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Social isolation-induced transcriptomic changes in mouse hippocampus impact the synapse and show convergence with human genetic risk for neurodevelopmental phenotypes

ABSTRACT: Early life stress (ELS) can impact brain development and is a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia. Post-weaning social isolation (SI) is used to model ELS in animals, using isolation stress to disrupt a normal developmental trajectory. We aimed to investigate how SI affects the expression of genes in mouse hippocampus and to investigate how these changes related to the genetic basis of neurodevelopmental phenotypes. BL/6J mice were exposed to post-weaning SI (PD21-25) or treated as group-housed controls (n = 7-8 per group). RNA sequencing was performed on tissue samples from the hippocampus of adult male and female mice. Four hundred and 1,215 differentially-expressed genes (DEGs) at a false discovery rate of < 0.05 were detected between SI and control samples for males and females respectively. DEGS for both males and females were significantly overrepresented in gene ontologies related to synaptic structure and function, especially the post-synapse. DEGs were enriched for common variant (SNP) heritability in humans that contributes to risk of neuropsychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) and to cognitive function. DEGs were also enriched for genes harbouring rare de novo variants that contribute to autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disorders. Finally, cell type analysis revealed populations of hippocampal astrocytes that were enriched for DEGs, indicating effects in these cell types as well as neurons. Overall, these data suggest a convergence between genes dysregulated by the SI stressor in the mouse and genes associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and cognitive phenotypes in humans.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE246551 | GEO | 2023/11/02

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Early life stress (ELS) has often been described as a risk factor for developing psychiatric disease. However, moderate exposure to ELS can also lead to stress inoculation and consequently adaptive changes on brain and behavior. Moreover, the FKBP5 gene, encoding the FKBP51 co-chaperone, has been associated with an increased risk for developing psychiatric disorders, specifically in interaction with ELS exposure. However, the underlying mechanisms behind the interaction of FKBP51 and moderate ELS exposure are still not completely understood and particularly data in the female sex are scarce. In this study, the contribution of FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons to the long-term consequences of moderate ELS was investigated in both sexes, by using the Fkbp5Nex conditional knockout line. In female wild-type Fkbp5lox/lox mice, ELS exposure led to an anxiolytic phenotype and improved memory performance in a stressful context, however this ELS effect was absent in in Fkbp5Nexx wild-type mice. Interactive effects of FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons and moderate ELS exposure in female mice were also reflected on brain volume of different cortical regions, the subiculum and white matter structures. Furthermore, interactive effects were observed for structural and electrophysiological properties of CA1 pyramidal neurons of the dorsal hippocampus. RNA sequencing of the hippocampus revealed the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) as a potential regulator of these interactive effects. Cre-dependent viral overexpression of TCF4 in female Nex-Cre mice led to similar beneficial effects on behavior as the moderate ELS exposure. Taken together, this study shows that FKBP51 in glutamatergic forebrain neurons mediates adaptive effects of moderate ELS exposure on emotional regulation, cognitive behavior and neuronal structure and function. Moreover, it proposes TCF4 as an underlying target that drives the FKBP51-mediated effects of moderate ELS on brain and behavior.

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Social isolation-induced transcriptomic changes in mouse hippocampus impact the synapse and show convergence with human genetic risk for neurodevelopmental phenotypes

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