Etectable. All of the tau overexpressing mice and littermate controls were tested in the Jordan Hall Vivarium at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Mice were singly housed between tests. Behavioral 1317923 ML 240 web testing and western blot analyses. After a two week acclimation period, tau overexpressors and their littermate controls were provided with 4 weekly MSB tests prior to orchidectomy. They were then tested for MSB weekly for 12 weeks after orchidectomy as detailed above. One day after the completion of the final sexual behavior test, mice were sacrificed, and their brains were dissected and PHCCC prepared for Western Blot analyses for tau, synaptophysin, and spinophilin as described in Experiment 1.Figure 2. Sexual behavior in tau overexpressing mice and littermate controls. Percentage of mice that displayed (A) mounting, (B) 11967625 intromissions, and (C) an ejaculatory reflex prior to and after orchidectomy. *Significantly higher than littermate controls (p,0.05). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069672.gMSB every two weeks for 16 weeks after orchidectomy. Males were considered to be “maters” if they demonstrated mounts, intromissions and the ejaculation reflex on at least three out of the last four behavioral tests, including the last test (n = 6). Males were considered non-maters (n = 8) if they did not display any of the components of MSB during the last four tests. Western blot analysis. One day after the completion of the sexual behavior tests, mice were sacrificed, and brains were removed, rapidly frozen, and then stored at 280uC until they were cut into 100 mm thick coronal sections with a Leica cryostat. Based on the Franklin and Paxinos mouse brain atlas (Franklin and Paxinos, 2008), the MPOA, medial amygdala, and frontal cortex were dissected and homogenized in Thermo Scientific Tissue Protein Extraction Reagent (TPER) plus HALT protease inhibitor chilled on ice. Samples were stored at 280uC. For protein extraction, brain tissue homogenates were thawed and centrifuged, and total protein concentrations were determined by BCA (bicinchoninic acid) Protein Assays (Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, IL). Samples were loaded into a 10 polyacrylamide gel and subjected to electrophoresis and transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane. Membranes were blocked in 10 milk in Tween TBS overnight at 4uC then warmed to room temperature and rinsed. They were then incubated with either Anti-Tau monoclonal antibody, clone 46 produced in mouse (1:10,000; Sigma-AldrichExperiment 3: Dendritic Morphology of MPOA Neurons in Maters and Non-matersAnimals and behavioral testing. Male B6D2F1 hybrid mice (n = 15) were provided with 4 weekly MSB tests prior to orchidectomy. All the males ejaculated on at least 3 of the four tests and were considered sexually experienced. Males were then tested weekly for MSB for 11 weeks after orchidectomy. Males were considered to be “maters” if they demonstrated the ejaculation reflex on at least two out of the last three behavioral tests, including the last test (n = 5). Males that did not display MSB during the last three tests were considered non-maters (n = 5). Golgi impregnation. Maters and non-maters were perfused with 8 paraformaldehyde one day after the last behavioral test. Brains were subjected to Golgi staining using the FD Rapid GolgiStain Kit (FD NeuroTechnologies, Ellicot City, MD)Dendritic Spine Density, Tau Male Sex BehaviorFigure 3. Kaplan-Meyer survivability plots of male sexual behavior of tau overexpressing mice.Etectable. All of the tau overexpressing mice and littermate controls were tested in the Jordan Hall Vivarium at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. Mice were singly housed between tests. Behavioral 1317923 testing and western blot analyses. After a two week acclimation period, tau overexpressors and their littermate controls were provided with 4 weekly MSB tests prior to orchidectomy. They were then tested for MSB weekly for 12 weeks after orchidectomy as detailed above. One day after the completion of the final sexual behavior test, mice were sacrificed, and their brains were dissected and prepared for Western Blot analyses for tau, synaptophysin, and spinophilin as described in Experiment 1.Figure 2. Sexual behavior in tau overexpressing mice and littermate controls. Percentage of mice that displayed (A) mounting, (B) 11967625 intromissions, and (C) an ejaculatory reflex prior to and after orchidectomy. *Significantly higher than littermate controls (p,0.05). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069672.gMSB every two weeks for 16 weeks after orchidectomy. Males were considered to be “maters” if they demonstrated mounts, intromissions and the ejaculation reflex on at least three out of the last four behavioral tests, including the last test (n = 6). Males were considered non-maters (n = 8) if they did not display any of the components of MSB during the last four tests. Western blot analysis. One day after the completion of the sexual behavior tests, mice were sacrificed, and brains were removed, rapidly frozen, and then stored at 280uC until they were cut into 100 mm thick coronal sections with a Leica cryostat. Based on the Franklin and Paxinos mouse brain atlas (Franklin and Paxinos, 2008), the MPOA, medial amygdala, and frontal cortex were dissected and homogenized in Thermo Scientific Tissue Protein Extraction Reagent (TPER) plus HALT protease inhibitor chilled on ice. Samples were stored at 280uC. For protein extraction, brain tissue homogenates were thawed and centrifuged, and total protein concentrations were determined by BCA (bicinchoninic acid) Protein Assays (Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, IL). Samples were loaded into a 10 polyacrylamide gel and subjected to electrophoresis and transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane. Membranes were blocked in 10 milk in Tween TBS overnight at 4uC then warmed to room temperature and rinsed. They were then incubated with either Anti-Tau monoclonal antibody, clone 46 produced in mouse (1:10,000; Sigma-AldrichExperiment 3: Dendritic Morphology of MPOA Neurons in Maters and Non-matersAnimals and behavioral testing. Male B6D2F1 hybrid mice (n = 15) were provided with 4 weekly MSB tests prior to orchidectomy. All the males ejaculated on at least 3 of the four tests and were considered sexually experienced. Males were then tested weekly for MSB for 11 weeks after orchidectomy. Males were considered to be “maters” if they demonstrated the ejaculation reflex on at least two out of the last three behavioral tests, including the last test (n = 5). Males that did not display MSB during the last three tests were considered non-maters (n = 5). Golgi impregnation. Maters and non-maters were perfused with 8 paraformaldehyde one day after the last behavioral test. Brains were subjected to Golgi staining using the FD Rapid GolgiStain Kit (FD NeuroTechnologies, Ellicot City, MD)Dendritic Spine Density, Tau Male Sex BehaviorFigure 3. Kaplan-Meyer survivability plots of male sexual behavior of tau overexpressing mice.
