The neuroendocrine stress response at single-cell resolution reveals adrenal ABCB1 as key regulator of stress adaptation
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ABSTRACT: Chronic activation and dysregulation of the neuroendocrine stress response has severe physiological and psychological consequences, including the development of metabolic and stress-related psychiatric disorders. Here, we provide the first unbiased, cell-type-specific, molecular characterization of all three components of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, under baseline and chronic stress conditions, using single-cell RNA sequencing. Interestingly, the most prominent alterations were observed in the adrenal gland. We identified a population of Abcb1b+ cells involved in stress adaptation in the zona fasciculata of the adrenal. We validated our findings in a mouse stress model and human adrenal tissues from patients with ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome. We demonstrated that transcriptional activity and variants of the ABCB1 gene underlie a dampened HPA axis response, using in-vitro adrenocortical cell lines and functional endocrine testing in depressed patients. Our findings raise the possibility for ABCB1 based stratification of patients with stress-related disorders and modulation of its function as a tailored treatment strategy.
ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus
PROVIDER: GSE161751 | GEO | 2021/01/28
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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