PMID: 29485117Feb 28, 2018Paper

Acute pharmacogenetic activation of medial prefrontal cortex excitatory neurons regulates anxiety-like behaviour

Journal of Biosciences
Sthitapranjya PatiVidita A Vaidya

Abstract

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is implicated in anxiety-like behaviour. In rodent models, perturbations of mPFC neuronal activity through pharmacological manipulations, optogenetic activation of mPFC neurons or cell-type specific pharmacogenetic inhibition of somatostatin interneurons indicate conflicting effects on anxiety-like behaviour. In the present study we examined the effects of pharmacogenetic activation of Ca 2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase alpha (CamKII alpha)-positive excitatory neurons on anxiety-like behaviour. We used clozapine-N-oxide (CNO) to pharmacogenetically activate virally delivered CamKII alpha-hM3Dq-DREADD in mPFC excitatory neurons. The effects of acute CNO or vehicle treatment on anxiety-like behaviour in the open field and elevated plus maze tests were examined in rats virally infected with either CamKII alpha-hM3Dq-DREADD or CamKII alpha-GFP. In addition, the effects of acute CNO treatment on the expression of the neuronal activity marker c-Fos were examined in the mPFC as well as downstream target neuronal circuits using immunohistochemistry. Acute pharmacogenetic activation of mPFC excitatory neurons evoked a significant decrease in anxiety-like behaviour selectively on the elevated pl...Continue Reading

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