Characterizing and TRAPing a Social Stress-Activated Neuronal Ensemble in the Ventral Tegmental Area.

Autor: Koutlas I; Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands., Linders LE; Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands., van der Starre SE; Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands., Wolterink-Donselaar IG; Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands., Adan RAH; Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands., Meye FJ; Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience [Front Behav Neurosci] 2022 Jul 08; Vol. 16, pp. 936087. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jul 08 (Print Publication: 2022).
DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.936087
Abstrakt: Social stress is a major contributor to neuropsychiatric issues such as depression, substance abuse and eating disorders. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is involved in the effects of stress on cognitive and emotional processes perturbed in these disorders. However, the VTA is a cellularly heterogeneous brain area and it remains unclear which of its neuronal populations make up the social stress-sensitive ensemble. The current study characterizes the molecular, topographical and functional properties of VTA social stress-activated cells. First, we used immunohistochemical analysis of Fos protein, a marker of recent increased neuronal activity, to show that acute social stress activates a mainly neuronal ensemble in the VTA (VTA Social stress neurons). Topographical analysis showed that this ensemble, which comprises ∼11% of all VTA neurons, occurs across VTA subregions. Further analysis showed that approximately half of the VTA Social stress neurons express the dopamine synthesis rate-limiting enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). In a minority of cases this occurred with coexpression of vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (Vglut2). Also part of the ensemble were VTA cells expressing just Vglut2 without TH, and cells expressing the vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT) without TH. Next, using targeted recombination in active populations (TRAP2), we showed that VTA Social stress neurons can be permanently tagged and made tractable for future functional investigations. Using a combination of TRAP2 and patch-clamp electrophysiology we demonstrate that VTA Social stress neurons exhibit higher excitability than their non-TRAPed neighbor cells. Overall, this study shows that acute social stress activates an ensemble of neurons throughout the VTA, comprising distinct molecular identities, and with specific electrophysiological features. It also identifies TRAP2 as a tool to make this ensemble tractable for future functional studies.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2022 Koutlas, Linders, van der Starre, Wolterink-Donselaar, Adan and Meye.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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