Understanding the mechanism(s) by which maternal immune activation (MIA) during gestation may disrupt neurodevelopment and increase the susceptibility for disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or schizophrenia is a critical step in the development of better treatments and preventive measures. A large body of literature has investigated the pathophysiology of MIA in rodents. However, a translatability gap plagues pre-clinical research of complex behavioral/developmental diseases and those diseases requiring clinical diagnosis, such as ASD. While ideal for their genetic flexibility, vast reagent toolkit, and practicality, rodent models often lack important elements of ethological validity. Hence, our study aimed to develop and characterize the prenatal MIA model in marmosets. Here, we adapted the well-characterized murine maternal immune activation model. Pregnant dams were administered 5 mg/kg poly-L-lysine stabilized polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly ICLC) subcutaneously three times during gestation (gestational day 63, 65, and 67). Dams were allowed to deliver naturally with no further experimental treatments. After parturition, offspring were screened for general health and vigor, and individual assessment of communication development and social behavior was measured during neonatal or adolescent periods. Similar to rodent models, offspring subjected to MIA exhibited a disruption in patterns of communication during early development. Assessment of social behavior in a marmoset-modified 3-chamber test at 3 and 9 months of age revealed alterations in social behavior that, in some instances, was sex-dependent. Together, our data indicate that marmosets are an excellent non-human primate model for investigating the neurodevelopmental and behavioral consequences of exposure to prenatal challenges, like MIA. Additional studies are necessary to more completely characterize the effect of prenatal inflammation on marmoset development and explore therapeutic intervention strategies that may be applicable in a clinical setting.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Individuals with a family history of alcoholism (FH+) are more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder than those with no such history. Early life adversity has a high coincidence with FH+ making pathogenic studies difficult in clinical studies. Here, we developed a mouse model to study pathogenic mechanisms underlying these risk factors. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Male and female C57BL6/J mice were exposed to increasing concentrations of ethanol (3-21%) or water for 15 days prior to breeding. Ethanol was not present during gestation. Offspring were either removed from the home cage and isolated for 3 hours or left undisturbed from postnatal days 1-21. Beginning on PND 56 offspring mice were assessed for clinically relevant behavioral disruptions in social behavior, cognitive working memory, locomotor activity, anxiety-like phenotypes, ethanol preference and binge drinking behavior. In a separate experiment, brains of Cx3cr2+/GFPxCcr2+/RFP mice from ELA or control conditions were collected every 7 days after birth for assessment of neuroinflammation and central immune cell morphology and density. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Mice with a family history of ethanol exposure and ELA are predicted to exhibit behavioral changes (impaired working memory, reduced social behavior, increased anxiety-like behaviors, increased ethanol consumption) to a greater extent than mice with a family history of ethanol exposure or ELA alone. We expect markers of neuroinflammation (cytokine expression, immune cell activation) to predict the behavioral changes in these mice. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Alcohol consumption and stressful life events are known environmental precipitants to neuroinflammation, which in turns may predispose individuals to anti-social and risky behavior. A mouse model of these early postnatal conditions will allow basic scientists to unravel the biological underpinnings of the behaviors driven by these factors.
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