Early life stress inhibits expression of a novel innate immune pathway in the developing hippocampus.

ABSTRACT: Childhood maltreatment represents a major risk factor for the development of numerous childhood psychopathologies that in many cases linger as chronic mental illnesses in adulthood. Exposing rodents or non-human primates to early life stress increases anxiety-like behaviors and impairs cognitive function in adulthood, suggesting that animal models may provide important insights into parallel developmental processes in humans. Using an unbiased genomic screen, we found that expression of lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), a member of the innate immune system, is dramatically decreased in the hippocampus of pups exposed to early life stress. LBP levels peak in the normally developing hippocampus at a period of intense synaptic pruning, during which LBP is colocalized with the synaptic

SUBMITTER: Wei L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3242319 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature