A study of the role of the central oxytocin system in animal-human bond: focus on domesticated Russian sivler foxes and rats.

神经肽催产素(OT)通过多种机制促进哺乳动物的种内社交，从抑制神经内分泌应激反应到直接催产素对社会相关脑区神经元的作用。最近的报告表明，OT可能在家养哺乳动物(狗、羊、牛)和人类之间形成社会纽带方面做出了贡献。事实上，驯养动物与人类之间的社会互动导致外周OT水平(血液、唾液或尿液)的升高，以及外源性(鼻内)OT的应用导致主人与驯养动物之间更频繁的接触。然而，内源OT系统的活性以及早期生命(出生之日)OT对驯化过程的影响尚未被研究。为了解决这些问题，我们将主要使用俄罗斯银狐，它们是经过60年的选择性繁殖而驯化的。它们的祖先于1885年在加拿大被捕获，用于毛皮养殖，几十年来一直被关在农场类似的笼子里。在成年狐狸中，我们将比较野生狐狸、攻击性狐狸和家养狐狸的外周OT水平、OT系统的解剖以及OT受体结合(OT、V1a和V1b受体)。此外，新生的狐狸将获得I.P.注射OT后监测成年后的社会行为，同时分析血浆OT浓度和OT系统的解剖。由于入侵方法对狐狸的影响有限，我们研究的第二个对象将是大鼠，它们被选为对人类的驯服和攻击行为。在这些大鼠中，我们将使用病毒载体通过药物遗传学手段操纵OT神经元的活动，并将利用脑区特异性OT受体的过度表达来监测它们与同种动物和人类的社会行为。在我们的项目中，我们希望评估OT信号在家养狐狸和大鼠行为表型中的作用，这可能是家养动物和人类在过去14.000-16.000年的共同进化过程中建立的一种共情机制的基础。

The neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) facilitates intraspecific social contacts in mammals via various mechanisms, ranging from the suppression of neuroendocrine stress responses to the direct OT action on neurons of socially relevant brain regions. Recent reports indicated the possible contribution of OT in the formation of the social bond between domesticated mammals (dog, sheep, cattle) and humans. Indeed, social interaction between a domesticated animal and a human resulted in the elevation of peripheral OT levels (in blood, saliva or urine) and exogenous (intranasal) OT application led to more frequent contacts between an owner and a domesticated animal. However, the activity of the endogenous OT system and the effects of OT in early life (the day of birth) on the process of domestication have not been studied. To address these questions, we will primarily employ Russian silver foxes, which were domesticated by 60 years of selective breeding. Their progenitors were captured in 1885 in Canada for fur farming and for many decades were kept in similar cage conditions at the farm. In adult foxes, we will compare the peripheral OT levels, anatomy of the OT system and OT receptor binding (OT, V1a and V1b receptors) in the brains of wild, aggressive and domesticated foxes. Further, newborn foxes will receive i.p. OT injection followed by monitoring their social behavior in adulthood accompanied by analysis of plasma OT concentrations and anatomy of the OT system. Due to the limitation of the implication of invasive methods to foxes, the second subject of our study will be rats, which were selected for tame and aggressive behaviors towards humans. In these rats, we will use viral vectors to manipulate the activity of OT neurons by pharmacogenetic means and also will employ brain-region specific OT receptor overexpression to monitor their social behavior with conspecifics and humans. In our project, we expect to assess the role of OT signaling in the behavioral phenotypes of domesticated foxes and rats, which may underlie a mechanism of empathy between domesticated animals and humans that was established in the course of their co-evolution during the last 14.000-16.000 years.