Beneficial effect of a CNTF tetrapeptide on adult hippocampal neurogenesis, neuronal plasticity, and spatial memory in mice.

A therapeutic strategy against cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease is to take advantage of the regenerative ability of the brain and the properties of neurotrophic factors to shift the balance from neurodegeneration to neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity. Although the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) has some of the required neuroprotective characteristics, its clinical use, due to its side effects, i.e., anorexia, skeletal muscle loss, hyperalgesia, cramps, and muscle pain, has not materialized. In the present study, we report that Peptide 6c (GDDL) that corresponds to CNTF amino acid residues 147-150, enhances the dentate gyrus neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity, and improves cognition without weight loss or any other apparent side effects in mice. Normal adult C57Bl6 mice received subcutaneous implants of extended release depot pellets containing vehicle or Peptide 6c for 30 days of continuous dosing. Dentate gyrus neurogenesis was assessed by stereological analysis of cells expressing neuronal markers, doublecortin and NeuN, and BrdU uptake. We found that Peptide 6c significantly increased early neuronal commitment, differentiation, and survival of newborn progenitor cells. These newborn neurons were functionally integrated into the hippocampal network, since basal expression of c-fos was enhanced and neuronal plasticity was increased, as reflected by higher expression of MAP2a,b and synaptophysin. Consequently, Peptide 6c treatment improved encoding of hippocampal-dependent information in a spatial reference memory task in mice. Overall, these findings demonstrated the therapeutic potential of Peptide 6c for regeneration of the brain and improvement of cognition.