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Irizarry-Méndez N, Criado-Marrero M, Hernandez A, Colón M, Porter JT. Reducing FKBP51 Expression in the Ventral Hippocampus Decreases Auditory Fear Conditioning in Male Rats. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:7097. [PMID: 39000204 PMCID: PMC11241630 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25137097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Fear conditioning evokes a physiologic release of glucocorticoids that assists learning. As a cochaperone in the glucocorticoid receptor complex, FKBP51 modulates stress-induced glucocorticoid signaling and may influence conditioned fear responses. This study combines molecular and behavioral approaches to examine whether locally reducing FKBP51 expression in the ventral hippocampus is sufficient to affect fear-related behaviors. We hypothesized that reducing FKBP51 expression in the VH would increase glucocorticoid signaling to alter auditory fear conditioning. Adult male rats were injected with an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector expressing short hairpin - RNAs (shRNA) targeting FKBP5 into the ventral hippocampus to reduce FKBP5 levels or a control AAV. Infusion of FKBP5-shRNA into the ventral hippocampus decreased auditory fear acquisition and recall. Although animals injected with FKBP5-shRNA showed less freezing during extinction recall, the difference was due to a reduced fear recall rather than improved extinction. Reducing ventral hippocampus FKBP51 did not affect exploratory behavior in either the open field test or the elevated zero maze test but did increase passive behavior in the forced swim test, suggesting that the reduction in auditory fear recall was not due to more active responses to acute stress. Furthermore, lower ventral hippocampus FKBP51 levels did not alter corticosterone release in response to restraint stress, suggesting that the reduced fear recall was not due to lower corticosterone release. Our findings suggest FKBP51 in the ventral hippocampus plays a selective role in modulating fear-learning processes and passive behavioral responses to acute stress rather than hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity or exploratory responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nashaly Irizarry-Méndez
- Department of Basic Sciences, Ponce Research Institute, Ponce Health Sciences University, Ponce 00716, Puerto Rico; (N.I.-M.)
| | | | - Anixa Hernandez
- Department of Basic Sciences, Ponce Research Institute, Ponce Health Sciences University, Ponce 00716, Puerto Rico; (N.I.-M.)
| | - Maria Colón
- Department of Basic Sciences, Ponce Research Institute, Ponce Health Sciences University, Ponce 00716, Puerto Rico; (N.I.-M.)
| | - James T. Porter
- Department of Basic Sciences, Ponce Research Institute, Ponce Health Sciences University, Ponce 00716, Puerto Rico; (N.I.-M.)
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L'amnésie dissociative dans le Trouble de Stress Post-Traumatique: analyse de la validité scientifique d'un phénomène psychologique controversé. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF TRAUMA & DISSOCIATION 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejtd.2023.100314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
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Wheelan N, Seckl JR, Yau JLW. 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 deficiency prevents PTSD-like memory in young adult mice. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2022; 146:105945. [PMID: 36183622 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/24/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by the co-existence of a persistent strong memory of the traumatic experience and amnesia for the peritraumatic context. Most animal models, however, fail to account for the contextual amnesia which is considered to play a critical role in the etiology of PTSD intrusive memories. It is also unclear how aging affects PTSD-like memory. Glucocorticoids alter the formation and retention of fear-associated memory. Here, we investigated whether a deficiency of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) (an intracellular glucocorticoid generating enzyme) and aging modulates fear conditioning and PTSD-like memory in mice. We first measured memory in 6 months and 24 months old 11β-HSD1 deficient (HSD1 KO) and wildtype (WT) mice following paired tone-shock fear conditioning. Then, separate groups of mice were exposed to restraint stress immediately after unpaired tone-shock contextual fear conditioning. Compared with young controls, aged WT mice exhibited enhanced auditory cued fear memory, but contextual fear memory was not different. Contextual fear memory retention was attenuated in both young and aged HSD1 KO mice. In contrast, auditory cued fear memory was reduced 24 h after training only in aged HSD1 KO mice. When fear conditioned with stress, WT mice displayed PTSD-like memory (i.e., increased fear to tone not predictive of shock and reduced fear to 'aversive' conditioning context); this was unchanged with aging. In contrast, young HSD1 KO mice fear conditioned with stress showed normal fear memory (i.e., increased fear response to conditioning context), as observed in WT mice fear conditioned alone. While aged HSD1 KO mice fear conditioned with stress also displayed normal contextual fear memory, the fear response to the 'safe' tone remained. Thus, a deficiency of 11β-HSD1 protects against both amnesia for the conditioning context and hypermnesia for a salient tone in young adult mice but only contextual amnesia is prevented in aged mice. These results suggest that brain 11β-HSD1 generated glucocorticoids make a significant contribution to fear conditioning and PTSD-like memory. 11β-HSD1 inhibition may be useful in prevention and/or treatment of PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Wheelan
- Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan R Seckl
- Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Joyce L W Yau
- Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
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Lin CC, Cheng PY, Hsiao M, Liu YP. Effects of RU486 in Treatment of Traumatic Stress-Induced Glucocorticoid Dysregulation and Fear-Related Abnormalities: Early versus Late Intervention. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23105494. [PMID: 35628305 PMCID: PMC9141845 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23105494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Revised: 05/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/08/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Central glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activity is enhanced following traumatic events, playing a key role in the stress-related cognitive abnormalities of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). GR antagonists are expected to have potential as pharmacological agents to treat PTSD-related symptoms such as anxiety and fear memory disruption. However, an incubation period is usually required and stress-induced abnormalities do not develop immediately following the trauma; thus, the optimal intervention timing should be considered. Single prolonged stress (SPS) was employed as a rodent PTSD model to examine the effects of early or late (1–7 versus 8–14 days after the SPS) sub-chronic RU486 (a GR antagonist) administration. Behaviorally, fear conditioning and anxiety behavior were assessed using the fear-conditioning test and elevated T-maze (ETM), respectively. Neurochemically, the expressions of GR, FK506-binding proteins 4 and 5 (FKBP4 and FKBP5), and early growth response-1 (Egr-1) were assessed in the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), amygdala, and hypothalamus, together with the level of plasma corticosterone. Early RU486 administration could inhibit SPS-induced behavioral abnormalities and glucocorticoid system dysregulation by reversing the SPS-induced fear extinction deficit, and preventing SPS-reduced plasma corticosterone levels and SPS-induced Egr-1 overexpression in the hippocampus. Early RU486 administration following SPS also increased the FKBP5 level in the hippocampus and hypothalamus. Finally, both early and late RU486 administration inhibited the elevated hippocampal FKBP4 level and hypothalamus GR level in the SPS rats. Early intervention with a GR antagonist aids in the correction of traumatic stress-induced fear and anxiety dysregulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen-Cheng Lin
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Graduate Institute of Physiology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan;
- Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan;
| | - Pao-Yun Cheng
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Graduate Institute of Physiology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan;
| | - Michael Hsiao
- Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan;
| | - Yia-Ping Liu
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Graduate Institute of Physiology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan;
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Graduate Institute of Physiology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan;
- Department of Psychiatry, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei 11220, Taiwan
- Department of Psychiatry, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei 11490, Taiwan
- Correspondence:
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The Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Nucleus Accumbens, Basolateral Amygdala, and Hippocampus Regulate the Amelioration of Environmental Enrichment and Cue in Fear Behavior in the Animal Model of PTSD. Behav Neurol 2022; 2022:7331714. [PMID: 35178125 PMCID: PMC8843982 DOI: 10.1155/2022/7331714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing body of evidence showed that environmental enrichment (EE) ameliorated footshock-induced fear behavior of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, no research comprehensively tested the effect of EE, cue, and the combination of EE and cue in footshock-induced fear behavior of PTSD symptoms. The present study addressed this issue and examined whether the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC, including the cingulate cortex 1 (Cg1), prelimbic cortex (PrL), and infralimbic cortex (IL)), the nucleus accumbens (NAc), the basolateral amygdala (BLA), and the hippocampus (e.g., CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG)) regulated the amelioration of the EE, cue, or the combination of EE and cue. The results showed that EE or cue could reduce fear behavior. The combination of EE and cue revealed a stronger decrease in fear behavior. The cue stimulus may play an occasion setting or a conditioned stimulus to modulate the reduction in fear behavior induced by footshock. Regarding the reduction of the EE in fear behavior, the Cg1 and IL of the mPFC and the NAc upregulated the c-Fos expression; however, the BLA downregulated the c-Fos expression. The mPFC (i.e., the Cg1, PrL, and IL) and the hippocampus (i.e., the CA1, CA3, and DG) downregulated the c-Fos expression in the suppression of the cue in fear behavior. The interaction of EE and cue in reduction of fear behavior occurred in the Cg1 and NAc for the c-Fos expression. The data of c-Fos mRNA were similar to the findings of the c-Fos protein expression. These findings related to the EE and cue modulations in fear behavior may develop a novel nonpharmacological treatment in PTSD.
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Staples MC, Herman MA, Lockner JW, Avchalumov Y, Kharidia KM, Janda KD, Roberto M, Mandyam CD. Isoxazole-9 reduces enhanced fear responses and retrieval in ethanol-dependent male rats. J Neurosci Res 2021; 99:3047-3065. [PMID: 34496069 PMCID: PMC10112848 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Plasticity in the dentate gyrus (DG) is strongly influenced by ethanol, and ethanol experience alters long-term memory consolidation dependent on the DG. However, it is unclear if DG plasticity plays a role in dysregulation of long-term memory consolidation during abstinence from chronic ethanol experience. Outbred male Wistar rats experienced 7 weeks of chronic intermittent ethanol vapor exposure (CIE). Seventy-two hours after CIE cessation, CIE and age-matched ethanol-naïve Air controls experienced auditory trace fear conditioning (TFC). Rats were tested for cue-mediated retrieval in the fear context either twenty-four hours (24 hr), ten days (10 days), or twenty-one days (21 days) later. CIE rats showed enhanced freezing behavior during TFC acquisition compared to Air rats. Air rats showed significant fear retrieval, and this behavior did not differ at the three time points. In CIE rats, fear retrieval increased over time during abstinence, indicating an incubation in fear responses. Enhanced retrieval at 21 days was associated with reduced structural and functional plasticity of ventral granule cell neurons (GCNs) and reduced expression of synaptic proteins important for neuronal plasticity. Systemic treatment with the drug Isoxazole-9 (Isx-9; small molecule that stimulates DG plasticity) during the last week and a half of CIE blocked altered acquisition and retrieval of fear memories in CIE rats during abstinence. Concurrently, Isx-9 modulated the structural and functional plasticity of ventral GCNs and the expression of synaptic proteins in the ventral DG. These findings identify that abstinence-induced disruption of fear memory consolidation occurs via altered plasticity within the ventral DG, and that Isx-9 prevented these effects.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Melissa A. Herman
- Department of Pharmacology, Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jonathan W. Lockner
- Departments of Chemistry and Immunology, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Kim D. Janda
- Departments of Chemistry and Immunology, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Marisa Roberto
- Departments of Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Chitra D. Mandyam
- VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
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