title: Interplay of maternal care and genetic influences in programming adult hippocampal neurogenesis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adult hippocampal neurogenesis, which is involved in the physiopathology of hippocampal functions, is genetically determined and influenced by early life events. However, studies on the interaction of these determining forces are lacking. This prompted us to investigate whether adult hippocampal neurogenesis can be modulated by maternal care and whether this influence depends upon the genetic background of the individual.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a model of fostering that allows singling out the influence of the genetic make-up of the pups on the outcome of maternal behavior. Mice from two different inbred strains (C57BL/6J and DBA/2J) known to differ in their baseline neurogenesis as well as in their sensitivity to the influence of environmental experiences were raised by nonrelated mothers from the AKR/Ola (AKR) and C3H/He (C3H) strains exhibiting low- and high-pup-oriented behavior, respectively. Neurogenesis was then assessed in the dentate gyrus of the adult adopted C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We show that both the number and the morphological features of newborn granule cells in the dentate gyrus are determined by the maternal environment to which mice were exposed as pups and that this sensitivity to maternal environment is observed only in genetically vulnerable subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Altogether, our data indicate interplay between early environment and the genetic envelop of an individual in determining adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Our experimental approach could thus contribute to the identification of factors determining the neurogenic potential of the adult hippocampus.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Neurocentre Magendie, Physiopathologie de la Plasticité Neuronale, 146 rue Leo Saignat, Bordeaux, France. muriel.koehl@inserm.fr
authors.forename: Muriel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koehl
authors.forename: Rixt
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van der Veen
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gonzales
authors.forename: Pier Vincenzo
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Piazza
authors.forename: Djoher Nora
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Abrous
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003712:Dendrites / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology