Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga 4710-057, Portugal.
ICVS/3B's-PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimaraes, Braga 4710-057, Portugal.
eNeuro. 2024 Aug 27;11(8). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0053-24.2024. Print 2024 Aug.
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a pivotal role in regulating working memory, executive function, and self-regulatory behaviors. Dysfunction in the mPFC circuits is a characteristic feature of several neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Chronic stress (CS) is widely recognized as a major triggering factor for the onset of these disorders. Although evidence suggests synaptic dysfunction in mPFC circuits following CS exposure, it remains unclear how different neuronal populations in the infralimbic (IL) and prelimbic (PL) cortices are affected in terms of synaptic inhibition/excitation balance (/ ratio). Here, using neuroproteomic analysis and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in pyramidal neurons (PNs) and parvalbumin (PV) interneurons within the PL and IL cortices, we examined the synaptic changes after 21 d of chronic unpredictable stress, in male mice. Our results reveal distinct impacts of CS on PL and IL PNs, resulting in an increased / ratio in both subregions but through different mechanisms: CS increases inhibitory synaptic drive in the PL while decreasing excitatory synaptic drive in the IL. Notably, the / ratio and excitatory and inhibitory synaptic drive of PV interneurons remained unaffected in both PL and IL circuits following CS exposure. These findings offer novel mechanistic insights into the influence of CS on mPFC circuits and support the hypothesis of stress-induced mPFC hypofunction.
内侧前额叶皮层(mPFC)在调节工作记忆、执行功能和自我调节行为方面起着关键作用。mPFC 回路的功能障碍是几种神经精神疾病的特征,包括精神分裂症、抑郁症和创伤后应激障碍。慢性应激(CS)被广泛认为是这些疾病发作的主要触发因素。尽管有证据表明 CS 暴露后 mPFC 回路中的突触功能障碍,但尚不清楚在突触抑制/兴奋平衡(/比值)方面,IL 和 PL 皮质中的不同神经元群体受到怎样的影响。在这里,我们使用神经保护组学分析和 PL 和 IL 皮质中锥体神经元(PNs)和小白蛋白(PV)中间神经元的全细胞膜片钳记录,在雄性小鼠中检查了 21 天慢性不可预测应激后的突触变化。我们的结果揭示了 CS 对 PL 和 IL PNs 的不同影响,导致两个亚区的/比值均增加,但通过不同的机制:CS 增加了 PL 中的抑制性突触驱动,而降低了 IL 中的兴奋性突触驱动。值得注意的是,CS 暴露后,PL 和 IL 回路中的 PV 中间神经元的/比值以及兴奋性和抑制性突触驱动均未受影响。这些发现为 CS 对 mPFC 回路的影响提供了新的机制见解,并支持了应激诱导的 mPFC 功能低下的假说。
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