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Islam R, White JD, Arefin TM, Mehta S, Liu X, Polis B, Giuliano L, Ahmed S, Bowers C, Zhang J, Kaffman A. Early adversity causes sex-specific deficits in perforant pathway connectivity and contextual memory in adolescent mice. Biol Sex Differ 2024; 15:39. [PMID: 38715106 PMCID: PMC11075329 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-024-00616-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Early life adversity impairs hippocampal development and function across diverse species. While initial evidence indicated potential variations between males and females, further research is required to validate these observations and better understand the underlying mechanisms contributing to these sex differences. Furthermore, most of the preclinical work in rodents was performed in adult males, with only few studies examining sex differences during adolescence when such differences appear more pronounced. To address these concerns, we investigated the impact of limited bedding (LB), a mouse model of early adversity, on hippocampal development in prepubescent and adolescent male and female mice. METHODS RNA sequencing, confocal microscopy, and electron microscopy were used to evaluate the impact of LB and sex on hippocampal development in prepubescent postnatal day 17 (P17) mice. Additional studies were conducted on adolescent mice aged P29-36, which included contextual fear conditioning, retrograde tracing, and ex vivo diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). RESULTS More severe deficits in axonal innervation and myelination were found in the perforant pathway of prepubescent and adolescent LB males compared to LB female littermates. These sex differences were due to a failure of reelin-positive neurons located in the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) to innervate the dorsal hippocampus via the perforant pathway in males, but not LB females, and were strongly correlated with deficits in contextual fear conditioning. CONCLUSIONS LB impairs the capacity of reelin-positive cells located in the LEC to project and innervate the dorsal hippocampus in LB males but not female LB littermates. Given the critical role that these projections play in supporting normal hippocampal function, a failure to establish proper connectivity between the LEC and the dorsal hippocampus provides a compelling and novel mechanism to explain the more severe deficits in myelination and contextual freezing found in adolescent LB males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafiad Islam
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Jordon D White
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Tanzil M Arefin
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for Neurotechnology in Mental Health Research (CNMHR), The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Sameet Mehta
- Yale Center for Genomic Analysis, P.O. Box 27386, West Haven, CT, 06516-7386, USA
| | - Xinran Liu
- Department of Cell Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, SHM IE26, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
- Center for Cellular and Molecular Imaging, Electron Microscopy Core Facility, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Baruh Polis
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Lauryn Giuliano
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Sahabuddin Ahmed
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Christian Bowers
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Jiangyang Zhang
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Arie Kaffman
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
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Ben Youss Z, Arefin TM, Qayyum S, Yi R, Zhang J, Zaim Wadghiri Y, Alon L, Yaghmazadeh O. Open-source versatile 3D-print animal conditioning platform design for in vivo preclinical brain imaging in awake mice and anesthetized mice and rats. Lab Anim (NY) 2024; 53:33-42. [PMID: 38279029 PMCID: PMC11095950 DOI: 10.1038/s41684-023-01320-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
Proper animal conditioning is a key factor in the quality and success of preclinical neuroimaging applications. Here, we introduce an open-source easy-to-modify multimodal 3D printable design for rodent conditioning for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or other imaging modalities. Our design can be used for brain imaging in anesthetized or awake mice, and in anesthetized rats. We show ease of use and reproducibility of subject conditioning with anatomical T2-weighted imaging for both mice and rats. We also demonstrate the application of our design for awake functional MRI in mice using both visual evoked potential and olfactory stimulation paradigms. In addition, using a combined MRI, positron emission tomography and X-ray computed tomography experiment, we demonstrate that our proposed cradle design can be utilized for multiple imaging modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zakia Ben Youss
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging (CBI), Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R), Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tanzil Mahmud Arefin
- Center for Neurotechnology in Mental Health Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Sawwal Qayyum
- Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Runjie Yi
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jiangyang Zhang
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging (CBI), Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R), Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Youssef Zaim Wadghiri
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging (CBI), Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R), Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Leeor Alon
- Bernard and Irene Schwartz Center for Biomedical Imaging (CBI), Center for Advanced Imaging Innovation and Research (CAI2R), Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Omid Yaghmazadeh
- Neuroscience Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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