title: Behaviour and prefrontal protein differences in C57BL/6N and 129 X1/SvJ mice.
abstract: Experimental animals provide valuable opportunities to establish aetiological mechanisms and test new treatments for neurodevelopmental psychiatric conditions. However, it is increasingly appreciated that inter-strain differences cannot be neglected in the experimental design. In addition, the importance of including females in preclinical - but also clinical - research is now recognised. Here, we compared behaviour and prefrontal protein differences in male and female C57BL/6N and 129X1/SvJ mice as both are commonly used experimental rodents. Relative to 129X1/SvJ mice, both sexes of C57BL/6N mice had weaker sensorimotor gating, measured in the prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle paradigm, and were more sensitive to amphetamine challenge in the open field. The pattern of protein expression in the prefrontal cortex of C57BL6N mice was also clearly distinct from 129X1/SvJ mice. Proteins differentially expressed were those associated with oxidative metabolism, receptor protein signalling, cell communication and signal transduction and energy pathways. We suggest that the C57BL/6N mouse may usefully proxy features of the neurodevelopmental disorders and could have application in pre-translational screening of new therapeutic approaches. The 129X1/SvJ strain in contrast, might be better suited to experimental studies of causal risk factors expected to lower PPI and increase amphetamine sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China; Department of Psychiatry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Xiaofan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Naikei
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China.
authors.forename: Bitao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, The Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK. Electronic address: grainne.mcalonan@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Grainne Mary
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: McAlonan
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D057507:Mice, 129 Strain / Q000502:physiology*; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D040901:Proteomics; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D000661:Amphetamine
keywords: 129X1/SvJ; Amphetamine test; C57BL/6N; Prepulse inhibition; Proteomics