Probes for INS

Activity-dependent transcriptional responses shape cortical function. However, a comprehensive understanding of the diversity of these responses across the full range of cortical cell types, and how these changes contribute to neuronal plasticity and disease, is lacking. To investigate the breadth of transcriptional changes that occur across cell types in the mouse visual cortex after exposure to light, we applied high-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing. We identified significant and divergent transcriptional responses to stimulation in each of the 30 cell types characterized, thus revealing 611 stimulus-responsive genes. Excitatory pyramidal neurons exhibited inter- and intralaminar heterogeneity in the induction of stimulus-responsive genes. Non-neuronal cells showed clear transcriptional responses that may regulate experience-dependent changes in neurovascular coupling and myelination. Together, these results reveal the dynamic landscape of the stimulus-dependent transcriptional changes occurring across cell types in the visual cortex; these changes are probably critical for cortical function and may be sites of deregulation in developmental brain disorders.

Eating is a learned process. Our desires for specific foods arise through experience. Both electrical stimulation and optogenetic studies have shown that increased activity in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) promotes feeding. Current dogma is that these effects reflect a role for LH neurons in the control of the core motivation to feed, and their activity comes under control of forebrain regions to elicit learned food-motivated behaviors. However, these effects could also reflect the storage of associative information about the cues leading to food in LH itself. Here, we present data from several studies that are consistent with a role for LH in learning. In the first experiment, we use a novel GAD-Cre rat to show that optogenetic inhibition of LH γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons restricted to cue presentation disrupts the rats' ability to learn that a cue predicts food without affecting subsequent food consumption. In the second experiment, we show that this manipulation also disrupts the ability of a cue to promote food seeking after learning. Finally, we show that inhibition of the terminals of the LH GABA neurons in ventral-tegmental area (VTA) facilitates learning about reward-paired cues. These results suggest that the LH GABA neurons are critical for storing and later disseminating information about reward-predictive cues.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) patients display a common but often variable set of symptoms making successful, sustained treatment difficult to achieve. Separate depressive symptoms may be encoded by differential changes in distinct circuits in the brain, yet how discrete circuits underlie behavioral subsets of depression and how they adapt in response to stress has not been addressed. We identify two discrete circuits of parvalbumin-positive (PV) neurons in the ventral pallidum (VP) projecting to either the lateral habenula or ventral tegmental area contributing to depression. We find that these populations undergo different electrophysiological adaptations in response to social defeat stress, which are normalized by antidepressant treatment. Furthermore, manipulation of each population mediates either social withdrawal or behavioral despair, but not both. We propose that distinct components of the VP PV circuit can subserve related, yet separate depressive-like phenotypes in mice, which could ultimately provide a platform for symptom-specific treatments of depression.

The lateral habenula (LHb) has a key role in integrating a variety of neural circuits associated with reward and aversive behaviors. There is limited information about how the different cell types and neuronal circuits within the LHb coordinate physiological and motivational states. Here, we report a cell type in the medial division of the LHb (LHbM) in male rats that is distinguished by: (1) a molecular signature for GABAergic neurotransmission (Slc32a1/VGAT) and estrogen receptor (Esr1/ERα) expression, at both mRNA and protein levels, as well as the mRNA for vesicular glutamate transporter Slc17a6/VGLUT2, which we term the GABAergic estrogen-receptive neuron (GERN); (2) its axonal projection patterns, identified by in vivo juxtacellular labeling, to both local LHb and to midbrain modulatory systems; and (3) its somatic expression of receptors for vasopressin, serotonin and dopamine, and mRNA for orexin receptor 2. This cell type is anatomically located to receive afferents from midbrain reward (dopamine and serotonin) and hypothalamic water and energy homeostasis (vasopressin and orexin) circuits. These afferents shared the expression of estrogen synthase (aromatase) and VGLUT2, both in their somata and axon terminals. We demonstrate dynamic changes in LHbM VGAT+ cell density, dependent upon gonadal functional status, that closely correlate with motivational behavior in response to predator and forced swim stressors. The findings suggest that the homeostasis and reward-related glutamatergic convergent projecting pathways to LHbMC employ a localized neurosteroid signaling mechanism via axonal expression of aromatase, to act as a switch for GERN excitation/inhibition output prevalence, influencing depressive or motivated behavior.

Shank2 is an abundant postsynaptic scaffolding protein implicated in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Deletion of Shank2 in mice has been shown to induce social deficits, repetitive behaviors, and hyperactivity, but the identity of the cell types that contribute to these phenotypes has remained unclear. Here, we report a conditional mouse line with a Shank2 deletion restricted to parvalbumin (PV)-positive neurons (Pv-Cre;Shank2fl/fl mice). These mice display moderate hyperactivity in both novel and familiar environments and enhanced self-grooming in novel, but not familiar, environments. In contrast, they showed normal levels of social interaction, anxiety-like behavior, and learning and memory. Basal brain rhythms in Pv-Cre;Shank2fl/fl mice, measured by electroencephalography, were normal, but susceptibility to pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures was decreased. These results suggest that Shank2 deletion in PV-positive neurons leads to hyperactivity, enhanced self-grooming and suppressed brain excitation.

Stimuli that elicit itch are detected by sensory neurons that innervate the skin. This information is processed by the spinal cord; however, the way in which this occurs is still poorly understood. Here we investigated the neuronal pathways for itch neurotransmission, particularly the contribution of the neuropeptide somatostatin. We find that in the periphery, somatostatin is exclusively expressed in Nppb+ neurons, and we demonstrate that Nppb+somatostatin+ cells function as pruriceptors. Employing chemogenetics, pharmacology and cell-specific ablation methods, we demonstrate that somatostatin potentiates itch by inhibiting inhibitory dynorphin neurons, which results in disinhibition of GRPR+neurons. Furthermore, elimination of somatostatin from primary afferents and/or from spinal interneurons demonstrates differential involvement of the peptide released from these sources in itch and pain. Our results define the neural circuit underlying somatostatin-induced itch and characterize a contrasting antinociceptive role for the peptide.

Cellular interactions between delta and mu opioid receptors (DORs and MORs), including heteromerization, are thought to regulate opioid analgesia. However, the identity of the nociceptive neurons in which such interactions could occur in vivo remains elusive. Here we show that DOR-MOR co-expression is limited to small populations of excitatory interneurons and projection neurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn and unexpectedly predominates in ventral horn motor circuits. Similarly, DOR-MOR co-expression is rare in parabrachial, amygdalar, and cortical brain regions processing nociceptive information. We further demonstrate that in the discrete DOR-MOR co-expressing nociceptive neurons, the two receptors internalize and function independently. Finally, conditional knockout experiments revealed that DORs selectively regulate mechanical pain by controlling the excitability of somatostatin-positive dorsal horn interneurons. Collectively, our results illuminate the functional organization of DORs and MORs in CNS pain circuits and reappraise the importance of DOR-MOR cellular interactions for developing novel opioid analgesics.