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Acute social isolation alters neurogenomic state in songbird forebrain

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GeorgeEtAl_PNAS_songbird_isolation.pdf (1.119Mb)
Date
22/09/2020
Author
George, Julia
Bell, Zachary
Condliffe, Daniel
Doher, Kirstin
Abaurrea, Teresa
Spencer, Karen
Leitao, Albertine
Gahr, Manfred
Hurd, Paul
Clayton, David F.
Keywords
Zebra finch
RNA-seq
DNA methylation
Isolation
Forebrain
RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
QH301 Biology
SF Animal culture
DAS
BDC
R2C
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Abstract
Prolonged social isolation has negative effects on brain and behavior in humans and other social organisms, but neural mechanisms leading to these effects are not understood. Here we tested the hypothesis that even brief periods of social isolation can alter gene expression and DNA methylation in higher cognitive centers of the brain, focusing on the auditory/associative forebrain of the highly social zebra finch. Using RNA sequencing, we first identified genes that individually increase or decrease expression after isolation and observed general repression of gene sets annotated for neurotrophin pathways and axonal guidance functions. We then pursued 4 genes of large effect size: EGR1 and BDNF (decreased by isolation) and FKBP5 and UTS2B (increased). By in situ hybridization, each gene responded in different cell subsets, arguing against a single cellular mechanism. To test whether effects were specific to the social component of the isolation experience, we compared gene expression in birds isolated either alone or with a single familiar partner. Partner inclusion ameliorated the effect of solo isolation on EGR1 and BDNF, but not on FKBP5 and UTS2B nor on circulating corticosterone. By bisulfite sequencing analysis of auditory forebrain DNA, isolation caused changes in methylation of a subset of differentially expressed genes, including BDNF. Thus, social isolation has rapid consequences on gene activity in a higher integrative center of the brain, triggering epigenetic mechanisms that may influence processing of ongoing experience.
Citation
George , J , Bell , Z , Condliffe , D , Doher , K , Abaurrea , T , Spencer , K , Leitao , A , Gahr , M , Hurd , P & Clayton , D F 2020 , ' Acute social isolation alters neurogenomic state in songbird forebrain ' , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 117 , no. 38 , pp. 23311-23316 . https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820841116
Publication
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820841116
ISSN
0027-8424
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2019 The Author(s), Published under the PNAS license. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820841116
Description
Financial support was provided by the USA National Institutes of Health (RO1NS045264 and 1RC1GM091556), the Leverhulme Trust, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/L023164/1).
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/19331

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