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Smiley CE, Pate BS, Bouknight SJ, Francis MJ, Nowicki AV, Harrington EN, Wood SK. Estrogen receptor beta in the central amygdala regulates the deleterious behavioral and neuronal consequences of repeated social stress in female rats. Neurobiol Stress 2023; 23:100531. [PMID: 36879670 PMCID: PMC9984877 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2023.100531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
While over 95% of the population has reported experiencing extreme stress or trauma, females of reproductive age develop stress-induced neuropsychiatric disorders at twice the rate of males. This suggests that ovarian hormones may facilitate neural processes that increase stress susceptibility and underlie the heightened rates of these disorders, like depression and anxiety, that result from stress exposure in females. However, there is contradicting evidence in the literature regarding estrogen's role in stress-related behavioral outcomes. Estrogen signaling through estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) has been traditionally thought of as anxiolytic, but recent studies suggest estrogen exhibits distinct effects in the context of stress. Furthermore, ERβ is found abundantly in many stress-sensitive brain loci, including the central amygdala (CeA), in which transcription of the vital stress hormone, corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), can be regulated by an estrogen response element. Therefore, these experiments sought to identify the role of CeA ERβ activity during stress on behavioral outcomes in naturally cycling, adult, female Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were exposed to an ethological model of vicarious social stress, witness stress (WS), in which they experienced the sensory and psychological aspects of an aggressive social defeat encounter between two males. Following WS, rats exhibited stress-induced anxiety-like behaviors in the marble burying taskand brain analysis revealed increased ERβ and CRF specifically within the CeA following exposure to stress cues. Subsequent experiments were designed to target this receptor in the CeA using microinjections of the ERβ antagonist, PHTPP, prior to each stress session. During WS, estrogen signaling through ERβ was responsible for the behavioral sensitization to repeated social stress. Sucrose preference, acoustic startle, and marble burying tasks determined that blocking ERβ in the CeA during WS prevented the development of depressive-, anxiety-like, and hypervigilant behaviors. Additionally, brain analysis revealed a long-term decrease of intra-CeA CRF expression in PHTPP-treated rats. These experiments indicate that ERβ signaling in the CeA, likely through its effects on CRF, contributes to the development of negative valence behaviors that result from exposure to repeated social stress in female rats.
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Key Words
- ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone
- ASR, acoustic startle responding
- Anxiety
- BCA, bicinchoninic acid
- CON, control handing
- CORT, corticosterone
- CRF, corticotropin releasing factor
- CeA, central amygdala
- Central amygdala
- Corticotropin releasing factor
- EPM, elevated plus maze
- ERβ, estrogen receptor beta
- Estrogen receptor beta
- HPA, hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis
- LC, locus coeruleus
- MB, marble burying
- PHTPP, 4-[2-Phenyl-5: 7-bis (trifluoromethyl) pyrazolo [1,5-a] pyrimidine-3- yl] phenol
- SPT, sucrose preference testing
- Social stress
- WS, witness stress
- dB, decibels
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Affiliation(s)
- Cora E. Smiley
- University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience, Columbia, SC, USA
- Dorn VA Medical Center, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Brittany S. Pate
- University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience, Columbia, SC, USA
- University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health, Department of Exercise Science, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Samantha J. Bouknight
- University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Megan J. Francis
- University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Alexandria V. Nowicki
- University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Evelynn N. Harrington
- University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Susan K. Wood
- University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology Physiology and Neuroscience, Columbia, SC, USA
- Dorn VA Medical Center, Columbia, SC, USA
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Borodovitsyna O, Duffy BC, Pickering AE, Chandler DJ. Anatomically and functionally distinct locus coeruleus efferents mediate opposing effects on anxiety-like behavior. Neurobiol Stress 2020; 13:100284. [PMID: 33344735 PMCID: PMC7739179 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2020.100284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Revised: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The locus coeruleus (LC) is a critical node in the stress response, and its activation has been shown to promote hypervigilance and anxiety-like behavior. This noradrenergic nucleus has historically been considered homogeneous with highly divergent neurons that operate en masse to collectively affect central nervous system function and behavioral state. However, in recent years, LC has been identified as a heterogeneous structure whose neurons innervate discrete terminal fields and contribute to distinct aspects of behavior. We have previously shown that in late adolescent male rats, an acute traumatic stressor, simultaneous physical restraint and exposure to predator odor, preferentially induces c-Fos expression in a subset of dorsal LC neurons and persistently increases anxiety-like behavior. To investigate how these neurons respond to and contribute to the behavioral response to stress, we used a combination of retrograde tracing, whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology, and chemogenetics. Here we show that LC neurons innervating the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) undergo distinct electrophysiological changes in response to stressor exposure and have opposing roles in mediating anxiety-like behavior. While neurons innervating CeA become more excitable in response to stress and promote anxiety-like behavior, those innervating mPFC become less excitable and appear to promote exploration. These findings show that LC neurons innervating distinct terminal fields have unique physiological responses to particular stimuli. Furthermore, these observations advance the understanding of the LC as a complex and heterogeneous structure whose neurons maintain unique roles in various forms of behavior. Locus coeruleus-central amygdala projections are hyperactive one week after stress. Locus coeruleus-prefrontal cortex projections are hypoactive one week after stress. Chemogenetic manipulation of each pathway distinctly affects anxiety-like behavior.
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Key Words
- AHP, afterhyperpolarization
- Anxiety-like behavior
- CRF, corticotropin releasing factor
- CeA, central nucleus of the amygdala
- Central nucleus of amygdala
- EPM, elevated plus maze
- LC, locus coeruleus
- Locus coeruleus
- Medial prefrontal cortex
- NE, norepinephrine
- OFT, open field test
- PBS, phosphate buffered saline
- Stress
- TMT, 2,4,5-trimethylthiazole
- aCSF, artificial cerebrospinal fluid
- mPFC, medial prefrontal cortex
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga Borodovitsyna
- Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, 42 E. Laurel Road, Stratford, NJ, 08084, USA
| | - Brenna C Duffy
- Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, 42 E. Laurel Road, Stratford, NJ, 08084, USA
| | - Anthony E Pickering
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, Bristol, BS81TD, UK
| | - Daniel J Chandler
- Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, 42 E. Laurel Road, Stratford, NJ, 08084, USA
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Bisht K, Sharma K, Tremblay MÈ. Chronic stress as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease: Roles of microglia-mediated synaptic remodeling, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Neurobiol Stress 2018; 9:9-21. [PMID: 29992181 PMCID: PMC6035903 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2018.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 206] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2018] [Revised: 02/23/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Microglia are the predominant immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS) that exert key physiological roles required for maintaining CNS homeostasis, notably in response to chronic stress, as well as mediating synaptic plasticity, learning and memory. The repeated exposure to stress confers a higher risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases including sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). While microglia have been causally linked to amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulation, tau pathology, neurodegeneration, and synaptic loss in AD, they were also attributed beneficial roles, notably in the phagocytic elimination of Aβ. In this review, we discuss the interactions between chronic stress and AD pathology, overview the roles played by microglia in AD, especially focusing on chronic stress as an environmental risk factor modulating their function, and present recently-described microglial phenotypes associated with neuroprotection in AD. These microglial phenotypes observed under both chronic stress and AD pathology may provide novel opportunities for the development of better-targeted therapeutic interventions.
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Key Words
- ABCA7, ATP-binding cassette transporter A7
- AD, Alzheimer's disease
- APOE, Apolipoprotein E
- APP, amyloid precursor protein
- Alzheimer's disease
- Aβ, Amyloid beta
- BDNF, brain derived neurotrophic factor
- CD11b, cluster of differentiation molecule 11B
- CD33, cluster of differentiation 33
- CNS, central nervous system
- CR, complement receptor
- CRF, corticotropin releasing factor
- DAM, disease associated microglia
- DAP12, DNAX-activation protein 12
- Dark microglia
- FAD, Familial Alzheimer's disease
- FCRLS, Fc receptor-like S scavenger receptor
- GR, glucocorticoid receptor
- HPA axis, hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical axis
- IBA1, ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1
- IL, interleukin
- LTP, long-term potentiation
- MGnD, microglia with a neurodegenerative phenotype
- MR, mineralocorticoid receptor
- Microglia
- Microglial phenotypes
- NADPH, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate
- NFT, neurofibrillary tangles
- Neurodegeneration
- Neuroinflammation
- PS, presenilin
- ROS, reactive oxygen species
- Stress
- Synaptic remodeling
- TGFβ, transforming growth factor β
- TLR, Toll-like receptors
- TMEM119, transmembrane protein 119
- TNFα, tumor necrosis factor-α
- TREM2, triggering receptor expressed in myeloid cells 2
- TYROBP, TYRO protein tyrosine kinase binding protein
- mPFC, medial prefrontal cortex
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanchan Bisht
- Axe Neurosciences, CRCHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Kaushik Sharma
- Axe Neurosciences, CRCHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Marie-Ève Tremblay
- Axe Neurosciences, CRCHU de Québec-Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
- Département de médecine moléculaire, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
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