Neurodegenerative-related gene rescue in anterior insula after early life maltreatment restores adult social interaction in male mice.

Maltreatment in adolescence poses a major public health crisis as a primary factor for the development of adult psychiatric disorders. The anterior insula (AI) has been implicated as a hub in adult psychiatric disorders but the gene expression profile of AI in psychiatric disease in either humans or animal models is unknown. RNA sequencing of AI in adult male mice exposed to maltreatment in adolescence revealed altered expression of multiple ribosomal proteins and genes related to neurodegeneration. AI-specific neuronal rescue of a top RNA binding protein target, Hnrnpa2b1, in adulthood after adolescent maltreatment, significantly restored normative social behavior in defeated male mice. Together these preclinical findings reveal a regionally specific molecular pathway in male mice that should be further investigated as a possible target to reduce fear-based symptoms of adolescent maltreatment.