Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Dabbah-Assadi, F.
• Alon, D.
• Golani, I.
• Doron, R.
• Kremer, I.
• Beloosesky, R.
• Shamir, A.

Titel

The influence of immune activation at early vs late gestation on fetal NRG1-ErbB4 expression and behavior in juvenile and adult mice offspring

Ist Teil von

• Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2019-07, Vol.79, p.207-215

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2019

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals Complete

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •MIA at late gestation day altered the expression of NRG1 and ErbB4.•Expression of D2R was 50% higher in MIA fetuses-exposed at late gestation day.•Adult female-exposed at GD 17 displayed lack preference to a novel object in adulthood.•Working memory alteration observed only in adult male-exposed in late gestation day.•MIA at GD 17 influence the expression of NRG1-ErbB4 that might affect cognitive skills at adulthood. Maternal inflammation during pregnancy is associated with a higher incidence of mental disorders (e.g. schizophrenia and autism) in the offspring. In our study, we investigate the involvement of the NRG-ErbB signaling pathway in rodent fetal brains four hours following maternal immune activation (MIA) insult at two different gestational days (i.e. early vs late). Furthermore, we test the long-term behavioral alteration of the exposed MIA mice at juvenile and adulthood. We demonstrate that MIA at late, but not at early gestation day, altered the expression of NRG1, its receptor ErbB4, and the dopamine D2 receptor four hours post injection of viral or bacterial mimic material in fetal brain. At the behavioral levels, adult late-MIA-exposed female offspring, but not juvenile, display lack preference to a novel object. While working memory alteration observed only in adult male MIA-exposed offspring at late gestation day. In addition, we found that adult females MIA-exposed mice spent more time in the center of the open field than female-saline groups. On the other hand, juvenile male offspring exposed to MIA at early, but not late, gestation day displayed a significant alteration in social interaction. Our results suggest that MIA during late gestation immediately influences the expression levels of the NRG1 and ErbB4 genes, and affects long-term behavioral changes at adulthood. These behavioral changes are time related and sex-specific. Thus, immune activation at late stages of the embryonic brain development initiates the activation of the NRG1-ErbB4 pathway and this disturbance might result in cognitive dysfunction in adulthood.