Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 119, Issue 19, Pages -Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2121037119
Keywords
aggression; social communication; flank marking; oxytocin; social behavior neural network
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Funding
- NSF [IOS-1035960]
- NIH [MH109302, MH122622]
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Arginine-vasopressin and its V1a receptor play a critical role in regulating social behavior neural network. Gene edited hamsters with Avpr1a knockout showed unexpected increase in social communication behavior and elimination of gender differences in aggression towards conspecifics.
Studies from a variety of species indicate that arginine-vasopressin (AVP) and its V1a receptor (Avpr1a) play a critical role in the regulation of a range of social behaviors by their actions in the social behavior neural network. To further investigate the role of AVPRs in social behavior, we performed CRISPR-Cas9-mediated editing at the Avpr1a gene via pronuclear microinjections in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), a species used extensively in behavioral neuroendocrinology because they produce a rich suite of social behaviors. Using this germ-line gene-editing approach, we generated a stable line of hamsters with a frame-shift mutation in the Avpr1a gene resulting in the null expression of functional Avpr1as. Avpr1a knockout (KO) hamsters exhibited a complete lack of Avpr1a-specific autoradiographic binding throughout the brain, behavioral insensitivity to centrally administered AVP, and no pressor response to a peripherally injected Avpr1a-specific agonist, thus confirming the absence of functional Avpr1as in the brain and periphery. Contradictory to expectations, Avpr1a KO hamsters exhibited substantially higher levels of conspecific social communication (i.e., odor-stimulated flank marking) than their wild-type (WT) littermates. Furthermore, sex differences in aggression were absent, as both male and female KOs exhibited more aggression toward same-sex conspecifics than did their WT littermates. Taken together, these data emphasize the importance of comparative studies employing gene-editing approaches and suggest the startling possibility that Avpr1a-specific modulation of the social behavior neural network may be more inhibitory than permissive.
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