Nature Communications (Apr 2023)

miR-483-5p offsets functional and behavioural effects of stress in male mice through synapse-targeted repression of Pgap2 in the basolateral amygdala

  • Mariusz Mucha,
  • Anna E. Skrzypiec,
  • Jaison B. Kolenchery,
  • Valentina Brambilla,
  • Satyam Patel,
  • Alberto Labrador-Ramos,
  • Lucja Kudla,
  • Kathryn Murrall,
  • Nathan Skene,
  • Violetta Dymicka-Piekarska,
  • Agata Klejman,
  • Ryszard Przewlocki,
  • Valentina Mosienko,
  • Robert Pawlak

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37688-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Abstract Severe psychological trauma triggers genetic, biochemical and morphological changes in amygdala neurons, which underpin the development of stress-induced behavioural abnormalities, such as high levels of anxiety. miRNAs are small, non-coding RNA fragments that orchestrate complex neuronal responses by simultaneous transcriptional/translational repression of multiple target genes. Here we show that miR-483-5p in the amygdala of male mice counterbalances the structural, functional and behavioural consequences of stress to promote a reduction in anxiety-like behaviour. Upon stress, miR-483-5p is upregulated in the synaptic compartment of amygdala neurons and directly represses three stress-associated genes: Pgap2, Gpx3 and Macf1. Upregulation of miR-483-5p leads to selective contraction of distal parts of the dendritic arbour and conversion of immature filopodia into mature, mushroom-like dendritic spines. Consistent with its role in reducing the stress response, upregulation of miR-483-5p in the basolateral amygdala produces a reduction in anxiety-like behaviour. Stress-induced neuromorphological and behavioural effects of miR-483-5p can be recapitulated by shRNA mediated suppression of Pgap2 and prevented by simultaneous overexpression of miR-483-5p-resistant Pgap2. Our results demonstrate that miR-483-5p is sufficient to confer a reduction in anxiety-like behaviour and point to miR-483-5p-mediated repression of Pgap2 as a critical cellular event offsetting the functional and behavioural consequences of psychological stress.