Prenatal environmental factors, including various chemical and infectious agents, can damage developing brain cells and increase the risk of psychiatric disorders. Prognostic biomarkers for the detection of prenatally damaged neurons could help prevent or treat postnatal disorders in susceptible individuals.

Researchers developed a system based on the molecular characteristics of the Heat Shock Factor 1 (HSF1), a component of the stress-activated heat shock protein signaling pathway, for the early detection of neurons exposed to environmental and physical stress.

The system binds HSF1 to a Heat Shock-response Element (HSE) that promotes the production of a red fluorescent protein (RFP) reporter to detect the cellular activation of HSF1 by environmental stress. Using wild-type mice into which the HSE-RFP system was introduced by electroporation in utero and HSE-RFP transgenic mice, the authors identified neurons affected by exposure to stress agents, such as ethanol, in primary neuronal cell cultures as well as in prenatal and postnatal animals.

Furthermore, HSE-RFP expression was detectable in multiple tissues and organs throughout the body of HSE-RFP mice before and after birth.

According to the authors, the reporter system might aid the treatment of environmental stress-related disorders of brain development.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/01/24/1620641114