Lack of involvement of alpha-synuclein in unconditioned anxiety in mice.
Alpha-synuclein is implicated in the pathology of Parkinson disease (PD) and is involved in synaptic function, particularly in presynaptic events in dopamine (DA) synapses. Recently, a role for alpha-synuclein in reward and addiction, especially in alcoholism, has been reported. Since PD and alcohol dependence present a strong comorbidity with anxiety disorders, a role for alpha-synuclein in anxiety has been proposed. The aim of the present investigation was to study the involvement of alpha-synuclein in anxiety by testing alpha-synuclein knock out and wild type mice in three different emotionality tests: the open field, the elevated plus maze and the light-dark box. Alpha-synuclein knock out mice and wild type controls displayed consistently similar emotionality profiles in all the tests, suggesting a lack of involvement of alpha-synuclein in unconditioned anxiety in mice.
Peña-Oliver
Yolanda
Y
Department of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK.
Buchman
Vladimir L
VL
Stephens
David N
DN
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000378:metabolism*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D051844:alpha-Synuclein