Proteasome mapping reveals sexual dimorphism in tissue-specific sensitivity to protein aggregations.

Defects in the proteasome can result in pathological proteinopathies. However, the pathogenic role of sex- and tissue-specific sensitivity to proteotoxic stress remains elusive. Here, we map the proteasome activity across nine tissues, in male and female mice, and demonstrate strong sexual dimorphism in proteasome activity, where females have significantly higher activity in several tissues.

Chronic early life lead (Pb) exposure alters presynaptic vesicle pools in hippocampal synapses.

Background: Lead (Pb) exposure has been shown to impair presynaptic neurotransmitter release in both in vivo and in vitro model systems. The mechanism by which Pb impairs neurotransmitter release has not been fully elucidated. In previous work, we have shown that Pb exposure inhibits vesicular release and reduces the number of fast-releasing sites in cultured hippocampal neurons.

Water T-maze: a useful assay for determination of repetitive behaviors in mice.

Background: Repetitive behavior is a term used to describe a wide variety of invariant and inappropriate behaviors that occur in many diverse conditions, including autism. It is necessary to utilize and/or design rodent behavioral assays that exploit individual types of repetitive behavior so that underlying pathology and therapeutic measures can be determined. A variety of high-throughput assays to investigate lower order repetitive behaviors are available for rodents, whereas, fewer assays are available to investigate higher order repetitive behaviors, such as perseverative behavior.

Chlorination byproducts induce gender specific autistic-like behaviors in CD-1 mice.

In 2000, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released a report concerning elevated autism prevalence and the presence water chlorination byproducts in the municipal drinking water supply in Brick Township, New Jersey. The ATSDR concluded that it was unlikely that these chemicals, specifically chloroform, bromoform (Trihalomethanes; THMs) and tetrachloroethylene (Perchloroethylene; PCE) had contributed to the prevalence of autism in this community based upon correlations between timing of exposure and/or concentration of exposure. The ATSDR conclusion may have been premature, as there is no conclusive data evidencing a correlation between a particular developmental time point that would render an individual most susceptible to toxicological insult with the development of autism.