Long-term effects of early-life caregiving experiences on brain-derived neurotrophic factor histone acetylation in the adult rat mPFC

Figures & data

Figure 1. Brain atlas (Paxinos & Watson, 2007) representation of region of interest for medial prefrontal cortex dissections (PrL = prelimbic, IL = infralimbic). Reproduced with permission.

Figure 2. Diagrams of gene targets in the study. Primer pair positions are indicated by the red text and left and right arrows. bdnf, accession NC_005102.4 (primer sequences from Gupta-Agarwal et al., 2012; Lubin et al., 2008); reelin, accession NC_005103.4.

Table 1. Average percent occurrences of individual adverse and nurturing pup-directed maternal behaviors and pup vocalizations across the seven 30-min exposure sessions.

Adverse behaviors (% occurrence)							Nurturing behaviors			Pup vocalizations
	Step on F(2, 23) = 18.14 p < 0.001	Drag F(2, 23) = 7.10 p < 0.01	Drop F(2, 23) = 3.58 p < 0.05	Actively avoid F(2, 23) = 1.72 p > 0.05	Roughly handle F(2, 23) = 7.90 p < 0.01	Overall F(2, 23) = 12.75 p < 0.001	Pup licking F(2, 23) = 1.07 p > 0.05	Hover/Nurse F(2, 23) = 3.87 p < 0.05	Overall F(2, 23) = 12.75 p < 0.001	Audible F(2, 23) = 3.09 p = 0.07	Ultrasonic F(2, 23) = 11.21 p < 0.01
NMC	9.8***	4.5**	2.6	1.7	6.9*	28.7**	33.4	41.1	71.3**	32.5	59.2**
CFC	9.8***	6.3	0.2	1.4	4.8**	25.6***	33.6	43.9	74.1***	36.4	53.7***
MAL	18.5	8.7	2.3	3.9	12.3	47.3	26.1	28.2	52.7	50.9	84.4

NMC – normal maternal care, CFC – cross-foster care, MAL – maltreatment. Two-tailed unpaired t-tests revealed NMC versus CFC comparisons were not significant.

*p < 0.05.

**p < 0.01.

***p < 0.001 versus MAL.

Figure 3. Adult (PN90) H3K9/14 acetylation at brain-derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf) promoters I and IV in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). One-sample (to compare to normal care controls) and two-tailed unpaired t-tests indicate that neither (A) males nor (B) females showed any differences in H3K9/14 acetylation at bdnf I. At bdnf IV, (C) males showed no significant changes, but a one-sample t-test revealed that (D) females that experienced maltreatment had less acetylation in comparison to normal care control females (*p < 0.05). Error bars represent SEM, n = 8–10/group.

Figure 4. Adult (PN90) H3K9/14 acetylation at the reelin promoter in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). One-sample and two-tailed unpaired t-tests indicate that neither (A) males nor (B) females showed any differences in H3K9/14 acetylation. Error bars represent SEM, n = 8–10/group.

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