Journal: Cells

Article Title: Dendrimer-Conjugated Glutamine Antagonist, D-TTM020, Ameliorates Brain Immune Dysregulation and Improves Neurobehavioral Deficits in the Mecp2- Deficient Mouse Model

doi: 10.3390/cells15030272

Figure Lengend Snippet: D-TTM020 restores contextual fear memory in Mecp2 het mice. ( A ) Fear-conditioning paradigm, ( B ) contextual fear memory. D-TTM020-treated hets rescued conditioned fear memory to baseline levels. ( C ) Fear extinction test (Cue response). D-TTM020 improved contextual fear memory and cue response in Mecp2 hets versus saline and free TTM020. *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05 in comparison to the saline-treated hets. Data is represented as mean ± SD. n = 9–13/group.

Article Snippet: Contextual fear conditioning: On day 1, the mice were introduced to a fear-conditioning arena (10.75′′ × 9.97′′ × 11.25′′; Med Associates, St. Albans, VT, USA) and allowed to habituate for two minutes.

Techniques: Saline, Comparison

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Astrocytic RNA degradation suppresses calcium signaling to support synapse function and restrain anxiety

doi: 10.1101/2025.11.18.689044

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A ) Open field beam breaks display no differences in locomotion amongst CTRL and cKO animals (CTRL: 3892 ± 271; cKO: 4076 ± 239, n = 22 mice per group, p = 0.61, Unpaired t -test). ( B ) Upf2 cKO mice show reduced time in open arms of elevated plus maze indicating anxiety-like behavior (CTRL: 38.5 ± 3.9; cKO: 23.09 ± 2.6, n = 31 mice per group, p = 0.0036, Unpaired t -test). ( C ) Astrocytic Upf2 loss is associated with reduced marble burying (CTRL: 16.3 ± 0.6, n = 22 mice; cKO: 13.0 ± 0.8, n = 23 mice, p = 0.0003, Mann-Whitney test). ( D ) Contextual fear conditioning paradigm revealed differences in contextual memory on Day 2 between CTRL and cKO animals (CTRL: 68.3 ± 3, n = 29 mice; cKO: 77.6 ± 3, n = 24 mice, p = 0.02, Mann-Whitney test). No differences were detected on Day 1 and Day 3 (Day 1: Baseline vs. UC-CS pairings, CTRL vs. cKO, p > 0.59, Sidak’s multiple comparisons test; Day 3: CTRL vs. cKO, p = 0.69, Unpaired t -test). Assessment of baseline freezing revealed Upf2 cKO mice show significant elevation on Day 2 and Day 3 as compared to CTRL (Day 1: CTRL: 1.8 ± 0.6; cKO: 6.1 ± 2.1, p = 0.43, Mann-Whitney test. Day 2: CTRL: 12.4 ± 0.8; cKO: 14.6 ± 0.7, p = 0.048, Unpaired t -test. Day 3: CTRL: 21.2 ± 3.6; cKO: 34.9 ± 4.5, p = 0.03, Mann-Whitney test. CTRL: n = 29 mice, cKO: n = 24 mice). Data are presented as mean ± S.E.M. * denotes p < 0.05, ** denotes p < 0.01, *** denotes p < 0.005, ns = not significant. This figure illustrates that astrocytic UPF2 depletion is associated with avoidance behavior and increased baseline freezing.

Article Snippet: Contextual Fear Conditioning : Fear Conditioning chambers (Med Associates Inc.) comprise standard grid-floored chambers that are enclosed within a sound-attenuated cubicle.

Techniques: MANN-WHITNEY

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Adolescent Alcohol Exposure Disrupts Astrocyte-Synaptic Structural And Functional Coupling In The Male Dorsal Hippocampus

doi: 10.1101/2025.10.14.682478

Figure Lengend Snippet: a. Schematic representation of intracranial injection of the astrocyte membrane-specific adeno-associated virus (AAV5.GFAP.hM3D(Gq).mCherry) in the dHipp on PND 26. Beginning at PND 30, animals received AIE or H 2 O intermittently through PND 45. Following 26 day forced abstinence period, animals received saline or clozapine-N-oxide (CNO, i.p. 2 mg/kg) to activate astrocytes. After 30 minutes, animals were assessed in a contextual fear conditioning paradigm. Animals were placed in context A and subjected to 3-foot shocks across a 10-minute test period on day 1. On day 2 and 3, animals were placed in context A for 12 min with no foot shocks. b. Representative images of the dHipp, DAPI (blue), hM3DGq (magenta), GFAP (green), and colocalization of GFAP+hM3DGq confirming astrocyte specificity of AAV. c. Representative images of DeepLabCut output of labeled body parts on the x-y axis of the context box. d. Quantification of freezing behavior in the CFC task (H 2 O+SAL (#) vs. AIE+SAL ($); p = 0.029-0.085; H 2 O+CNO (&) vs. AIE+CNO (@); p = 0.062-0.574 ). e-f . Freeze/dart behavior quantification from sessions collapsed across foot shocks from Day 1 of the CFC. g-h. Freeze/dart behavior quantification from Days 2 and 3 of the CFC. Analysis: Repeated measures Two-way ANOVA, n = 12 animals/treatment group across 2 separate cohorts. ( p < 0.05* p < 0.001**)

Article Snippet: Following the 26-day forced abstinence period, animals underwent a 3-day contextual fear conditioning (CFC) paradigm previously described using Med Associates operant chambers.

Techniques: Injection, Membrane, Virus, Saline, Labeling