Nest Carbon Dioxide Masks GABA-Dependent Seizure Susceptibility in the Naked Mole-Rat
Michael Zions, Edward F. Meehan, Michael Kress, Donald Thevalingam, Edmund C. Jenkins, Kai Kaila, Martin Puskarjov, Daniel P. McCloskey
Abstract
African naked mole-rats were likely the first mammals to evolve eusociality, and thus required adaptations to conserve energy and tolerate the low oxygen (O 2 ) and high carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) of a densely populated fossorial nest. As hypercapnia is known to suppress neuronal activity, we studied whether naked mole-rats might demonstrate energy savings in GABAergic inhibition. Using whole-colony behavioral monitoring of captive naked mole-rats, we found a durable nest, characterized by high CO 2 levels, where all colony members spent the majority of their time. Analysis of the naked mole-rat genome revealed, uniquely among mammals, a histidine point variation in the neuronal potassium-chloride cotransporter 2 (KCC2). A histidine missense substitution mutation at this locus in the human ortholog of KCC2, found previously in patients with febrile seizures and epilepsy, has been demonstrated to diminish neuronal Cl − extrusion capacity, and thus impairs GABAergic inhibition. Seizures were observed, without pharmacological intervention, in adult naked mole-rats exposed to a simulated hyperthermic surface environment, causing systemic hypocapnic alkalosis. Consistent with the diminished function of KCC2, adult naked mole-rats demonstrate a reduced efficacy of inhibition that manifests as triggering of seizures at room temperature by the GABA A receptor (GABA A R) positive allosteric modulator diazepam. These seizures are blocked in the presence of nest-like levels of CO 2 and likely to be mediated through GABA A R activity, based on in vitro recordings. Thus, altered GABAergic inhibition adds to a growing list of adaptations in the naked mole-rat and provides a plausible proximate mechanism for nesting behavior, where a return to the colony nest restores GABA-mediated inhibition.