Activation of Somatostatin-Expressing Neurons in the Lateral Septum Improves Stress-Induced Depressive-like Behaviors in Mice

Depression is a debilitating mood disorder with highly heterogeneous pathogenesis. The limbic system is well-linked to depression. As an important node in the limbic system, the lateral septum (LS) can modulate multiple affective and motivational behaviors. However, the role of LS in depression remains unclear. By using c-Fos expression mapping, we first screened and showed activation of the LS in various depression-related behavioral tests, including the forced swim test (FST), tail suspension test (TST), and sucrose preference test. In the LS, more than 10% of the activated neurons were somatostatin-expressing (SST) neurons. We next developed a microendoscopic calcium imaging method in freely moving mice and revealed that LS(SST) neural activity increased during mobility in the TST but not open field test. We hypothesize that LS(SST) neuronal activity is linked to stress and depression. In two mouse models of depression, repeated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection and chronic restraint stress (CRS), we showed that LS neuronal activation was suppressed. To examine whether the re-activation of LS(SST) neurons can be therapeutically beneficial, we optogenetically activated LS(SST) neurons and produced antidepressant-like effects in LPS-injected mice by increasing TST motility. Moreover, chemogenetic activation of LS(SST) neurons increased FST struggling in the CRS-exposed mice. Together, these results provide the first evidence of a role for LS(SST) neurons in regulating depressive-like behaviors in mice and identify them as a potential therapeutic target for neuromodulation-based intervention in depression.