Gene-environment interaction influences anxiety-like behavior in ethologically based mouse models

作者：Post Antonia M; Weyers Peter; Holzer Peter; Painsipp Evelin; Pauli Paul; Wultsch Thomas; Reif Andreas; Lesch Klaus Peter^*

来源：Behavioural Brain Research, 2011, 218(1): 99-105.

DOI：10.1016/j.bbr.2010.11.031

• Elevated Plus Maze
• Open Field
• C57BL/6
• BALB/c
• Anxiety
• Avoidance
• Lighting condition

Ethologically based animal models are widely used: however, results from different laboratories vary significantly which may partly be due to the lack of standardization. Here, we examined the effects of circadian rhythm, lighting condition and mouse strain (BALB/c and C57BL/6, known to differ in measures of avoidance and risk assessment behavior) on two well established behavioral tests in mice: the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) and the Open Field (OF). Parameters from both paradigms are commonly used as indices of anxiety-like behavior. BALB/c mice and C57BL/6 mice were independently tested in the morning and at night, in regular laboratory lighting and in the dark. We developed a novel method based on infrared lighting from below, coupled to respective video-tracking equipment, which facilitates standard testing of behavior interference-free in complete darkness. The two mouse strains differed in anxiety-related variables for the EPM in the dark, and for the OF in regular laboratory lighting. Moreover, BALB/c displayed greater anxiety-like behavior than C57BL/6 in the OF but less anxiety-like behavior than C57BL/6 in the EPM. Lighting condition has a major influence on both behavioral tests and this to a considerably larger extent than circadian rhythm. In addition, the lighting condition interacts strongly with the genetic background, producing discriminative differences in the anxiety-related variables depending on mouse strain and lighting condition. These results challenge the comparability of not sufficiently standardized tests of anxiety-like behavior and emphasize the need for controlling environmental variables in behavioral phenotyping.

• 出版日期2011-3-17