The role of parvalbumin-positive interneurons in a rat model of schizophrenia induced by maternal immune activation (23-06546S)
Basic information
Investigator: RNDr. Tomáš Petrásek Ph.D.
Main recipient: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Co-recipient: Institute of Physiology CAS
Research period: 1/1/2023 – 31/12/2025
Total budget: 11,448,000 CZK
NIMH budget: 5,472,000 CZK
Supported by: Czech Science Foundation (GACR)
Annotation
Infection of the mother during pregnancy is one of recognized risk factors for the emergence of schizophrenia in the offspring. In animal models, maternal immune system activation (MIA) leads to schizophrenia-like alterations. Our earlier work has shown that a MIA model induced by injecting bacterial lipopolysaccharide to pregnant rat dams exhibits behavioral changes and reduced density of parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons. PV+ interneuron deficit has been described in human schizophrenia patients, and may play a key role in the pathogenesis of the disorder. In the proposed project, we will provide a detailed description of the ontogeny of the schizophrenia-like changes seen in the model, and we will investigate the causal role of PV+ interneurons using chemogenetic tools. We will determine if the schizophrenia-like alterations of behavior and electrophysiology can be ameliorated by chemogenetic activation of PV+ cells in the MIA model, or induced by their inhibition in control rats.