Maternal deprivation on behavior and gene expression of dopamine receptor 2 in adult rats

Abstract

Objective To explore the effect of maternal deprivation on gene expression of dopamine receptor 2(DRD2)in adult rats nucleus accumbens and whether DNA methylation wag involved in its expression regulatory mechanism.Methotis Twenty newborn rats were randomly divided jnto two groups,the maternal deprivation group(n=8)were deprived from their mother 6 hours per day during lactation,while the controIs(n=12)without any treatment. When they grew up to twelve weeks,their spentaneous anxiety levels and the exploratory ability in novel environments were assessed with open-field test. After behavior test.rats were sacrificed and nucleus accumbens were isolated.DRD2 mRNA expression level in nucleus accumens was detected by using reverse transcription-PCR.and its DNA methylation levels were detected with bisulfated DNA sequencing.Results (1)Open-field test revealed that the totsl number of grilles crossed and erection in maternal deprivation group[grilles crossed of(24±8);erection number of (10.1 ±2.0)]were less than that in the controls[(44±8);(15.8±1.8);P＜0.01-0.05].(2)The expression level of DRD2 mRNA was significantly lower in maternal deprivation group(0.224±0.064)than control group(0.586±0.099)(P＜0.05).However,the DNA methylation levels in the promoter region of DRD2 were not significantly different between the two groups.Conclusions Matemal deprivation could influence the DRD2 gene expression.but DNA methylation may not be involved. Key words: Maternal deprivation; Receptors,dopamine D2; Reverse transcriptage pelymerase chaln reaction:DNA methylation: Nucleus accumbens septi