title: Stress activates the nucleus incertus and modulates plasticity in the hippocampo-medial prefrontal cortical pathway.
abstract: The nucleus incertus (NI) is a small cluster of brainstem neurons presumed to play a role in stress responses. We show that swim stress (normal water: 30 min and cold water: 20 min) and elevation stress robustly induced c-Fos expression in the NI and significantly suppressed long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampo-medial prefrontal cortical (HP-mPFC) pathway. To examine whether activation of CRF1 receptors in the NI plays a role in the suppression of HP-mPFC LTP, antalarmin, a specific CRF1 receptor antagonist, was infused directly into the NI either before presentation of (1) elevation stress or (2) high frequency stimulation. As predicted, the intra-NI infusion of antalarmin reversed the elevation stress-induced suppression of LTP in the HP-mPFC pathway. This report suggests that the CRF1 receptor in the NI contributes to stress-related impairment in plasticity of the HP-mPFC pathway. The findings suggest that the NI-HP-mPFC is a stress responsive circuit in the rodent brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Neurobiology and Ageing Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), Singapore.
authors.forename: Ramamoorthy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rajkumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Neurobiology and Ageing Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), Singapore.
authors.forename: You
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Neurobiology and Ageing Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), Singapore.
authors.forename: Usman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Farooq
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Neurobiology and Ageing Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), Singapore.
authors.forename: Wei Hao
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Neurobiology and Ageing Programme, Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), Singapore. Electronic address: gavin_dawe@nuhs.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Gavin S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Dawe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000494:pharmacology; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000494:pharmacology; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018019:Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013550:Swimming; D000099052:CRF Receptor, Type 1
chemical_list: D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D011743:Pyrimidines; D011758:Pyrroles; D018019:Receptors, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; C103016:antalarmin; D000099052:CRF Receptor, Type 1
keywords: Hippocampus; Medial prefrontal cortex; Nucleus incertus; Plasticity; Stress; c-Fos