RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Serotonin buffers hippocampal neuroplasticity and emotional behavior
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 123646
DO 10.1101/123646
A1 Giacomo Maddaloni
A1 Sara Migliarini
A1 Francesco Napolitano
A1 Andrea Giorgi
A1 Daniele Biasci
A1 Alessia De Felice
A1 Alberto Galbusera
A1 Sara Franceschi
A1 Francesca Lessi
A1 Marco La Ferla
A1 Paolo Aretini
A1 Chiara Maria Mazzanti
A1 Alessandro Gozzi
A1 Alessandro Usiello
A1 Massimo Pasqualetti
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/04/03/123646.abstract
AB Adaptation to environmental insults is an evolutionary mechanism essential for survival. The hippocampus participates in controlling adaptive responses to stress and emotional state through the modulation of neuroplasticity events, which are dysregulated in stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders. The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT) has been proposed as a pivotal player in hippocampal neuroplasticity in both normal and neuropsychiatric conditions though its role remains still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the impact of 5-HT deficiency on hippocampal activity combining RNA-seq, in vivo neuroimaging, neuroanatomical, biochemical and behavioral experiments on 5-HT depleted mice. We unveil that serotonin is required for appropriate activation of neuroplasticity adaptive mechanisms to environmental insults. Bidirectional deregulation of these programs in serotonin depleted mice is associated with opposite behavioral traits that model core symptoms of bipolar disorder. These findings delineate a previously unreported buffering role of 5-HT in instructing hippocampal activity and emotional responses to environmental demands.