Prenatal exposure to the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist spironolactone disrupts hippocampal area CA2 connectivity and alters behavior in mice.

ABSTRACT: In the brain, the hippocampus is enriched with mineralocorticoid receptors (MR; Nr3c2), a ligand-dependent transcription factor stimulated by the stress hormone corticosterone in rodents. Recently, we discovered that MR is required for the acquisition and maintenance of many features of mouse area CA2 neurons. Notably, we observed that immunofluorescence for the vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (vGluT2), likely representing afferents from the supramammillary nucleus (SuM), was disrupted in the embryonic, but not postnatal, MR knockout mouse CA2. To test whether pharmacological perturbation of MR activity in utero similarly disrupts CA2 connectivity, we implanted slow-release pellets containing the MR antagonist spironolactone in mouse dams during mid-gestation. After confirming that at le

SUBMITTER: Jones SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11631951 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature