| First Author | Vafadari B | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Front Behav Neurosci | Volume | 13 |
| Pages | 195 | PubMed ID | 31555105 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:284221 | Mgi Id | MGI:6378113 |
| Doi | 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00195 | Citation | Vafadari B, et al. (2019) Psychosocial Stress Induces Schizophrenia-Like Behavior in Mice With Reduced MMP-9 Activity. Front Behav Neurosci 13:195 |
| abstractText | Understanding gene-environment interactions in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia remains a major research challenge. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) has been previously implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In the present study, adolescent Mmp-9 heterozygous mice, with a genetically lower level of MMP-9, were subjected to resident-intruder psychosocial stress for 3 weeks and then examined in behavioral tests that evaluated cognitive deficits and positive- and negative-like symptoms of schizophrenia. Cognitive and positive symptoms in unstressed Mmp-9 heterozygous mice were unaffected by stress exposure, whereas negative symptoms were manifested only after stress exposure. Interestingly, negative symptoms were ameliorated by treatment with the antipsychotic drug clozapine. We describe a novel gene x environment interaction mouse model of schizophrenia. Lower MMP-9 levels in the brain might be a risk factor for schizophrenia that, in combination with environmental factors (e.g., psychosocial stress), may evoke schizophrenia-like symptoms that are sensitive to antipsychotic treatment. |
