We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Ventral striatal islands of Calleja neurons bidirectionally mediate depression-like behaviors in mice.
- Authors
Zhang, Yun-Feng; Wu, Jialiang; Wang, Yingqi; Johnson, Natalie L.; Bhattarai, Janardhan P.; Li, Guanqing; Wang, Wenqiang; Guevara, Camilo; Shoenhard, Hannah; Fuccillo, Marc V.; Wesson, Daniel W.; Ma, Minghong
- Abstract
The ventral striatum is a reward center implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. It contains islands of Calleja, clusters of dopamine D3 receptor-expressing granule cells, predominantly in the olfactory tubercle (OT). These OT D3 neurons regulate self-grooming, a repetitive behavior manifested in affective disorders. Here we show that chronic restraint stress (CRS) induces robust depression-like behaviors in mice and decreases excitability of OT D3 neurons. Ablation or inhibition of these neurons leads to depression-like behaviors, whereas their activation ameliorates CRS-induced depression-like behaviors. Moreover, activation of OT D3 neurons has a rewarding effect, which diminishes when grooming is blocked. Finally, we propose a model that explains how OT D3 neurons may influence dopamine release via synaptic connections with OT spiny projection neurons (SPNs) that project to midbrain dopamine neurons. Our study reveals a crucial role of OT D3 neurons in bidirectionally mediating depression-like behaviors, suggesting a potential therapeutic target. Ventral striatal Islands of Calleja neurons, known to regulate grooming in mice, are reported to bidirectionally mediate depression-like behaviors. Here, authors link grooming, dopamine signaling and affective behaviors via ventral striatal circuits.
- Subjects
DOPAMINERGIC neurons; GRANULE cells; NEURONS; DOPAMINE receptors; IMMOBILIZATION stress; AFFECTIVE disorders; ISLANDS
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2023, Vol 14, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-023-42662-z