The main and accessory olfactory bulbs (MOB and AOB) are unique in that they produce new neurons throughout adulthood. Despite the recent knowledge about the involvement of postnatally generated cells in several aspects of olfaction, the functional role of these neurons is still not sufficiently understood. The function of newly generated olfactory bulb neurons is primarily investigated in relation to activities related to smell. Stress-induced activation of new olfactory neurons has not yet been studied. Thus, our work was aimed to investigate whether a stressful event, such as maternal separation (MS) can induce Fos expression in postnatally-born neurons in the MOB and AOB. Rat pups were exposed to single maternal separation (SMS) for 2 h at the postnatal days: P7, P14, and P21. Quantification of immunohistochemically labeled Fos + cells revealed that exposure to SMS in different age stages during the first postnatal month stimulates activity in cells of individual MOB/AOB layers in an age-dependent manner. In order to find out whether newly generated cells in the MOB/AOB could express Fos protein as a response to SMS, newborn rats were administrated with the marker of proliferation, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) at P0, and three weeks later (at P21) colocalization of Fos and BrdU in the neurons of the MOB and AOB was assessed. Quantitative analysis of BrdU/Fos double-labeled cells showed that Fos is expressed only in a small number of postnatally generated cells within the MOB/AOB. Our results indicate that postnatally generated MOB/AOB neurons are less sensitive to stress caused by MS than preexisting ones. LAY SUMMARY Our results showed that single maternal separation (SMS) is a stressful event that in age-dependent manner stimulates cellular activity in the main and accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) - the structures dedicated to odor information processing. The low level of Fos expression in newborn neurons of the main and accessory bulb indicates that postnatally generated cells are less sensitive to neonatal stress than preexisting neurons.
Keywords: Adult neurogenesis; Fos protein; neonatal stress; olfactory system; postnatally generated neurons; single maternal separation.