Fig. 3
From: Shank3 deficiency elicits autistic-like behaviors by activating p38α in hypothalamic AgRP neurons
Overexpression of p38α in AgRP neurons elicits excessive stereotypic behavior and impaired sociability in WT mice. A. Immunofluorescence staining of DAPI (blue, 405 nm) and p38α (green, 488 nm, FITC) in ARC, AgRP-tomato mice were generated by mating Agrp-Cre mouse with Tomato-reporter mouse (red, 561 nm). B. Schematic and immunofluorescence image of the AAV9-p38αflox/flox stereotaxic injection to ARC in Agrp-Cre mice, GFP represents virus expression. C and D, Groom time and bouts in 24 h of p38αAgRP−con and p38αAgRP−OE mice. E. The first phase of the three-chamber test, the time of p38αAgRP−con and p38αAgRP−OE mice in stranger1 chamber. F. The second phase of the three-chamber test, the time of p38αAgRP−con and p38αARC−OE mice in the stranger2 chamber. G. The total distance in 24 h of p38αAgRP−con and p38αAgRP−OE mice. H. The activity time in 24 h of p38αAgRP−con and p38αAgRP−OE mice. 10-week-old control and AgRP-Cre male mice were injected with AAV9-p38αflox/flox. The injection site is in the ARC area as an inclusion criterion. 12 injected mice in the p38αAgRP−con group, 4 mice were excluded and 8 mice were included in the experiment. 12 injected mice in the p38αAgRP−OE group, 3 mice were excluded and 9 mice were included in the experiment. Home-Cage monitoring test was performed 4–6 weeks after AAV injection, three-chamber test was performed 8–10 weeks after AAV injection. Statistical analysis: data were analyzed using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test (Prism9, GraphPad Software Inc.). Data were represented as Mean ± SD. Significance levels are indicated with *p < 0.05.