Differential fate between oxytocin and vasopressin cells in the developing mouse brain

Amelie Soumier; Marie Habart; Guillaume Lio; Caroline Demily; Angela Sirigu

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103655

Differential fate between oxytocin and vasopressin cells in the developing mouse brain

iScience. 2021 Dec 18;25(1):103655. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103655. eCollection 2022 Jan 21.

Authors

Amelie Soumier^{1

2}, Marie Habart^{1

2}, Guillaume Lio^{1

2}, Caroline Demily^{1

2}, Angela Sirigu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ iMIND, Center of Excellence for Autism, le Vinatier Hospital, Bron, France.
² Institute of Cognitive Science Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Bron, France.

Abstract

Oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), two neuropeptides involved in socio-emotional behaviors have been anatomically defined in the adult brain. Yet their spatial organization during postnatal development is not clearly defined. We built a developmental atlas using 3D imaging of cleared immunolabeled tissue over four early postnatal (P) stages, from birth (P0, P3, P7, P14) to young adulthood (≥P56). Our atlas-based mapping revealed that the number of OXT neurons doubles according to unique temporal dynamics in selective hypothalamic regions, namely, the periventricular and paraventricular nuclei, and in a novel location we named the antero-lateral preoptic. In the paraventricular nucleus, single-cell densities and fluorescence analysis demonstrated selective expansion of OXT cells in the antero-ventral division, whereas the postero-dorsal division contained cells present at birth. No changes were observed for AVP neurons. Our findings show the coexisting of innate and plastic OXT/AVP brain circuits probably triggered by environmental adaptation of the social brain.

Keywords: Developmental biology; Neuroscience; Optical imaging.