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Berendzen KM, Sharma R, Mandujano MA, Wei Y, Rogers FD, Simmons TC, Seelke AMH, Bond JM, Larios R, Goodwin NL, Sherman M, Parthasarthy S, Espineda I, Knoedler JR, Beery A, Bales KL, Shah NM, Manoli DS. Oxytocin receptor is not required for social attachment in prairie voles. Neuron 2023; 111:787-796.e4. [PMID: 36708707 PMCID: PMC10150797 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Prairie voles are among a small group of mammals that display long-term social attachment between mating partners. Many pharmacological studies show that signaling via the oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) is critical for the display of social monogamy in these animals. We used CRISPR mutagenesis to generate three different Oxtr-null mutant prairie vole lines. Oxtr mutants displayed social attachment such that males and females showed a behavioral preference for their mating partners over a stranger of the opposite sex, even when assayed using different experimental setups. Mothers lacking Oxtr delivered viable pups, and parents displayed care for their young and raised them to the weanling stage. Together, our studies unexpectedly reveal that social attachment, parturition, and parental behavior can occur in the absence of Oxtr signaling in prairie voles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen M Berendzen
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ruchira Sharma
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Yichao Wei
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Forrest D Rogers
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Trenton C Simmons
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Adele M H Seelke
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Jessica M Bond
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Rose Larios
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 95158, USA
| | - Nastacia L Goodwin
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Michael Sherman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Srinivas Parthasarthy
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Isidero Espineda
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Knoedler
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Annaliese Beery
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Karen L Bales
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Nirao M Shah
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
| | - Devanand S Manoli
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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Ahern TH, Olsen S, Tudino R, Beery A. Natural variation in the oxytocin receptor gene and rearing interact to influence reproductive and nonreproductive social behavior and receptor binding. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2021; 128:105209. [PMID: 33839431 PMCID: PMC8131238 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Revised: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Individual variation in social behavior offers an opportunity to explore gene-by-environment interactions that could contribute to adaptative or atypical behavioral profiles (e.g., autism spectrum disorders). Outbred, socially monogamous prairie voles provide an excellent model to experimentally explore how natural variations in rearing and genetic diversity interact to shape reproductive and nonreproductive social behavior. In this study, we manipulated rearing (biparental versus dam-only), genotyped the intronic NT213739 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the oxytocin receptor gene (Oxtr), and then assessed how each factor and their interaction related to reciprocal interactions and partner preference in male and female adult prairie voles. We found that C/T subjects reared biparentally formed more robust partner preferences than T/T subjects. In general, dam-only reared animals huddled less with a conspecific in reproductive and nonreproductive contexts, but the effect of rearing was more pronounced in T/T animals. In line with previous literature, C/T animals exhibited higher densities of oxytocin receptor (OXTR) in the striatum (caudoputamen, nucleus accumbens) compared to T/T subjects. There was also a gene-by-rearing interaction in the striatum and insula of females: In the insula, T/T females expressed varying OXTR densities depending on rearing. Overall, this study demonstrates that significant differences in adult reproductive and nonreproductive social behavior and OXTR density can arise due to natural differences in Oxtr, experimental manipulations of rearing, and their interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd H. Ahern
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Ave., BC-SCI, Hamden, CT, USA,Correspondence: Todd H. Ahern, PhD, , (203) 582-6402
| | - Sara Olsen
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Ave., BC-SCI, Hamden, CT, USA
| | - Ryan Tudino
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Ave., BC-SCI, Hamden, CT, USA
| | - Annaliese Beery
- Department of Psychology, Department of Biology, Program in Neuroscience, Smith College, 44 College Lane, Northampton, MA, USA,Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, 3030 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA, USA
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Abstract
In 2016, to address the historical overrepresentation of male subjects in biomedical research, the US National Institutes of Health implemented a policy requiring investigators to consider sex as a biological variable. In order to assess the impact of this policy, we conducted a bibliometric analysis across nine biological disciplines for papers published in 34 journals in 2019, and compared our results with those of a similar study carried out by Beery and Zucker in 2009. There was a significant increase in the proportion of studies that included both sexes across all nine disciplines, but in eight of the disciplines there was no change in the proportion studies that included data analyzed by sex. The majority of studies failed to provide rationale for single-sex studies or the lack of sex-based analyses, and those that did relied on misconceptions surrounding the hormonal variability of females. Together, these data demonstrate that while sex-inclusive research practices are more commonplace, there are still gaps in analyses and reporting of data by sex in many biological disciplines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole C Woitowich
- Women's Health Research Institute and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, United States
| | - Annaliese Beery
- Department of Psychology, Department of Biology and Program in Neuroscience, Smith College, Northampton, United States
| | - Teresa Woodruff
- Women's Health Research Institute and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, United States
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