Extended Data Fig. 9: Fibre photometry recording of GFP-expressing BNSTprEsr1 and MPOAEsr1 cells and GCaMP6f-expressing BNSTprMPOA cells during pup interaction.
From: Antagonistic circuits mediating infanticide and maternal care in female mice
(a) Fibre photometry setup. (b and d) Viral construct and targeted brain regions. Brain illustrations are produced based on reference atlas from https://atlas.brain-map.org/. (c and e) Representative histological images of 4 mice showing GFP (green) expression and fibre tracks (white box) in BNSTpr (c) and MPOA (e). (f) Experimental timeline. (g,k) Representative GFP recording (ΔF/F) traces of BNSTprEsr1 (g) and MPOAEsr1 (k) cells during pup interaction in a hostile SW virgin female (g1, k1) and a mother (g2, k2). Colour shades indicate various behaviours. (h,l) PETHs of GFP signal (Z-scored ΔF/F) of BNSTprEsr1 (h) and MPOAEsr1 (l) cells aligned to the first pup contact in hostile virgin females (h1, l1), and mothers (h2, l2). n = 4 mice. Solid lines indicate the onset on first pup contact; dashed black lines indicate the mean duration of first pup contact. Shades: ± SEM. (i,m) PETHs of GFP signal (Z-scored ΔF/F) of BNSTprEsr1 (i) and MPOAEsr1 (m) cells aligned to the onset of pup approach in hostile virgin females (i1, m1), and mothers (i2, m2). n = 4 mice for each group. Blue dashed lines indicate the onset of pup approach; green dashed lines indicate the mean latency to pup investigation; the red and black dashed lines in i1 and m1 indicate the mean latency to attack and stop attacking pups, respectively; the magenta and black dashed lines in i2 and m2 indicate the mean latency to retrieve and stop retrieving pups, respectively. Shades: ± SEM. (j,n) Mean AUC of Z-scored ΔF/F signal of BNSTprEsr1 (j) and MPOAEsr1 (n) cells during various pup-directed behaviours in hostile virgin females and mothers. Two-way RM ANOVA (j) and Mixed-effects analysis (n) followed with multiple comparisons test. n = 4 mice for each group. Error bars: ± SEM. (o) Experimental design. (p) A representative histological image of 9 mice showing GCaMP6f (green) expression and the fibre track in BNSTpr (white lines). (q) Experimental timeline. (r) Representative GCaMP6f recording (ΔF/F) traces of BNSTprMPOA cells during pup interaction in a hostile SW virgin female (r1) and a mother (r2). Colour shades indicate various behaviours. (s–v) PETHs of GCaMP6f signal (Z-scored ΔF/F) of BNSTprMPOA cells aligned to the onset of various behaviours in hostile virgin females (s1-v1), and mothers (s2-v2). n = 6 mice. Solid lines indicate the onset on each behaviour; dashed black lines indicate the end of each behaviour. Shades: ± SEM. (w) Mean AUC of Z-scored ΔF/F signal of BNSTprMPOA cells during the first pup contact. Paired t-test. **p < 0.01. Error bars: SEM. n = 6 mice. (x,y) Mean AUC of Z-scored ΔF/F signal of BNSTprMPOA cells during pre-pup period and various pup-directed behaviours in hostile virgin females and mothers. Two-way RM ANOVA followed with multiple comparisons test. **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001, mean ± SEM. n = 6 mice. See Source Data Extended Data Fig. 9 for detailed values and statistics.
