title: Hippocampus-specific deficiency of IL-15Rα contributes to greater anxiety-like behaviors in mice.
abstract: A hippocampus-specific IL15RαKO mouse (hipIl15rafl/fl/Cre+) was generated to test the hypothesis that the targeted deletion of interleukin-15 receptor alpha (IL-15Rα) in the hippocampus contributes to altered behavior, including greater levels of anxiety and ambulatory activity. Using Cre-loxP, exons 2 and 3 of the IL-15Rα gene were excised within the hippocampus, while normal expression was maintained within the rest of the brain. In the open field test (OFT), hipIl15rafl/fl/Cre+spent a greater amount of time in the periphery and less time in the central portions of the chamber, and there was also a noticeable trend for decreased rearing activity; these behaviors are consistent with greater levels of anxiety-like behavior in these mice. However, there were no differences in the overall locomotor counts in the OFT when comparing hipIl15rafl/fl/Cre+mice to their littermate controls. These data implicate IL-15-related signaling within the hippocampus has a role in anxiety-like behavior.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Behavioral Medicine & Psychiatry and Physiology & Pharmacology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Division of Exercise Physiology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bohlen
authors.affiliation: Division of Exercise Physiology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA.
authors.forename: Janelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stricker
authors.affiliation: Division of Exercise Physiology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA.
authors.forename: Ikttesh
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chahal
authors.affiliation: Departments of Behavioral Medicine & Psychiatry and Physiology & Pharmacology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA.
authors.forename: Hanting
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Division of Exercise Physiology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA. epistilli2@hsc.wvu.edu.|West Virginia University Cancer Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA. epistilli2@hsc.wvu.edu.|West Virginia Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, 26506, USA. epistilli2@hsc.wvu.edu.|Division of Exercise Physiology, Department of Human Performance and Applied Exercise Physiology, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, 26506-9227, USA. epistilli2@hsc.wvu.edu.
authors.forename: Emidio E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Pistilli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism*; D053720:Interleukin-15 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009043:Motor Activity
chemical_list: D053720:Interleukin-15 Receptor alpha Subunit; D004247:DNA
keywords: Anxiety; Cytokine; Cytokine receptor; Il-15; Locomotor activity; Open field