October 23, 2015
Stress and Aggression in Serotonin Deficient Knock-out Rodent Models
The Tph2 gene is responsible for encoding the enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase, in the central nervous system. This enzyme catalyzes an essential step in the synthesis of serotonin, a neurotransmitter implicated in the pathology of many psychiatric diseases including anxiety disorders and depression. The Bader laboratory at the Max Delbrück Center studies Tph2 knock-out mice and rats, which show altered growth and metabolism, increased aggression, decreased maternal care, and various abnormal social behaviors. Causes underlying these aberrations are an area of active research. For my project, I performed histochemical and immunohistochemical analyses to investigate alterations produced by the absence of serotonin in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress response axis (specifically in the adrenal glands) of Tph2 knock-out rats. In addition, I analyzed behavioral tests examining altered social behavior and the effects of anti-aggression drug treatment in these knock-out models.
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