1. Coexistence of perseveration and apathy in the TDP-43Q331K knock-in mouse model of ALS-FTD
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Kim, Eosu, White, Matthew A, Phillips, Benjamin U, Lopez-Cruz, Laura, Kim, Hyunjeong, Heath, Christopher J, Lee, Jong Eun, Saksida, Lisa M, Sreedharan, Jemeen, Bussey, Timothy J, Kim, Eosu [0000-0001-9472-9465], Lee, Jong Eun [0000-0001-6203-7413], Sreedharan, Jemeen [0000-0002-8682-6844], Bussey, Timothy J [0000-0002-3180-3709], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
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DNA-Binding Proteins ,Male ,Mice ,Frontotemporal Dementia ,mental disorders ,Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ,Apathy ,Mutation ,nutritional and metabolic diseases ,Animals ,Humans ,nervous system diseases ,Aged - Abstract
Funder: Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000406, Funder: the Lady Edith Wolfson Fellowship Fund, the van Geest Foundation, Perseveration and apathy are two of the most common behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSDs) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD). Availability of a validated and behaviourally characterised animal model is crucial for translational research into BPSD in the FTD context. We behaviourally evaluated the male TDP-43Q331K mouse, an ALS-FTD model with a human-equivalent mutation (TDP-43Q331K) knocked into the endogenous Tardbp gene. We utilised a panel of behavioural tasks delivered using the rodent touchscreen apparatus, including progressive ratio (PR), extinction and visual discrimination/reversal learning (VDR) assays to examine motivation, response inhibition and cognitive flexibility, respectively. Relative to WT littermates, TDP-43Q331K mice exhibited increased responding under a PR schedule. While elevated PR responding is typically an indication of increased motivation for reward, a trial-by-trial response rate analysis revealed that TDP-43Q331K mice exhibited decreased maximal response rate and slower response decay rate, suggestive of reduced motivation and a perseverative behavioural phenotype, respectively. In the extinction assay, TDP-43Q331K mice displayed increased omissions during the early phase of each session, consistent with a deficit in activational motivation. Finally, the VDR task revealed cognitive inflexibility, manifesting as stimulus-bound perseveration. Together, our data indicate that male TDP-43Q331K mice exhibit a perseverative phenotype with some evidence of apathy-like behaviour, similar to BPSDs observed in human ALS-FTD patients. The TDP-43Q331K knock-in mouse therefore has features that recommend it as a useful platform to facilitate translational research into behavioural symptoms in the context of ALS-FTD.
- Published
- 2020
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