Serotonergic transcriptional programming determines maternal behavior and offspring survival

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Abstract
The central serotonergic system is an important modulator of neural circuitry that regulates behavior and emotion state of an animal. Current study from Lerch-Haner et al. shows that mutant female mice with defective serotonergic neurons exhibit gross maternal neglect resulting in offspring death, and that this defect can be rescued by expression of a homologous gene from human. Central serotonergic signaling influences many physiological processes, but a requirement for reproductive success has not been demonstrated. Using mouse dams with a specific disruption in serotonin neuron development, we found that serotonergic function is required for the nurturing and survival of offspring. Full rescue of survival depended on the mother's expression level of the upstream serotonergic transcriptional cascade. Thus, intrinsic transcriptional programming of maternal serotonergic activity determines the quality of nurturing and whether or not the organism survives.