title: Tet1 in Nucleus Accumbens Opposes Depression- and Anxiety-Like Behaviors.
abstract: Depression is a leading cause of disease burden, yet current therapies fully treat <50% of affected individuals. Increasing evidence implicates epigenetic mechanisms in depression and antidepressant action. Here we examined a possible role for the DNA dioxygenase, ten-eleven translocation protein 1 (TET1), in depression-related behavioral abnormalities. We applied chronic social defeat stress, an ethologically validated mouse model of depression-like behaviors, and examined Tet1 expression changes in nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain reward region. We show decreased Tet1 expression in NAc in stress-susceptible mice only. Surprisingly, selective knockout of Tet1 in NAc neurons of adult mice produced antidepressant-like effects in several behavioral assays. To identify Tet1 targets that mediate these actions, we performed RNAseq on NAc after conditional deletion of Tet1 and found that immune-related genes are the most highly dysregulated. Moreover, many of these genes are also upregulated in the NAc of resilient mice after chronic social defeat stress. These findings reveal a novel role for TET1, an enzyme important for DNA hydroxymethylation, in the brain's reward circuitry in modulating stress responses in mice. We also identify a subset of genes that are regulated by TET1 in this circuitry. These findings provide new insight into the pathophysiology of depression, which can aid in future antidepressant drug discovery efforts.
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Pena
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Immanuel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Purushothaman
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Engmann
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Deena
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Amber N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Orna
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Issler
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Harrigan
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ezekiell
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mouzon
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8212-751X
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vialou
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5190-2851
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Meelad M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Dawlaty
authors.affiliation: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA.|Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jaenisch
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Nestler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; C540839:TET1 protein, mouse