Analysis Tools
behavior/neurological
|
• mutants display severe impairment in the Morris water maze test and show no improvement in performance over a training period of 8 days; after 24 hours mutants spend less time in the water where the platform had been in the previous trials compared to wild type controls
|
nervous system
|
• only transient depression of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials is observed in mutants in response to low frequency stimulation, while the controls show a long-lasting depression
|
|
• long term potentiation is absent in hippocampal slices from mutants
|
|
• long term depotentiation can not be induced in mutants
|
growth/size/body
|
• slightly but significantly decreased body weights are noted at P28
• however, no significant differences in body weight are observed at P42 and P56
|
respiratory system
|
• the gas-exchange surface area per cm3 of mutant lung tissue is reduced by ~30% at P28, P42 and P56
|
|
• impaired formation of the distal airspaces during the postnatal phase of lung maturation
|
|
• significantly reduced PDGFA protein levels are observed at P28, suggesting impaired postnatal lung alveolarization
• however, no differences in Pdgfra mRNA levels are observed at any postnatal age
|
|
• the volume density of airspace in the alveolar region of mutant lungs is significantly increased at P28, P42, and P56
• the mean cord length (Lm) of mutant respiratory airspaces is significantly increased only at P42
• however, the mean volume of individual alveoli, number of alveoli per cm3 of lung tissue, and distribution of alveolar volumes remain relatively normal at all postnatal time points studied
• no differences in the percentage of BrdU-labeled cells are noted in the
alveolar region at any of time point
• no significant difference in the thickness of alveolar walls is observed at any time point
|
|
• alveolar ducts comprise a significantly greater proportion of mutant lung tissue at P28, P42, and P56
|
|
• alveolar sacs comprise a significantly greater proportion of mutant lung tissue at P28, P42, and P56
|
|
• carbon monoxide (CO) uptake is significantly reduced in mutant lungs at P56 when mice are at rest
• however, the pressure/volume characteristics of the lung are not significantly altered at this time point
|
cardiovascular system
|
• the gas-exchange surface area per cm3 of mutant lung tissue is reduced by ~30% at P28, P42 and P56
|
