Elimination of vesicular zinc alters the behavioural and neuroanatomical effects of social defeat stress in mice.

ABSTRACT: Chronic stress can have deleterious effects on mental health, increasing the risk of developing depression or anxiety. But not all individuals are equally affected by stress; some are susceptible while others are more resilient. Understanding the mechanisms that lead to these differing outcomes has been a focus of considerable research. One unexplored mechanism is vesicular zinc - zinc that is released by neurons as a neuromodulator. We examined how chronic stress, induced by repeated social defeat, affects mice that lack vesicular zinc due to genetic deletion of zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3). These mice, unlike wild type mice, did not become socially avoidant of a novel conspecific, suggesting resilience to stress. However, they showed enhanced sensitivity to the potentiating effect of stress

SUBMITTER: McAllister BB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6234281 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature