title: Maternal care associates with differences in morphological complexity in the medial preoptic area.
abstract: The medial preoptic area (MPOA) is implicated in the expression of maternal behavior including the frequency of pup licking/grooming (LG) in the rat. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) responsive element-binding protein (CREB) is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of many genes. We found that lactating rats that are more maternal towards their pups showing increased licking/grooming (i.e. high-LG mothers) had increased levels of phosphorylated CREB (pCREB) in the MPOA following a nursing bout and they displayed a reduced population of greater dendritic complexity index (DCI) neurons compared to less maternal rats showing decreased licking/grooming (i.e. low-LG mothers). CREB overexpression in MPOA neuronal cultures associated with a decrease in dendritic complexity and an increase in the expression of Rem2 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), genes implicated in dendritic pruning. While there were no differences in Rem2 expression in virgin high and low-LG female rats, Rem2 was significantly increased in the MPOA of high-LG compared to low-LG lactating rats. CREB activity in the MPOA associates with maternal behavior and reduced dendritic complexity possibly by increasing Rem2 expression.
authors.affiliation: Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Developmental Psychobiology at McGill University, Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4H 1R3, Canada.
authors.forename: Carine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parent
authors.affiliation: Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Developmental Psychobiology at McGill University, Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4H 1R3, Canada.
authors.forename: Xianglan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Developmental Psychobiology at McGill University, Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4H 1R3, Canada.
authors.forename: Sabine K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Dhir
authors.affiliation: Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Developmental Psychobiology at McGill University, Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4H 1R3, Canada.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Developmental Psychobiology at McGill University, Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4H 1R3, Canada.
authors.forename: Josie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diorio
authors.affiliation: Sackler Program for Epigenetics and Developmental Psychobiology at McGill University, Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics and Mental Health, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H4H 1R3, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1A1, Canada. Electronic address: tieyuan.zhang@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Tie-Yuan
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D050882:CREB-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D003712:Dendrites; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006120:Grooming / Q000502:physiology*; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology*; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D050882:CREB-Binding Protein; C494365:Crebbp protein, rat; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins; C484604:Rem2 protein, rat
keywords: BDNF; CREB; Dendritic arborization; Gene expression; Maternal behavior; Rem2