Development of a genetically-encoded oxytocin sensor
Open accessAbstract
Oxytocin (OXT) is a neuropeptide originating in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus, with a role in influencing various social behaviors. However, pinpointing its actions only during the time animals are performing specific behaviors has been difficult to study. Here we developed an optogenetic gene expression system designed to selectively label neuronal populations activated by OXT in the presence of blue-light, named “OXTR-iTango2”. The OXTR-iTango2 was capable of inducing gene expression of a reporter gene in both human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells and neurons in a quantitative manner. In vivo expression of OXTR-iTango2 selectively labeled OXT-sensitive neurons in a blue-light dependent manner. Furthermore, we were able to detect a subset of dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) that receive OXT activation during social interaction. Thus, we provide a genetically-encoded, scalable optogenetic toolset to target neural circuits activated by OXT in behaving animals with a high temporal resolution.
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Detection of endogenously released oxytocin in the VTA of female and male mice during social interactions has been previously demonstrated using OXTR-iTango2.
“Detection of endogenously released oxytocin in the VTA of female and male mice during social interactions has been previously demonstrated using OXTR-iTango2 (ref. 40).”
From Neural circuitry for maternal oxytocin release induced by infant cries (2023) · cites this paper as [40]
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- Authors
- Mignocchi, N., Krüssel, S., Jung, K., Lee, D., & Kwon, H.-B.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Korea University (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Kwon, Hyung-Bae
- Venue
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Publisher
- openRxiv
- Published
- 2020-07-14
- OpenAlex
- W3042848448
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1
- Type
- posted content
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Johns Hopkins University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- oxytocin, genetically encoded biosensors, paraventricular nucleus, hypothalamus, dopaminergic neurons, ventral tegmental area, social behavior, blue light activation
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