Neuronal complexity is attenuated in preclinical models of migraine and restored by HDAC6 inhibition

• Main Authors: Zachariah Bertels, Harinder Singh, Isaac Dripps, Kendra Siegersma, Alycia F Tipton, Wiktor D Witkowski, Zoie Sheets, Pal Shah, Catherine Conway, Elizaveta Mangutov, Mei Ao, Valentina Petukhova, Bhargava Karumudi, Pavel A Petukhov, Serapio M Baca, Mark M Rasenick, Amynah A Pradhan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2021-04-01
• Series: eLife
• Subjects: migraine; pain; aura; allodynia; tubulin; cytoskeleton
• Online Access: https://elifesciences.org/articles/63076

Migraine is the sixth most prevalent disease worldwide but the mechanisms that underlie migraine chronicity are poorly understood. Cytoskeletal flexibility is fundamental to neuronal-plasticity and is dependent on dynamic microtubules. Histone-deacetylase-6 (HDAC6) decreases microtubule dynamics by deacetylating its primary substrate, α-tubulin. We use validated mouse models of migraine to show that HDAC6-inhibition is a promising migraine treatment and reveal an undiscovered cytoarchitectural basis for migraine chronicity. The human migraine trigger, nitroglycerin, produced chronic migraine-associated pain and decreased neurite growth in headache-processing regions, which were reversed by HDAC6 inhibition. Cortical spreading depression (CSD), a physiological correlate of migraine aura, also decreased cortical neurite growth, while HDAC6-inhibitor restored neuronal complexity and decreased CSD. Importantly, a calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist also restored blunted neuronal complexity induced by nitroglycerin. Our results demonstrate that disruptions in neuronal cytoarchitecture are a feature of chronic migraine, and effective migraine therapies might include agents that restore microtubule/neuronal plasticity.