Biology subjects

Gur, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Gur, T..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Prenatal Stress Differentially Shapes Adult Behavior in Male and Female Offspring

BackgroundPrenatal stress (PNS) is a well-established risk factor for neuropsychiatric vulnerability, yet its sex-specific behavioral consequences remain incompletely defined. Because males and females follow distinct neurodevelopmental trajectories, clarifying how early-life stress differentially shapes behavior is essential for developing targeted interventions. However, few preclinical studies directly compare male and female offspring within the same experimental framework, limiting the ability to identify true sex-dependent effects. MethodsUsing a validated mouse model of gestational restraint stress, we conducted a comprehensive, within-study assessment of sex-dependent behavioral outcomes in adult offspring. Behavioral domains included locomotor activity, anxiety-like behavior, sociability, fear learning and extinction, recognition memory, and alcohol-related responses (ethanol preference and behavioral sensitivity), all measured using identical paradigms across sexes. ResultsPNS broadly disrupted behavior and cognition in both sexes, increasing locomotor activity and anxiety-like behavior, impairing fear extinction and recognition memory, and altering behavioral sensitivity to ethanols sedative effects. Direct comparison revealed distinct sex-dependent vulnerabilities: males showed reduced social interaction, whereas females exhibited numerically greater impairment in fear extinction and a significantly stronger ethanol preference. Baseline fear responses, total fluid intake, and sucrose consumption were unaffected. ConclusionPrenatal stress programs neurobehavioral trajectories in a sex-dependent manner, conferring vulnerability to anxiety-related behavior, cognitive disruption, and alcohol use. By directly comparing males and females within the same experimental design, this study provides one of the most integrated evaluations of sex-specific PNS outcomes to date and offers a robust framework for investigating the biological mechanisms underlying divergent pathways to stress-related psychopathology.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2021

The hallucinogenic serotonin2A receptor agonist, DOI, promotes CREB-dependent gene expression of specific plasticity-associated genes in the rodent neocortex

Psychedelic compounds that target the 5-HT2A receptor are reported to evoke psychoplastogenic effects, including enhanced dendritic arborization and synaptogenesis. Transcriptional regulation of neuronal plasticity-associated genes is implicated in the cytoarchitectural effects of serotonergic psychedelics, however the transcription factors that drive this regulation are poorly elucidated. Here, we addressed the contribution of the transcription factor cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in the regulation of neuronal plasticity-associated genes by the hallucinogenic 5-HT2A receptor agonist, DOI. In vitro studies with rat cortical neurons indicated that DOI enhances the phosphorylation of CREB (pCREB) through the MAP kinase and CaMKII pathways, with both cascades contributing to the DOI-evoked upregulation of Arc, Bdnf1, Cebpb and Egr2 expression, whilst the upregulation of Egr1 and cFos mRNA involved the MAP kinase and CaMKII pathway respectively. We observed a robust DOI-evoked increase in the expression of several neuronal plasticity-associated genes in the rat neocortex in vivo. Further, 5-HT2A receptor stimulation enhanced pCREB enrichment at putative cAMP response element (CRE) binding sites in the Arc, Bdnf1, Cebpb, cFos, but not Egr1 and Egr2, promoters in the rodent neocortex. The DOI-mediated transcriptional induction of Arc, cFos and Cebpb was significantly attenuated in the neocortex of CREB deficient (CREB{delta} KO) mice. Collectively, these results indicate that the hallucinogenic 5-HT2A receptor agonist DOI leads to a rapid transcriptional upregulation of several neuronal plasticity-associated genes, with a subset of them exhibiting a CREB-dependent regulation. Our findings raise the intriguing possibility that similar to slow-acting classical antidepressants, rapid-action serotonergic psychedelics that target the 5-HT2A receptor may also recruit the transcription factor CREB to enhance the expression of neuronal plasticity-associated genes in the neocortex, which could in turn contribute to the rapid psychoplastogenic changes evoked by these compounds.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Biobtree: A tool to search, map and visualize bioinformatics identifiers and special keywords

Due to their nature, bioinformatics datasets are often closely related to each other. For this reason, search, mapping and visualization of these relations are often performed manual or programmatically via identifiers or special keywords such as gene symbols. Although various tools exist for these situations, the growing volume of bioinformatics datasets, emerging new software tools and approaches motivates new solutions. To provide a new tool for these current cases, I present the Biobtree bioinformatics tool. Biobtree effectively fetches and indexes identifiers and special keywords with their related identifiers from supported datasets, optionally with user pre-defined datasets and provides a web interface, web services and direct B+ tree data structure-based single uniform database output. Biobtree can handle billions of identifiers and runs via a single executable file with no installation and dependency required. It also aims to provide a relatively small codebase for easy maintenance, addition of new features and extension to larger datasets. Biobtree is available to download at https://www.github.com/tamerh/biobtree.

bioinformatics↗