Abstract
Methods Dyn KO mice were generated by replacement of the entire coding region of the prodynorphin gene [2] and backcrossed onto C57bl/6N. Age and testing experiencematched female intact and ovariectomized (OVX) Dyn KO and wildtype (WT) mice at 3-8 months age were tested in all experiments. Anxiety (open field test, OF; elevated plus maze test, EPM; light dark test, LDT) and stressrelated behaviour (forced swim test, FST; tail suspension test, TST) was investigated in correlation to the estrous cycle in intact female WT and Dyn KO mice and in OVX WT and Dyn KO mice treated with the general estrogen receptor (ER) agonist 17β-estradiol (E2), and specific agonists for ERα (PPT), ERβ (DPN) or GPER (G1) two hours before testing.
Highlights
Since several years dynorphin, a member of the opioid peptide family, was suggested to play a regulatory role in numerous functional pathways of the brain, including anxiogenic effects in male mice [1]
In the EPM, Dyn KO mice showed a significant anxiolytic phenotype with about double time spent, distance travelled and entries in the open arm at all estrous stages compared to WT mice, while differences in the OF and LDT were less prominent than in male mice
The drop in ambulation observed in the OF, LDT and EPM during the proestrus phase in WT was absent in Dyn KO animals
Summary
A member of the opioid peptide family, was suggested to play a regulatory role in numerous functional pathways of the brain, including anxiogenic effects in male mice [1]. Address: 1Department of Pharmacology, Innsbruck Medical University, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria and 2Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia Email: Christoph Schwarzer* - schwarzer.christoph@i-med.ac.at * Corresponding author from 15th Scientific Symposium of the Austrian Pharmacological Society (APHAR) Joint meeting with the Hungarian Society of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (MFT) and the Slovenian Pharmacological Society (SDF) Graz, Austria.
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