Anatomy and Neuroscience - Journal Articles

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Browsing Anatomy and Neuroscience - Journal Articles by Subject "Activity-dependent transcription"

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    Social interaction-induced activation of RNA splicing in the amygdala of microbiome-deficient mice
    (eLife Sciences Publications Ltd, 2018-05-29) Stilling, Roman M.; Moloney, Gerard M.; Ryan, Feargal J.; Hoban, Alan E.; Bastiaanssen, Thomaz F. S.; Shanahan, Fergus; Clarke, Gerard; Claesson, Marcus J.; Dinan, Timothy G.; Cryan, John F.; Science Foundation Ireland; Irish Research Council; Irish Health Board; National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
    Social behaviour is regulated by activity of host-associated microbiota across multiple species. However, the molecular mechanisms mediating this relationship remain elusive. We therefore determined the dynamic, stimulus-dependent transcriptional regulation of germ-free (GF) and GF mice colonised post weaning (exGF) in the amygdala, a brain region critically involved in regulating social interaction. In GF mice the dynamic response seen in controls was attenuated and replaced by a marked increase in expression of splicing factors and alternative exon usage in GF mice upon stimulation, which was even more pronounced in exGF mice. In conclusion, we demonstrate a molecular basis for how the host microbiome is crucial for a normal behavioural response during social interaction. Our data further suggest that social behaviour is correlated with the gene-expression response in the amygdala, established during neurodevelopment as a result of host-microbe interactions. Our findings may help toward understanding neurodevelopmental events leading to social behaviour dysregulation, such as those found in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).