PMID- 37808690
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20240115
DP  - 2024 Jan 12
TI  - Hypothalamic representation of the imminence of predator threat detected by the 
      vomeronasal organ in mice.
LID - 2023.09.27.559655 [pii]
LID - 10.1101/2023.09.27.559655 [doi]
AB  - Animals have the innate ability to select optimal defensive behavioral outputs 
      with an appropriate intensity in response to predator threat in specific 
      contexts. Such innate behavioral decisions are thought to be computed in the 
      medial hypothalamic nuclei that contain neural populations directly controlling 
      defensive behavioral outputs. The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is one of the major 
      sensory input channels through which predator cues are detected with ascending 
      inputs to the medial hypothalamic nuclei, especially to the ventromedial 
      hypothalamus (VMH), through the medial amygdala (MeA) and bed nucleus of the 
      stria terminalis (BNST). Here, we show that cat saliva contains predator cues 
      that signal imminence of predator threat and regulate the robustness of freezing 
      behavior through the VNO in mice. Cat saliva activates neurons expressing the 
      V2R-A4 subfamily of sensory receptors, suggesting the existence of specific 
      receptor groups responsible for freezing behavior induced by the predator cues. 
      The number of VNO neurons activated in response to saliva correlates with the 
      freshness of saliva and the intensity of freezing behavior, while the downstream 
      neurons in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) and defensive behavioral circuit 
      are quantitatively equally activated by fresh and old saliva. Strikingly, 
      however, only the number of VMH neurons activated by fresh saliva positively 
      correlates with the intensity of freezing behavior. Detailed analysis of the 
      spatial distribution of fresh and old saliva-responding neurons revealed a 
      neuronal population within the VMH that is more sensitive to fresh saliva than 
      old saliva. Taken together, this study demonstrates that predator cues in cat 
      saliva change over time and differentially activate the sensory-to-hypothalamus 
      defensive behavioral pathway to modulate behavioral outputs.
FAU - Nguyen, Quynh Anh Thi
AU  - Nguyen QAT
FAU - Rocha, Andrea
AU  - Rocha A
FAU - Yamashita, Yuna
AU  - Yamashita Y
FAU - Chhor, Ricky
AU  - Chhor R
FAU - Stadler, Christian
AU  - Stadler C
FAU - Pontrello, Crystal
AU  - Pontrello C
FAU - Haga-Yamanaka, Sachiko
AU  - Haga-Yamanaka S
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-4101-9889
LA  - eng
GR  - R01 DC019135/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Preprint
DEP - 20240112
PL  - United States
TA  - bioRxiv
JT  - bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
JID - 101680187
PMC - PMC10557655
EDAT- 2023/10/09 06:41
MHDA- 2023/10/09 06:42
PMCR- 2024/01/12
CRDT- 2023/10/09 05:43
PHST- 2023/10/09 06:41 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/10/09 06:42 [medline]
PHST- 2023/10/09 05:43 [entrez]
PHST- 2024/01/12 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 2023.09.27.559655 [pii]
AID - 10.1101/2023.09.27.559655 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Jan 12:2023.09.27.559655. doi: 
      10.1101/2023.09.27.559655.