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A comprehensive examination of dynamic gene expression changes in the mouse brain during pregnancy and the postpartum period

ABSTRACT: The developmental transition to motherhood requires gene expression changes that alter the brain to prepare and drive the female to perform maternal behaviors. Furthermore, it is expected that the many physiological changes accompanying pregnancy and postpartum stages will impact brain gene expression patterns. To understand how extensive these gene expression changes are, we examined the global transcriptional response broadly, by examining four different brain regions: hypothalamus, hippocampus, neocortex, and cerebellum. Further, to understand the time course of these changes we performed RNA-sequencing analyses on mRNA derived from virgin females, two pregnancy time points and three postpartum time points. We find that each brain region and time point shows a unique molecular signature, with only 49 genes differentially expressed in all four regions, across the time points. Additionally, several genes previously implicated in underlying postpartum depression change expression. This study serves as a comprehensive atlas of gene expression changes in the maternal brain in the cerebellum, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and neocortex. At each of the time points analyzed, all four brain regions show extensive changes, suggesting that pregnancy, parturition, and postpartum maternal experience substantially impacts diverse brain regions.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE70732 | GEO | 2016/01/01

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA289455

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The transition from the non-maternal to the maternal state is characterized by a variety of CNS alterations that support the care of offspring. The septum (including lateral and medial portions) is a brain region previously linked to various emotional and motivational processes, including maternal care. In this study, we used microarrays (PLIER algorithm) to examine gene expression changes in the septum of postpartum mice and employed gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to identify possible regulators of altered gene expression. Genes of interest identified as differentially regulated with microarray analysis were validated with quantitative real-time PCR. We found that fatty acid binding protein 7 (Fabp7) and galanin (Gal) were downregulated, whereas insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (Igfbp3) was upregulated in postpartum mice compared to virgin females. These genes were previously found to be differentially regulated in other brain regions during lactation. We also identified altered expression of novel genes not previously linked to maternal behavior, but that could play a role in postpartum processes, including glutamate-ammonia ligase (Glul) and somatostatin receptor 1 (Sstr1) (both upregulated in postpartum). Genes implicated in metabolism, cell differentiation, or proliferation also exhibited altered expression. Unexpectedly, enrichment analysis revealed a high number of microRNAs, transcription factors, or conserved binding sites (177 with corrected P-value <0.05) that were significantly linked to maternal upregulated genes, while none were linked to downregulated genes. MicroRNAs have been linked to placenta and mammary gland development, but this is the first indication they may also play a key role in sculpting the maternal brain. Together, this study provides new insights into genes (along with possible mechanisms for their regulation) that are involved in septum-mediated adaptations during the postpartum period. In total, 12 total RNA samples derived from microdissected lateral septum were used for microarray analysis: 6 samples from virgin mice and 6 samples from age-matched lactating maternal mice. All samples are biological replicates.

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A comprehensive examination of dynamic gene expression changes in the mouse brain during pregnancy and the postpartum period

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