Identification of Glyoxalase-I as a Protein Marker in a Mouse Model of Extremes in Trait Anxiety

For >15 generations, CD1 mice have been selectively and bidirectionally bred for either high-anxiety-related behavior (HAB-M) or low-anxiety-related behavior (LAB-M) on the elevated plus-maze. Independent of gender, HAB-M were more anxious than LAB-M animals in a variety of additional tests, including those reflecting risk assessment behaviors and ultrasound vocalization, with unselected CD1 "normal" control (NAB-M) and cross-mated (CM-M) mice displaying intermediate behavioral scores in most cases. Furthermore, in both the forced-swim and tail-suspension tests, LAB-M animals showed lower scores of immobility than did HAB-M and NAB-M animals, indicative of a reduced depression-like behavior. Using proteomic and microarray analyses, glyoxalase-I was identified as a protein marker, which is consistently expressed to a higher extent in LAB-M than in HAB-M mice in several brain areas. The same phenotype-dependent difference was found in red blood cells with NAB-M and CM-M animals showing intermediate expression profiles of glyoxalase-I. Additional studies will examine whether glyoxalase-I has an impact beyond that of a biomarker to predict the genetic predisposition to anxiety- and depression-like behavior.