Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:Q86TM3 (cage)
 29,987 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This article had several objectives. First it aimed at investigating the anxiogenic-like behaviors elicited by unavoidable cat exposure and/or cat odor across nine strains of mice (BALB/c, C57BL/6, C3H, CBA, DBA/2, NMRI, NZB, SJL, Swiss) in a modified version of the free-exploration test. The second objective was to investigate possible neurochemical changes following cat exposure in Swiss mice by measuring the turnover of dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NA) and serotonin (5-HT) in several brain regions known to be involved in the modulation of emotional processes (hippocampus, hypothalamus and striatum). Finally, the third objective was to examine the effects of anxiolytic drug treatments on the anxiogenic responses elicited by a cat odor (i.e. a feces) in Swiss mice previously exposed to a cat using the free-exploration test. Results from the strain comparison showed that mice could be divided into three distinct groups: two non-reactive strains (NZB and SJL) which were relatively insensitive to predatory exposure and/or odor; five intermediate-reactive strains (Swiss, NMRI, CBA, C3H and BALB/c) which displayed clear anxiogenic-like responses only when exposed to both cat and, subsequently, to feces; and two high reactive strains (C57BL/6 and DBA/2) which showed anxiogenic-like reactions following cat exposure, regardless of the stimulus (clay or feces) present in the free-exploration cage. Neurochemical data revealed that, while brain levels of NA, DA, 5-HT in cat exposed Swiss mice were not significantly different from those of control animals, turnover rates of these monoamines were increased in the hippocampus (NA and 5-HT), hypothalamus and striatum (DA) after cat exposure. Results from pharmacological experiments indicated that repeated administration of the 5-HT reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine (5-20 mg/kg, twice a day, for 5 days) completely abolished avoidance of the cat feces in Swiss mice previously exposed to the predator. Neither acute nor repeated administration of the classical anxiolytic diazepam was able to reduce avoidance behavior of the anxiogenic stimulus in the free-exploration test. Taken together, these findings indicate that the exposure of mice to unavoidable predatory stimuli is associated with behavioral and neurochemical changes consistent with increased anxiety.
 ...
PMID:Behavioral and neurochemical changes following predatory stress in mice. 1152 32

In order to find better and new treatments for anxiety in humans, a variety of paradigms are used to study anxiety-related processes in rodents. We studied mice in two different anxiety-related assays: the physiological stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) paradigm and the behavioral light-dark exploration (LD) test. Eight inbred strains (129S6/SvEvTac, 129S1/SvImJ, A/J, BALB/cByJ, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, DBA/2J, and FVB/NJ) and one outbred strain (CD1-ICR) were tested in both assays repeatedly. This study describes the first strain survey for the SIH paradigm. All strains showed an SIH response, but the magnitude of the response varied between lines. The inbred strain distribution pattern for the behavioral responses in the LD assay was not correlated with the SIH response. The lack of a significant correlation suggests that there is no genetic relation between such responses. Mice could be tested repeatedly in both assays without affecting the results. A new paradigm, in which both assays were combined, elucidated that behavioral responses were not altered by segments of the SIH paradigm. In contrast, exposure to the light-dark box instead of the home-cage showed a strain-dependent effect on the physiological response. We conclude that a combination of behavioral and physiological responses might lead to a better understanding in anxiety-related processes.
 ...
PMID:Behavioral and physiological mouse assays for anxiety: a survey in nine mouse strains. 1242 12

Locomotor activity is a key component in many behavioral tests, suggesting that genetic differences in activity levels may be a critical consideration when comparing mouse strains. In order to assess the relationship between activity and performance, we recorded home cage activity, and locomotion and defecation, a non-activity-linked behavior, in tests of anxiety in inbred (C57BL/6J (B6), n = 25; BALB/cJ (C), n = 24; DBA/2J (D2), n = 28) and hybrid (CB6F1/6J (CB6: B6 x C) n = 19) mice. Under our test conditions, the strains showed significant differences in home cage activity levels: C > B6 > D2. The CB6 mice were similar to the B6 mice in horizontal activity and were intermediate between the parental strains in vertical movement. Based on measures of locomotion and defecation in the open field, emergence and novel object tests, and the elevated zero maze, the C mice appeared to be the most anxious and the B6 were the least anxious. The D2 mice were intermediate on some measures but more similar to B6 mice on others, making ranking them more difficult. In addition, the CB6 mice displayed characteristics of both parental strains. They had greater similarity to B6 mice in measures of horizontal movement in the home cage and locomotion in the open field and emergence tests, but exhibited defecation responses similar to those of C mice in the novel object test and elevated zero maze. The results suggest that strain differences in spontaneous locomotion should be considered when interpreting strain differences in behavioral tests, and that home cage activity may be a useful interpretive aid.
 ...
PMID:Home cage activity and behavioral performance in inbred and hybrid mice. 1242 18

Housing systems for laboratory animals have been developed over a long time. Micro-environmental systems such as positive, individually ventilated caging systems and forced-air-ventilated systems are increasingly used by many researchers to reduce cross contamination between cages. There have been many investigations of the impact of these systems on the health of animals, the light intensity, the relative humidity and temperature of cages, the concentration of ammonia and CO(2), and other factors in the cages. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of different rack systems and to understand the influence of environmental enrichment on the breeding performance of mice. Sixty DBA/2 breeding pairs were used for this experiment. Animals were kept in three rack systems: a ventilated cabinet, a normal open rack and an individually ventilated cage rack (IVC rack) with enriched or non-enriched type II elongated Makrolon cages. Reproduction performance was recorded from 10 to 40 weeks of age. In all three rack systems there was a similar breeding index (pups/dam/week) in non-enriched groups during the long-term breeding period, but the coefficients of variation in the IVC rack were higher for most parameters. This type of enrichment seems to lead to a decrease in the number of pups born, especially in the IVC group. However, there was no significant difference in breeding index (young weaned/female/week).
 ...
PMID:The effects of different rack systems on the breeding performance of DBA/2 mice. 1262 71

Spontaneous acute tumor lysis syndrome (ATLS) was diagnosed in a 10-month-old female DBA/1J sentinel mouse with leukemic lymphoma. The mouse was unable to maintain balance and died shortly after being observed rolling around in its cage. Disseminated neoplastic disease, including a large cranial mediastinal mass, enlarged lymph nodes and splenomegaly, was present at necropsy. Histopathologic examination revealed widespread massive necrosis of lymphoblastic tumor cells, and widely disseminated microemboli composed of nuclear and cytoplasmic cell debris. Although ATLS is widely recognized as an oncologic emergency in humans, acute lesions of ATLS have not been described. The mechanical obstruction of capillary beds by microemboli originating from disintegrating necrotic tumor cells was the likely cause of clinical signs and death in this mouse. We propose that similar microemboli may contribute to the pathogenesis of the acute renal failure and other clinical signs associated with ATLS in humans. Recognition of spontaneous ATLS in laboratory animals is especially important in studies that assess the efficacy and/or toxicity of anticancer treatments, where early deaths due to ATLS might mistakenly be attributed to a direct test article effect.
 ...
PMID:Spontaneous acute tumor lysis syndrome in a DBA/1J mouse: a case report and review. 1469 16

In general, rodents prefer both sucrose and L-serine relative to water and treat both compounds as possessing a similar taste quality (e.g. 'sweetness') despite that they are believed to bind with different T1R heterodimeric receptors in taste bud cells. We assessed the affective potency of these compounds along with glycine, which is thought to bind with both T1R receptor complexes, using a brief-access taste test in a gustometer. Unconditioned licking responses of two 'taster' strains (C57BL/6J and SWR/J), which display high preference for low concentrations of sucrose, and two 'non-taster' (129P3/J and DBA/2J) strains, which display blunted preference for low concentrations of sucrose, were measured during 5 s trials of varying concentrations of a single compound when mice (n=10/strain/stimulus) were non-deprived and when access to home-cage water was restricted. In non-deprived mice, sucrose generated monotonically increasing concentration-response curves regardless of strain, whereas glycine was only marginally effective at stimulating licking and L-serine produced relatively flat functions. The profile of responsiveness across strains was more complex than expected. For example, when tested with sucrose in the non-deprived condition, the 129P3/J non-taster strain surpassed the responsiveness of taster mice at mid-range to high concentrations. Under water-restricted conditions, these mice also were significantly more responsive to high concentrations of both sucrose and glycine compared with the other strains when stimulus licking was standardized relative to water. Thus, the affective potency of the stimuli tested here seems to be related to the ability of the compounds to bind with the T1R2+3 receptor complex. However, the profile of strain responsiveness to these tastants in the brief-access test does not appear to be simply explained by the sweetener 'taster' status of the strain.
 ...
PMID:The relative affective potency of glycine, L-serine and sucrose as assessed by a brief-access taste test in inbred strains of mice. 1526 21

Deficits in social interaction are important early markers for autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders with strong genetic components. Standardized behavioral assays that measure the preference of mice for initiating social interactions with novel conspecifics would be of great value for mutant mouse models of autism. We developed a new procedure to assess sociability and the preference for social novelty in mice. To quantitate sociability, each mouse was scored on measures of exploration in a central habituated area, a side chamber containing an unfamiliar conspecific (stranger 1) in a wire cage, or an empty side chamber. In a secondary test, preference for social novelty was quantitated by presenting the test mouse with a choice between the first, now-familiar, conspecific (stranger 1) in one side chamber, and a second unfamiliar mouse (stranger 2) in the other side chamber. Parameters scored included time spent in each chamber and number of entries into the chambers. Five inbred strains of mice were tested, C57BL/6J, DBA/2J, FVB/NJ, A/J and B6129PF2/J hybrids. Four strains showed significant levels of sociability (spend- ing more time in the chamber containing stranger 1 than in the empty chamber) and a preference for social novelty (spending more time in the chamber containing stranger 2 than in the chamber containing the now-familiar stranger 1). These social preferences were observed in both male and female mice, and in juveniles and adults. The exception was A/J, a strain that demonstrated a preference for the central chamber. Results are discussed in terms of potential applications of the new methods, and the proper controls for the interpretation of social behavior data, including assays for health, relevant sensory abilities and motor functions. This new standardized procedure to quantitate sociability and preference for social novelty in mice provides a method to assess tendencies for social avoidance in mouse models of autism.
 ...
PMID:Sociability and preference for social novelty in five inbred strains: an approach to assess autistic-like behavior in mice. 1534 22

Mouse models of social dysfunction, designed to investigate the complex genetics of social behaviors, require an objective methodology for scoring social interactions relevant to human disease symptoms. Here we describe an automated, three chambered apparatus designed to monitor social interaction in the mouse. Time spent in each chamber and the number of entries are scored automatically by a system detecting photocell beam breaks. When tested with the automated equipment, juvenile male C57BL/6J mice spent more time in a chamber containing a stranger mouse than in an empty chamber (sociability), similar to results obtained by the observer scored method. In addition, automated scoring detected a preference to spend more time with an unfamiliar stranger than a more familiar conspecific (preference for social novelty), similar to results obtained by the observer scored method. Sniffing directed at the wire cage containing the stranger mouse correlated significantly with time spent in that chamber, indicating that duration in a chamber represents true social approach behavior. Number of entries between chambers did not correlate with duration of time spent in the chambers; entries instead proved a useful control measure of general activity. The most significant social approach behavior took place in the first five minutes of both the sociability and preference for social novelty tests. Application of these methods to C57BL/6J, DBA/2J and FVB/NJ adult males revealed that all three strains displayed tendencies for sociability and preference for social novelty. To evaluate the importance of the strain of the stranger mouse on sociability and preference for social novelty, C57BL/6J subject mice were tested either with A/J strangers or with C57BL/6J strangers. Sociability and preference for social novelty were similar with both stranger strains. The automated equipment provides an accurate and objective approach to measuring social tendencies in mice. Its use may allow higher-throughput scoring of mouse social behaviors in mouse models of social dysfunction.
 ...
PMID:Automated apparatus for quantitation of social approach behaviors in mice. 1534 23

This project was designed to determine the genetic (between-strain) and environmental (within-strain) variance in daily running wheel activity level in inbred mice. Five male and five female mice, 9.7-15.3 wk old, from each of 13 strains (A/J, AKR/J, BALB/cJ, C3H/HeJ, C57Bl/6J, C57L/J, C3Heb/FeJ, CBA/J, DBA/2J, SWR/J, MRL/MpJ, SPRET/Ei, and CAST/Ei) as well as five female NZB/BinJ mice were housed individually. A running wheel in each cage was interfaced with a magnetic sensor to measure total daily distance and exercise time for each animal every 24 h for 21 consecutive days (3 wk). Average daily distance (km), duration (min), and velocity (m/min) for each strain was then calculated. Significant interstrain differences in average daily distance (P < 0.001), average daily exercise duration (P < 0.0001), and average daily exercise velocity (P < 0.0001) were found, with C57L/J mice running farther and faster than the other strains. Sex was a significant factor in daily running wheel activity, with female mice running an average of 20% farther (P = 0.01) and 38% faster (P < 0.0001) than male mice. The male mice ran 15% longer duration on a daily basis (P = 0.0091). Weight was only associated with exercise velocity in the female mice, but this relationship was not significant when subdivided by strain. Broad-sense heritability estimates on the physical activity differed by sex (for distance, male 31-48% and female 12-22%; for duration, male 44-61% and female 12-21%; for velocity, male 49-66% and female 44-61%). In conclusion, these data indicate that daily running wheel activity level in mice is significantly affected by genetic background and sex.
 ...
PMID:Genetic influence on daily wheel running activity level. 1538 38

Because of intrinsic differences between humans and mice, no single mouse model can represent all features of a complex human trait such as alcoholism. It is therefore necessary to develop partial models. One important feature is drinking to the point where blood ethanol concentration (BEC) reaches levels that have measurable affects on physiology and/or behavior (>1.0 mg ethanol/ml blood). Most models currently in use examine relative oral self-administration from a bottle containing alcohol versus one containing water (two-bottle preference drinking), or oral operant self-administration. In these procedures, it is not clear when or if the animals drink to pharmacologically significant levels because the drinking is episodic and often occurs over a 24-h period. The aim of this study was to identify the optimal parameters and evaluate the reliability of a very simple procedure, taking advantage of a mouse genotype (C57BL/6J) that is known to drink large quantities of ethanol. We exchanged for the water bottle a solution containing ethanol in tap water for a limited period, early in the dark cycle, in the home cage. Mice regularly drank sufficient ethanol to achieve BEC>1.0 mg ethanol/ml blood. The concentration of ethanol offered (10%, 20% or 30%) did not affect consumption in g ethanol/kg body weight. The highest average BEC ( approximately 1.6 mg/ml) occurred when the water-to-ethanol switch occurred 3 h into the dark cycle, and when the ethanol was offered for 4 rather than 2 h. Ethanol consumption was consistent within individual mice, and reliably predicted BEC after the period of ethanol access. C57BL/6J mice from three sources provided equivalent data, while DBA/2J mice drank much less than C57BL/6J in this test. We discuss advantages of the model for high-throughput screening assays where the goal is to find other genotypes of mice that drink excessively, or to screen drugs for their efficacy in blocking excessive drinking.
 ...
PMID:Evaluation of a simple model of ethanol drinking to intoxication in C57BL/6J mice. 1564 7


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next >>