Enhanced Dopamine in Prodromal Schizophrenia (EDiPS): a new animal model of relevance to schizophrenia

Outline of the model. a EDiPS and Control genetic constructs. b Schematic illustration of injection target and projections. The packaged construct is injected bilaterally into the substantia nigra pars compact (SNpc) (i)—blue. Cell bodies from this region project preferentially to the DS (ii)—purple. c Timeline of injections and tests in the three different cohorts. All injections were performed at post-natal day (P) 35. For cohort 1, PPI was performed ~7.5 weeks following injection of the construct, and AMPH-induced locomotion was tested the following day. Tissue was collected one week later. For cohort 2, animals were given 0.05？mg/kg quinpirole, then the 0.5？mg/kg dose 1 week later. One week following the final quinpirole test, microdialysis was performed, and tissue was collected immediately. For cohort 3, 1H-MRS was performed approximately 8 weeks following construct injection, and tissue was collected 1 week later. ITR: inverted terminal repeat, SYN-1: Synapsin 1, huGCH1: human GTP cyclohydrolase 1, pA: polyadenylation tail, huTH: human tyrosine hydroxylase, WPRE: Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus Post-transcriptional Response Element, CBA: Chicken Beta-Actin promoter, PPI: pre-pulse inhibition, AMPH: amphetamine, QUIN: quinpirole, 1H-MRS: proton magnetic resonance spectroscop