THE CHARACTERIZATION OF BEHAVIORAL ABNORMALITIES IN BDNF LOXP TRANSGENIC MICE

<p>BDNF homozygous floxed mice (BDNF^lox+/+) are a transgenic mouse strain used to study the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through Cre-Lox recombination when crossed with the appropriate Cre-expressing strain. BDNF^lox+/+ mice contain two artificially inserted LoxP sites located upstream and downstream from the BDNF coding region. This strain was originally described as physiologically normal and fertile by Rios et al., (2001). However, current literature lacks sufficient characterization and description of its behavioral phenotype. We utilized a three-stage behavioral protocol which included home cage monitoring observations, open-field, tail suspension, and acoustic PPI to provide a detailed behavioral phenotype for BDNF^lox+/+ mice. Tail suspension protocols revealed progressive limb clasping deficits in BDNF^lox+/+ mice compared to control genotypes. Importantly, the open-field test demonstrated increased locomotion in 150 d (150 day old) animals. Together these results suggest that clasping deficits are likely due to proprioceptive sensory neuropathy similar to those described by the mutant mouse strains <em>cra1</em>, <em>loa </em>and <em>Swl</em> (Chen et al., 2007; Dupuis et al., 2009; Zhao et al., 2016). Additionally, BDNF^lox+/+mice demonstrated increased PPI and evidence of stereotypy behaviors such as route tracing and somersaulting. We postulate that the neurological deficits presented by our data are produced by LoxP site transcriptional interference within the BDNF transcript. To support our hypothesis, future research should include quantification of BDNF expression, histological analysis of muscle spindle fibers, and cell counts of sensory and motor peripheral nerves.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Brandt, Ryan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Erich Ottem

• BDNF
• BDNF Floxed Mice
• Abnormal Behavior
• Tail Suspension
• Sensory Neuropathy
• Behavioral Neurobiology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/533

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.nmu.edu:theses-1203