Transcriptomic Evaluation of a Stress Vulnerability Network Using Single-Cell RNA Sequencing in Mouse Prefrontal Cortex.

Background: Increased vulnerability to stress is a major risk factor for several mood disorders, including major depressive disorder. Although cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with depressive behaviors following stress have been identified, little is known about the mechanisms that confer the vulnerability that predisposes individuals to future damage from chronic stress.

Methods: We used multisite in vivo neurophysiology in freely behaving male and female C57BL/6 mice (n = 12) to measure electrical brain network activity previously identified as indicating a latent stress vulnerability brain state.

Single Cell Transcriptome of Stress Vulnerability Network in mouse Prefrontal Cortex.

Increased vulnerability to stress is a major risk factor for the manifestation of several mood disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD). Despite the status of MDD as a significant donor to global disability, the complex integration of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the behavioral display of such disorders has made a thorough understanding of related etiology elusive. Recent developments suggest that a brain-wide network approach is needed, taking into account the complex interplay of cell types spanning multiple brain regions.