Hippocampal knockdown of α2 nicotinic or M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in C57BL/6J male mice impairs cued fear conditioning.

ABSTRACT: Acetylcholine (ACh) signaling in the hippocampus is important for behaviors related to learning, memory and stress. In this study, we investigated the role of two ACh receptor subtypes previously shown to be involved in fear and anxiety, the M1 mAChR and the α2 nAChR, in mediating the effects of hippocampal ACh on stress-related behaviors. Adeno-associated viral vectors containing short-hairpin RNAs targeting M1 or α2 were infused into the hippocampus of male C57BL/6J mice, and behavior in a number of paradigms related to stress responses and fear learning was evaluated. There were no robust effects of hippocampal M1 mAChR or α2 nAChR knockdown (KD) in the light/dark box, tail suspension, forced swim or novelty-suppressed feeding tests. However, effects on fear learning were observed in bo

SUBMITTER: Mineur YS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8018799 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature