Pharmacological and proteomic analyses of neonatal polyI:C-treated adult mice

Perinatal virus infection is an environmental risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia. We previously demonstrated that neonatal treatment with a viral mimetic, polyriboinosinic-polyribocytidilic acid (polyI:C), in mice leads to emotional and cognitive deficits in adolescence. Here, we investigated the effects of antipsychotics on polyI:C-induced behavioral abnormalities. We also performed a proteomic analysis in the hippocampus of polyI:C-treated adult mice using two-dimensional electrophoresis to understand the changes in protein expression following neonatal immune activation. Neonatal mice were subcutaneously injected with polyI:C for 5 days (postnatal day 2–6). At 10 weeks, sensorimotor gating, emotional and cognitive function were analyzed in behavioral tests. Clozapine improved PPI deficit and emotional and cognitive dysfunction in polyI:C-treated mice. However, haloperidol improved only PPI deficit. Proteomic analysis revealed that two candidate proteins were obtained in the hippocampus of polyI:C-treated mice, including aldehyde dehydrogenase family 1 member L1 (ALDH1L1) and collapsin response mediator protein 5 (CRMP5). These data suggest that the neonatal polyI:C-treated mouse model may be useful for evaluating antipsychotic activity of compounds. Moreover, changes in the protein expression of ALDH1L1 and CRMP5 support our previous findings that astrocyte-neuron interaction plays a role in the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders induced by neonatal immune activation.