Activation of Beta-adrenergic Receptors Upregulates the Signal-to-Noise Ratio of Auditory Input in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Mediates Auditory Fear Conditioning

作者：Xie, Haiting; Tian, Yueqin; Li, Zhongli; Wang, Kaitao; Li, Runtong; Yi, Shang; Chen, Aimin; Chen, Jian; Liu, Jun^*; Wei, Xuhong^*; Gao, Xiaoya^*

来源：Molecular Neurobiology, 2023.

DOI：10.1007/s12035-023-03667-3

• Acoustic fear conditioning
• Single-cell patch clamp recording
• beta-Adrenergic receptor
• Prelimbic cortex
• Signal-to-noise ratio

Norepinephrine (NE) is involved in auditory fear conditioning (AFC) in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is still unclear how it acts on neurons. We aimed to investigate whether the activation of the beta-adrenergic receptor (beta-AR) improves AFC by sensitization of the prelimbic (PL) cortex at the animal, cellular, and molecular levels. In vivo single-cell electrophysiological recording was used to characterize the changes in neurons in the PL cortex after AFC. Then, PL neurons were locally administrated by the beta-AR agonist isoproterenol (ISO), the GABAaR agonist muscimol, or intervened by optogenetic method, respectively. Western blotting and immunohistochemistry were finally used to assess molecular changes. Noise and low-frequency tones induced similar AFC. The expression of beta-ARs in PL cortex neurons was upregulated after fear conditioning. Microinjection of muscimol into the PL cortex blocked the conformation of AFC, whereas ISO injection facilitated AFC. Moreover, PL neurons can be distinguished into two types, with type I but not type II neurons responding to conditioned sound and being regulated by beta-ARs. Our results showed that beta-ARs in the PL cortex regulate conditional fear learning by activating type I PL neurons.

• 单位
  中山大学; 广州医学院; 南方医科大学