A proteomics study of the prefrontal cortex following life-long exposure to environmental enrichment (21555)
Early-life environments play a critical role in shaping the trajectory of neurodevelopment and, therefore, affect life-long neurological outcomes. There is evidence that growing up in an impoverished environment is a risk factor for developing neuropsychiatric illnesses later in life, whereas growing up in a nurturing environment is a protective factor. In rodent studies, standard housing (SH) and environmental enrichment (EE) are analogous to impoverished and nurturing environments, respectively. EE is a housing condition with increased novelty and complexity where rodents experience richer cognitive, motor, and social stimulation. Many positive effects have been observed in both brain and behaviour following EE, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, to holistically assess the impact of life-long EE and SH, we conducted a proteomics study on the medial prefrontal cortex of rodents raised in either EE (N = 30; 15 males & 15 females) or SH (N = 26; 13 males & 13 females) ranging from 84 to 124 days of age. We used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS3) with tandem mass tagging (TMT) to identify the proteins and quantify their relative abundances to determine those differentially expressed between conditions. We identified a range of proteins of interest that are differentially impacted by EE and SH, mediated by sex and age. Our findings provide insights into the potential biological processes and molecular mechanisms that may explain how our surrounding environment shapes our brains.