Methodology aspects of colony maintain for a murine model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) TDP-43 proteinopathy

The use of genetically engineered mouse (GEMs) models provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the genetic basis of diseases and gene function, therefore it is paramount to determine reproductive parameters that guarantee proper colony maintenance. We studied the reproductive parameters of mice hemizygous for TDP-43^A315T transgene, which are viable, fertile, and express a mutant human TAR DNA binding protein (hTDP-43) cDNA harboring an amino acid substitution associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS). TDP43^A315T mice were backcrossed to a C57Bl6/J pure background for four consecutive generations. The Tg offspring genotype were then confirmed by PCR assays. Our statistical analysis indicated there were no differences in the sex and number of pups per offspring when hemizygous female and male TDP43^A315T mice were backcrossed to C57Bl6/J mice. Interestingly, our results showed significant differences in the number of offspring expressing the transgene when hemizygous TDP43^A315T male mice were used as breeders. Therefore, our findings suggest that male TDP43^A315T mice transfer the transgene with a greater genetic strengths. Such is an important breeding consideration to ensure the principle of reduction in animal experimentation considering most basic research with models focuses on males and excludes female mice.