Astrocytes play various important roles such as maintaining brain homeostasis, supporting neurons, and secreting inflammatory mediators to protect the brain cells. In aged subjects, astrocytes show diversely changed phenotypes and dysfunctions. But, the study of aged astrocytes or astrocytes from aged subjects is not yet sufficient to provide a comprehensive understanding of their important processes in the regulation of brain function. In this study, we induced an in vitro aged astrocyte model through late passage cultivation of rat primary cultured astrocytes. Astrocytes were cultured until passage 7 (P7) as late passage astrocytes and compared with passage 1 (P1) astrocytes as early passage astrocytes to confirm the differences in phenotypes and the effects of serial passage. In this study, we confirmed the morphological, molecular, and functional changes of late passage astrocytes showing aging phenotypes through SA-β-gal staining and measurement of nuclear size. We also observed a reduced expression of inflammatory mediators including IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα, iNOS, and COX2, as well as dysregulation of wound-healing, phagocytosis, and mitochondrial functions such as mitochondrial membrane potential and mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate. Cultureconditioned media obtained from P1 astrocytes promoted neurite outgrowth in immature primary cultures of rat cortices, which is significantly reduced when we treated the immature neurons with the culture media obtained from P7 astrocytes. These results suggest that late passage astrocytes show senescent astrocyte phenotypes with functional defects, which makes it a suitable model for the study of the role of astrocyte senescence on the modulation of normal and pathological brain aging.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social and communication impairments, as well as repetitive and restrictive behaviors. The phenotypic heterogeneity of ASD has made it overwhelmingly difficult to determine the exact etiology and pathophysiology underlying the core symptoms, which are often accompanied by comorbidities such as hyperactivity, seizures, and sensorimotor abnormalities. To our benefit, the advent of animal models has allowed us to assess and test diverse risk factors of ASD, both genetic and environmental, and measure their contribution to the manifestation of autistic symptoms. At a broader scale, rodent models have helped consolidate molecular pathways and unify the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying each one of the various etiologies. This approach will potentially enable the stratification of ASD into clinical, molecular, and neurophenotypic subgroups, further proving their translational utility. It is henceforth paramount to establish a common ground of mechanistic theories from complementing results in preclinical research. In this review, we cluster the ASD animal models into lesion and genetic models and further classify them based on the corresponding environmental, epigenetic and genetic factors. Finally, we summarize the symptoms and neuropathological highlights for each model and make critical comparisons that elucidate their clinical and neurobiological relevance.
Animals* ; Autism Spectrum Disorder* ; Autistic Disorder* ; Comorbidity ; Complement System Proteins ; Epigenomics ; Models, Animal* ; Models, Genetic ; Neurodevelopmental Disorders ; Population Characteristics ; Risk Factors ; Rodentia ; Seizures

Triclosan is an antimicrobial or sanitizing agent used in personal care and household products such as toothpaste, soaps, mouthwashes and kitchen utensils. There are increasing evidence of the potentially harmful effects of triclosan in many systemic and cellular processes of the body. In this study, we investigated the effects of triclosan in the survivability of cultured rat neural stem cells (NSCs). Cortical cells from embryonic day 14 rat embryos were isolated and cultured in vitro. After stabilizing the culture, triclosan was introduced to the cells with concentrations ranging from 1 muM to 50 muM and in varied time periods. Thereafter, cell viability parameters were measured using MTT assay and PI staining. TCS decreased the cell viability of treated NSC in a concentration-dependent manner along with increased expressions of apoptotic markers, cleaved caspase-3 and Bax, while reduced expression of Bcl2. To explore the mechanisms underlying the effects of TCS in NSC, we measured the activation of MAPKs and intracellular ROS. TCS at 50 muM induced the activations of both p38 and JNK, which may adversely affect cell survival. In contrast, the activities of ERK, Akt and PI3K, which are positively correlated with cell survival, were inhibited. Moreover, TCS at this concentration augmented the ROS generation in treated NSC and depleted the glutathione activity. Taken together, these results suggest that TCS can induce neurodegenerative effects in developing rat brains through mechanisms involving ROS activation and apoptosis initiation.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Brain ; Caspase 3 ; Cell Survival ; Embryonic Structures ; Glutathione ; Household Products ; Humans ; Mouthwashes ; Neural Stem Cells* ; Rats ; Soaps ; Toothpastes ; Triclosan*

In the ‘Acknowledgements’ section on page 263 of the original article, the grant number was incorrectly stated.

The valproic acid (VPA) animal model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most widely used animal model in the field. Like any other disease models, it can't model the totality of the features seen in autism. Then, is it valid to model autism? This model demonstrates many of the structural and behavioral features that can be observed in individuals with autism. These similarities enable the model to define relevant pathways of developmental dysregulation resulting from environmental manipulation. The uncovering of these complex pathways resulted to the growing pool of potential therapeutic candidates addressing the core symptoms of ASD. Here, we summarize the validity points of VPA that may or may not qualify it as a valid animal model of ASD.
Animals* ; Autistic Disorder* ; Child ; Models, Animal* ; Valproic Acid* ; Autism Spectrum Disorder

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, is involved in sleep physiology. Caffeine is widely used psychoactive substance known to induce wakefulness and insomnia to its consumers. This study was performed to examine whether GABA extracts from fermented rice germ ameliorates caffeine-induced sleep disturbance in mice, without affecting spontaneous locomotor activity and motor coordination. Indeed, caffeine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) delayed sleep onset and reduced sleep duration of mice. Conversely, rice germ ferment extracts-GABA treatment (10, 30, or 100 mg/kg, p.o.), especially at 100 mg/kg, normalized the sleep disturbance induced by caffeine. In locomotor tests, rice germ ferment extracts-GABA slightly but not significantly reduced the caffeine-induced increase in locomotor activity without affecting motor coordination. Additionally, rice germ ferment extracts-GABA per se did not affect the spontaneous locomotor activity and motor coordination of mice. In conclusion, rice germ ferment extracts-GABA supplementation can counter the sleep disturbance induced by caffeine, without affecting the general locomotor activities of mice.
Animals ; Anxiety ; Caffeine ; Central Nervous System ; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid* ; Mice* ; Motor Activity ; Neurotransmitter Agents ; Physiology ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Wakefulness

Sex is an important factor in understanding the clinical presentation, management, and developmental trajectory of children with neuropsychiatric disorders. While much is known about the clinical and neurobehavioral profiles of males with neuropsychiatric disorders, surprisingly little is known about females in this respect. Animal models may provide detailed mechanistic information about sex differences in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in terms of manifestation, disease progression, and development of therapeutic options. This review aims to widen our understanding of the role of sex in autism spectrum disorder, by summarizing and comparing behavioral characteristics of animal models. Our current understanding of how differences emerge in boys and girls with neuropsychiatric disorders is limited: Information derived from animal studies will stimulate future research on the role of biological maturation rates, sex hormones, sex-selective protective (or aggravating) factors and psychosocial factors, which are essential to devise sex precision medicine and to improve diagnostic accuracy. Moreover, there is a strong need of novel strategies to elucidate the major mechanisms leading to sex-specific autism features, as well as novel models or methods to examine these sex differences.
Animals ; Autism Spectrum Disorder* ; Autistic Disorder* ; Child ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Gonadal Steroid Hormones ; Humans ; Male ; Models, Animal ; Precision Medicine ; Psychology ; Rodentia* ; Sex Characteristics

Dysregulation of excitatory neurotransmission has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders. Pharmacological inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is widely used to model neurobehavioral pathologies and underlying mechanisms. There is ample evidence that overstimulation of NMDA-dependent neurotransmission may induce neurobehavioral abnormalities, such as repetitive behaviors and hypersensitization to nociception and cognitive disruption, pharmacological modeling using NMDA has been limited due to the induction of neurotoxicity and blood brain barrier breakdown, especially in young animals. In this study, we examined the effects of intraperitoneal NMDA-administration on nociceptive and repetitive behaviors in ICR mice. Intraperitoneal injection of NMDA induced repetitive grooming and tail biting/licking behaviors in a dose- and age-dependent manner. Nociceptive and repetitive behaviors were more prominent in juvenile mice than adult mice. We did not observe extensive blood brain barrier breakdown or neuronal cell death after peritoneal injection of NMDA, indicating limited neurotoxic effects despite a significant increase in NMDA concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid. These findings suggest that the observed behavioral changes were not mediated by general NMDA toxicity. In the hot plate test, we found that the latency of paw licking and jumping decreased in the NMDA-exposed mice especially in the 75 mg/kg group, suggesting increased nociceptive sensitivity in NMDA-treated animals. Repetitive behaviors and increased pain sensitivity are often comorbid in psychiatric disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder). Therefore, the behavioral characteristics of intraperitoneal NMDA-administered mice described herein may be valuable for studying the mechanisms underlying relevant disorders and screening candidate therapeutic molecules.
Adult ; Animals ; Autistic Disorder ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; Cell Death ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Grooming ; Humans ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Mass Screening ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; N-Methylaspartate ; Neurons ; Nociception ; Pathology ; Synaptic Transmission ; Tail

Behavioral analysis in mice provided important contributions in helping understand and treat numerous neurobehavioral and neuropsychiatric disorders. The behavioral performance of animals and humans is widely different among individuals but the neurobehavioral mechanism of the innate difference is seldom investigated. Many neurologic conditions share comorbid symptoms that may have common pathophysiology and therapeutic strategy. The forced swim test (FST) has been commonly used to evaluate the “antidepressant” properties of drugs yet the individual difference analysis of this test was left scantly investigated along with the possible connection among other behavioral domains. This study conducted an FST-screening in outbred CD-1 male mice and segregated them into three groups: high performers (HP) or the active swimmers, middle performers (MP), and low performers (LP) or floaters. After which, a series of behavioral experiments were performed to measure their behavioral responses in the open field, elevated plus maze, Y maze, three-chamber social assay, novel object recognition, delay discounting task, and cliff avoidance reaction. The behavioral tests battery revealed that the three groups displayed seemingly correlated differences in locomotor activity and novel object recognition but not in other behaviors. This study suggests that the HP group in FST has higher locomotor activity and novelty-seeking tendencies compared to the other groups. These results may have important implications in creating behavior database in animal models that could be used for predicting interconnections of various behavioral domains, which eventually helps to understand the neurobiological mechanism controlling the behaviors in individual subjects.
Animals ; Behavior Rating Scale ; Delay Discounting ; Humans ; Individuality ; Male ; Mice ; Models, Animal ; Motor Activity

Brain aging is an inevitable process characterized by structural and functional changes and is a major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. Most brain aging studies are focused on neurons and less on astrocytes which are the most abundant cells in the brain known to be in charge of various functions including the maintenance of brain physical formation, ion homeostasis, and secretion of various extracellular matrix proteins. Altered mitochondrial dynamics, defective mitophagy or mitochondrial damages are causative factors of mitochondrial dysfunction, which is linked to age-related disorders. Etoposide is an anti-cancer reagent which can induce DNA stress and cellular senescence of cancer cell lines. In this study, we investigated whether etoposide induces senescence and functional alterations in cultured rat astrocytes. Senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity was used as a cellular senescence marker. The results indicated that etoposide-treated astrocytes showed cellular senescence phenotypes including increased SA-β-gal-positive cells number, increased nuclear size and increased senescence-associated secretory phenotypes (SASP) such as IL-6. We also observed a decreased expression of cell cycle markers, including Phospho-Histone H3/Histone H3 and CDK2, and dysregulation of cellular functions based on wound-healing, neuronal protection, and phagocytosis assays. Finally, mitochondrial dysfunction was noted through the determination of mitochondrial membrane potential using tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester (TMRM) and the measurement of mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR). These data suggest that etoposide can induce cellular senescence and mitochondrial dysfunction in astrocytes which may have implications in brain aging and neurodegenerative conditions.
Aging ; Animals ; Astrocytes ; Brain ; Cell Aging ; Cell Cycle ; Cell Line ; DNA ; Etoposide ; Extracellular Matrix Proteins ; Homeostasis ; Interleukin-6 ; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial ; Mitochondria ; Mitochondrial Degradation ; Mitochondrial Dynamics ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neurons ; Neuroprotection ; Oxygen Consumption ; Phagocytosis ; Phenotype ; Rats ; Risk Factors ; Wound Healing