Post by account_disabled on Feb 28, 2024 3:41:01 GMT -5
CRISPR-engineered hamsters exhibit unexpected changes in social behavior.
Researchers experimenting with genetically modified hamsters have discovered that the biology behind social behavior may be more complex than we thought. The team used CRISPR to block a certain neurochemical signaling pathway and found that the animals' social behaviors changed in unexpected ways.
The key to the study is a hormone known as vasopressin. Among other functions, this hormone plays a key role in social behaviors, including pair bonding, sexual motivation, cooperation, social communication, dominance, and aggression. In previous research, scientists gave vasopressin to children with autism and found improvements in social behaviors.
Hamsters genetically modified with CRISPR
For the new study, scientists at Georgia State University investigated the neurochemical pathways that vasopressin acts on. To do this, they used CRISPR to genetically engineer ham C Level Executive List sters that lacked Avpra, the receptor to which vasopressin binds. Sure enough, the genetically modified hamsters exhibited changes in their social behaviors, but not what the team expected.
“We were very surprised by the results,” said H. Elliot Albers, principal investigator of the study. “We anticipated that if we eliminated vasopressin activity, we would reduce both aggression and social communication. But the opposite happened".
Interestingly, hamsters that had genetically knocked down Avpra exhibited significantly higher levels of social communication behavior than the unedited control group. That social behavior was both positive and negative: the manipulated animals also showed greater aggression toward others of the same sex. Interestingly, that applied to both male and female hamsters, eliminating the tendency for male hamsters to be generally more aggressive than females.
The team says the finding reveals that the biology behind social behaviors is more complex than scientists previously thought. More work will be needed to investigate how it could affect scientific thinking about human social behavior and whether it could uncover new avenues for potential treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders.
“Although we know that vasopressin increases social behaviors by acting on several brain regions, it is possible that the more global effects of the Avpra receptor are inhibitory,” Albers said. “We don't understand this system as well as we thought. “The counterintuitive findings tell us that we need to start thinking about the actions of these receptors in entire brain circuits and not just in specific brain regions.”
Researchers experimenting with genetically modified hamsters have discovered that the biology behind social behavior may be more complex than we thought. The team used CRISPR to block a certain neurochemical signaling pathway and found that the animals' social behaviors changed in unexpected ways.
The key to the study is a hormone known as vasopressin. Among other functions, this hormone plays a key role in social behaviors, including pair bonding, sexual motivation, cooperation, social communication, dominance, and aggression. In previous research, scientists gave vasopressin to children with autism and found improvements in social behaviors.
Hamsters genetically modified with CRISPR
For the new study, scientists at Georgia State University investigated the neurochemical pathways that vasopressin acts on. To do this, they used CRISPR to genetically engineer ham C Level Executive List sters that lacked Avpra, the receptor to which vasopressin binds. Sure enough, the genetically modified hamsters exhibited changes in their social behaviors, but not what the team expected.
“We were very surprised by the results,” said H. Elliot Albers, principal investigator of the study. “We anticipated that if we eliminated vasopressin activity, we would reduce both aggression and social communication. But the opposite happened".
Interestingly, hamsters that had genetically knocked down Avpra exhibited significantly higher levels of social communication behavior than the unedited control group. That social behavior was both positive and negative: the manipulated animals also showed greater aggression toward others of the same sex. Interestingly, that applied to both male and female hamsters, eliminating the tendency for male hamsters to be generally more aggressive than females.
The team says the finding reveals that the biology behind social behaviors is more complex than scientists previously thought. More work will be needed to investigate how it could affect scientific thinking about human social behavior and whether it could uncover new avenues for potential treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders.
“Although we know that vasopressin increases social behaviors by acting on several brain regions, it is possible that the more global effects of the Avpra receptor are inhibitory,” Albers said. “We don't understand this system as well as we thought. “The counterintuitive findings tell us that we need to start thinking about the actions of these receptors in entire brain circuits and not just in specific brain regions.”