| First Author | Zupan B | Year | 2017 |
| Journal | Curr Biol | Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 24 | Pages | 3859-3863.e3 |
| PubMed ID | 29199072 | Mgi Jnum | J:329615 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6871497 | Doi | 10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.071 |
| Citation | Zupan B, et al. (2017) Maternal Brain TNF-alpha Programs Innate Fear in the Offspring. Curr Biol 27(24):3859-3863.e3 |
| abstractText | Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is a cytokine that not only coordinates local and systemic immune responses [1, 2] but also regulates neuronal functions. Most prominently, glia-derived TNF-alpha has been shown to regulate homeostatic synaptic scaling [3-6], but TNF-alpha-null mice exhibited no apparent cognitive or emotional abnormalities. Instead, we found a TNF-alpha-dependent intergenerational effect, as mothers with a deficit in TNF-alpha programmed their offspring to exhibit low innate fear. Cross-fostering and conditional knockout experiments indicated that a TNF-alpha deficit in the maternal brain, rather than in the hematopoietic system, and during gestation was responsible for the low-fear offspring phenotype. The level of innate fear governs the balance between exploration/foraging and avoidance of predators and is thus fundamentally important in adaptation, fitness, and survival [7]. Because maternal exercise and activity are known to reduce both brain TNF-alpha [8] and offspring innate fear [9], whereas maternal stress has been reported to increase brain TNF-alpha [10] and offspring fear and anxiety [11, 12], maternal brain TNF-alpha may report environmental conditions to promote offspring behavioral adaptation to their anticipated postnatal environment. |
