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Increased Serotonin Transporter Expression Reduces Fear and Recruitment of Parvalbumin Interneurons of the Amygdala.

ABSTRACT: Genetic association studies suggest that variations in the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT; serotonin) transporter (5-HTT) gene are associated with susceptibility to psychiatric disorders such as anxiety or posttraumatic stress disorder. Individuals carrying high 5-HTT-expressing gene variants display low amygdala reactivity to fearful stimuli. Mice overexpressing the 5-HTT (5-HTTOE), an animal model of this human variation, show impaired fear, together with reduced fear-evoked theta oscillations in the basolateral amygdala (BLA). However, it is unclear how variation in 5-HTT gene expression impacts on the microcircuitry of the BLA to change behavior. We addressed this issue by investigating the activity of parvalbumin (PV)-expressing interneurons (PVINs), the biggest IN population in the basal amygdala (BA). We found that increased 5-HTT expression impairs the recruitment of PVINs (measured by their c-Fos immunoreactivity) during fear. Ex vivo patch-clamp recordings demonstrated that the depolarizing effect of 5-HT on PVINs was mediated by 5-HT2A receptor. In 5-HTTOE mice, 5-HT-evoked depolarization of PVINs and synaptic inhibition of principal cells, which provide the major output of the BA, were impaired. This deficit was because of reduced 5-HT2A function and not because of increased 5-HT uptake. Collectively, these findings provide novel cellular mechanisms that are likely to contribute to differences in emotional behaviors linked with genetic variations of the 5-HTT.

SUBMITTER: Bocchio M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4864439 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:While persistence of fear memories is essential for survival, a failure to inhibit fear in response to harmless stimuli is a feature of anxiety disorders. Extinction training only temporarily suppresses fear memory recovery in adults, but it is highly effective in juvenile rodents. Maturation of GABAergic circuits, in particular of parvalbumin-positive (PV+) cells, restricts plasticity in the adult brain, thus reducing PV+ cell maturation could promote the suppression of fear memories following extinction training in adults. Epigenetic modifications such as histone acetylation control gene accessibility for transcription and help couple synaptic activity to changes in gene expression. Histone deacetylase 2 (Hdac2), in particular, restrains both structural and functional synaptic plasticity. However, whether and how Hdac2 controls the maturation of postnatal PV+ cells is not well understood. Here, we show that PV+- cell specific Hdac2 deletion limits spontaneous fear memory recovery in adult mice, while enhancing PV+ cell bouton remodeling and reducing perineuronal net aggregation around PV+ cells in prefrontal cortex and basolateral amygdala. Prefrontal cortex PV+ cells lacking Hdac2, show reduced expression of Acan, a critical perineuronal net component, which is rescued by Hdac2 re-expression. Pharmacological inhibition of Hdac2 before extinction training is sufficient to reduce both spontaneous fear memory recovery and Acan expression in wild-type adult mice, while these effects are occluded in PV+-cell specific Hdac2 conditional knockout mice. Finally, a brief knock-down of Acan expression mediated by intravenous siRNA delivery before extinction training but after fear memory acquisition is sufficient to reduce spontaneous fear recovery in wild-type mice. Altogether, these data suggest that controlled manipulation of PV+ cells by targeting Hdac2 activity, or the expression of its downstream effector Acan, promotes the long-term efficacy of extinction training in adults.

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Increased Serotonin Transporter Expression Reduces Fear and Recruitment of Parvalbumin Interneurons of the Amygdala.

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