TY - JOUR
T1 - Loss of liver X receptor β in astrocytes leads to anxiety-like behaviors via regulating synaptic transmission in the medial prefrontal cortex in mice
AU - Li, Xin
AU - Zhong, Hongyu
AU - Wang, Zhongke
AU - Xiao, Rui
AU - Antonson, Per
AU - Liu, Tianyao
AU - Wu, Chuan
AU - Zou, Jiao
AU - Wang, Lian
AU - Nalvarte, Ivan
AU - Xu, Haiwei
AU - Warner, Margaret
AU - Gustafsson, Jan Ake
AU - Fan, Xiaotang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2021/11
Y1 - 2021/11
N2 - Astrocytes are integral components of synaptic transmission, and their dysfunction leads to neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. Liver X receptor β (LXRβ) is expressed in astrocytes, and LXRβ global knockout mice shows impaired synaptic formation. In order to define the role of LXRβ in astrocytes, we used a conditional Cre-loxP system to specifically remove LXRβ from astrocytes. We found that this deletion caused anxiety-like but not depressive-like behaviors in adult male mice. This behavioral phenotype could be completely reproduced by selective deletion of LXRβ in astrocytes in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Pyramidal neurons in layer V of mPFC are involved in mood behaviors. We found that there was an increased spontaneous excitatory synaptic transmission in layer V pyramidal neurons of the mPFC of these mice. This was concurrent with increased dendritic complexity, despite normal appearance and number of dendritic spines. In addition, gene ontology analysis of RNA sequencing revealed that deletion of astrocytic LXRβ led to the enrichment of the process of synaptic transmission in mPFC. Finally, we also confirmed that renormalized excitatory synaptic transmission in layer V pyramidal neurons alleviated the anxiety in mice with astrocytic LXRβ deletion in mPFC. Together, our findings reveal that astrocytic LXRβ in mPFC is critical in the regulation of synaptic transmission, and this provides a potential new target for treatment of anxiety-like behavior.
AB - Astrocytes are integral components of synaptic transmission, and their dysfunction leads to neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. Liver X receptor β (LXRβ) is expressed in astrocytes, and LXRβ global knockout mice shows impaired synaptic formation. In order to define the role of LXRβ in astrocytes, we used a conditional Cre-loxP system to specifically remove LXRβ from astrocytes. We found that this deletion caused anxiety-like but not depressive-like behaviors in adult male mice. This behavioral phenotype could be completely reproduced by selective deletion of LXRβ in astrocytes in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Pyramidal neurons in layer V of mPFC are involved in mood behaviors. We found that there was an increased spontaneous excitatory synaptic transmission in layer V pyramidal neurons of the mPFC of these mice. This was concurrent with increased dendritic complexity, despite normal appearance and number of dendritic spines. In addition, gene ontology analysis of RNA sequencing revealed that deletion of astrocytic LXRβ led to the enrichment of the process of synaptic transmission in mPFC. Finally, we also confirmed that renormalized excitatory synaptic transmission in layer V pyramidal neurons alleviated the anxiety in mice with astrocytic LXRβ deletion in mPFC. Together, our findings reveal that astrocytic LXRβ in mPFC is critical in the regulation of synaptic transmission, and this provides a potential new target for treatment of anxiety-like behavior.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41380-021-01139-5
DO - 10.1038/s41380-021-01139-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 33963286
AN - SCOPUS:85105363089
SN - 1359-4184
VL - 26
SP - 6380
EP - 6393
JO - Molecular Psychiatry
JF - Molecular Psychiatry
IS - 11
ER -