Abnormalities in aggression and anxiety in transgenic mice overexpressing activin E.
To study the function of activin E, a TGF-beta superfamily member, in the regulation of affective behavior, we investigated the behavior of transgenic mice overexpressing activin E (TgActbetaE mice). Male TgActbetaE mice showed aggressive behavior in resident-intruder tests. In elevated plus-maze tests, the percentage of open arm entries was significantly increased in female TgActbetaE mice compared with that in wild-type mice. Furthermore, female TgActbetaE mice stayed in the central area for a significantly longer time than wild-type mice in open field tests. These results indicated that TgActbetaE mice had less anxiety-like behavior. The number of restraint-stress-evoked c-Fos-positive cells in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus in TgActbetaE mice was significantly decreased compared with that in wild-type mice. This suggests that synthesis of corticotrophin-releasing hormone induced by stress was decreased in TgActbetaE mice. Taking these results together, activin E may act as a regulator of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
Sekiyama
Kazunari
K
Laboratory of Experimental Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, School of Veterinary Medicine, 35-1 Higashi 23 Bancho, Towada-shi, Aomori 034-8628, Japan.
Hashimoto
Osamu
O
Ushiro
Yuuki
Y
Adachi
Chika
C
Kikusui
Takefumi
T
Tanemura
Kentaro
K
Hasegawa
Yoshihisa
Y
D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology*; D028322:Inhibin-beta Subunits / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000502:physiology*; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism
D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D028322:Inhibin-beta Subunits