Fos and jun in rat central amygdaloid nucleus and paraventricular nucleus after stress

THE present paper describes the effect of capsaicin-induced stressful stimulus on the expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) c-fos, c-jun, jun B and jun D in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and the central amygdaloid nucleus (ACe) using in situ hybridization. Stress caused an intense expression of c-fos, c-jun and jun B especially in the PVN and ACe and also a clear induction of jun D was observed in the PVN. This suggests that the PVN and the ACe are two major targets of stress in the brain. The intense expression of the IEGs in the ACe and PVN suggests that stress may affect neurotransmitter gene expression through Fos and Jun proteins in both these nuclei.