Striatal infusion of three escalating doses of cholesterol ameliorates cognitive and motor deficits in HD mice.Figure 1(A) Experimental paradigm performed in all the trials: mini-pumps were implanted in the striatum of 7-week-old mice. A battery of behavioral tests was performed before and after mini-pump implantation. In bold, a list of R6/2 phenotypes (above) and read-outs analyzed following cholesterol (chol) infusion (below). (B) Representative large image of a brain slice from R6/2 mice after 4-week striatal infusion of fluorescent cholesterol (bodipy-chol, green). In the inlet, infused striatum is shown. Hoechst (Ho, blue) was used to counterstain nuclei. Scale bar: 1000 µm. (C) Cholesterol content measured by mass spectrometry in infused striatum of untreated wt (N=7) and R6/2 (N=4), R6/2 ACSF (N=5), R6/2 chol-low (N=5), R6/2 chol-medium (N=5), and R6/2 chol-high (N=5) mice at 12 weeks of age after 4-week striatal cholesterol infusion. The low, medium, and high doses respectively correspond to 15 µg, 185 µg, and 369 µg of cholesterol infused in the striatum after 4 weeks. Data information: The data are from five independent trials and shown as scatterplot graphs with means±standard error. Each dot corresponds to the value obtained from each animal. Statistics: one-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post-hoc test (*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001). (D) Latency to fall (seconds) from an accelerating rotarod from 5 weeks (pre-surgery; i.e., before pump implantation) to 10 weeks of age in wt (N=23 at 5 weeks, N=28 at 8 and 10 weeks), R6/2 ACSF (N=35 at 5 weeks, N=31 at 8 weeks and N=30 at 10 weeks), R6/2 chol-low (N=22 at 5 weeks, N=14 at 8 weeks and N=13), R6/2 chol-medium (N=13 at 5 weeks, N=9 at 8 weeks and N=8 at 10 weeks), and R6/2 chol-high (N=19 at 5 weeks, N=17 at 8 and 10 weeks) mice. The graph shows means±standard error for each time point. Data information: The data are from five independent trials and shown as scatterplot graphs with means±standard error. Statistics: one-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post-hoc test (*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001). Global motor activity (E), in an open-field test at 6 weeks of age (pre-surgery) and 11 weeks of age (4 weeks after infusion) of wt (N=16 at 9 weeks, N=22 at 11 weeks), R6/2 ACSF (N=27 at 9 weeks, N=23 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-low (N=20 at 9 weeks, N=13 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-medium (N=9 at 9 weeks, N=7 at 11 weeks), and R6/2 chol-high (N=18 at 9 weeks, N=16 at 11 weeks) mice. Data information: The data are from five independent trials and shown as scatterplot graphs with means±standard error. Each dot corresponds to the value obtained from each animal. Statistics: one-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post-hoc test (*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001). total distance traveled (F), mean velocity (G), stereotyped movements (H), in an open-field test at 6 weeks of age (pre-surgery) and 11 weeks of age (4 weeks after infusion) of wt (N=16 at 9 weeks, N=22 at 11 weeks), R6/2 ACSF (N=27 at 9 weeks, N=23 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-low (N=20 at 9 weeks, N=13 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-medium (N=9 at 9 weeks, N=7 at 11 weeks), and R6/2 chol-high (N=18 at 9 weeks, N=16 at 11 weeks) mice. Data information: The data are from five independent trials and shown as scatterplot graphs with means±standard error. Each dot corresponds to the value obtained from each animal. Statistics: one-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post-hoc test (*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001). number of rearings (I) in an open-field test at 6 weeks of age (pre-surgery) and 11 weeks of age (4 weeks after infusion) of wt (N=16 at 9 weeks, N=22 at 11 weeks), R6/2 ACSF (N=27 at 9 weeks, N=23 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-low (N=20 at 9 weeks, N=13 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-medium (N=9 at 9 weeks, N=7 at 11 weeks), and R6/2 chol-high (N=18 at 9 weeks, N=16 at 11 weeks) mice. Data information: The data are from five independent trials and shown as scatterplot graphs with means±standard error. Each dot corresponds to the value obtained from each animal. Statistics: one-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post-hoc test (*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001). (J, K) Representative track plots (J) generated from the open-field test from wt (N=16 at 9 weeks, N=22 at 11 weeks), R6/2 ACSF (N=26 at 9 weeks, N=23 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-low (N=11 at 9 weeks, N=7 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-medium (N=11 at 9 weeks, N=7 at 11 weeks), and R6/2 chol-high mice (N=18 at 9 weeks, N=16 at 11 weeks) and relative quantification (K) of the time spent in the center and in the periphery (%) of the arena. Data information: The data are from five independent trials and shown as scatterplot graphs with means±standard error. Statistics: one-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post-hoc test (*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001). (L) Discrimination index (DI; %) in the novel object recognition test at 6 weeks of age (before pump implantation) and 11 weeks of age (4 weeks after cholesterol infusion) of wt (N=16 at 9 weeks, N=21 at 11 weeks), R6/2 ACSF (N=28 at 9 weeks, N=23 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-low (N=21 at 9 weeks, N=13 at 11 weeks), R6/2 chol-medium (N=10 at 9 weeks, N=7 at 11 weeks), and R6/2 chol-high mice (N=18 at 9 weeks, N=16 at 11 weeks). DI above zero indicates a preference for the novel object; DI below zero indicates a preference for the familiar object. Data information: The data are from five independent trials and shown as scatterplot graphs with means±standard error. Each dot corresponds to the value obtained from each animal. Statistics: one-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post-hoc test (*p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; ****p<0.0001). (M) Principal component analysis by combining all the values related to motor and cognitive tasks from wt mice (blue dots), R6/2 ACSF mice (green dots), and R6/2 chol-high mice (red dots).