Supplementary Figure 3: Validation of the conditional VMAT2DBHcre knockout mice with brain-specific NE depletion.
From: Resilience to chronic stress is mediated by noradrenergic regulation of dopamine neurons
(a) Picture of the cre-recombinase expression in the LC of transgenic DBHcre mice crossed with TdTomato reporter mice. (b) The autoradiographic distribution of VMAT2 mRNA measured by in situ hybridization shed light on Cre-excision effectiveness of VMAT2 specifically in the LC of the KO mice. The absence of VMAT2 mRNA in the LC has been reproduced on 3 KO mice. (c) The whole brain levels of monoamines (µg/g) measured by HPLC indicated specific NE level alterations in KO mice (n=3 per group; t=22.4, ***p<0.001). DA level (t=0.16, p=0.88) and 5HT level (t=-0.33, p=0.76) were similar between WT and KO. (d) KO mice were born from double heterozygote crosses with the expected Mendelian ratio of 3/16 (18.75%). (e) Spontaneous locomotion in a new environment measured at 5-minute intervals for 3 hours was similar between KO and WT mice (n=8 per group; F(35,490)=0.54, p=0.99, ns). (f) Motor coordination observed in the rotarod for 3 consecutive sessions was unaltered in KO mice compared with WT (n=8 per group; F(2,28)=0.4, p=0.67, ns).
