Journal: Sleep

Article Title: Direct activation of G-protein-gated inward rectifying K + channels promotes nonrapid eye movement sleep

doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsy244

Figure Lengend Snippet: Direct activation of GIRK channels with ML297 does not cause impairment of fear-conditioned responses, and novel object recognition. (A) In the contextual fear conditioning test, representative mouse moving trajectories prior to footshock in the training day are shown. (B) Twenty-four hours after footshocks (training) with subsequent re-exposure to context are shown in (A) and (B), respectively. (C) Freezing % in baseline and contexual-conditioned under ML297 (30 mg/kg, i.p.) treatment or vehicle condition was plotted. There are sigificant differences in contexual freezing time compared with baseline but insigficant differences between ML297 and control groups (ANOVA, p < 0.01 among the four groups; post hoc PLSD between two treatment groups, p > 0.05, n = 8/group). The representative mouse moving trajectories before, during, and after 5-tone is shown in (D), (E), and (F), respectively. (G–H) Time courses of traveling distance in 1 min bins indicate that tones dramatically decreased locomotion with partial recovery. (I) Averaged rearing activity counts are shown in the histogram before, during, and after 5-tone under ML297 or vehicle treatment conditions. (ANOVA, p < 0.05 among the six conditions; post hoc PLSD between two treatment groups, p > 0.05, n = 8/group). (J) Ability of novel object recognition was quantified by the % exploring time spent toward the novel object over total exploring time toward the familiar (A) and novel objects (B) under ML297 (30 mg/kg, i.p.), diazepam (3 mg/kg, i.p.), or vehicle treatment conditions at 24 hr after the training (n = 8/group, ANOVA, p < 0.01 among the six conditions; post hoc PLSD between exploring A and B objects, ***p > 0.001). Total exploring time toward two identical objects on training session and on test session toward the familiar (A) and novel objects (B) under ML297, diazepam, or vehicle treatment conditions at 24 hr after the training (n = 8/group, ANOVA, p = 0.14 among the six conditions).

Article Snippet: Typically each SWD consists of 4–7 Hz large amplitude brain electrical waveforms lasting for 3–5 s. Contextual- and tone-conditioning fear tests Mice (C57BL/6, male, approximately 3 months old) were subjected to footshock fear-conditioning on the training day using the footshock module (AfaSci, Inc.), which consists of a metal grid and an electric stimulation generator controlled by the behavior monitor system.

Techniques: Activation Assay, Control, Activity Assay

Journal: Brain Structure & Function

Article Title: Hippocampal microRNA-132 mediates stress-inducible cognitive deficits through its acetylcholinesterase target

doi: 10.1007/s00429-011-0376-z

Figure Lengend Snippet: AChE knockdown prevents the cognitive decline following footshock stress. a Mice subjected to CA1 hippocampal injection of lentivirus-mediated knockdown of AChE (shAChE) or irrelevant control virus (shCON) and un-injected stressed and naïve mice were exposed 3 weeks later to 7 unpredicted and inescapable footshock stress followed by EPM and Morris water maze (MWM) tests. b Hippocampal miR-132 mRNA levels increase by 63 and 100% in stressed and shCON stressed mice, but remained unchanged in shAChE stressed mice. ANOVA test: F 3,28 = 6.14, p < 0.003. Post hoc LSD test: naïve versus stressed * p < 0.05, versus shCON-infected and stressed *** p < 0.001; shCON-infected and stressed versus shAChE-infected and stressed mice ** p < 0.01. c Naïve mice spend more time in the EPM open arms than all stressed groups (one-way ANOVA: F 3,28 = 8.49, p < 0.001) . d Naïve and shAChE-infected stressed mice learn to reach the MWM hidden platform faster than stressed or shCON stressed mice. Two-way ANOVA: trial number ( F 11,323 = 12.33, p < 0.001), treatment ( F 3,323 = 10.11, p < 0.001), interaction (F 33,323 = 0.75, p = NS). Bonferroni post hoc comparison—trial no. 9: naïve versus stressed * p < 0.05, versus shCON-infected and stressed * p < 0.05, versus shAChE-infected and stressed p = NS. e Representative illustrations of mice swimming tracks in the MWM probe test ( gray circles : place of the missing platform in quadrant #1): Bottom shAChE stressed mouse. Top shCON stressed mouse. f Naïve and shAChE stressed groups display more crosses over the previously situated-platform quadrant. Two-way ANOVA: quadrant ( F 3,100 = 9.95, p < 0.0001), treatment ( F 3,100 = 0.002, p = NS), interaction ( F 9,100 = 3.38, p < 0.012). Bonferroni post hoc comparison for quadrant #1 (where the platform was previously situated): Naïve versus stressed * p < 0.05, versus shCON-infected and stressed * p < 0.05, versus shAChE-infected and stressed p = NS; shCON-infected and stressed versus shAChE-infected and stressed * p < 0.05

Article Snippet: Group housed C57Bl/6J 9 weeks old male mice were placed on well-soiled cat litter for 10 min (in use by the cat for 2 days, sifted for stools) (Cohen et al. ) or were placed in a footshock delivery system (Campden Instruments, UK) where they received seven inescapable electric footshocks (0.3 mA; 2 ms) at unequal intervals over a total period of 120 min.

Techniques: Knockdown, Injection, Control, Virus, Infection, Comparison

Journal: Brain Structure & Function

Article Title: Hippocampal microRNA-132 mediates stress-inducible cognitive deficits through its acetylcholinesterase target

doi: 10.1007/s00429-011-0376-z

Figure Lengend Snippet: Integrated analysis of the 3 stress models. Shown in fold changes from controls are the inter-animal variability values and mean changes in hippocampal miR-132, AChE and p250GAP transcript levels in the predator scent ( a , Student’s t test: miR-132 ** p < 0.01, AChE p = NS, p250GAP ** p < 0.01), footshock ( b , Student’s t test: miR-132 * p < 0.05, AChE * p < 0.05, p250GAP * p < 0.05) and transgenic AChE ( c , Student’s t test: miR-132 ** p < 0.01, AChE * p < 0.05, p250GAP * p < 0.05) stress models employed in our study. d Scheme of the proposed mechanism involved

Article Snippet: Group housed C57Bl/6J 9 weeks old male mice were placed on well-soiled cat litter for 10 min (in use by the cat for 2 days, sifted for stools) (Cohen et al. ) or were placed in a footshock delivery system (Campden Instruments, UK) where they received seven inescapable electric footshocks (0.3 mA; 2 ms) at unequal intervals over a total period of 120 min.

Techniques: Transgenic Assay