Effects of neural stem cell-specific LSD1 gene knockout on mood and memory in mice

  OBJECTIVE: After conditionally knocking out the LSD1 gene of mouse neural stem cells, by observing the proliferation of mouse nerve cells and the behavior of mice, reveal the neurobiological functions of LSD1.

  Methods Crossing LSD1 (flox/flox) transgenic mice with Nestin-cre (Tg) transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase specifically for neural stem cells, that is, using the Cre-LoxP system to breed LSD1 (flox/flox) Nestin -cre (Tg) genotype mouse, which is the LSD1 conditional knockout mouse (LSD1-CKO) of the required neural stem cells, and LSD1 (flox/flox) as the control mouse. Further use immunofluorescence staining methods to detect the proliferation of neuronal cells in the DG area of the mouse hippocampus; and detect the behavior of the mice through experiments such as the sugar water preference, forced swimming and new object recognition.

  Results Compared with LSD1 (flox/flox) mice, the proliferation of nerve cells in the hippocampus of LSD1-CKO mice was significantly reduced (P=0.023); the sugar preference coefficient was reduced (P=0.0075); the immobility time in the forced swimming experiment was significantly increased (P<0.05); and showed a significant decrease in memory in the new object recognition experiment (P=0.0019).

  Conclusion When the mouse brain neural stem cells knock out the LSD1 gene, the proliferation of nerve cells in the hippocampus is reduced. LSD1-CKO mice show negative emotions and memory impairment.