A group of descending glutamatergic neurons activated by stress in corticolimbic regions project to the nucleus accumbens

Jin Young Park, So Young Park, Hyejin Kwon, Yumi Song, Boin Yun, Yubin Lee, Yeryung Cho, Ahran Joo, Pyung Lim Han

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is the major component of the ventral striatum that regulates stress-induced depression. The NAc receives dopaminergic inputs from the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the role of VTA-NAc neurons in stress response has been recently characterized. The NAc also receives glutamatergic inputs from various forebrain structures including the prelimbic cortex (PL), basolateral amygdala (BLA), and ventral hippocampus (vHIP), whereas the role of those glutamatergic afferents in stress response remains underscored. In the present study, we investigated the extent to which descending glutamatergic neurons activated by stress in the PL, BLA, and vHIP project to the NAc. To specifically label the input neurons into the NAc, fluorescent-tagged cholera toxin subunit B (CTB), which can be used as a retrograde neuronal tracer, was injected into the NAc. After two weeks, the mice were placed under restraint for 1 h. Subsequent histological analyses indicated that CTB-positive cells were detected in 170~680 cells/mm2 in the PL, BLA, and vHIP, and those CTB-positive cells were mostly glutamatergic. In the PL, BLA, and vHIP regions analyzed, stress-induced c-Fos expression was found in 20~100 cells/mm2. Among the CTB-positive cells, 2.6% in the PL, 4.2% in the BLA, and 1.1% in the vHIP were co-labeled by c-Fos, whereas among c-Fos-positive cells, 7.7% in the PL, 19.8% in the BLA, and 8.5% in the vHIP were co-labeled with CTB. These results suggest that the NAc receives a significant but differing proportion of glutamatergic inputs from the PL, BLA, and vHIP in stress response.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)387-396
Number of pages10
JournalExperimental Neurobiology
Volume27
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by a grant (2018R1A2B2001535) from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Republic of Korea.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © Experimental Neurobiology 2018.

Keywords

  • C-Fos
  • Nucleus accumbens
  • Retrograde tracer
  • Stress

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