miRNA-mediated inhibition of an actomyosin network in hippocampal pyramidal neurons restricts sociability in adult male mice

Abstract

Social deficits are frequently observed in patients suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders, but the molecular mechanisms regulating sociability are still poorly understood. We recently reported that the loss of the microRNA cluster miR-379-410 leads to hypersocial behavior and anxiety in mice. Here, we show that ablating miR-379-410 in excitatory neurons of the postnatal mouse hippocampus recapitulates hypersociability, but not anxiety. At the cellular level, miR-379-410 loss in excitatory neurons leads to increased excitatory synaptic transmission and upregulation of an actomyosin gene network. Re-expression of three cluster miRNAs, as well as pharmacological inhibition of the actomyosin activator ROCK, was sufficient to reinstate normal sociability in miR-379-410 knockout mice. Several actomyosin genes and miR-379-410 family members were reciprocally dysregulated in isogenic human iPSC-derived neurons harboring a deletion present in Williams-Beuren-Syndrome patients, which are characterized by hypersocial behavior. Together, our results unveil a novel microRNA-actomyosin pathway involved in the control of sociability.