Fear can be acquired vicariously through social observation of others suffering from aversive stimuli. We found that mice (observers) developed freezing behavior by observing other mice (demonstrators) receive repetitive foot shocks. Observers had higher fear responses when demonstrators were socially related to themselves, such as siblings or mating partners. Inactivation of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and parafascicular or mediodorsal thalamic nuclei, which comprise the medial pain system representing pain affection, substantially impaired this observational fear learning, whereas inactivation of sensory thalamic nuclei had no effect. The ACC neuronal activities were increased and synchronized with those of the lateral amygdala at theta rhythm frequency during this learning. Furthermore, an ACC-limited deletion of Ca v 1.2 Ca 2+ channels in mice impaired observational fear learning and reduced behavioral pain responses. These results demonstrate the functional involvement of the affective pain system and Ca v 1.2 channels of the ACC in observational social fear.Fear is a biological response to dangerous, threatening situations or stimuli. Fear can be acquired and expressed in a variety of ways 1 . First, fear can be learned from direct experience of an adverse situation (for example, an unconditioned stimulus in classical Pavlovian fear conditioning). In a classical conditioning experiment, pairing of a neutral, conditioned stimulus (for example, a tone) with an aversive, unconditioned stimulus (for example, a foot shock) causes an animal to express fear behaviors when the animal is later exposed to the conditioned Correspondence should be addressed to H.-S.S. (shin@kist.re.kr). 6 Present address: Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.Note: Supplementary information is available on the Nature Neuroscience website. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS COMPETING FINANCIAL INTERESTSThe authors declare no competing financial interests.Reprints and permissions information is available online at http://www.nature.com/reprintsandpermissions/. 1,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] . Previous studies using a barpressing protocol found that rats seeing a distressed conspecific (by electric shocks) display fearful behavioral responses, such as crouching or motionlessness 13,14 . A recent study found that C57BL/6J mice that observed unfamiliar mice experiencing classical fear conditioning displayed freezing behaviors when they were later exposed to the conditioned stimulus alone 15 . These findings demonstrate social transfer of fear in rodents. Unlike classical fear conditioning, however, the neural substrate and mechanism underlying observational social fear has not been well defined. NIH Public AccessACC is known to receive sensory signals from the somatosensory cortices and other cortical areas, including the anterior insular cortex [16][17][18][19][20] . Brain-imaging studies in humans have shown that the neuronal activities of the ACC and the amygdala change during observation of others experi...

Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) 3 attenuates proinflammatory signaling mediated by the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) family of proteins. But acute inflammation can occur after exposure to pathogen-derived inducers staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or the lectin concanavalin A (ConA), suggesting that physiologic levels of SOCS3 are insufficient to stem proinflammatory signaling under pathogenic circumstances. To test this hypothesis, we developed recombinant cell-penetrating forms of SOCS3 (CP-SOCS3) for intracellular delivery to counteract SEB-, LPS- and ConA-induced inflammation. We found that CP-SOCS3 was distributed in multiple organs within 2 h and persisted for at least 8 h in leukocytes and lymphocytes. CP-SOCS3 protected animals from lethal effects of SEB and LPS by reducing production of inflammatory cytokines and attenuating liver apoptosis and hemorrhagic necrosis. It also reduced ConA-induced liver apoptosis. Thus, replenishing the intracellular stores of SOCS3 with CP-SOCS3 effectively suppresses the devastating effects of acute inflammation.

Studies of mammalian gene function are hampered by temporal limitations in which phenotypes occurring at one stage of development interfere with analysis at later stages. Moreover, phenotypes resulting from altered gene activity include both direct and indirect effects that may be difficult to distinguish. In the present study, recombinant fusion proteins bearing the 12 amino acid membrane translocation sequence (MTS) from the Kaposi fibroblast growth factor (FGF-4) were used to transduce enzymatically active Cre proteins directly into mammalian cells. High levels of recombination were observed in a variety of cultured cell types and in all tissues examined in mice following intraperitoneal administration. This represents the first use of protein transduction to induce the enzymatic conversion of a substrate in living cells and animals and provides a rapid and efficient means to manipulate mammalian gene structure and function.

Abstract-Diverse cardiac diseases induce cardiac hypertrophy, which leads to dilatation and heart failure. We previously reported that hypertrophy can be blocked by class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, which prompted us to investigate the regulatory mechanism of class I HDACs. Cardiac hypertrophy was introduced by aortic banding, by infusion of isoproterenol or angiotensin II, or by swimming. Hypertrophic stimuli transiently elevated the activity of histone deacetylase-2 (Hdac2), a class I HDAC. In cardiomyocytes, forced expression of Hdac2 simulated hypertrophy in an Akt-dependent manner, whereas enzymatically inert Hdac2 H141A failed to do so. Hypertrophic stimuli induced the expression of heat shock protein (Hsp)70. The induced Hsp70 physically associated with and activated Hdac2. Hsp70 overexpression produced a hypertrophic phenotype, which was blocked either by siHdac2 or by a dominant negative Hsp70⌬ABD. In Hsp70.1 Ϫ/Ϫ mice, cardiac hypertrophy and Hdac2 activation were significantly blunted. Heat shock either to cardiomyocytes or to mice activated Hdac2 and induced hypertrophy. However, heat shock-induced Hdac2 activation was blunted in the cardiomyocytes isolated from Hsp70.1 Ϫ/Ϫ mice. These results suggest that the induction of Hsp70 in response to diverse hypertrophic stresses and the ensuing activation of HDAC2 trigger cardiac hypertrophy, emphasizing HSP70/HDAC2 as a novel mechanism regulating hypertrophy. Key Words: cardiac hypertrophy Ⅲ class I histone deacetylases Ⅲ histone deacetylase 2 Ⅲ heat shock protein 70 Ⅲ Hsp70.1 Ϫ/Ϫ mice C ardiac hypertrophy is a response, either adaptive or maladaptive, to pressure or volume overload, mutations, or loss of contractile mass. Hypertrophic growth accompanies many forms of heart disease, including ischemic diseases, myocardial infarction, hypertension, aortic stenosis, and valvular dysfunctions. Although the initial hypertrophic responses seem to be an adaptation to those stimuli, the sustained stress may lead to cardiomyopathy and heart failure, a major cause of human morbidity and mortality. However, few interventions have proven effective in blocking the hypertrophy or in preventing the transition to congestive heart failure.Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is characterized by an increase in individual myocyte size, enhanced protein synthesis, and heightened organization of the sarcomere, 1 which are regulated by activation of heart-specific transcription factors such as GATA4, MEF2, and immediate early genes like c-jun and c-fos. 2 The subsequent reactivation of the fetal gene program and repression of adult cardiac genes are closely related to the deterioration of heart function in hypertrophy.Recently, modulation of gene transcription by altering chromatin structure, especially by adding or removing acetyl groups to histone tails, has been implicated in diverse human pathologies, including cardiac hypertrophy. 3 Histone deacetylases (HDACs), which remove the acetyl group, repress downstream gene expression. Although HDACs are divided into 4 familie...

IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R) signaling is implicated in cardiac hypertrophy and longevity. However, the role of IGF-1R in age-related cardiac remodeling is only partially understood. We therefore sought to determine whether the deletion of the IGF-1R in cardiomyocytes might delay the development of aging-associated myocardial pathologies by examining 2-year-old male cardiomyocyte-specific IGF-1R knockout (CIGF1RKO) mice. Aging was associated with the induction of IGF-1R expression in hearts. Cardiomyocytes hypertrophied with age in wild-type (WT) mice. In contrast, the cardiac hypertrophic response associated with aging was blunted in CIGF1RKO mice. Concomitantly, fibrosis was reduced in aged CIGF1RKO compared with aged WT hearts. Expression of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand was increased in aged WT hearts, but this increase was attenuated in aged CIGF1RKO hearts. Phosphorylation of Akt was increased in aged WT, but not in aged CIGF1RKO, hearts. In cultured cardiomyocytes, IGF-1 induced senescence as demonstrated by increased senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining, and a phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor inhibited this effect. Furthermore, inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase significantly prevented the increase in IL-1α, IL-1β, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand, and p21 protein expression by IGF-1. These data reveal an essential role for the IGF-1-IGF-1R-Akt pathway in mediating cardiomyocyte senescence.