The CreERT2 recombinase system is an advanced method to temporally control site-specific mutagenesis in adult rodents. In this process, tamoxifen is injected to induce Cre recombinase expression, and then, Cre recombinase can excise LoxP-flanked DNA. However, tamoxifen is a nonselective estrogen receptor antagonist that may influence behavioral alterations. Therefore, we designed five different protocols (acute effects, chronic effects, chronic effects after social defeat model, chronic effects after learned helplessness model, chronic effects after isolation models) to explore whether tamoxifen affects mouse behavior. Researching the acute/chronic effects of tamoxifen, we found that tamoxifen could influence locomotor activity, anxiety and immobility time in the forced swimming test. Researching the chronic effects of tamoxifen after social defeat/learned helplessness/isolation models, we found that tamoxifen could also influence locomotor activity, social interaction and anxiety. Therefore, the effects of tamoxifen are more complex than previously reported. Our results show, for the first time, that tamoxifen affects behavior in mouse models. Meanwhile, we compare the effects of tamoxifen in different protocols. These results will provide important information when designing similar experiments.
Keywords: anxiety; behavior; depression; inducible mutagenesis; mice; psychiatry; tamoxifen.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.