title: Stress in utero alters neonatal stress-induced regulation of the synaptic plasticity proteins Arc and Egr1 in a sex-specific manner.
abstract: The present study in juvenile rats investigated a "two-hit model" to test the impact of prenatal stress exposure ("first hit") on the regulation of the synaptic plasticity immediate early genes Arc and Egr1 in response to a second neonatal stressor ("second hit") in a sex-specific manner. Three stress-exposed animal groups were compared at the age of 21 days in relation to unstressed controls (CON): preS animals were exposed to various unpredictable stressors during the last gestational trimester; postS animals were exposed to 45 min restraint stress at postnatal day 21, pre/postS animals were exposed to a combination of pre- and postnatal stress as described for the two previous groups. The postS and pre/postS groups were killed 2 h after exposure to the postnatal stressor, males and females were separately analyzed. In line with our hypothesis we detected sex-specific stress sensitivity for both analyzed proteins. Males did not show any significant changes in Arc expression irrespective of the stress condition. In contrast, females, which had been pre-exposed to prenatal stress, displayed an "amplified" Arc upregulation in response to postnatal stress (pre/postS group) compared to unstressed controls, which may reflect a "sensitization" effect of prenatal stress. For Egr1, the females did not show any stress-induced regulation irrespective of the stress condition, whereas in males, which were pre-exposed to prenatal stress, we observed a "protective" effect of prenatal stress on postnatal stress-induced downregulation of Egr1 expression (pre/postS group), which may indicate that prenatal stress exposure may induce "resilience".
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology/Developmental Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Otto von Guericke University, Leipziger Straße 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany. nicole.groeger@ovgu.de.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gröger
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology/Developmental Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Otto von Guericke University, Leipziger Straße 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany.|Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology/Developmental Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Otto von Guericke University, Leipziger Straße 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goehler
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biology, Human Biology, University of Leipzig, Talstraße 33, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Blume
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biology, Human Biology, University of Leipzig, Talstraße 33, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lisson
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biology, Human Biology, University of Leipzig, Talstraße 33, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Poeggel
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology/Developmental Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Otto von Guericke University, Leipziger Straße 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany.|Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Braun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D051766:Early Growth Response Protein 1; C486110:Egr1 protein, rat; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C092069:activity regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein
keywords: Brain development; Epigenetic; Hippocampal formation; Immediate early genes; Quantitative immunocytochemistry; Resilience