Impacts of stress on reproductive and social behaviors.

Impacts of steroid stress hormones on the brain have provided multiple opportunities for linking specific molecular phenomena to behavioral state. The negative impacts of stress on female reproductive biological processes have been documented thoroughly at the endocrine and behavioral levels. More recently, a '3-hit' theory of autism has identified early stress as one of the hits. The multiple biochemical effects of endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) indicated that it would serve as a powerful maternal immune activator. The prenatal exposure to LPS coupled with the other two 'hits'- an autism-related mutation and the Y chromosome - - heightened certain autism-like signs in mouse behavior.

Long-term gene expression and phenotypic correction using adeno-associated virus vectors in the mammalian brain.

Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors are non-pathogenic, integrating DNA vectors in which all viral genes are removed and helper virus is completely eliminated. To evaluate this system in the post-mitotic cells of the brain, we found that an AAV vector containing the lacZ gene (AAVlac) resulted in expression of beta-galactosidase up to three months post-injection in vivo. A second vector expressing human tyrosine hydroxylase (AAVth) was injected into the denervated striatum of unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity was detectable in striatal neurons and glia for up to four months and we also found significant behavioural recovery in lesioned rats treated with AAVth versus AAVlac controls. Safe and stable TH gene transfer into the denervated striatum may have potential for the genetic therapy of Parkinson's disease.

Luteinizing hormone-releasing factor potentiates lordosis behavior in hypophysectomized ovariectomized female rats.

Subcutaneous injection of luteinizing hormone-releasing factor (LRF) in estrogen-primed hypophysectomized, ovariectomized female rats facilitates the appearance of the lordosis response. The LRF effect on lordosis was seen 90, 180, and 360 minutes after injection. This effect could help to synchronize the female's mating behavior with the ovulatory discharge of luteinizing hormone.

Autoradiographic localization of radioactivity in rat brain after injection of tritiated sex hormones.

Radioactivity was found in cell bodies of neurons and glial cells throughout brains of male and female rats that had been injected with either testosterone-H(3) or estradiol-H(3). Uptake by limbic and hypothalamic structures was higher and longer lasting than that in nonlimbic structures. In all brains, the preoptic area, prepiriform cortex, olfactory tubercle, and septum had particularly high, long-lasting uptake of both hormones.

Axonal projections of medial preoptic and anterior hypothalamic neurons.

Projections from medial preoptic area (mPOA) and medial anterior hypothalamic area (mAHA) neurons were investigated in albino rats with the use of tritiated amino acid autoradiography. Both the mPOA and the mAHA gave long-axon projections to structures in limbic forebrain and midbrain as well as short-axon projections to other hypothalamic regions. Differences between mPOA and mAHA neurons were observed in projections to the mid-septal region, ventromedial hypothalamus, premammillary region, and central gray. Further, while axons from the mPOA traveled within the medial forebrain bundle, those from the mAHA remained in a band ventromedial to the fornix. These anatomical differences may underlie functional differences between the mPOA and mAHA which have been demonstrated with other experimental techniques.

Characterization of estrogen-concentrating hypothalamic neurons by their axonal projections.

A method combining steroid autoradiography and fluorescent dye retrograde neuroanatomical tracing has been devised. This method makes it possible to demonstrate that some estrogen-concentrating cells in the ventrolateral subdivision of the ventromedial nucleus of the rat hypothalamus are neurons that send axons to the dorsal midbrain. Other cells only concentrate estrogen or only project to the midbrain. Estrogen-concentrating neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus that project to the dorsal midbrain are likely to transmit hormone-influenced signals that regulate circuits for reproductive or other behaviors or autonomic functions.

Actions of estrogens and progestins on nerve cells.

Estrogens and progestins alter electrical and chemical features of nerve cells, particularly in hypothalamus. Temporally, these events follow nuclear receptor occupation by these steroids, although not all effects have been proved to depend on translocation of receptors to the nucleus. Narrowing studies to focus on particular medial hypothalamic cells has been useful for understanding some of the actions of these steroids in brain. The variety of morphological, chemical, and electrical effects allow for a multiplicity in the cellular functions controlled by these hormones.

Androgen-concentrating cells in the midbrain of a songbird.

Androgen-concentrating cells were found in the midbrain of the chaffinch Fringilla coelebs by autoradiography using tritiated testosterone. Labeled cells were localized primarily in the nucleus intercollicularis, an area from which vocalizations can be electrically stimulated in birds. These autoradiographic results suggest that the nucleus intercollicularis is a site in the action of androgens on avian vocal behavior.

HIP-70: a protein induced by estrogen in the brain and LH-RH in the pituitary.

Estrogen and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) interact to influence both behavior and gonadotropin release. However, little is known about the biochemical mechanisms that mediate the effects of these hormones or their interactions. The most prominent protein induced by estrogen in the ventromedial hypothalamus has the same amino-terminal sequence as the most prominent protein induced by LH-RH in the pituitary in vitro and in vivo; these proteins comigrate on two-dimensional gels. Furthermore, the hormonal induction may be caused by modification of a constitutive protein with the same molecular weight (70,000) but a slightly more acidic isoelectric point, whose level is inversely related to the level of the induced form after estrogen treatment. Thus estrogen and LH-RH may interact by additively or synergistically inducing this protein, which is called HIP-70.

Telemetered recording of hormone effects on hippocampal neurons.

Frequency-modulated telemetry was used to record the effects of hormones on single-unit activity in the brains of freely moving rats. Corticosterone decreased unit activity in the dorsal hippocampus. Adrenocorticotrophic hormone had the opposite effect.

Midbrain microinfusions of prolactin increase the estrogen-dependent behavior, lordosis.

Microinfusions of rat prolactin into the dorsal midbrain of estrogen-treated, ovariectomized rats increased lordosis behavior. Midbrain microinfusions of antiserum to prolactin into rats displaying maximum lordosis had the opposite effect. The distribution of a prolactin-like substance in the brain was studied immunocytochemically. The results suggest that a hypothalamic neuronal system projecting to the midbrain contains a prolactin-like substance that plays a role in facilitating this behavior and therefore may mediate some of the effects of estrogen on the brain. These data, together with others from studies of the prolactin gene and its regulation, indicate that it may be possible to analyze a sequence of molecular events in the brain that facilitate a behavioral response.

Behavioral effects of progesterone associated with rapid modulation of oxytocin receptors.

The ventromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus (VMN) are important for the control of feminine mating behavior, and hormone action within these nuclei has been causally related to behavior. Estradiol induces receptors for oxytocin in the VMN and in the area lateral to these nuclei over the course of 1 to 2 days, and progesterone causes, within 30 minutes of its application, a further increase in receptor binding and an expansion of the area covered by these receptors lateral to the VMN. The rapid progesterone effect appears to be a direct and specific effect of this steroid on the receptor or membrane, because it was produced in vitro as well as in vivo and was not mimicked by a variety of other steroids. The effect of progesterone occurred in the posterior part of the VMN, where oxytocin infusion facilitated feminine mating behavior; it did not take place in the anterior part of the VMN, where oxytocin infusion had no effect on mating behavior.

Activating an anterior nucleus gigantocellularis subpopulation triggers emergence from pharmacologically-induced coma in rodents.

Multiple areas within the reticular activating system (RAS) can hasten awakening from sleep or light planes of anesthesia. However, stimulation in individual sites has shown limited recovery from deep global suppression of brain activity, such as coma. Here we identify a subset of RAS neurons within the anterior portion of nucleus gigantocellularis (aNGC) capable of producing a high degree of awakening represented by a broad high frequency cortical reactivation associated with organized movements and behavioral reactivity to the environment from two different models of deep pharmacologically-induced coma (PIC): isoflurane (1.25%-1.5%) and induced hypoglycemic coma. Activating aNGC neurons triggered awakening by recruiting cholinergic, noradrenergic, and glutamatergic arousal pathways. In summary, we identify an evolutionarily conserved population of RAS neurons, which broadly restore cerebral cortical activation and motor behavior in rodents through the coordinated activation of multiple arousal-promoting circuits.

Presynaptic actions of opioid receptor agonists in ventromedial hypothalamic neurons in estrogen- and oil-treated female mice.

Estrogens act upon ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) neurons, and their effects on female arousal and sexual behaviors mediated by VMH neurons involve several neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Among these are opioid peptides which might be predicted to oppose estrogenic action on VMH because they tend to decrease CNS arousal. Spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents were recorded from VMH neurons from 17beta-estradiol- (E, 10 mug/0.1 ml) or oil-treated control ovariectomized (OVX) mice using whole-cell patch-clamp techniques. To examine the impact of opioidergic inputs, recordings of neurons from both treatment groups were obtained in the presence of the general opioid receptor agonist methionine enkephalin-Arg-Phe (MERF, 3 muM), or mu-receptor specific agonist [d-Ala(2), N-Me-Phe(4), Gly(5)-ol]-enkephalin (DAMGO, 1 muM). Compared with oil, E treatment for 48 h significantly increased the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) without affecting their amplitude. MERF and DAMGO each abolished this E effect, causing significant reductions in sEPSCs. The effect of MERF was abolished by naltrexone (general opioid receptor antagonist, 3 muM) and the effect of DAMGO by d-Phe-Cys-Tyr-d-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH(2) (CTAP) (mu-opioid receptor selective antagonist, 1 muM); in contrast, kappa- and delta-opioid receptor agonists, U69593 (300 nM) and [d-Pen(2),d-Pen(5)]-enkephalin (DPDPE, 1 muM) respectively, had little effect on the sEPSCs compared with DAMGO. To consider presynaptic vs. postsynaptic effects of opioids, miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) were investigated in E- and oil-treated VMH neurons and opioid receptor antagonist effects on mEPSCs were observed. Both MERF and DAMGO reduced the frequency of mEPSCs, but had no effect on their amplitude. Our findings indicate that opioids suppress excitatory synaptic transmissions in VMH neurons primarily through mu-receptors and could thereby decrease sexual arousal in mice.

Steady-state methadone effect on generalized arousal in male and female mice.

Methadone is widely used in treatment of short-acting opiate addiction. The on-off effects of opioids have been documented to have profound differences from steady-state opioids. The authors hypothesize that opioids play important roles in either generalized arousal (GA) or aversive state of arousal during opioid withdrawal. Both male and female C57BL6 mice received steady-state methadone (SSM) through osmotic pumps at 10 or 20 mg/kg/day, and GA was measured in voluntary motor activity, sensory responsivity, and contextual fear conditioning. SSM did not have any effect on those GA behaviors in either sex. Females had higher activity and less fear conditioning than males. The effects of SSM on stress-responsive orexin gene expression in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and medial hypothalamus (MH, including perifornical and dorsomedial areas) were measured after the behavioral tests. Females showed significantly lower basal LH (but not MH) orexin mRNA levels than males. A panel of GA stressors increased LH orexin mRNA levels in females only; these increases were blunted by SSM at 20 mg/kg. In summary, SSM had no effect on GA behaviors. In females, SSM blunted the GA stress-induced LH orexin gene expression.

Reverse engineering the lordosis behavior circuit.

Reverse engineering takes the facts we know about a device or a process and reasons backwards to infer the principles underlying the structure-function relations. The goal of this review is to apply this approach to a well-studied hormone-controlled behavior, namely the reproductive stance of female rodents, lordosis. We first provide a brief overview on the considerable amount of progress in the analysis of female reproductive behavior. Then, we propose an analysis of the mechanisms of this behavior from a reverse-engineering perspective with the goal of generating novel hypotheses about the properties of the circuitry elements. In particular, the previously proposed neuronal circuit modules, feedback signals, and genomic mechanisms are considered to make predictions in this manner. The lordosis behavior itself appears to proceed ballistically once initiated, but negative and positive hormonal feedback relations are evident in its endocrine controls. Both rapid membrane-initiated and slow genomic hormone effects contribute to the behavior's control. We propose that the value of the reverse-engineering approach is based on its ability to provide testable, mechanistic hypotheses that do not emerge from either traditional evolutionary or simple reductionistic perspectives, and several are proposed in this review. These novel hypotheses may generalize to brain functions beyond female reproductive behavior. In this way, the reverse-engineering perspective can further develop our conceptual frameworks for behavioral and systems neuroscience.

The two thyroid hormone receptor genes have opposite effects on estrogen-stimulated sex behaviors.

The two genes coding for thyroid hormone receptors (TR) alpha 1 and beta have opposite effects on female sex behaviors. Deletion of TRalpha 1 reduced them, whereas deletion of TRbeta actually increased them. These results could not be attributed to altered levels of hormones in the blood, general alterations in estrogen responsiveness or altered general activity. Instead, they indicate a previously unknown molecular mechanism upon which the two TR genes exert opposite influences.

Molecular endocrinology of female reproductive behavior.

Epigenetic methodologies address mechanisms of estrogenic effects on hypothalamic and preoptic neurons, as well as mechanisms by which stress can interfere with female reproductive behaviors. Recent results are reviewed.

Continuous renewal of the axonal pathway sensor apparatus by insertion of new sensor molecules into the growth cone membrane.

BACKGROUND: Growth cones at the tips of growing axons move along predetermined pathways to establish synaptic connections between neurons and their distant targets. To establish their orientation, growth cones continuously sample for, and respond to, guidance information provided by cell surfaces and the extracellular matrix. To identify specific guidance cues, growth cones have sensor molecules on their surface, which are expressed differentially during the temporospatial progress of axon outgrowth, at levels that depend on the pattern of neural activity. However, it has not been elucidated whether a change in gene expression can indeed change the molecular composition and, hence, the function of the sensor apparatus of growth cones. RESULTS: We have constructed adenoviral gene transfer vectors of the chicken growth cone sensor molecules axonin-1 and Ng-CAM. Using these vectors, we initiated the expression of axonin-1 and Ng-CAM in rat dorsal root ganglia explants during ongoing neurite outgrowth. Using specific surface immunodetection at varying time points after infection, we found that axonin-1 and Ng-CAM are transported directly to the growth cone and inserted exclusively in the growth cone membrane and not in the axolemma of the axon shaft. Furthermore, we found that axonin-1 and Ng-CAM do not diffuse retrogradely, suggesting that the sensor molecules are integrated into multimolecular complexes in the growth cone. CONCLUSIONS: During axon outgrowth, the pathway sensor apparatus of the growth cone is continuously updated by newly synthesized sensor molecules that originate directly from the transcription/translation machinery. Changes in the expression of sensor molecules may have a direct impact, therefore, on the exploratory function of the growth cone.

Involvement of estrogen receptor alpha, beta and oxytocin in social discrimination: A detailed behavioral analysis with knockout female mice.

Social recognition, processing, and retaining information about conspecific individuals is crucial for the development of normal social relationships. The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is necessary for social recognition in male and female mice, with its effects being modulated by estrogens in females. In previous studies, mice whose genes for the estrogen receptor-alpha (alpha-ERKO) and estrogen receptor-beta (beta-ERKO) as well as OTKO were knocked out failed to habituate to a repeatedly presented conspecific and to dishabituate when the familiar mouse is replaced by a novel animal (Choleris et al. 2003, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100, 6192-6197). However, a binary social discrimination assay, where animals are given a simultaneous choice between a familiar and a previously unknown individual, offers a more direct test of social recognition. Here, we used alpha-ERKO, beta-ERKO, and OTKO female mice in the binary social discrimination paradigm. Differently from their wild-type controls, when given a choice, the KO mice showed either reduced (beta-ERKO) or completely impaired (OTKO and alpha-ERKO) social discrimination. Detailed behavioral analyses indicate that all of the KO mice have reduced anxiety-related stretched approaches to the social stimulus with no overall impairment in horizontal and vertical activity, non-social investigation, and various other behaviors such as, self-grooming, digging, and inactivity. Therefore, the OT, ER-alpha, and ER-beta genes are necessary, to different degrees, for social discrimination and, thus, for the modulation of social behavior (e.g. aggression, affiliation).