The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis habituates to repeated stress exposure. r We studied hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons that form the apex of the HPA axis in a mouse model of stress habituation using repeated restraint.r The intrinsic excitability of CRH neurons decreased after repeated stress in a time course that coincided with the development of HPA axis habituation.r This intrinsic excitability plasticity co-developed with an expansion of surface membrane area, which increased a passive electric load and dampened membrane depolarization in response to the influx of positive charge.r We report a novel structure-function relationship for intrinsic excitability plasticity as a neural correlate for HPA axis habituation.
The stress response necessitates an immediate boost in vital physiological functions from their homeostatic operation to elevated emergency response. However, neural mechanisms underlying this state-dependent change remain largely unknown. Using a combination of in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiology with computational modeling, we report that corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), the effector neurons of hormonal stress response, rapidly transition between distinct activity states through recurrent inhibition. Specifically, in vivo optrode recording shows that under non-stress conditions, CRHPVN neurons often fire with rhythmic brief bursts (RB), which, somewhat counterintuitively, constrains firing rate due to long (~2 s) inter-burst intervals. Stressful stimuli rapidly switch RB to continuous single spiking (SS), permitting a large increase in firing rate. A spiking network model shows that recurrent inhibition can control this activity-state switch, and more broadly the gain of spiking responses to excitatory inputs. In biological CRHPVN neurons ex vivo, the injection of whole-cell currents derived from our computational model recreates the in vivo-like switch between RB and SS, providing a direct evidence that physiologically relevant network inputs enable state-dependent computation in single neurons. Together, we present a novel mechanism for state-dependent activity dynamics in CRHPVN neurons.
The stress response necessitates an immediate boost in vital physiological functions from their homeostatic operation to elevated emergency response. However, neural mechanisms underlying this state-dependent change remain largely unknown. Using a combination of in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiology with computational modeling, we report that corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), the effector neurons of hormonal stress response, rapidly transition between distinct activity states through recurrent inhibition. Specifically, in vivo optrode recording shows that under non-stress conditions, CRHPVN neurons often fire with rhythmic brief bursts (RB), which, somewhat counterintuitively, constrains firing rate due to long (~2 s) inter-burst intervals. Stressful stimuli rapidly switch RB to continuous single spiking (SS), permitting a large increase in firing rate. A spiking network model shows that recurrent inhibition can control this activity-state switch, and consequently the gain of spiking responses to excitatory inputs. In biological CRHPVN neurons ex vivo, the injection of whole-cell currents derived from our computational model recreates the in vivo-like switch between RB and SS, providing a direct evidence that physiologically relevant network inputs enable state-dependent computation in single neurons. Together, we present a novel mechanism for state-dependent activity dynamics in CRHPVN neurons.
We thank all members of Inoue lab for thoughtful inputs to the project. We are grateful to Ms. Irma Meteluch for her help with animal husbandry. We also thank Dr. Jaideep Bains (University of Calgary) for his constructive comments on early versions of the manuscript. Abstract:A rapid activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a hallmark stress response to an imminent threat, but its chronic activation can be detrimental. Thus, the long-term survival of animals requires experience-dependent fine-tuning of the stress response. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying the ability to decrease the stress responsiveness of the HPA axis remain largely unsolved. Using a stress habituation model in male mice and slice patchclamp electrophysiology, we studied hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons that form the apex of the HPA axis. We found that the intrinsic excitability of these neurons substantially decreased after daily repeated restraint stress in a time course that coincided with their loss of stress responsiveness in vivo. This plasticity of intrinsic excitability co-developed with an expansion of surface membrane area, resulting in an increase in input conductance with minimal changes in conductance density. Moreover, multi-photon and electron microcopy data found that repeated stress augmented ruffling of the plasma membrane, suggesting an ultrastructural plasticity that efficiently accommodates membrane area expansion with proportionally less expansion of gross cell volume. Overall, we report a novel structure-function relationship for intrinsic excitability plasticity that correlates with habituation of the neuroendocrine stress response. Significance statement:The long-term survival of animals requires experience-dependent fine-tuning of stress response. Using a mouse model of repeated stress that develops habituation of the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis, our study demonstrates a robust decrease in the intrinsic excitability of the output neuroendocrine neurons of the HPA axis. Mechanistically, we show that repeated stress increases the cell size of these neurons (i.e. surface membrane area). This cell-size change increases input conductance, and hence decreases excitability. Our findings challenge a conventional view that plasticity of intrinsic excitability relies on changes on membrane excitability resulting from up-and down-regulation of various voltage-gated ion channels. Our study reports a novel structure-function relationship for intrinsic excitability plasticity that correlates with habituation of the neuroendocrine stress response.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.