Fan Wang1 • Wenjie Sun2 • Lei Chang2 • Kefang Sun2 • Leying Hou2 • Linna Qian2 • Chaoyin Jin2 • Jiandong Chen2 • Jiali Pu3 • Panmeng Ye4 • Shuang Qiu1 • Jianhong Luo1 • Shumin Duan1 • Baorong Zhang3 • Zhihua Gao1 • Xiaojun Hu2,3

1 Center for Neuroscience and Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China

2 Medical Information Center, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China

3 Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310003, China 

4 Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd, Hangzhou 310053, China

Abstract

cFos is one of the most widely-studied genes in the field of neuroscience. Currently, there is no systematic database focusing on cFos in neuroscience. We developed a curated database—cFos-ANAB—a cFos-based web tool for exploring activated neurons and associated behaviors in rats and mice, comprising 398 brain nuclei and sub-nuclei, and five associated behaviors: pain, fear, feeding, aggression, and sexual behavior. Direct relationships among behaviors and nuclei (even cell types) under specific stimulating conditions were constructed based on cFos expression profiles extracted from original publications. Moreover, overlapping nuclei and sub-nuclei with potentially complex functions among different associated behaviors were emphasized, leading to results serving as important clues to the development of valid hypotheses for exploring as yet unknown circuits. Using the analysis function of cFos-ANAB, multi-layered pictures of networks and their relationships can quickly be explored depending on users’ purposes. These features provide a useful tool and good reference for early exploration in neuroscience. The cFos-ANAB database is available at www.cfos-db.net.

Keywords

cFos expression; Curated database; Brain nucleus; Behavior; Stimulus; Visualization tools

[SpringerLink]