Project description:In this study, we examined the consequences of the early stress (ES) of maternal separation on hippocampal gene expression in young adulthood. Young adult (2 months old) ES animals exhibit hippocampal transcriptome changes with a significant regulation of genes associated with intracellular signaling, MAP kinase signaling, plasma membrane function, neurotransmitter and neuropeptide receptors and cytoskeletal components.
Project description:In this study, we examined the consequences of the early stress (ES) of maternal separation on hippocampal gene expression in young adulthood. Young adult (2 months old) ES animals exhibit hippocampal transcriptome changes with a significant regulation of genes associated with intracellular signaling, MAP kinase signaling, plasma membrane function, neurotransmitter and neuropeptide receptors and cytoskeletal components. Agilent one-color experiment, Agilent-024724 Genotypic-designed Custom Rattus Norvegicus 8x15k; Organism: Rattus norvegicus; Labeling kit: Agilent Quick-Amp labeling Kit (p/n5190-0442); Biological replicates: 4 per treatment group.
Project description:Early-life stress has been linked to multiple neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric deficits. Our previous studies have linked maternal presence/absence from the nest in developing rat pups to changes in prefrontal cortex activity. Furthermore, we have shown that these changes are modulated by serotonergic signaling. Here we test whether changes in prefrontal cortex activity during early-life affect the developing cortex leading to behavioral alterations in the adult. We show that inhibiting the prefrontal cortex of mouse pups leads to cognitive deficits in the adult comparable to those seen following maternal separation. Moreover, we show that activating the prefrontal cortex during maternal separation can prevent these behavioral deficits. To test how maternal separation affects the transcriptional profile of the prefrontal cortex we performed single-nucleus RNA sequencing. Maternal separation lead to differential gene expression almost exclusively in inhibitory neurons. Among others, we found changes in GABAergic and serotonergic pathways in these interneurons. Interestingly, both maternal separation and early-life prefrontal cortex inhibition led to changes in physiological responses in prefrontal activity to GABAergic and serotonergic antagonists that were similar to the responses of more immature brains. Prefrontal activation during maternal separation prevented these changes. These data point to a crucial role of prefrontal cortex activity during early-life in behavioral expression in adulthood
Project description:A short-term maternal separation in early neonate rats markedly increases intestinal permeability, induces bacterial translocation to systemic organs and impacts gene expression in the liver
Project description:In this study, we examined the consequences of the early stress (ES) of maternal separation on hippocampal gene expression in middle-aged animals. Middle-aged (15 months old) ES animals exhibit hippocampal transcriptome changes with a significant regulation of genes associated with ion binding, transcriptional regulation, cellular projection, cellular stress responsive pathways, neuronal development and chromatin remodeling.
