Oxytocin receptor is not required for social attachment in prairie voles

Oxytocin receptor is not required for social attachment in prairie voles

Prairie voles are among a small group of mammals that display long-term social attachment between mating partners. Many pharmacological studies show that signaling via the oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) is critical for the display of social monogamy in these animals. We used CRISPR mutagenesis to generate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 111; no. 6; pp. 787 - 796.e4
Main Authors: Berendzen, Kristen M., Sharma, Ruchira, Mandujano, Maricruz Alvarado, Wei, Yichao, Rogers, Forrest D., Simmons, Trenton C., Seelke, Adele M.H., Bond, Jessica M., Larios, Rose, Goodwin, Nastacia L., Sherman, Michael, Parthasarthy, Srinivas, Espineda, Isidero, Knoedler, Joseph R., Beery, Annaliese, Bales, Karen L., Shah, Nirao M., Manoli, Devanand S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15-03-2023
Subjects:
Animals
Arvicolinae
CRISPR
Female
Grassland
Male
Mammals
monogamy
nursing
Oxytocin
oxytocin receptor
pair-bonding
parental behavior
partner preference
prairie vole
Receptors, Oxytocin - genetics
social attachment
Social Behavior
CRISPR
social attachment
prairie vole
oxytocin receptor
parental behavior
nursing
pair-bonding
monogamy
partner preference
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Summary:Prairie voles are among a small group of mammals that display long-term social attachment between mating partners. Many pharmacological studies show that signaling via the oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) is critical for the display of social monogamy in these animals. We used CRISPR mutagenesis to generate three different Oxtr-null mutant prairie vole lines. Oxtr mutants displayed social attachment such that males and females showed a behavioral preference for their mating partners over a stranger of the opposite sex, even when assayed using different experimental setups. Mothers lacking Oxtr delivered viable pups, and parents displayed care for their young and raised them to the weanling stage. Together, our studies unexpectedly reveal that social attachment, parturition, and parental behavior can occur in the absence of Oxtr signaling in prairie voles. [Display omitted] •Prairie voles lacking oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) generated with CRISPR targeting•Oxtr−/− voles form pair bonds or social attachments•Oxtr−/− voles show parental behavior•Oxtr−/− females nurse many of their pups to weaning Berendzen et al. report the surprising finding that prairie voles lacking the oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) display pair-bonding and parental behaviors, including nursing. Despite many pharmacological studies suggesting a requirement for Oxtr, these findings indicate that Oxtr is genetically dispensable for pair-bond formation and parental behaviors in voles.
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Lead Contact: Devanand.manoli@ucsf.edu
These authors contributed equally to this work
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, K.L.B., D.M. and N.M.S.; Methodology, A.B., K.L.B., K.M.B., M.A.M., D.M., F.D.R., N.M.S., R.S., Y.C.W.; Investigation, J.M.B., K.M.B., I.E., N.G., J.K., R.L., M.A.M., S.P., F.D.R., T.C.S., A.H.M.S., R.S., Y.C.W.; Visualization, K.M.B., M.A.M., R.S., Y.C.W.; Funding acquisition, K.L.B., D.M., N.M.S.; Writing –Original Draft, K.M.B., R.S.; Writing – review & editing, K.L.B., K.M.B., D.M., M.A.M., N.M.S., R.S., Y.C.W.
ISSN:0896-6273
1097-4199
1097-4199
DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2022.12.011