Morphological characterization of the central nervous system of swiss mice carriers spontaneous mutation that causes tremors, ataxia and seizures by optical and electron microscopy

• Grant number: 12/22081-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2012
• End date: November 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Lucia Zaidan Dagli
• Grantee: Márcia Carolina Millán Olivato
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In the Animal Facility of the Department of Pathology of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science of the University of Sao Paulo, a spontaneous mutation was detected in the colony of Swiss mice. The affected animals were nominated Swiss-tr. These mice presented trembling, ataxia, and seizures. Through the breeding of mutant and wild-type animals, it was possible to characterize this mutation as autosomal and recessive. IN the analysis of the phenotype, it has been verified that these mice gained less weight than the normal animals, and the trembling became more intensive during aging and has not been observed muscular atrophy in quadríceps and soleus muscles. The symptoms observed in the mutant animals were compatible with alterations in the central nervous system, like hypomyelination, or desalinization. As we are aware of the importance of establishing murine models to the study of human and animal diseases, the present work aims to analyze the central nervous system of the Swiss-tr mutant mice of different ages, through eléctron microscopy and different stainings in light microscopy, like the Luxol Fast Blue (LFB) and Fluoro-Jade, in order to characterize these alterations. (AU)