title: Effects of Mineralocorticoid Receptor Overexpression on Anxiety and Memory after Early Life Stress in Female Mice.
abstract: Early-life stress (ELS) is a risk factor for the development of psychopathology, particularly in women. Human studies have shown that certain haplotypes of NR3C2, encoding the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), that result in gain of function, may protect against the consequences of stress exposure, including childhood trauma. Here, we tested the hypothesis that forebrain-specific overexpression of MR in female mice would ameliorate the effects of ELS on anxiety and memory in adulthood. We found that ELS increased anxiety, did not alter spatial discrimination and reduced contextual fear memory in adult female mice. Transgenic overexpression of MR did not alter anxiety but affected spatial memory performance and enhanced contextual fear memory formation. The effects of ELS on anxiety and contextual fear were not affected by transgenic overexpression of MR. Thus, MR overexpression in the forebrain does not represent a major resilience factor to early life adversity in female mice.
authors: Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center UtrechtUtrecht, Netherlands; Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, University of AmsterdamAmsterdam, Netherlands.
authors: Sofia
authors: S
authors: Kanatsou
authors: Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors: Judith P
authors: JP
authors: Ter Horst
authors: Endocrinology Unit, Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Queen's Medical Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, UK.
authors: Anjanette P
authors: AP
authors: Harris
authors: Endocrinology Unit, Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Queen's Medical Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, UK.
authors: Jonathan R
authors: JR
authors: Seckl
authors: Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors: Harmen J
authors: HJ
authors: Krugers
authors: Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands.
authors: Marian
authors: M
authors: Joëls
keywords: anxiety; early life adversity; fear; mineralocorticoid receptors; spatial memory