Journal article
ASIC1A in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis mediates TMT-evoked freezing
Frontiers in neuroscience, Vol.9, pp.239-239
2015
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00239
PMCID: PMC4508508
PMID: 26257596
Abstract
Mice display an unconditioned freezing response to TMT, a predator odor isolated from fox feces. Here we found that in addition to freezing, TMT caused mice to decrease breathing rate, perhaps because of the aversive smell. Consistent with this possibility, olfactory bulb lesions attenuated this effect of TMT, as well as freezing. Interestingly, butyric acid, another foul odor, also caused mice to reduce breathing rate. However, unlike TMT, butyric acid did not induce freezing. Thus, although these aversive odors may affect breathing, the unpleasant smell and suppression of breathing by themselves are insufficient to cause freezing. Because the acid-sensing ion channel-1A (ASIC1A) has been previously implicated in TMT-evoked freezing, we tested whether
Asic1a
disruption also altered breathing. We found that TMT reduced breathing rate in both
Asic1a
+/+
and
Asic1a
−/−
mice, suggesting that ASIC1A is not required for TMT to inhibit breathing and that the absence of TMT-evoked freezing in the
Asic1a
−/−
mice is not due to an inability to detect TMT. These observations further indicate that ASIC1A must affect TMT freezing in another way. Because the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) has been critically implicated in TMT-evoked freezing and robustly expresses ASIC1A, we tested whether ASIC1A in the BNST plays a role in TMT-evoked freezing. We disrupted ASIC1A in the BNST of
Asic1a
loxP/loxP
mice by delivering Cre recombinase to the BNST with an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector. We found that disrupting ASIC1A in the BNST reduced TMT-evoked freezing relative to control mice in which a virus expressing eGFP was injected. To test whether ASIC1A in the BNST was sufficient to increase TMT-evoked freezing, we used another AAV vector to express ASIC1A in the BNST of
Asic1a
−/−
mice. We found region-restricted expression of ASIC1A in the BNST increased TMT-elicited freezing. Together, these data suggest that the BNST is a key site of ASIC1A action in TMT-evoked freezing.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- ASIC1A in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis mediates TMT-evoked freezing
- Creators
- Rebecca J Taugher - Department of Veterans Affairs Medical CenterAli Ghobbeh - Department of Veterans Affairs Medical CenterLevi P Sowers - Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, University of IowaRong Fan - Department of Veterans Affairs Medical CenterJohn A Wemmie - Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Frontiers in neuroscience, Vol.9, pp.239-239
- DOI
- 10.3389/fnins.2015.00239
- PMID
- 26257596
- PMCID
- PMC4508508
- NLM abbreviation
- Front Neurosci
- ISSN
- 1662-4548
- eISSN
- 1662-453X
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media S.A
- Grant note
- 5T32MH019113-22 / NIMH training 5R01MH085724 / NIMH R01HL113863 / NHLBI
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 2015
- Academic Unit
- Molecular Physiology and Biophysics; Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Neurology (Pediatrics); Neurosurgery
- Record Identifier
- 9984003441202771
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