Urocortin-3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant-directed neglect and aggression
While recent studies have uncovered dedicated neural pathways mediating the positive control of parenting, the regulation of infant-directed aggression and how it relates to adult-adult aggression is poorly understood. Here we show that urocortin-3 (Ucn3)-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic perif...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2021-08-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/64680 |
| _version_ | 1811199860024541184 |
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| author | Anita E Autry Zheng Wu Vikrant Kapoor Johannes Kohl Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku Nimrod D Rubinstein Brenda Marin-Rodriguez Ilaria Carta Victoria Sedwick Ming Tang Catherine Dulac |
| author_facet | Anita E Autry Zheng Wu Vikrant Kapoor Johannes Kohl Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku Nimrod D Rubinstein Brenda Marin-Rodriguez Ilaria Carta Victoria Sedwick Ming Tang Catherine Dulac |
| author_sort | Anita E Autry |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While recent studies have uncovered dedicated neural pathways mediating the positive control of parenting, the regulation of infant-directed aggression and how it relates to adult-adult aggression is poorly understood. Here we show that urocortin-3 (Ucn3)-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic perifornical area (PeFAUcn3) are activated during infant-directed attacks in males and females, but not other behaviors. Functional manipulations of PeFAUcn3 neurons demonstrate the role of this population in the negative control of parenting in both sexes. PeFAUcn3 neurons receive input from areas associated with vomeronasal sensing, stress, and parenting, and send projections to hypothalamic and limbic areas. Optogenetic activation of PeFAUcn3 axon terminals in these regions triggers various aspects of infant-directed agonistic responses, such as neglect, repulsion, and aggression. Thus, PeFAUcn3 neurons emerge as a dedicated circuit component controlling infant-directed neglect and aggression, providing a new framework to understand the positive and negative regulation of parenting in health and disease. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T01:54:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-033c306675694fa58312763ea717d719 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T01:54:25Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-033c306675694fa58312763ea717d7192022-12-22T03:52:50ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2021-08-011010.7554/eLife.64680Urocortin-3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant-directed neglect and aggressionAnita E Autry0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3933-1977Zheng Wu1Vikrant Kapoor2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0185-3836Johannes Kohl3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8222-0282Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku4Nimrod D Rubinstein5Brenda Marin-Rodriguez6Ilaria Carta7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1270-573XVictoria Sedwick8Ming Tang9Catherine Dulac10https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5024-5418Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States; Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, United StatesHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United StatesHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United StatesHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United StatesHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United StatesHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United StatesHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United StatesDominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, United StatesDominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, United StatesHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States; FAS Informatics Group, Harvard University, Cambridge, United StatesHoward Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United StatesWhile recent studies have uncovered dedicated neural pathways mediating the positive control of parenting, the regulation of infant-directed aggression and how it relates to adult-adult aggression is poorly understood. Here we show that urocortin-3 (Ucn3)-expressing neurons in the hypothalamic perifornical area (PeFAUcn3) are activated during infant-directed attacks in males and females, but not other behaviors. Functional manipulations of PeFAUcn3 neurons demonstrate the role of this population in the negative control of parenting in both sexes. PeFAUcn3 neurons receive input from areas associated with vomeronasal sensing, stress, and parenting, and send projections to hypothalamic and limbic areas. Optogenetic activation of PeFAUcn3 axon terminals in these regions triggers various aspects of infant-directed agonistic responses, such as neglect, repulsion, and aggression. Thus, PeFAUcn3 neurons emerge as a dedicated circuit component controlling infant-directed neglect and aggression, providing a new framework to understand the positive and negative regulation of parenting in health and disease.https://elifesciences.org/articles/64680parentingaggressionneuronal circuitssocial behaviorinfanticidehypothalamus |
| spellingShingle | Anita E Autry Zheng Wu Vikrant Kapoor Johannes Kohl Dhananjay Bambah-Mukku Nimrod D Rubinstein Brenda Marin-Rodriguez Ilaria Carta Victoria Sedwick Ming Tang Catherine Dulac Urocortin-3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant-directed neglect and aggression eLife parenting aggression neuronal circuits social behavior infanticide hypothalamus |
| title | Urocortin-3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant-directed neglect and aggression |
| title_full | Urocortin-3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant-directed neglect and aggression |
| title_fullStr | Urocortin-3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant-directed neglect and aggression |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urocortin-3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant-directed neglect and aggression |
| title_short | Urocortin-3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant-directed neglect and aggression |
| title_sort | urocortin 3 neurons in the mouse perifornical area promote infant directed neglect and aggression |
| topic | parenting aggression neuronal circuits social behavior infanticide hypothalamus |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/64680 |
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