Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Chronic inflammation and immune activation are hallmarks of HIV infection, resulting in chronic oxidative stress with over-utilization of antioxidant defences, which may contribute to the loss of immune cells and faster disease progression. Low levels of antioxidants in HIV- infected individuals have been associated with frequent opportunistic infections and an increased risk of mortality. HIV infection is also associated with on-going and aberrant activation of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. An important aspect of innate immune stimulation is derived from the leakage of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) across the damaged mucosal lining of the gut in early HIV infection. The impact of this innate immune stimulation on the adaptive arm of the immune system, as represented in this study by levels of CD4+ T-cell activation and death, have not been explored previously in untreated HIV infection. Using an integrated approach of immune activation, inflammation, oxidative stress and ameliorating antioxidant intervention for the first time, this thesis reports the impact of inflammatory induced-oxidative stress on CD4+ T-cells in an in vitro HIV model. In a preliminary study, baseline levels of neutrophil respiratory burst as an in vitro indication of immune stimulation were investigated. The relationships between baseline total antioxidant status (TAS), Red blood cell (RBC) antioxidant enzyme activities (catalase, superoxide dismutase & glutathione peroxidase), lipid peroxidation and glutathione redox ratio and other markers of disease in asymptomatic, untreated HIV infection were also explored. The design and optimization of an assay that could determine the effects of LPS-induced oxidative stress on CD4+ T-cells, was a critical part of this study. The development of this assay enabled the measurement of the effects of selected antioxidant interventions N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and vitamin C, on LPS-induced CD4+ T-cell activation and death. The results were also correlated with CD4 count, viral load and markers of inflammation (fibrinogen & D-dimers) in HIV-infected and uninfected groups. Neutrophils from HIV-infected persons at rest showed a ―primed‖ response to low stimulating agent, bacterial N-formyl peptides (fMLP), which was significantly (P = 0.04) higher than uninfected individuals. There was increased oxidative stress as evidenced by increased catalase activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) and conjugated dienes (CDs) with a corresponding decrease in antioxidant capacity in HIV-infected individuals with lower CD4 count. NAC in combination with vitamin C, significantly (P = 0.0018) reduced activation of CD4+ T-cells to a greater degree than with either antioxidant alone. NAC and vitamin C individually and in combination significantly (P = 0.05, P = 0.012 and P<0.0001) decreased the expression of the markers of apoptosis, Annexin V and 7-amino-actinomycin (7-AAD). Importantly, the antioxidant combination decreased MDA values and significantly (P = 0.01) increased the glutathione redox ratio in the HIV-infected group. Based on these results, the respiratory burst and LPS-induced activation may be important contributing factors in inflammatory-associated oxidative stress in HIV infection and contribute to the depletion of CD4+ T-cells in the asymptomatic stage of HIV infection. These results also indicate the potential inhibitory effects of NAC and vitamin C in combination as agents that may limit immune activation and inflammation-induced oxidative stress. Importantly, the study showed that at this asymptomatic stage, CD4+ T-cells of the HIV-infected group responded similarly to stimulation as the HIV negative group, indicating that antioxidant defences were still functional and that appropriate early intervention at this stage may be protective against oxidative damage to the immune cells. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to use an integrated approach involving not only plasma levels of antioxidant status, but also RBC antioxidant enzyme activities, oxidative damage (lipid peroxidation), inflammation, cellular levels of immune activation and potential ameliorating interventions in evaluating the problem of inflammation-induced oxidative stress in HIV infection. Based on the results of this study, it is envisaged that an insight into the immune activation, inflammatory and oxidative stress status of patients will enable long-term profiling of each patient with a view to individualized therapy. This approach may have a direct impact on patient care in resource-limited settings such as sub-Saharan Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Chroniese inflammasie en immuunaktivering is kenmerke van MIV-infeksie. Dié twee prosesse lei tot chroniese oksidatiewe stres en oorbenutting van antioksidant verdedigingstelsels, wat lei tot die verlies van die immuun selle en vinniger siektevordering. Lae vlakke van antioksidante in MIV-positiewe individue stem ooreen met gereelde opportunistiese infeksies en 'n verhoogde risiko van mortaliteit. MIV-infeksie word ook geassosieer met langdurige en abnormale aktivering van beide die ingebore en aanpasbare immuunstelsels. 'n Belangrike aspek van ingebore immuun stimulasie in die raamwerk van vroeë MIV-infeksie, is die lekkasie van LPS oor die beskadigde slymvlies voering van die dunderm. Die impak van die ingebore immuun stimulasie op die aanpasbare arm van die immuunstelsel, soos aangetoon in hierdie studie deur die vlakke van CD4 T-sel aktivering en apoptose, is nog nie voorheen ondersoek in onbehandelde MIV-infeksie nie. Met behulp van 'n oorspronklike, geïntegreerde benadering van immuun aktivering, inflammasie, oksidatiewe stres en 'n lae vlak van antioksidant intervensie, lewer hierdie tesis verslag oor 'n in vitro model van inflammasie-geïnduseerde oksidatiewe stres op CD4 T-selle. In 'n voorlopige studie, is basislyn vlakke van die neutrofiel respiratoriese uitbarsting as 'n in vitro aanduiding van immuunstimulasie ondersoek. Die verhoudinge tussen basislyn totale antioksidant status (TAS), rooi bloed sel (RBC) antioksidant ensiemaktiwiteit (katalase, superoksied dismutase, en glutatioon peroksidase), lipied peroksidasie en glutatioon redoks-verhouding, asook ander merkers van siektevordering in asimptomatiese, onbehandelde MIV-infeksie is ook ondersoek. Die ontwerp en optimisering van 'n toets wat die effek van LPS-geïnduseerde oksidatiewe stres op CD4 T-selle kan bepaal, was 'n kritieke deel van hierdie studie. Die ontwikkeling van hierdie toets het ook die meting van die effek van toevoeging van twee geselekteerde anti-oksidante, N-asetiel sisteïen (NAC) en vitamien C, op LPS-geïnduseerde CD4 T-sel aktivering en apoptose ondersoek. Die resultate is ook gekorreleer met CD4-telling, virale lading en merkers van inflammasie (fibrinogeen en D-dimere) in groepe met en sonder MIV-infeksie. Neutrofiele van asimptomatiese persone met MIV infeksie, het 'n 'voorbereide' reaksie gehad teen ‗n lae stimulerende agent, bakteriële N-formiel peptied (fMLP), wat beduidend (P = 0,04) hoër was as in individue sonder MIV infeksie. Daar was verhoogde oksidatiewe stres soos bewys deur verhoogde katalase aktiwiteit, malondialdehied (MDA) en gekonjugeerde diëne (CDs), saam met 'n ooreenstemmende afname in anti-oksidant kapasiteit in MIV-positiewe individue met laer CD4-tellings. NAC in kombinasie met vitamien C, het die aktivering van CD4 T-selle beduidend verminder (P = 0,0018), 'n effek wat groter was in vergelyking met elke antioksidant alleen. NAC en vitamien C alleen, en in kombinasie het beduidend die uitdrukking van die merkers van apoptose, Annexin V en 7-AAD verminder (P = 0,05, P = 0.012 en P<0,0001). Wat belangrik is, is dat die afname in MDA waardes as gevolg van antioksidante in kombinasie, 'n beduidende styging in die glutatioon redoks verhouding in die MIV-positiewe groep tot gevolg gehad het. Hierdie resultate het aangetoon dat die respiratoriese uitbarsting en LPS-geïnduseerde aktivering belangrike bydraende faktore mag wees in inflammasie-verwante oksidatiewe stres in MIV-infeksie, wat kan bydra tot die uitputting van CD4 T-selle in die asimptomatiese stadium van MIV-infeksie. Hierdie resultate dui ook aan dat die moontlike inhiberende effekte van NAC en vitamien C in kombinasie, immuun aktivering en geïnduseerde oksidatiewe stres kan beperk. Van belang is die feit dat hierdie studie bewys het dat in die asimptomatiese stadium van MIV-infeksie, CD4 T-selle weens stimulasie dieselfde gereageer het as dié van mense sonder MIV infeksie. Dit het aangedui dat antioksidant verdediging in hierdie stadium nog funksioneel was, en dat 'n toepaslike vroeë intervensie op hierdie stadium beskermend teen immuun-sel oksidatiewe skade kan wees. Tot die beste van ons kennis, is hierdie studie die eerste om 'n geïntegreerde benadering te gebruik, waar plasma vlakke van antioksidant status saam met RBC antioksidant ensiemaktiwiteit, oksidatiewe skade (lipied peroksiidasie), inflammasie, sellulêre vlakke van immuunaktivering, en potensiële beskermende ingrypings ondersoek is in die evaluering van die probleem van oksidatiewe stres in MIV-infeksie wat tot inflammasie lei. Gebaseer op dié resultate, word dit in die vooruitsig gestel dat 'n insig in die status van immuunaktivering, inflammasie, en oksidatiewe stress van pasiënte, dit moontlik sal maak vir langtermyn- beplanning om vir elke pasiënt individuele terapie voor te skryf. Hierdie benadering kan 'n direkte impak op die sorg van pasiënte in hulpbron-beperkte gebiede soos sub-Sahara Afrika hê.

Activation of the immune system in gestating mothers has been identified as an important environmental risk factor for neuropsychiatric disorders. Maternal immune activation (MIA) animal models have been used to explore how the maternal immune system may cause expression of pathophysiology in offspring. Protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP1B) is recruited during inflammation and its regulatory proteins are modulated in MIA. Disrupted regulation of PTP1B has been linked to mental disorders such as Rett Syndrome and anxiety. We asked if ablating neuronal PTP1B could protect from the expression of some neuropsychiatric phenotypes that appear in MIA models. In our MIA model induced with poly I:C injection at gestational day 9.5, we observed increased locomotion and sensorimotor gating and reduced anxiety in 3-month-old male offspring while females showed decreased sensorimotor gating. These effects were not replicated in PTP1B KO mice indicating a role of PTP1B in affecting locomotion and anxiety level in MIA. This model promotes a more balanced understanding of MIA and introduces PTP1B as a player in MIA-induced behaviour changes.

Maternal immune activation (MIA) disrupts the central innate immune system during a critical neurodevelopmental period. Microglia are the primary innate immune cells in the brain and can mediate neurodevelopment, but the direct influence of microglia on the MIA phenotype remains largely unknown. Here, we show that MIA can lead to long-lasting effects on microglial phenotype, neuronal circuitry, and behaviors. Transcriptomic analysis revealed aberrant expression of neurogenic genes in MIA microglia. We found that microglia repopulation by colony-stimulating factor receptor 1 (CSF1R) inhibition reversed MIA-induced social deficits and corrected expression of the newly identified MIA-associated neuritogenic molecules in microglia. In vitro whole-cell patch-clamp recording and immunohistochemistry revealed that microglia repopulation restored MIA-induced changes in intrinsic excitability, dendritic spine density, and microglia-neuron interactions of layer V intrinsically bursting pyramidal neurons in the prefrontal cortex. Maternal inflammation therefore alters microglial phenotypes and changes neuronal functions by mediating microglia-neuron interactions. We found that Wingless-related MMTV integration site 5a (WNT5a) is a critical regulator of this microglia-neuron communication. Studies have shown that the neurotrophic factor WNT5a plays a critical role in neurodevelopment, and here we demonstrate that WNT5a is one of the neuritogenic genes significantly upregulated in embryonic MIA microglia. We showed using microarray analysis that the microglial secretome can promote neural stem cell differentiation through various pathways, including Wnt pathways. Live imaging of neuron-microglia co-culture demonstrated that microglia enhanced neurite development and dendritic spine density and that this was diminished by microglial Wnt5a silencing using siRNA transfection. Multi-electrode array recordings revealed that microglia co-culture increased spontaneous neuronal firing rate. Thus, microglia can secrete WNT5a and regulate dendritic spine development, maintenance, and neural circuitry. These results indicate that altered expression of microglial WNT5a due to pathogenic states such as inflammation can lead to abnormal neuronal activity. To further elucidate microglia biology, we developed an inducible immortalized murine microglial cell line using a tetracycline expression system. The addition of doxycycline can induce rapid cell proliferation for the expansion of cell colonies. Upon withdrawal of doxycycline, this monoclonal microglial cell line can differentiate and resemble in vivo microglia physiology as assessed by expression of microglial genes, innate immune response, chemotaxis, and phagocytic capabilities. This cell line becomes a convenient and useful method to study microglia in vitro. / 2024-02-03T00:00:00Z

No description available.

Within the paradigm of HIV-1 infection, macrophages play a crucial role as long-lived viral reservoirs. However, cell-free virus infection is inefficient and is unlikely to explain the levels of infection observed in vivo. To investigate the hypothesis that macrophages might be infected via direct contact with HIV-1-infected T cells, macrophage and HIV-1-infected T cell cocultures were imaged in real time. I observed that macrophages preferentially phagocytosed HIV-1-infected T cells and, using long-term culture assays, I established that following coculture the macrophage became productively infected. Phagocytosis of HIV-1-infected cells occurred independently of viral tropism; however, productive infection following T cell phagocytosis was restricted by viral tropism. Imaging flow cytometry showed that macrophages primarily phagocytose dying HIV-1-infected T cells. However, a significant population of HIV-1-infected 'healthy' cells were also taken up. Furthermore, ICAM-1 was identified as mediating the uptake of HIV-1-infected T cells. These results indicate that apoptosis plays a significant, but not sufficient, role in the mechanism for recognition and uptake of HIV-1-infected T cells. The response of macrophages to HIV-1 infection remains controversial. Using both primary macrophages and a monocyte/macrophage NFκB reporter line assay, I demonstrated that macrophages are activated in response to HIV-1-infected T cells. In addition, during coculture with HIV-1-infected T cells, macrophages upregulated secretion of Th1 cytokines, with associated dysregulation of regulatory cytokines. Finally, data presented suggest that polarisation of macrophages towards M1 and M2 phenotypes alters the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in the cell-to-cell route.

Les patients HIV controllers (HICs) sont des patients infectés par le VIH contrôlant spontanément la réplication virale sans traitement anti-rétroviral (TARV). Certains de ces patients présentent, au cours de leur suivi, une baisse de leurs lymphocytes T CD4 (LT CD4) et parfois, perdent le contrôle antiviral. Nous avons ainsi voulu étudier les paramètres d’activation immunitaire et d’inflammation systémique chez ces patients.Dans le travail n°1, nous avons quantifié plusieurs biomarqueurs de l’inflammation, et nous avons mis en évidence qu’en dépit d’une charge virale ARN VIH très faible, les HICs présentaient des taux de TNFα, IP10 et CD14 soluble anormalement élevés. La chimiokine IP10, produite sous l’effet des IFN de type I et II, était celle qui permettait le mieux de distinguer le profil inflammatoire des HICs par rapport aux témoins non infectés ou aux patients progresseurs. Notamment, les taux d’IP10 étaient inversement corrélés aux LT CD4 circulants. Nous avons poursuivi cette analyse dans le Travail n°2 par l’analyse en qPCR de gènes induits par l’Interféron (ISGs), au sein des LT CD4, LT CD8 et monocytes triés ex vivo. Le niveau d’expression des ISGs et leur régulation étaient différents selon le type cellulaire. En outre, le gène ifitm1 était surexprimé au sein des LT CD4 des HICs. Son rôle exact mérite d’être caractérisé précisément. Enfin, nous avons analysé les causes d’échappement immunologique et virologique des HICs de la cohorte ANRS CO21 CODEX, montrant queles taux de LT CD4, de charge virale ultra-sensible et d’IP10 à l’inclusion étaient anormaux chez les patients à risque d’échappement.Ces résultats soulignent donc que chez certains HICs, une inflammation anormale persiste. La place de ces biomarqueurs pour identifier les HICs à risque de progresser, chez lesquels un TARV devrait être instauré, doit être précisée. De même, le ciblage de ces voies d’activation immunitaire doit être étudié afin d’en réduire les conséquences. / HIV controllers patients (HICs) are HIV-infected patients who spontaneously control the viral replication without anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Some of these patients experience a decline of their CD4 T cell count (CD4 Tc) and/or lose their ability to control the virus during follow-up. Our aim was to study the parameters of immune activation and systemic inflammation in such settings.In the first article, we quantified several biomarkers of inflammation in HICs, and we highlighted that despite very low circulating HIV RNA viral load, HICs had higher levels of TNF, soluble CD14 and IP10 than healthy volunteers. IP10, depending on the production of type I and II IFN, was the one that allowed the better distinction in the inflammatory profile of HICs compared with uninfected controls or viremic patients. In particular, IP10 levels were negatively correlated to circulating CD4 T cell counts. We continued this analysis by performing qPCR analyses of the expression of 4 Interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) in sorted circulating CD4 T lymphocytes, CD8 T lymphocytes and monocytes ex vivo. The level of ISGs and their regulation differed depending on the cell type. In addition, Ifitm1 was overexpressed in HICs’ CD4 T cells. His precise role in antiviral control and/or regulation of inflammation should be further characterized. Lastly, we analyzed the immunological and virological progression causes in the HICs ANRS CO21 CODEX cohort, showing that CD4 T cell counts (nadir and at inclusion), as well as ultra-sensitive HIV viral load and IP10 levels at inclusion were abnormal in patients at risk of progression. These results point out that in some HICs, abnormal inflammation persists. The role of these biomarkers in the biological follow up of HICs must be specified to better identify patients at risk of progression, in which ART should be earlier initiated. Similarly, immunomodulatory drugs should be further studied in order to reduce the long term consequences of persistent inflammation in HICs.

Les thérapeutiques antirétrovirales ont permis d’augmenter la survie des personnes vivant avec le VIH (PVVIH). Cependant, de nombreuses comorbidités non liées au VIH émergent et sont une préoccupation majeure dans la prise en charge des patients. L’activation, l’inflammation et l’immunosénescence pourraient jouer un rôle majeur dans ce processus. De nombreux marqueurs existent pour mesurer ces dysfonctionnements et ils ont souvent été considérés sans prendre en compte leurpossible interdépendance. Les objectifs de cette thèse était i) de proposer une combinaison de ces marqueurs, ii) d’évaluer l’association entre la combinaison de ces marqueurs et la présence des comorbidités, et iii) d’évaluer l’association entre la combinaison de ces marqueurs, et le risque de survenue des comorbidités et de la mortalité chez des PVVIH inclus dans la sous étude CIADIS de la cohorte ANRS CO3 Aquitaine. Nous avons identifié deux scores : le score CIADIS cellulaire et soluble. Le score cellulaire était plutôt associé à la multimorbidité et à la survenue d’une nouvelle comorbidité quelle qu’elle soit. Le profil des dysfonctionnements immunitaires sous-jacent était différent lorsque l’on s’intéressait aux comorbidités séparément. Ces résultats soutiennent l’hypothèse que différents profils d’activation, d’inflammation et de sénescence sous-jacents pourraient être impliqués dans le développement de différentes comorbidités. Nos résultats montrent que des analyses intégrant de nouveaux biomarqueurs pourraient accroître la compréhension des comorbidités. Nous allons continuer de travailler sur l’identification des profils de dysfonctionnements immunitaires pour des comorbidités spécifiques. / Antiretroviral therapies have improved the survival of HIV-infected people. However, many non-HIVrelated comorbidities occur and represent a major concern in patient care. Activation, inflammation and immunosenescence could play a major role in this process. Many markers can measure those dysfunctions and they are often used without accounting for their possible interdependency. The objectives of this thesis were i) proposing a combination of those markers, ii) assessing the association between the combination of markers and the presence of comorbidities and iii) assessing the association between the combination of markers and the risk of occurrence of comorbidities and mortality in HIV-infected patients included in the sub-study CIADIS from cohort ANRS CO3 Aquitaine. We identified two scores: the cellular and the soluble CIADIS scores. The cellular score was mostly to multimorbidity and occurrence of any kind of new comorbidity. The profile of underlying immune dysfunctions was different when looking separately at the comorbidities. These results support the assumption that several underlying profiles of activation, inflammation and senescence could be involved in the development of different comorbidities. Our results show that integrating new biomarkers in analyses could improve the understanding of comorbidities. We will continue to work on the identification of profiles of immune dysfunctions for some specific comorbidity.

Human Pegivirus (HPgV; originally called GB virus C) is an RNA virus within the Pegivirus genus of the Flaviviridae that commonly causes persistent infection. Worldwide, approximately 750 million people are infected with HPgV. No causal association between HPgV and disease has been identified; however, several studies found an association between persistent HPgV infection and prolonged survival of HIV-infected individuals that appears to be related to a reduction in host immune activation. HPgV replicates well in vivo (>10 million genome copies/ml plasma) but grows poorly in vitro and systems to study this virus are limited. Consequently, mechanisms of viral persistence and host immune modulation remain poorly characterized, and the primary permissive cell type(s) has not yet been identified. The overall goals of my thesis were to characterize HPgV tropism, effects of HPgV infection on host immune response and mechanisms of viral persistence. Previous studies found HPgV RNA in T and B lymphocytes and ex vivo infected lymphocytes produce viral particles. To further characterize HPgV tropism, we quantified HPgV RNA in highly purified CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, including naïve, central memory, and effector memory populations, and in B cells (CD19+), NK cells (CD56+) cells and monocytes (CD14+) obtained from persistently infected humans using real time RT-PCR. Single genome sequencing was performed on virus within individual cell types to estimate genetic diversity among cell populations. HPgV RNA was present in CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes (9 of 9 subjects), B lymphocytes (7 of 9), NK cells and monocytes (both 4 of 5). HPgV RNA levels were higher in naïve (CD45RA+) CD4+ cells than in central memory and effector memory cells (p<0.01). HPgV sequences were highly conserved between patients (0.117 ± 0.02 substitutions per site) and within subjects (0.006 ± 0.003 substitutions per site). The non-synonymous/synonymous substitution ratio was 0.07 suggesting low selective pressure. CFSE-labeled HPgV RNA-positive microvesicles (SEV) from serum delivered CFSE to uninfected monocytes, NK cells, T and B lymphocytes, and HPgV RNA was transferred to peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with evidence of subsequent viral replication. Thus, HPgV RNA-positive SEV may contribute to delivery of HPgV to PBMCs in vivo, explaining the apparent broad tropism of this persistent human RNA virus. Although HPgV infection reduces NK cell activation in HIV-infected individuals, the mechanism by which this occurs is not characterized. We studied HPgV effects on NK cell non-cytolytic function in HIV-infected people by measuring expression of IL-12 induced interferon gamma (IFNg) and cytolytic function by measuring K562 target-cell induced CD107a and granzyme B. IFNg expression was lower in HIV-HPgV co-infected subjects compared to HIV mono-infected subjects treated with combination antiretroviral therapy (p=0.02). In contrast, cytolytic NK cell functions were not affected by HPgV. Inhibition of IFNg was due to inhibition of tyrosine kinase (Tyk2) by HPgV envelope protein E2. HPgV positive human sera, extracellular vesicles containing E2 protein, recombinant E2 protein and synthetic E2 peptides containing a predicted Tyk2 interacting motif inhibited IL-12-mediated IFNg release by NK cells. Thus HPgV-E2 inhibits NK cell non-cytolytic functions. Inhibition of NK cell-induced proinflammatory/antiviral cytokines may contribute to both HPgV's ability to persist with high viral loads (>10 million genome copies/ml plasma) and reduce immune cell activation. Understanding mechanisms by which HPgV alters immune activation may contribute towards novel immunomodulatory therapies to treat HIV and inflammatory diseases.

Disruptions in memory are a hallmark feature of several psychiatric diseases. These illnesses are often marred by an inability to recognize that a stimulus or event as been previously experienced, a phenomenon known as recognition memory. Previous study has demonstrated that cognitive disruptions reflect aberrant signaling, including disruptions in synaptic plasticity, in key regions of the brain, such as prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus, and perirhinal cortex (PRh). However, in the case of recognition memory, how these disruptions arise and what specific plasticity mechanisms are involved is less clear. An understanding of the etiological factors underlying disruption and the synaptic processes involved in recognition will greatly advance the treatment and prevention of psychiatric disorders. As a result, the present thesis examined recognition memory in rodents in two experiments. In the first experiment, we blocked the endocytosis of AMPA receptors during the encoding, consolidation, or retrieval phase of object recognition memory using local PRh infusions of the cell membrane permeable Tat-GluA23Y interference peptide. Tat-GluA23Y infusion before the encoding and consolidation phases did not alter memory. In contrast, Tat-GluA23Y infusion prior to the retrieval phase significantly disrupted memory. These results indicate a distinct role for AMPA receptor endocytosis during a specific phase (retrieval) of visual recognition memory. In the second experiment, pregnant dams were treated with PolyI:C (4mg/kg, i.v.) on gestational day (GD) 15, and both the male and female offspring of these rats were tested as young adults in three different recognition memory tests: spontaneous novel object recognition, novel object location recognition, and object-in-place recognition. Male, but not female, rats were impaired in an object-in-place memory test that depends on processing between medial temporal lobe and PFC. However, neither male nor female rats were impaired on tests of simpler discriminations dependent on the medial temporal lobe. These findings support clinical studies demonstrating impaired object location binding in clinical populations and further demonstrate the plausibility of prenatal immune activation as an etiological factor in neurodevelopmental disease. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of a specific form of synaptic plasticity during the recognition of familiar stimuli and demonstrate that early life adversity can disrupt recognition memory processes.

Disruptions in memory are a hallmark feature of several psychiatric diseases. These illnesses are often marred by an inability to recognize that a stimulus or event as been previously experienced, a phenomenon known as recognition memory. Previous study has demonstrated that cognitive disruptions reflect aberrant signaling, including disruptions in synaptic plasticity, in key regions of the brain, such as prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus, and perirhinal cortex (PRh). However, in the case of recognition memory, how these disruptions arise and what specific plasticity mechanisms are involved is less clear. An understanding of the etiological factors underlying disruption and the synaptic processes involved in recognition will greatly advance the treatment and prevention of psychiatric disorders. As a result, the present thesis examined recognition memory in rodents in two experiments. In the first experiment, we blocked the endocytosis of AMPA receptors during the encoding, consolidation, or retrieval phase of object recognition memory using local PRh infusions of the cell membrane permeable Tat-GluA23Y interference peptide. Tat-GluA23Y infusion before the encoding and consolidation phases did not alter memory. In contrast, Tat-GluA23Y infusion prior to the retrieval phase significantly disrupted memory. These results indicate a distinct role for AMPA receptor endocytosis during a specific phase (retrieval) of visual recognition memory. In the second experiment, pregnant dams were treated with PolyI:C (4mg/kg, i.v.) on gestational day (GD) 15, and both the male and female offspring of these rats were tested as young adults in three different recognition memory tests: spontaneous novel object recognition, novel object location recognition, and object-in-place recognition. Male, but not female, rats were impaired in an object-in-place memory test that depends on processing between medial temporal lobe and PFC. However, neither male nor female rats were impaired on tests of simpler discriminations dependent on the medial temporal lobe. These findings support clinical studies demonstrating impaired object location binding in clinical populations and further demonstrate the plausibility of prenatal immune activation as an etiological factor in neurodevelopmental disease. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of a specific form of synaptic plasticity during the recognition of familiar stimuli and demonstrate that early life adversity can disrupt recognition memory processes.