Regulation of Cued Fear Expression via Corticotropin-ReleasingFactor Neurons in the Ventral Anteromedial Thalamic Nucleus

作     者：Yin Lv Peng Chen Qing-Hong Shan Xin-Ya Qin Xiu-Hong Qi Jiang-Ning Zhou Yin Lv;Peng Chen;Qing-Hong Shan;Xin-Ya Qin;Xiu-Hong Qi;Jiang-Ning Zhou

作者机构：Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the MicroscaleSchool of Life SciencesChinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Brain Function and DiseasesUniversity of Science and Technology of ChinaHefei 230027China Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence TechnologyChinese Academy of SciencesShanghai 200031China 

出 版 物：《Neuroscience Bulletin》 (神经科学通报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2021年第37卷第2期

页      面：217-228页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 1002[医学-临床医学] 07[理学] 1001[医学-基础医学(可授医学、理学学位)] 071006[理学-神经生物学] 

基　　金：This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32000716 and 91732304) the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB02030001). 

主　　题：Corticotropin-releasing-factor neurons Ventral anteromedial thalamic nucleus Cued fear expression Chemogenetics 

摘      要：The ventral part of the anteromedial thalamic nucleus(AMv)is in a position to convey information to the cortico-hippocampal-amygdalar circuit involved in the processing of fear memory.Corticotropin-releasing-factor(CRF)neurons are closely associated with the regulation of stress and fear.However,few studies have focused on the role of thalamic CRF neurons in fear memory.In the present study,using a conditioned fear paradigm in CRF transgenic mice,we found that the c-Fos protein in the AMv CRF neurons was significantly increased after cued fear expression.Chemogenetic activation of AMv CRF neurons enhanced cued fear expression,whereas inhibition had the opposite effect on the cued fear response.Moreover,chemogenetic manipulation of AMv CRF neurons did not affect fear acquisition or contextual fear expression.In addition,anterograde tracing of projections revealed that AMv CRF neurons project to wide areas of the cerebral cortex and the limbic system.These results uncover a critical role of AMv CRF neurons in the regulation of conditioned fear memory.