Behavioral Effects of Amyloid Precursor Protein beta Mutation in zebrafish

Abstract: Amyloid precursor protein beta (βAPP) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. An appb mutant strain of zebrafish has been previously generated and has shown increased boldness. Here we tested boldness by Novel Tank Diving Test and compared the results between the wildtype AB strain controls (WT) (N=16) and appb mutant strain (N=28), as well as between two Swedish testing institutions that use different protocols. Fish were tracked by automated video tracking in Ethovision. Compared with the wild type fish, using both the Uppsala and Gothenburg protocols, the mutant fish have a higher cumulative duration in the top area suggesting increased boldness. Greater boldness in mutants appears specifically context dependent and only expressed when the test fish is taken from a larger group of fish.