Cognition Assessment in APPPS1 Transgenic Mice

Abstract

In a previous study, the effects of various anti‐muscarinic drugs were tested on wild type mice using a Barnes Maze to assess cognition. With the availability of the APPPS1 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, this study plans to use the Barnes Maze protocol to assess these drug's effects on wild type and transgenic mice in this strain. However, there are no baseline data using the Barnes Maze with this strain, either wild type or transgenic, and the age of onset of cognition deficits in the transgenic mice has not been fully characterized. Therefore, this study was performed to determine if the Barnes Maze was an effective assessment tool in this strain, and if it could be used to determine the age of onset of cognition problems in these mice. Newly born mice were genotyped and both APPPS1 and littermate wild type mice were used in this study. Once the mice reached 3 months of age, they were trained and tested using the Barnes Maze. There were 10 mice tested, 7 wild type (WT) and 3 transgenic mice (APP/PS1 Tg). The mice were tested 3 times per week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for approximately 6 months, to establish a pattern of learning the location of an escape box (EsB), and if or when they manifested signs of cognitive failure. Parameters measured included, time to locate the EsB, considered latency, distance traveled to the EsB, and time to enter the EsB. After completion of the behavioral tests, amyloid plaque load in the brain was assessed with methoxy‐ X04 staining. Results indicate that the APPPS1 Tg mice experienced some cognitive failure during the testing period, about 50 days into the testing period. This is manifested as an increase in all three parameters. The WT data shows some variability in performance, but their performance was reasonably consistent after an initial ‘learning’ phase. The data suggests that the Barnes Maze protocol can be used to study the development of cognition failure in the APPPS1 Tg mice, and may be useful in assessing effects of various drugs in these mice.Support or Funding InformationNo extramural fundingThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.