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Choi TY, Jeon H, Jeong S, Kim EJ, Kim J, Jeong YH, Kang B, Choi M, Koo JW. Distinct prefrontal projection activity and transcriptional state conversely orchestrate social competition and hierarchy. Neuron 2024; 112:611-627.e8. [PMID: 38086372 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Social animals compete for limited resources, resulting in a social hierarchy. Although different neuronal subpopulations in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which has been mechanistically implicated in social dominance behavior, encode distinct social competition behaviors, their identities and associated molecular underpinnings have not yet been identified. In this study, we found that mPFC neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens (mPFC-NAc) encode social winning behavior, whereas mPFC neurons projecting to the ventral tegmental area (mPFC-VTA) encode social losing behavior. High-throughput single-cell transcriptomic analysis and projection-specific genetic manipulation revealed that the expression level of POU domain, class 3, transcription factor 1 (Pou3f1) in mPFC-VTA neurons controls social hierarchy. Optogenetic activation of mPFC-VTA neurons increases Pou3f1 expression and lowers social rank. Together, these data demonstrate that discrete activity and gene expression in separate mPFC projections oppositely orchestrate social competition and hierarchy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tae-Yong Choi
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyoungseok Jeon
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea
| | - Sejin Jeong
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea; Department of Life Sciences, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea
| | - Eum Ji Kim
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeongseop Kim
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea; Department of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu 41988, Republic of Korea
| | - Yun Ha Jeong
- Neurodegenerative Disease Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea
| | - Byungsoo Kang
- Sysoft R&D Center, Daegu 41065, Republic of Korea; Neurovascular Unit Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea
| | - Murim Choi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea.
| | - Ja Wook Koo
- Emotion, Cognition and Behavior Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu 41062, Republic of Korea; Department of Brain Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu 41988, Republic of Korea.
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Wang Y, Zhang X, Yao Y, Hu S, Wang W, Wang D, Huang C, Liu H, Zhang Q, He T, Wang S, Wu Z, Jiang R, Yang C. Inferior social hierarchy is vulnerable to anxiety-like behavior in chronic pain mice: Potential role of gut microbiota and metabolites. Neurobiol Dis 2024; 191:106402. [PMID: 38184015 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2024.106402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 12/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/01/2024] [Indexed: 01/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Social dominance is a universal phenomenon among grouped animals that profoundly affects survival, health, and reproductive success by determining access to resources, and exerting a powerful influence on subsequent behavior. However, the understanding of pain and anxiety comorbidities in dominant or subordinate animals suffering from chronic pain is not well-defined. Here, we provide evidence that subordinate mice are more susceptible to pain-induced anxiety compared to dominant mice. We propose that the gut microbiota may play a mediating role in this mechanism. Our findings demonstrate that transplantation of fecal microbiota from subordinate mice with chronic inflammatory pain, but not dominant mice, into antibiotics-treated pseudo-germ-free mice significantly amplifies anxiety-like phenotypes, highlighting the critical involvement of gut microbiota in this behavioral response. Using chronic inflammatory pain model, we carried out 16S rRNA sequencing and untargeted metabolomic analyses to explore the relationship between microbiota and metabolites in a stable social hierarchy of mice. Interestingly, anxiety-like behaviors were directly associated with some microbial genera and metabolites, especially bile acid metabolism. Overall, we have demonstrated a close relationship between social status and anxiety susceptibility, highlighting the contributions of gut microbiota and the associated metabolites in the high-anxiety state of subordinate mice with chronic inflammatory pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanyuan Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Xinying Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Yiting Yao
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Suwan Hu
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Wenli Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Di Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Chaoli Huang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Hanyu Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Qi Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Teng He
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Sen Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
| | - Zifeng Wu
- Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
| | - Riyue Jiang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
| | - Chun Yang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
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Song BL, Zhou J, Jiang Y, Li LF, Liu YJ. Dopamine D2 receptor within the intermediate region of the lateral septum modulate social hierarchy in male mice. Neuropharmacology 2023; 241:109735. [PMID: 37788799 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2023.109735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
The dopamine (DA) system has long been involved in social hierarchies; however, the specific mechanisms have not been elucidated. The lateral septum (LS) is a limbic brain structure that regulates various emotional, motivational, and social behaviors. DA receptors are abundantly expressed in the LS, modulating its functions. In this study, we evaluated the functions of DA receptors within different subregions of the LS in social dominance using a confrontation tube test in male mice. The results showed that mice living in social groups formed linear dominance hierarchies after a few days of cohousing, and the subordinates showed increased anxiety. Fos expressions was elevated in the entire LS after a confrontation tube test in the subordinates. However, DA neurons were more activated in the dominates within the ventral tegmental area and the dorsal raphe nucleus. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction results showed that D2 receptor (D2R) within the intermediate region of the LS (LSi) were elevated in the subordinate. In the following pharmacological studies, we found simultaneous D2R activation in the dominants and D2R inhibition in the subordinates switched the original dominant-subordinate relationship. The aforementioned results suggested that D2R within the LSi plays an important role in social dominance in male mice. These findings improve our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the social hierarchy, which is closely related to our social life and happiness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bai-Lin Song
- Research Center of Henan Provincial Agricultural Biomass Resource Engineering and Technology, College of Life Science and Agriculture, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, China
| | - Jie Zhou
- Research Center of Henan Provincial Agricultural Biomass Resource Engineering and Technology, College of Life Science and Agriculture, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, China
| | - Yi Jiang
- Research Center of Henan Provincial Agricultural Biomass Resource Engineering and Technology, College of Life Science and Agriculture, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, China
| | - Lai-Fu Li
- Research Center of Henan Provincial Agricultural Biomass Resource Engineering and Technology, College of Life Science and Agriculture, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, China.
| | - Ying-Juan Liu
- Research Center of Henan Provincial Agricultural Biomass Resource Engineering and Technology, College of Life Science and Agriculture, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, China.
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Ryabinin AE. From basic social neurobiology to better understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2022; 21:e12818. [PMID: 35689355 PMCID: PMC9744557 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrey E. Ryabinin
- Department of Behavioral NeuroscienceOregon Health & Science UniversityPortlandOregonUSA
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