Neudesin is involved in anxiety behavior: structural and neurochemical correlates.
Neudesin (also known as neuron derived neurotrophic factor, Nenf) is a scarcely studied putative non-canonical neurotrophic factor. In order to understand its function in the brain, we performed an extensive behavioral characterization (motor, emotional, and cognitive dimensions) of neudesin-null mice. The absence of neudesin leads to an anxious-like behavior as assessed in the elevated plus maze (EPM), light/dark box (LDB) and novelty suppressed feeding (NSF) tests, but not in the acoustic startle (AS) test. This anxious phenotype is associated with reduced dopaminergic input and impoverished dendritic arborizations in the dentate gyrus granule neurons of the ventral hippocampus. Interestingly, shorter dendrites are also observed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) of neudesin-null mice. These findings lead us to suggest that neudesin is a novel relevant player in the maintenance of the anxiety circuitry.
Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho Braga, Portugal ; ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
Ashley
A
Novais
Ana C
AC
Ferreira
Fernanda
F
Marques
José M
JM
Pêgo
João J
JJ
Cerqueira
Ana
A
David-Pereira
Filipa L
FL
Campos
Christina
C
Dalla
Nikolaos
N
Kokras
Nuno
N
Sousa
Joana A
JA
Palha
João C
JC
Sousa
anxiety; bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; dopamine; neudesin; ventral hippocampus