NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Rewriting the Code: Elucidating how early life adversity alters DNA to affect amygdala-related behavior

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. Events experienced early in life can have lasting consequences for brain development and behavior.

Recent research suggests that mobile genetic elements (retrotransposons), which are so named because they can move around in the genome, could be a mechanism by which early life events cause lasting effects. This research will investigate how changes in the early life environment alter mobility of a retrotransposon, called long interspersed element 1 (L1), in the brain and whether these changes affect later social behavior in rats.

This research will enhance understanding of how the environment can impact behavior. The project will also broaden participation for underrepresented groups in biology through training of the fellow, workshops hosted through a collaboration with local organizations committed to diversity and inclusion, mentorship of students, and development of outreach networks for underrepresented scientists in the Philadelphia area.

This research will investigate how different environmental conditions (exposure to aversive odors) alter L1 insertion sites in the amygdala and whether these changes affect amygdala-related behavior in rats. For the first aim, the fellow will use molecular genetic approaches to determine number and location of de novo L1 in amygdala cells and determine if a given endpoint is altered by early life experiences.

This research will be the first to use REBELseq in rats to identify the location and number of de novo L1 insertions. These results will help resolve an ongoing debate in the field about whether de novo L1 insertions are randomly inserted or inserted systematically. For the second aim, the fellow will assess the functional consequence of L1 knockdown in the amygdala.

Prior research found a negative correlation between L1 insertions and juvenile social play. Utilizing antisense oligonucleotides, the fellow will transiently knockdown L1 mRNA within the amygdala during the neonatal period and assess whether there is a resultant increase in social play behavior or anxiety-related behavior during the juvenile stage of development.

This research will enhance understanding of how the environment can impact behavior and document de novo L1 insertions and their relevance during development. The fellow will partner with two different diversity and inclusion programs to support underrepresented minority students by creating workshops, serving as a panel member, and directly mentoring students.

Additionally, the fellow will create a networking event for postdoctoral researchers to increase community engagement and collaboration at the Philadelphia chapter of Society for Neuroscience meeting.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.