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Chronic adolescent exposure to Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in mice leads to long-term changes in gene expression networks in the brain

ABSTRACT: Background: Adolescent cannabis use leads to long-lasting behavioral changes involving cognitive and reward processes. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. To address this limitation, we performed gene network analyses using transcriptomic data from mice exposed during adolescence to Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of cannabis. Methods: We injected vehicle or THC in female and male mice during the entire adolescence period. Two weeks following the last exposure, we measured recognition memory, social interaction and anxiety-related behaviors. We generated 120 RNA-seq datasets from 5 brain regions for each mouse. We performed differential gene expression analysis and constructed co-expression networks to identify THC-induced transcriptional alterations at the level of individual genes, gene networks, biological pathways, and cellular specificity. Further, we integrated THC-correlated gene networks with human traits from genome-wide association studies and performed key driver analysis to identify potential regulators of disorder-associated networks. Results: THC impaired cognitive behaviors of mice, with memory being more impacted in females, which coincided with larger transcriptional alterations in the female brain. Gene network analyses identified brain region-, cell type- and sex- specific co-expressed genes (“modules”) dysregulated by THC. THC-induced memory deficits in females were correlated with disruption of gene networks involved in endocannabinoid signaling and inflammation. Additional THC-correlated modules in both sexes involved converging pathways related to dopamine signaling and addiction processes. Moreover, the connectivity map of THC-correlated modules uncovered intra- and inter-region molecular circuitries influenced by THC. Further, modules altered by THC treatment were enriched in genes relevant for human cognition and schizophrenia. Conclusions: These findings provide novel insights concerning the genes, cell types, and pathways underlying persistent behavioral deficits induced by adolescent exposure to THC in a sex-specific manner, and highlight the connection between adolescent cannabis use and neuropsychiatric disorders in humans.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE189821 | GEO | 2021/12/06

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Adolescence is a critical period in cognitive and emotional development, characterized by high levels of social interaction and increases in risk-taking behavior including binge drinking. Adolescent exposure to social stress and binge ethanol have individually been associated with the development of social, emotional, and cognitive deficits, as well as increased risk for alcohol use disorder. Disruption of cortical development by early life social stress and/or binge drinking may partly underlie these enduring emotional, cognitive, and behavioral effects. The study goal is to implement a novel neighbor housing environment to identify the effects of adolescent neighbor housing and/or binge ethanol drinking on (1) a battery of emotional and cognitive tasks (2) adult ethanol drinking behavior, and (3) the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex transcriptome. Adolescent male and female C57BL/6J mice were single or neighbor housed with or without access to intermittent ethanol. One cohort underwent behavioral testing during adulthood to determine social preference, expression of anxiety-like behavior, cognitive performance, and patterns of ethanol intake. The second cohort was sacrificed in late adolescence and brain tissue was used for transcriptomics analysis. As adults, single housed mice displayed decreased social interaction, deficits in the novel object recognition task, and increased anxiety-like behavior, relative to neighbor-housed mice. There was no effect of housing condition on adolescent or adult ethanol consumption. Adolescent ethanol exposure did not alter adult ethanol intake. Transcriptomics analysis revealed that adolescent housing condition and ethanol exposure resulted in differential expression of genes related to synaptic plasticity in the nucleus accumbens and genes related to methylation, the extracellular matrix and inflammation in the prefrontal cortex. The behavioral results indicate that social interaction during adolescence via the neighbor housing model may protect against emotional, social, and cognitive deficits. In addition, the transcriptomics results suggest that these behavioral alterations may be mediated in part by dysregulation of transcription in the frontal cortex or the nucleus accumbens

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Chronic adolescent exposure to Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in mice leads to long-term changes in gene expression networks in the brain

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