Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36-amino acid neuropeptide that is widely expressed in the central nervous system, including the cerebral cortex, nucleus accumbens (NAc) and hypothalamus. We previously analyzed the behavior of transgenic mice exclusively expressing an unedited RNA isoform of the 5-HT2C receptor. These mice showed decreased NPY gene expression in the NAc and exhibited behavioral despair, suggesting that NAc NPY neurons may be involved in mood disorder; however, their role in this behavior remained unknown. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the functional role of NAc NPY neurons in anxiety-like behavior by examining the impact of specific ablation or activation of NAc NPY neurons using NPY-Cre mice and Cre-dependent adeno-associated virus. Diphtheria toxin-mediated ablation of NAc NPY neurons significantly increased anxiety-like behavior in the open field and elevated plus maze tests, compared with before toxin treatment. Moreover, chemogenetic activation of NAc NPY neurons reduced anxiety-like behavior in both behavioral tests compared with control mice. These results suggest that NPY neurons in the NAc are involved in the modulation of anxiety in mice.

中文翻译：

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伏隔核中的神经肽Y神经元调节焦虑样行为。

神经肽Y（NPY）是一种36个氨基酸的神经肽，在中枢神经系统中广泛表达，包括大脑皮层，伏伏核（NAc）和下丘脑。我们先前分析了仅表达未经编辑的5-HT2C受体RNA亚型的转基因小鼠的行为。这些小鼠在NAc中显示出NPY基因表达的下降，并表现出行为上的绝望，表明NAc NPY神经元可能与情绪障碍有关。但是，他们在这种行为中的作用仍然未知。因此，在本研究中，我们通过使用NPY-Cre小鼠和Cre依赖性腺相关病毒检查特异性消融或激活NAc NPY神经元的影响，研究了NAc NPY神经元在焦虑样行为中的功能作用。与毒素治疗之前相比，白喉毒素介导的NAc NPY神经元消融显着增加了在旷野和升高的迷宫测试中的焦虑样行为。此外，与对照小鼠相比，在两种行为测试中，NAc NPY神经元的化学遗传激活均减少了焦虑样行为。这些结果表明，NAc中的NPY神经元参与了小鼠焦虑的调节。