Persistence of reduced aggression in vasopressin 1b receptor knockout mice on a more "wild" background.
It has been previously reported that vasopressin 1b receptor knockout (Avpr1b(-/-)) mice have reduced levels of aggressive behavior compared to wildtype littermates. However, as the background of the mice was always a mixture of 129/SvJ and C57BL/6, we wanted to determine if the phenotype persisted when our laboratory line was crossed with a wild-derived sub-species of house mice. To this end, we crossed our Avpr1b(-/-) mice with Mus musculus castaneus, one of the few sub-species that will breed with laboratory strains. Subsequent F(2) offspring were tested in a resident-intruder behavioral test to assess aggressive behavior. We found that even on this more "wild" background, Avpr1b(-/-) mice continued to demonstrate longer attack latencies and fewer attacks in a resident-intruder test than wildtype littermates. These findings are consistent with previous reports of reduced aggressive behavior in Avpr1b(-/-) mice and show that the deficit does persist on a different background strain. Further, these findings confirm the importance of the Avpr1b to normal displays of social forms of aggressive behavior.
Caldwell
Heather K
HK
Department of Biological Sciences and the School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, United States. hcaldwel@kent.edu
Young
W Scott
WS
D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology*; D018345:Mice, Knockout / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology*; D017483:Receptors, Vasopressin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
D017483:Receptors, Vasopressin; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin