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. 2021 Jul 15;15:689611. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2021.689611

Figure 3.

Figure 3

mGluR7 overexpression enhances murine social interactions in a three-chamber test. (A) In sociability tests analyzing the total time spent in the three chambers, C57B6L/J mice spent significantly more time in the chamber of the novel mouse relative to the novel object (p < 0.001). Administration of LV-GFP to VPA and BTBR mice was associated with these animals having spent equal amounts of time in the chambers containing the novel mouse and the novel object (p > 0.05; p > 0.05). In contrast, VPA-treated and BTBR mice overexpressing mGluR7 (LV-mGluR7-treated) exhibited an increase in the amount of time spent in the unfamiliar chamber relative to the empty chamber (p < 0.001; p < 0.001), consistent with normal sociability (p > 0.05; p > 0.05). VPA-treated and BTBR mice overexpressing mGluR7 spent significantly more time in the chamber of the novel mouse compared to LV-GFP-treated mice (p < 0.001, p < 0.01, respectively). (B) In sociability tests analyzing interaction time, C57B6L/J mice spent significantly more time sniffing the novel mouse relative to the novel object (p < 0.001). VPA-exposed and BTBR mice that had been injected with LV-GFP spent similar amounts of time interacting with the novel mouse and the novel object (p > 0.05; p > 0.05). Mice pretreated with LV-mGluR7 exhibited more interactions with the novel mouse relative to the novel object (p < 0.001; p < 0.001), consistent with normal sociability (p > 0.05; p > 0.05). The time spent with the novel mouse for VPA and BTBR mice differed significantly between LV-GFP and LV-mGluR7-treated animal subgroups (p < 0.001; p < 0.001). (C) In an assay testing for social novelty preferences, C57B6L/J mice spent significantly more time in the chamber of the novel mouse relative to the familiar mouse (p < 0.001). VPA-exposed and BTBR mice injected with LV-mGluR7 preferred exploring the chamber containing the novel mouse relative to familiar controls (p < 0.001; p < 0.001), consistent with normal social preference (p > 0.05; p > 0.05). In contrast, no significant difference in the time spent exploring the chamber containing the novel mouse was observed relative to the time spent exploring the familiar chamber for VPA-treated and BTBR mice treated with LV-GFP (p > 0.05; p > 0.05). (D) C57B6L/J mice spent significantly more time sniffing and engaging with the novel mouse relative to the familiar mouse (p < 0.001). In contrast, VPA-treated mice and BTBR mice that had been treated with LV-GFP spent equal amounts of time sniffing the novel mouse and the familiar mouse (p > 0.05; p > 0.05). VPA and BTBR mice treated with LV-mGluR7 exhibited significant increases in the time spent sniffing the novel mouse relative to controls (p < 0.001; p < 0.001), consistent with normal social preferences (p > 0.05; p > 0.05). The time spent by VPA-exposed and BTBR mice with the novel mouse differed significantly between the LV-GFP and LV-mGluR7-treated groups (p < 0.001; p < 0.001). ***p < 0.001 for novel mouse vs. novel object; ###p < 0.001 for novel side vs. familiar side. n = 10 animals per group. One-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test. Data are means ± SEM. **p < 0.01 for LV-mGluR7 vs. LV-GFP; “NS” indicating no statistical significance.