1. Pathological brain plasticity and cognition in the offspring of males subjected to postnatal traumatic stress
- Author
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Gonzalo Duran-Pacheco, Jean-Luc Moreau, Iniguez Al, Coiret G, Martin Ebeling, Guido Steiner, Osvaldo Mirante, Mélissa Farinelli, Francesca Manuella, Katharina Gapp, Johannes Bohacek, Isabelle M. Mansuy, University of Zurich, and Mansuy, I M
- Subjects
Male ,Stress Disorders, Traumatic ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Offspring ,Long-Term Potentiation ,2804 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,Hippocampus ,Gene Expression ,610 Medicine & health ,In Vitro Techniques ,Epigenesis, Genetic ,2738 Psychiatry and Mental Health ,Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,Mice ,Internal medicine ,Neuroplasticity ,Conditioning, Psychological ,1312 Molecular Biology ,medicine ,Animals ,Epigenetics ,Molecular Biology ,Protein Kinase C ,Swimming ,Neuronal Plasticity ,10242 Brain Research Institute ,Traumatic stress ,Brain ,Long-term potentiation ,Recognition, Psychology ,Fear ,DNA Methylation ,Mice, Inbred C57BL ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Endocrinology ,Animals, Newborn ,Synaptic plasticity ,570 Life sciences ,biology ,Female ,Psychopharmacology ,Psychology ,Cognition Disorders ,Neuroscience - Abstract
Traumatic stress in early-life increases the risk for cognitive and neuropsychiatric disorders later in life. Such early stress can also impact the progeny even if not directly exposed, likely through epigenetic mechanisms. Here, we report in mice that the offspring of males subjected to postnatal traumatic stress have decreased gene expression in molecular pathways necessary for neuronal signaling, and altered synaptic plasticity when adult. Long-term potentiation is abolished and long-term depression is enhanced in the hippocampus, and these defects are associated with impaired long-term memory in both the exposed fathers and their offspring. The brain-specific gamma isoform of protein kinase C (Prkcc) is one of the affected signaling components in the hippocampus. Its expression is reduced in the offspring, and DNA methylation at its promoter is altered both in the hippocampus of the offspring and the sperm of fathers. These results suggest that postnatal traumatic stress in males can affect brain plasticity and cognitive functions in the adult progeny, possibly through epigenetic alterations in the male germline.
- Published
- 2014