Serial reversal learning in an olfactory discrimination task in 3xTg-AD mice.

Male and female 3xTg-AD mice between 5 and 24 mo of age and their B6129F2/J wild-type controls were tested on a series of 18 olfactory discrimination and reversal tasks in an operant olfactometer. All mice learned the odor discriminations and reversals to a criterion of 85% correct, but the 3xTg-AD mice made fewer errors than the B6129F2/J mice in the odor discriminations and in the first six reversal learning tasks. Many mice showed evidence of near errorless learning, and on the reversal tasks the 3xTg-AD mice showed more instances of near errorless learning than the B6129F2/J mice. There was no evidence of an age effect on odor discrimination, but there was a decrease in errorless reversal learning in aged B6129F2/J mice. In long-term memory tests, there was an increase in the number of errors made but no genotype difference. The high level of performance indicates that the mice were able to develop a "learning to learn" strategy. The finding that the 3xTg-AD mice outperformed their littermate controls provides an example of paradoxical functional facilitation in these mice.

Early postnatal development of the MDGA2+/- mouse model of synaptic dysfunction.

Synaptic dysfunction underlies many neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). The membrane-associated mucin domain-containing glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor proteins (MDGAs) regulate synaptic development by modulating neurexin-neuroligin complex formation. Since understanding the neurodevelopmental profile and the sex-based differences in the manifestation of the symptoms of NDDs is important for their early diagnosis, we tested a mouse model haploinsufficient for MDGA2 (MDGA2+/-) on a neurodevelopmental test battery, containing sensory, motor, and cognitive measures, as well as ultrasonic vocalizations. When male and female MDGA2+/- and wildtype (WT) C57BL/6 J mice were examined from 2 to 23 days of age using this test battery, genotype and sex differences in body weight, sensory-motor processes, and ultrasonic vocalizations were observed. The auditory startle reflex appeared earlier in the MDGA2+/- than in WT mice and the MDGA2+/- mice produced fewer ultrasonic vocalizations. The MDGA2+/- mice showed reduced locomotion and rearing than WT mice in the open field after 17 days of age and spent less time investigating a novel object than WT mice at 21 days of age. Female MDGA2+/- mice weighed less than WT females and showed lower grip strength, indicating a delay in sensory-motor development in MDGA2+/- mice, which appears to be more pronounced in females than males. The behavioural phenotypes resulting from MDGA2 haploinsufficiency suggests that it shows delayed development of motor behaviour, grip strength and exploratory behaviour, non-social phenotypes of NDDs.

Alternative splicing and heparan sulfation converge on neurexin-1 to control glutamatergic transmission and autism-related behaviors.

Neurexin synaptic organizing proteins are central to a genetic risk pathway in neuropsychiatric disorders. Neurexins also exemplify molecular diversity in the brain, with over a thousand alternatively spliced forms and further structural heterogeneity contributed by heparan sulfate glycan modification. Yet, interactions between these modes of post-transcriptional and post-translational modification have not been studied. We reveal that these regulatory modes converge on neurexin-1 splice site 5 (S5): the S5 insert increases the number of heparan sulfate chains. This is associated with reduced neurexin-1 protein level and reduced glutamatergic neurotransmitter release. Exclusion of neurexin-1 S5 in mice boosts neurotransmission without altering the AMPA/NMDA ratio and shifts communication and repetitive behavior away from phenotypes associated with autism spectrum disorders. Thus, neurexin-1 S5 acts as a synaptic rheostat to impact behavior through the intersection of RNA processing and glycobiology. These findings position NRXN1 S5 as a potential therapeutic target to restore function in neuropsychiatric disorders.

A Signal Detection Analysis of Olfactory Learning in 12-Month-Old 5xFAD Mice.

Although Alzheimer's disease is most often studied in terms of memory impairments, olfactory dysfunction begins in the early stages. We tested olfactory learning, sensitivity, and response bias using signal detection methods in 12-month-old male and female 5xFAD mice and their wildtype controls in the operant olfactometer. Odor detection was not reduced in the 5xFAD mice, but learning was, which was worse in female 5xFAD mice than in males. Female mice were more conservative in their response strategy. Signal detection analysis allows us to discriminate between cognitive and sensory deficits of male and female mouse models of AD.

Age related weight loss in female 5xFAD mice from 3 to 12 months of age.

In addition to cognitive decline, patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibit sensory, motor, and neuropsychiatric deficits. Many AD patients also show weight loss, suggesting that AD may involve a metabolic syndrome. The 5xFAD mouse model shows age-related weight loss compared to wildtype controls, and thus may exhibit metabolic dysfunction. This longitudinal study measured age-related weight loss in female 5xFAD and B6SJL/JF2 wild-type mice from 3 to 12 months of age, and examines some of the behavioural and physiological phenotypes in these mice that have been proposed to contribute to this weight loss. Because some mice had to be singly housed during the study, we also examined genotype by housing interactions. The 5xFAD mice weighed less and ate less than WT littermates starting at 6 months of age, exhibited less home cage activity, had higher frailty scores, less white adipose tissue, and lower leptin expression. At 9 and 12 months of age, heavier 5xFAD mice performed better on the rotarod, suggesting that metabolic deficits which begin between 6 and 9 months of age may exacerbate the behavioural deficits in 5xFAD mice. These results indicate that the 5xFAD mouse is a useful model to study the behavioural and metabolic changes in AD.

Sex and Genotype Differences in Odor Detection in the 3×Tg-AD and 5XFAD Mouse Models of Alzheimer's Disease at 6 Months of Age.

Deficits in odor identification and detection are early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Two transgenic mouse models of AD, the 5XFAD and the 3×Tg-AD mice and their wildtype controls, were assessed for olfactory detection with decreasing concentrations of ethyl acetate in a go no-go operant olfactometer task at 6 months of age. For both the 5XFAD and their B6SJLF1 wildtype littermates, females made fewer errors in detecting the ethyl acetate than males on all but the lowest odor concentrations. Female 5XFAD mice performed slightly better than their female wildtype littermates on the higher odor concentrations, though not at the lowest concentration. The 3×Tg-AD females showed decreased olfactory detection compared with their wildtype B6129S1 controls, whereas there was no difference in the males. Therefore, although the 5XFAD mice showed no olfactory detection deficits, female 3×Tg-AD mice had impaired olfactory detection at low odor concentrations but males did not. This difference in odor detection should be considered in studies of olfactory learning and memory, as differences in performance may be due to sensory rather than cognitive factors, though detection seems unimpaired at high odor concentrations.

Olfactory delayed matching to sample performance in mice: sex differences in the 5XFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

While olfactory delayed matching-to-sample tasks have been used to assess working memory in rats, no such tasks have been tested in mice. Olfactory delayed matching-to-sample learning was assessed in male and female 5XFAD mice, a model of Alzheimer's disease, and their wildtype (B6SJL F1) littermates at 6-7 months of age using an operant olfactometer. All 5XFAD and wildtype mice were able to learn the delayed olfactory matching-to-sample task at 2 and 5s delays. Fewer mice learned with a 10s delay and only one mouse learned with a 30s delay. Female mice showed higher levels of performance on the delayed matching-to-sample task than males, indicative of better working memory. These results demonstrate for the first time that mice are able to learn an olfactory delayed matching to sample task.