Sustained overexpression of neuropeptide S in the amygdala reduces anxiety-like behavior in rats.

Sustained overexpression of neuropeptide S in the amygdala reduces anxiety-like behavior in rats. Behav Brain Res. 2019 Mar 23;: Authors: Tillmann S, Skibdal HE, Christiansen SH, Gøtzsche CR, Hassan M, Mathé AA, Wegener G, Woldbye DPD Abstract Neuropeptide S (NPS) has shown anxiolytic-like effects in rodents after acute administration, but its long-term effects remain unknown. Gene therapy enables the targeted delivery of DNA to cell nuclei, and recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors have been identified as suitable tools for stable overexpression. Thus, to explore the effects of long-term expression of NPS, the present study examined anxiety- and depressive-like effects after rAAV-mediated NPS overexpression in the rat amygdala. Compared to rats injected with an empty control vector (rAAV-Empty), rAAV-NPS treatment was associated with reduced anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze and light-dark box, but did not affect depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test. Importantly, rAAV-NPS did not cause confounding effects on locomotion or bodyweight as opposed to currently used anxiolytic drugs. Immunohistochemical stainings revealed NPS-positive cells in the central and basolateral region of the amygdala in rAAV-NPS but not rAAV-Empty rats, indicating successful transduction. Our study provides novel evidence for sustained anxiolytic-like properties of NPS by transgenic overexpression. These data suggest that...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research