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Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation

Aggressive behavior is rarely observed in virgin female mice but is specifically triggered in lactation where it facilitates protection of offspring. Recent studies demonstrated that the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) plays an important role in facilitating aggressive behavior in both sexes...

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Autores principales: Georgescu, Teodora, Khant Aung, Zin, Grattan, David R., Brown, Rosemary S. E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: National Academy of Sciences 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8833212/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35131854
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116972119
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author Georgescu, Teodora
Khant Aung, Zin
Grattan, David R.
Brown, Rosemary S. E.
author_facet Georgescu, Teodora
Khant Aung, Zin
Grattan, David R.
Brown, Rosemary S. E.
author_sort Georgescu, Teodora
collection PubMed
description Aggressive behavior is rarely observed in virgin female mice but is specifically triggered in lactation where it facilitates protection of offspring. Recent studies demonstrated that the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) plays an important role in facilitating aggressive behavior in both sexes. Here, we demonstrate a role for the pituitary hormone, prolactin, acting through the prolactin receptor in the VMN to control the intensity of aggressive behavior exclusively during lactation. Prolactin receptor deletion from glutamatergic neurons or specifically from the VMN resulted in hyperaggressive lactating females, with a marked shift from intruder-directed investigative behavior to very high levels of aggressive behavior. Prolactin-sensitive neurons in the VMN project to a wide range of other hypothalamic and extrahypothalamic regions, including the medial preoptic area, paraventricular nucleus, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, all regions known to be part of a complex neuronal network controlling maternal behavior. Within this network, prolactin acts in the VMN to specifically restrain male-directed aggressive behavior in lactating females. This action in the VMN may complement the role of prolactin in other brain regions, by shifting the balance of maternal behaviors from defense-related activities to more pup-directed behaviors necessary for nurturing offspring.
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spelling pubmed-88332122022-08-07 Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation Georgescu, Teodora Khant Aung, Zin Grattan, David R. Brown, Rosemary S. E. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Biological Sciences Aggressive behavior is rarely observed in virgin female mice but is specifically triggered in lactation where it facilitates protection of offspring. Recent studies demonstrated that the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus (VMN) plays an important role in facilitating aggressive behavior in both sexes. Here, we demonstrate a role for the pituitary hormone, prolactin, acting through the prolactin receptor in the VMN to control the intensity of aggressive behavior exclusively during lactation. Prolactin receptor deletion from glutamatergic neurons or specifically from the VMN resulted in hyperaggressive lactating females, with a marked shift from intruder-directed investigative behavior to very high levels of aggressive behavior. Prolactin-sensitive neurons in the VMN project to a wide range of other hypothalamic and extrahypothalamic regions, including the medial preoptic area, paraventricular nucleus, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, all regions known to be part of a complex neuronal network controlling maternal behavior. Within this network, prolactin acts in the VMN to specifically restrain male-directed aggressive behavior in lactating females. This action in the VMN may complement the role of prolactin in other brain regions, by shifting the balance of maternal behaviors from defense-related activities to more pup-directed behaviors necessary for nurturing offspring. National Academy of Sciences 2022-02-07 2022-02-08 /pmc/articles/PMC8833212/ /pubmed/35131854 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116972119 Text en Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Biological Sciences
Georgescu, Teodora
Khant Aung, Zin
Grattan, David R.
Brown, Rosemary S. E.
Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation
title Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation
title_full Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation
title_fullStr Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation
title_full_unstemmed Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation
title_short Prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation
title_sort prolactin-mediated restraint of maternal aggression in lactation
topic Biological Sciences
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8833212/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35131854
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2116972119
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