Embryonic transcription factor expression in mice predicts medial amygdala neuronal identity and sex-specific responses to innate behavioral cues
- The George Washington University, United States
- Children's National Medical Center, United States
- Kumamoto-University, Japan
- University of Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado
Figures
Figure 1 with 3 supplements
Embryonic and postnatal segregation of Dbx1-derived and Foxp2+ cells.
Minimal co-localization of Dbx1-derived (green) and Foxp2+ (red) labeled cells in coronal sections at the level of the POA at E11.5 (a–f) and E13.5 (g–l). As shown at E11.5 (s) Foxp2+ precursors in …
Figure 1—figure supplement 1
Embryonic and postnatal distribution of OTP+ cells.
Dual immunostaining of coronal sections at the telencephalic-diencephalic border at E11.5 shows very little overlap between Dbx1-derived (green) (n = 3) and the Foxp2+ (red) (n = 3) progenitor …
Figure 1—figure supplement 2
Foxp2+ cells are not derived from the Shh- or Nkx6.2 lineages.
Dual immunostaining of the amygdala primordium in horizontal sections at E11.5 reveals minor contribution of either the Nkx6.2-lineage (n = 3) (white) (a–d, i) or the Shh-lineage (n = 3) (white) (e–h…
Figure 1—figure supplement 3
Localization of Dbx1-derived and Foxp2+ cells in the adult MeA.
Double immunofluorescence staining of adult coronal sections at the level of the MeA shows patterns of localization of Dbx1-derived (green) and Foxp2+ (red) cells across the anterior to the posterior…
Figure 2 with 1 supplement
Identity of Foxp2+ medial amygdala neurons.
Dual immunofluorescence of Foxp2 with NeuN (n = 3 mice) (a–d), CC1 (n = 3 mice) (e–h), YFP (in Emx1cre;RYFP mice) (n = 5 mice) (i–l), calbindin (n = 3 mice) (m–p), nNOS (n = 6 mice) (q–t), and …
Figure 2—figure supplement 1
Identity of OTP+ medial amygdala neurons.
Dual immunofluorescence of Foxp2 with YFP (in Emx1cre;RYFP mice) (n = 3) (a–d), CAMKIIα (n = 3) (e–h), calbindin (n = 3) (i–l) and somatostatin (n = 3 mice) (m–p) (arrows show double-labeled cells). …
Figure 3 with 1 supplement
Dbx1-derived and Foxp2+ MeA neurons possess distinct electrophysiological properties.
Typical firing patterns of Dbx1-derived (a) and Foxp2+ (b) neurons with current injections at −60 pA,+20 pA and +60 pA. Significant differences across populations in resting membrane potential (Rm) …
Figure 3—figure supplement 1
Foxp2+ neurons possess projection neuronal morphology.
Biocytin filling depicting the morphology of a typical Foxp2+ neuron possessing dendritic spines (a-b, arrow). Representative 3-D reconstruction of several Foxp2+ neurons (c–e). The scale bars …
Figure 4 with 2 supplements
Expression of sex hormone pathway markers in Dbx1-derived and Foxp2+ cells.
Dual immunofluorescence for YFP (green) or Foxp2 (red) with the sex steroid hormone pathway markers (white): estrogen receptor α (ERα) (a–g), aromatase (h–n) or androgen receptor (AR) (o–u) (arrows …
Figure 4—figure supplement 1
Patterns of MeA expression of sex steroid hormone markers.
Schematic of adult brain shows MeA (red box) (a). Immunostaining for ERα (b), aromatase (c) or AR (d) shows patterns of localization in the MeA. The scale bar represents 100 μm.
Figure 4—figure supplement 2
Percent contribution of Dbx1-derived and Foxp2+ cells to sex steroid hormone marker populations.
The percent contribution of Dbx1-derived cells and Foxp2+ cells in male and female brains to the ERα+, Aromatase+ and AR+ populations are as follows: ERα+ population: Dbx1-derived contribution: 18% ±…
Figure 5 with 1 supplement
Dbx1-derived and Foxp2+ neurons are activated during aggressive encounters.
Significant increases in the number of c-fos+ cells (white) compared to controls are observed in the MeA during both male territorial aggression (a–c) (two tailed Mann-Whitney test, U = 0, p=0.0025, …
Figure 5—figure supplement 1
c-fos expression in the posterio-medial (MePD) and posterio-ventral (MePV) subnuclei during different innate behavioral assays.
Immunofluorescence staining for c-fos after innate behavioral assays: territorial (c–d) and maternal (g–h) aggression, mating (g–h), predator avoidance (k–l) and their respective native (a–b) and …
Figure 6
Sex-specific subpopulation responses during mating.
A significant increase in the number of c-fos+ cells (white) in the MeA during mating compared to naïve control is observed in both male (two tailed Mann-Whitney test, U = 0, p=0.0079, n = 5 naïve, n…
Figure 7 with 1 supplement
Dbx1-derived and Foxp2+ MeA subpopulation activation patterns in response to predator odor.
A significant increase in the number of c-fos+ cells (white) in the MeA in both male (two-tailed t-test, p=0.0344, t = 0.30.153, df = 4, n = 3 benign, n = 3 predator avoidance) and female …
Figure 7—figure supplement 1
Sex-specific activation of OTP+ cells during predator avoidance.
A significant increase in the number of c-fos+ cells (white) in the MeA in males (two-tailed t-test, p=0.0004, t = 5.435, df = 9, n = 6 benign, n = 5 predator avoidance) (a–c) and in females …
Figure 8
Summary of findings.
Schematic summarizing our findings in which embryonic segregation of Dbx1-derived (green) and Foxp2+ (red) cells in the embryonic brain predicts postnatal intrinsic electrophysiological profiles and …
