important role in retrograde signaling in LTP. [20] [21]
A neurotransmitter is a signaling molecule secreted by a neuron to affect another cell across a synapse. The cell receiving the signal, or target cell, may be another neuron, but could also be a gland or muscle cell.
Chemical synapses are biological junctions through which neurons' signals can be sent to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in muscles or glands. Chemical synapses allow neurons to form circuits within the central nervous system. They are crucial to the biological computations that underlie perception and thought. They allow the nervous system to connect to and control other systems of the body.
In neuroscience, long-term potentiation (LTP) is a persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity. These are patterns of synaptic activity that produce a long-lasting increase in signal transmission between two neurons. The opposite of LTP is long-term depression, which produces a long-lasting decrease in synaptic strength.
In neuroscience, synaptic plasticity is the ability of synapses to strengthen or weaken over time, in response to increases or decreases in their activity. Since memories are postulated to be represented by vastly interconnected neural circuits in the brain, synaptic plasticity is one of the important neurochemical foundations of learning and memory.
An inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) is a kind of synaptic potential that makes a postsynaptic neuron less likely to generate an action potential. The opposite of an inhibitory postsynaptic potential is an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP), which is a synaptic potential that makes a postsynaptic neuron more likely to generate an action potential. IPSPs can take place at all chemical synapses, which use the secretion of neurotransmitters to create cell-to-cell signalling. EPSPs and IPSPs compete with each other at numerous synapses of a neuron. This determines whether an action potential occurring at the presynaptic terminal produces an action potential at the postsynaptic membrane. Some common neurotransmitters involved in IPSPs are GABA and glycine.
In neuroscience, an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) is a postsynaptic potential that makes the postsynaptic neuron more likely to fire an action potential. This temporary depolarization of postsynaptic membrane potential, caused by the flow of positively charged ions into the postsynaptic cell, is a result of opening ligand-gated ion channels. These are the opposite of inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs), which usually result from the flow of negative ions into the cell or positive ions out of the cell. EPSPs can also result from a decrease in outgoing positive charges, while IPSPs are sometimes caused by an increase in positive charge outflow. The flow of ions that causes an EPSP is an excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC).
In neurophysiology, long-term depression (LTD) is an activity-dependent reduction in the efficacy of neuronal synapses lasting hours or longer following a long patterned stimulus. LTD occurs in many areas of the CNS with varying mechanisms depending upon brain region and developmental progress.
In neuroscience, a silent synapse is an excitatory glutamatergic synapse whose postsynaptic membrane contains NMDA-type glutamate receptors but no AMPA-type glutamate receptors. These synapses are named "silent" because normal AMPA receptor-mediated signaling is not present, rendering the synapse inactive under typical conditions. Silent synapses are typically considered to be immature glutamatergic synapses. As the brain matures, the relative number of silent synapses decreases. However, recent research on hippocampal silent synapses shows that while they may indeed be a developmental landmark in the formation of a synapse, that synapses can be "silenced" by activity, even once they have acquired AMPA receptors. Thus, silence may be a state that synapses can visit many times during their lifetimes.
Spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) is a biological process that adjusts the strength of connections between neurons in the brain. The process adjusts the connection strengths based on the relative timing of a particular neuron's output and input action potentials. The STDP process partially explains the activity-dependent development of nervous systems, especially with regard to long-term potentiation and long-term depression.
Postsynaptic potentials are changes in the membrane potential of the postsynaptic terminal of a chemical synapse. Postsynaptic potentials are graded potentials, and should not be confused with action potentials although their function is to initiate or inhibit action potentials. Postsynaptic potentials occur when the presynaptic neuron releases neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. These neurotransmitters bind to receptors on the postsynaptic terminal, which may be a neuron, or a muscle cell in the case of a neuromuscular junction. These are collectively referred to as postsynaptic receptors, since they are located on the membrane of the postsynaptic cell. Postsynaptic potentials are important mechanisms by which neurons communicate with each other allowing for information processing, learning, memory formation, and complex behavior within the nervous system.
Schaffer collaterals are axon collaterals given off by CA3 pyramidal cells in the hippocampus. These collaterals project to area CA1 of the hippocampus and are an integral part of memory formation and the emotional network of the Papez circuit, and of the hippocampal trisynaptic loop. It is one of the most studied synapses in the world and named after the Hungarian anatomist-neurologist Károly Schaffer.
Neurotransmission is the process by which signaling molecules called neurotransmitters are released by the axon terminal of a neuron, and bind to and react with the receptors on the dendrites of another neuron a short distance away. A similar process occurs in retrograde neurotransmission, where the dendrites of the postsynaptic neuron release retrograde neurotransmitters that signal through receptors that are located on the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron, mainly at GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses.
Depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition is the classical and original electrophysiological example of endocannabinoid function in the central nervous system. Prior to the demonstration that depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition was dependent on the cannabinoid CB1 receptor function, there was no way of producing an in vitro endocannabinoid mediated effect.
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a biological system composed of endocannabinoids, which are neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptors, and cannabinoid receptor proteins that are expressed throughout the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. The endocannabinoid system is still not fully understood, but may be involved in regulating physiological and cognitive processes, including fertility, pregnancy, pre- and postnatal development, various activity of immune system, appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory, and in mediating the pharmacological effects of cannabis. The ECS plays an important role in multiple aspects of neural functions, including the control of movement and motor coordination, learning and memory, emotion and motivation, addictive-like behavior and pain modulation, among others.
Metaplasticity is a term originally coined by W.C. Abraham and M.F. Bear to refer to the plasticity of synaptic plasticity. Until that time synaptic plasticity had referred to the plastic nature of individual synapses. However this new form referred to the plasticity of the plasticity itself, thus the term meta-plasticity. The idea is that the synapse's previous history of activity determines its current plasticity. This may play a role in some of the underlying mechanisms thought to be important in memory and learning such as long-term potentiation (LTP), long-term depression (LTD) and so forth. These mechanisms depend on current synaptic "state", as set by ongoing extrinsic influences such as the level of synaptic inhibition, the activity of modulatory afferents such as catecholamines, and the pool of hormones affecting the synapses under study. Recently, it has become clear that the prior history of synaptic activity is an additional variable that influences the synaptic state, and thereby the degree, of LTP or LTD produced by a given experimental protocol. In a sense, then, synaptic plasticity is governed by an activity-dependent plasticity of the synaptic state; such plasticity of synaptic plasticity has been termed metaplasticity. There is little known about metaplasticity, and there is much research currently underway on the subject, despite its difficulty of study, because of its theoretical importance in brain and cognitive science. Most research of this type is done via cultured hippocampus cells or hippocampal slices.
In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that allows a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or a target effector cell. Synapses can be classified as either chemical or electrical, depending on the mechanism of signal transmission between neurons. In the case of electrical synapses, neurons are coupled bidirectionally with each other through gap junctions and have a connected cytoplasmic milieu. These types of synapses are known to produce synchronous network activity in the brain, but can also result in complicated, chaotic network level dynamics. Therefore, signal directionality cannot always be defined across electrical synapses.
In neuroscience, homeostatic plasticity refers to the capacity of neurons to regulate their own excitability relative to network activity. The term homeostatic plasticity derives from two opposing concepts: 'homeostatic' and plasticity, thus homeostatic plasticity means "staying the same through change". In the nervous system, neurons must be able to evolve with the development of their constantly changing environment while simultaneously staying the same amidst this change. This stability is important for neurons to maintain their activity and functionality to prevent neurons from carcinogenesis. At the same time, neurons need to have flexibility to adapt to changes and make connections to cope with the ever-changing environment of a developing nervous system.
The calyx of Held is a particularly large excitatory synapse in the mammalian auditory nervous system, so named after Hans Held who first described it in his 1893 article Die centrale Gehörleitung because of its resemblance to the calyx of a flower. Globular bushy cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) send axons to the contralateral medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB), where they synapse via these calyces on MNTB principal cells. These principal cells then project to the ipsilateral lateral superior olive (LSO), where they inhibit postsynaptic neurons and provide a basis for interaural level detection (ILD), required for high frequency sound localization. This synapse has been described as the largest in the brain.
Coincidence detection is a neuronal process in which a neural circuit encodes information by detecting the occurrence of temporally close but spatially distributed input signals. Coincidence detectors influence neuronal information processing by reducing temporal jitter and spontaneous activity, allowing the creation of variable associations between separate neural events in memory. The study of coincidence detectors has been crucial in neuroscience with regards to understanding the formation of computational maps in the brain.
Axon terminals are distal terminations of the branches of an axon. An axon, also called a nerve fiber, is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell that conducts electrical impulses called action potentials away from the neuron's cell body to transmit those impulses to other neurons, muscle cells, or glands. Most presynaptic terminals in the central nervous system are formed along the axons, not at their ends.