Low serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT 1A R) binding is a risk factor for anxiety and depression, and deletion of the 5-HT 1A R results in anxiety-like behavior in mice. Here we show that anxiety-like behavior in mice also can be caused, independently of the offspring's own 5-HT 1A R genotype, by a receptor deficit in the mother: a nongenetic transmission of a genetic defect. Some of the nongenetically transmitted anxiety manifestations were acquired prenatally and linked to a delay in dentate gyrus maturation in the ventral hippocampus of the offspring. Both the developmental delay and the anxiety-like phenotype were phenocopied by the genetic inactivation of p16 ink4a encoding a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor implicated in neuronal precursor differentiation. No maternal 5-HT 1A R genotype-dependent anxiety developed when the strain background was switched from Swiss Webster to C57BL/6, consistent with the increased resilience of this strain to early adverse environment. Instead, all anxiety manifestations were caused by the offspring's own receptor deficiency, indicating that the genetic and nongenetic effects converge to common anxiety manifestations. We propose that 5-HT 1A R deficit represents a dual risk for anxiety and that vulnerability to anxiety associated with genetic 5-HT 1A R deficiency can be transmitted by both genetic and nongenetic mechanisms in a population. Thus, the overall effect of risk alleles can be higher than estimated by traditional genetic assays and may contribute to the relatively high heritability of anxiety and psychiatric disorders in general.genetic risk | heritability | cross-fostering S tudies have identified mutant/polymorphic variants of genes, each with a relatively small contribution to the risk of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric diseases. However, demonstrable genetic influences explain only a small fraction of estimated heritability in psychiatric conditions. This "missing heritability" could be caused by a large number of undiscovered alleles or by mechanisms that amplify the effect of risk alleles but are not genetic in nature. We tested the hypothesis that mutant/polymorphic variants can have a larger effect if, besides their purely genetic effect, they have an additional "environmental" effect. For example, gene variants could influence maternal physiology, affecting the developmental program of the offspring, and consequently also increasing the risk for psychopathology. Indeed, adverse prenatal maternal and/or postnatal environment increases vulnerability to various diseases, including psychiatric disorders, in adulthood (1, 2), and one may extrapolate these findings to an abnormal maternal/parental environment related to disease-associated genes/gene variants.One of the few candidate genes whose function has been associated with anxiety and depression encodes the serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT 1A R) (3). Reduced binding or binding potential in the 5-HT 1A R has been linked to posttraumatic stress and panic disorders (3) and depression (4), and a...

TNF is a proinflammatory cytokine with established roles in host defense and immune system organogenesis. Here we report a novel physiological function of TNF that extends its effect beyond the host into the developing offspring. A partial/complete maternal TNF-deficit, specifically in hematopoietic cells, resulted in reduced milk levels of chemokines IP-10, MCP-1/−3/−5, and MIP-1β, which in turn, augmented offspring postnatal hippocampal proliferation, leading to improved adult spatial memory in mice. These effects were reproduced by the postpartum administration of a clinically used anti-TNF agent. Chemokines, fed to suckling pups of TNF-deficient mothers, restored both postnatal proliferation and spatial memory to normal levels. This work identifies a TNF-dependent “lactrocrine” pathway that programs offspring hippocampal development and memory. The level of ambient TNF is known to be downregulated by physical activity/exercise and adaptive stress; thus, we propose that the maternal TNF-milk chemokine pathway evolved to promote offspring adaptation to post-weaning environmental challenges/competition.

Early life adversity, including adverse gestational and postpartum maternal environment, is a contributing factor in the development of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and depression but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanism. In a model of gestational maternal adversity that leads to innate anxiety, increased stress reactivity and impaired vocal communication in the offspring, we asked if a specific DNA methylation signature is associated with the emergence of the behavioral phenotype. Genome-wide DNA methylation analyses identified 2.3% of CpGs as differentially methylated (that is, differentially methylated sites, DMSs) by the adverse environment in ventral-hippocampal granule cells, neurons that can be linked to the anxiety phenotype. DMSs were typically clustered and these clusters were preferentially located at gene bodies. Although CpGs are typically either highly methylated or unmethylated, DMSs had an intermediate (20–80%) methylation level that may contribute to their sensitivity to environmental adversity. The adverse maternal environment resulted in either hyper or hypomethylation at DMSs. Clusters of DMSs were enriched in genes that encode cell adhesion molecules and neurotransmitter receptors; some of which were also downregulated, indicating multiple functional deficits at the synapse in adversity. Pharmacological and genetic evidence links many of these genes to anxiety.

Risk factors for psychiatric disorders have traditionally been classified as genetic or environmental. Risk (candidate) genes, although typically possessing small effects, represent a clear starting point to elucidate downstream cellular/molecular pathways of disease. Environmental effects, especially during development, can also lead to altered behavior and increased risk for disease. An important environmental factor is the mother, demonstrated by the negative effects elicited by maternal gestational stress and altered maternal care. These maternal effects can also have a genetic basis (e.g., maternal genetic variability and mutations). The focus of this review is “maternal genotype effects” that influence the emotional development of the offspring resulting in life-long psychiatric disease-like phenotypes. We have recently found that genetic inactivation of the serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT1AR) and the fmr1 gene (encoding the fragile X mental retardation protein) in mouse dams results in psychiatric disease-like phenotypes in their genetically unaffected offspring. 5-HT1AR deficiency in dams results in anxiety and increased stress responsiveness in their offspring. Offspring of 5-HT1AR deficient dams display altered development of the hippocampus, which could be linked to their anxiety-like phenotype. Maternal inactivation of fmr1, like its inactivation in the offspring, results in a hyperactivity-like condition and is associated with receptor alterations in the striatum. These data indicate a high sensitivity of the offspring to maternal mutations and suggest that maternal genotype effects can increase the impact of genetic risk factors in a population by increasing the risk of the genetically normal offspring as well as by enhancing the effects of offspring mutations.

The dentate gyrus is one of the few brain regions that show proliferation of neuronal precursors postnatally and in adult life. Proliferation in the dentate gyrus has been shown to be influenced by exercise, stress and drugs such as antidepressants. Traditionally, proliferation studies rely on the time consuming and subjective manual count of labeled cells. Here we adapted the Metamorph software to automatically count cells labeled in the S phase in the developing dentate gyrus of mice. The validity of the computer-assisted method was established by showing an outcome similar to that obtained with the established manual counting procedure. In addition, by using a genetically modified mouse line with increased proliferation, the ability of the computer-assisted method to detect changes in proliferation was demonstrated.