Buried Food-seeking Test for the Assessment of Olfactory Detection in Mice

Author(s)

Machado, Cleiton F. ^[1] ; Reis-Silva, Thiago M. ^[2] ; Lyra, Cassandra S. ^[1] ; Felicio, Luciano F. ^[2] ; Malnic, Bettina ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Chem, Dept Biochem, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Vet Med, Dept Pathol, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: BIO-PROTOCOL; v. 8, n. 12 JUN 20 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

The sense of smell allows animals to discriminate a large number of volatile environmental chemicals. Such chemical signaling modulates the behavior of several species that depend on odorant compounds to locate food, recognize territory, predators, and toxic compounds. Olfaction also plays a role in mate choice, mother-infant recognition, and social interaction among members of a group. A key assay to assess the ability to smell odorants is the buried food-seeking test, which checks whether the food-deprived mice can find the food pellet hidden beneath the bedding in the animal's cage. The main parameter observed in this test is the latency to uncover a small piece of chow, cookie, or other pleasant food, hidden beneath a layer of cage bedding, within a limited amount of time. It is understood that food-restricted mice which fail to use odor cues to locate food within a given time period are likely to have deficits in olfactory abilities. Investigators who used the buried food test, or versions of the buried food test, demonstrated that it is possible to evaluate olfactory deficits in different models of murine studies (Alberts and Galef, 1971; Belluscio et al., 1998; Luo et al., 2002; Li et al., 2013). We have recently used this assay to demonstrate that olfactory-specific Ric-8B knock-out mice (a guanine nucleotide exchange factor that interacts with olfactory-specific G-protein) show an impaired sense of smell (Machado et al., 2017). Here we describe the protocol of the buried food-seeking test, as adopted in our assays. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/24471-0 - Odorant receptors: mechanisms of gene expression and signal transduction
• Grantee: Bettina Malnic
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 12/24640-6 - Ric-8B protein in olfactory sensory neurons
• Grantee: Cleiton Fagundes Machado
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral