Circadian genes Period 1 and Period 2 in the nucleus accumbens regulate anxiety‐related behavior. Issue 2 (8th October 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Spencer, Sade; Falcon, Edgardo; Kumar, Jaswinder; Krishnan, Vaishnav; Mukherjee, Shibani; Birnbaum, Shari G.; McClung, Colleen A.
• Is Part Of: European journal of neuroscience. Volume 37:Issue 2(2013:Jan.)
• Page Start: 242
• Page End: 250
• Publication Date: 2012-10-08
• Subjects: Nervous system -- Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1111/ejn.12010
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-816X

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="ejn12010-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>It has been suggested for some time that circadian rhythm abnormalities underlie the development of multiple psychiatric disorders. However, it is unclear how disruptions in individual circadian genes might regulate mood and anxiety. Here we found that mice lacking functional <italic>mPeriod 1</italic> (<italic>mPer1</italic>) or <italic>mPeriod 2</italic> (<italic>mPer2</italic>) individually did not have consistent behavioral abnormalities in measures of anxiety‐related behavior. However, mice deficient in both <italic>mPer1</italic> and <italic>mPer2</italic> had an increase in levels of anxiety‐like behavior in multiple measures. Moreover, we found that <italic>mPer1</italic> and <italic>mPer2</italic> expression was reduced in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) after exposure to chronic social defeat stress, a paradigm that led to increased anxiety‐related behavior. Following social defeat, chronic treatment with fluoxetine normalized <italic>Per</italic> gene expression towards wild‐type levels. Knockdown of both <italic>mPer1</italic> and <italic>mPer2</italic> expression via RNA interference specifically in the NAc led to a similar increase in anxiety‐like behavior as seen in the mutant animals. Taken together, these results implicate the <italic>Per</italic> genes in the NAc in response to stress and the development of anxiety.</p> </abstract>