Hippocampal Transcriptomic Signatures of Stress Resilience and Susceptibility in the CSDS Mouse Model 7 hours after the last stress
This RNA-seq experiment investigates hippocampal transcriptional responses to chronic social stress in mice, aiming to uncover molecular signatures of behavioral resilience and susceptibility. Male C57BL/6J mice were subjected to a 10-day Chronic Social Defeat Stress (CSDS) protocol. At the end of the paradigm, animals were stratified into resilient (RES) and susceptible (SUS) groups using a dual behavioral index: the Social Ratio, which incorporates both interaction time and avoidance behavior in the presence of a novel CD1 aggressor. Hippocampal tissue was collected 7 hours after the final defeat session to capture transcriptional changes associated with the adaptive or maladaptive response to stress.  RNA was extracted and processed for bulk RNA-seq on the Illumina platform. Analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed a marked transcriptional asymmetry in SUS mice, characterized by a widespread and selective upregulation of activity-dependent and stress-responsive genes.  This dataset enables the exploration of gene expression dynamics and alternative splicing events underlying individual differences in stress adaptation.