Knockdown of corticotropin-releasing factor 1 receptors in the ventral 
tegmental area enhances conditioned fear

Chen, Nicola A.; Ganella, Despina E.; Bathgate, Ross A. D.; Chen, Alon; Lawrence, Andrew J.; Kim, Jee Hyun

doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2016.06.002

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Knockdown of corticotropin-releasing factor 1 receptors in the ventral tegmental area enhances conditioned fear

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Chen, Alon
Dept. Stress Neurobiology and Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Chen, N. A., Ganella, D. E., Bathgate, R. A. D., Chen, A., Lawrence, A. J., & Kim, J. H. (2016). Knockdown of corticotropin-releasing factor 1 receptors in the ventral tegmental area enhances conditioned fear. EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, 26(9), 1533-1540. doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2016.06.002.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-002C-5793-1

Abstract

The neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) coordinates the physiological and behavioural responses to stress. CRF receptors are highly expressed in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), an important region for motivated behaviour. Therefore, we examined the role of CRF receptor type 1 (CRFR1) in the VTA in conditioned fear, using a viral-mediated RNA interference approach. Following stereotaxic injection of a lentivirus that contained either shCRF-R1 or a control sequence, mice received tone-footshock pairings. Intra-VTA shCRF-R1 did not affect tone-elicited freezing during conditioning. Once conditioned fear was acquired, however, shCRF-R1 mice consistently showed stronger freezing to the tone even after extinction and reinstatement. These results implicate a novel role of VTA CRF-R1 in conditioned fear, and suggest how stress may modulate aversive learning and memory. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. and ECNP. All rights reserved.