Details of the STSM
Title: Behavioural Testing In rodents using HCM
Start and end date: 01/07/2023 to 08/09/2023
Host: 3R-BCU Translational Animal Research Center, Mainz, Germany
Host website: https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/tarc/core-facilities/3r-bcu-behavior-core-unit.html
Description of the work carried out during the STSM
The aim of this STSM was to compare the phenotypic differences between two inbred strains. Here we sought to add to the knowledge about the behavior of the C57BL/6J and the 129SV male mice using high throughout put devices Mouse matrix and Intellicage. Significant differences between the strains were found in activity in a novel environment. The B6 mice showed reduced anxiety-like behavior and enhanced exploratory activity in both Mouse matrix and Intellicages having a significantly greater number of visits and nose pokes during initial adaptation and clearly distinct circadian activity. In addition, both strains showed a clear corner preference for drinking water in Intellicages, however, the B6 mice were faster learners than 129SV mice. It was confirmed in both tests’ adaptation to the cage change environment in the matrix and removal of water from the preferred corner in Intellicages. It could be argued that social challenges caused changes or safety to drink from the preferred corner following the dominant mouse in both strains. Altogether, all parameters resulting from both types of equipment are correlated and validated by the instruments. I am confident that my participation of this training was greatly benefit for me in terms of soft skills and hard skills and would have a significant impact upon my career. Critically, it was an invaluable opportunity to work with the high-throughput techniques and getting interesting results. I also learned, how to analyze and interpret acquired data from these novel devices. For future perspectives, we are planning to repeat the experiments from Mouse matrix and will increase the number of animals in IntelliCage. We are hoping our best to publish this in an article, that would be a great achievement for me as well.