TY  - JOUR
A1  - Line, Samantha J.
A1  - Barkus, Christopher
A1  - Coyle, Clare
A1  - Jennings, Katie A.
A1  - Deacon, Robert M.
A1  - Lesch, Klaus P.
A1  - Sharp, Trevor
A1  - Bannerman, David M.
T1  - Opposing alterations in anxiety and species-typical behaviours in serotonin transporter overexpressor and knockout mice
JF  - European Neuropsychopharmacology
N2  - Human gene association studies have produced conflicting findings regarding the relationship between the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT) and anxiety. In the present study genetically modified mice were utilised to examine the effects of changes in 5-HTT expression on anxiety. In addition, the influence of 5-HTT expression on two innate “species-typical” behaviours (burrowing and marble burying) and body weight was explored. Across a range of models, 5-HTT overexpressing mice displayed reduced anxiety-like behaviour whilst 5-HTT knockout mice showed increased anxiety-like behaviour, compared to wildtype controls. In tests of species-typical behaviour 5-HTT overexpressing mice showed some facilitation whilst 5-HTT knockout mice were impaired. Reciprocal effects were also seen on body weight, as 5-HTT overexpressors were lighter and 5-HTT knockouts were heavier than wildtype controls. These findings show that variation in 5-HTT gene expression produces robust changes in anxiety and species-typical behaviour. Furthermore, the data add further support to findings that variation of 5-HTT expression in the human population is linked to changes in anxiety-related personality traits.
KW  - 5-HT
KW  - 5-HT transporter
KW  - Anxiety
KW  - Transgenic mice
KW  - Body weight
Y1  - 2011
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-141222
VL  - 21
IS  - 1
ER  -