Developmental Exposure to Psychostimulant Primes Activity‐dependent Gene Induction in Frontal Cortex

Abstract

Perinatal neurodevelopment involves extensive formation of neural connections and onset of activity‐dependent gene expression for synaptic function and plasticity. Exposure to psychostimulants at this stage imposes significant risks for developing cognitive and affective disorders later in life. However, how developmental exposure to psychostimulants may induce long‐lasting molecular changes relevant to neural circuit function remains incompletely understood. In this study, we investigated the impacts of psychostimulant amphetamine on the activity‐dependent induction of synaptic adaptor molecule Arc in the frontal cortex of neonatal mice. We found that transient exposure to amphetamine not only amplifies activity‐dependent Arc mRNA expression immediately, but also potentiates subsequent induction of Arc mRNA in the absence of amphetamine. This priming effect is associated with a rapid and persistent increase in histone mono‐methylation (H3K4me1), a marker for transcriptionally permissive chromatin, at the Arc locus, but not any long‐lasting change in the phosphorylation of upstream transcription factor CREB. Furthermore, the increase in H3K4me1 at the Arc locus requires dopamine receptor signaling, and the priming of Arc expression correlates with the dopaminergic innervation pattern in the frontal cortex. Together, our results demonstrate that developmental exposure to psychostimulant amphetamine induces long‐lasting chromatin changes and primes activity‐dependent Arc gene induction. These findings reveal the molecular targets of psychostimulant during perinatal development that may contribute to long‐term psychiatric risks.