Anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive fear, anxiety, and avoidance of perceived threats in internal to oneself or the environment, however, the underlying mechanisms are less well understood. Here, we show that transforming growth factor‐β‐activated kinase 1 (Tak1) expressed in the astrocytes of mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) plays a crucial role in anxiety‐like behavior in mice. Our data demonstrate that deficiency of Tak1 in astrocytes increased anxiety level, but did not impact locomotor activity in mice. Astrocytic activation of Tak1 in the MBH mitigated the anxiety‐like behavior, whereas suppression of Tak1 in MBH astrocytes promoted the anxiety‐like behavior in mice. Collectively, these data suggest that Tak1 expressed in the MBH astrocytes could modulate the anxiety‐like behavior in mice.

中文翻译：

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中基底下丘脑星形胶质细胞中的 Tak1 调节小鼠的焦虑样行为。

焦虑症的特征是过度恐惧、焦虑和回避自己或环境中感知到的威胁，然而，其潜在机制尚不清楚。在这里，我们表明在中基底下丘脑 (MBH) 星形胶质细胞中表达的转化生长因子-β-活化激酶 1 (Tak1) 在小鼠的焦虑样行为中起关键作用。我们的数据表明星形胶质细胞中Tak1的缺乏会增加焦虑水平，但不会影响小鼠的运动活动。MBH 中 Tak1 的星形胶质细胞激活减轻了小鼠的焦虑样行为，而 MBH 星形胶质细胞中 Tak1 的抑制促进了小鼠的焦虑样行为。总的来说，这些数据表明在 MBH 星形胶质细胞中表达的 Tak1 可以调节小鼠的焦虑样行为。