The divergent effects of astrocyte ceruloplasmin on learning and memory function in young and old mice

Animals

Cp^flox/flox mice on C57BL/6 genetic background were obtained by a genetic targeting strategy by the Beijing Vitalstar Biotechnology Company; the Loxp sites were inserted around exon 2 by homologous recombination (Fig S1); Gfap-cre mice on C57BL/6 genetic background were purchased from the Jackson Laboratory; Cp^GfapcKO mice were generated by crossing Gfap-cre mice with Cp^flox/flox mice. After knockout of exon 2 of the Cp gene by Gfap-cre, a frame shift mutation and premature stop codon leads to ceruloplasmin absence in astrocytes. All experiments were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the Hebei Science and Technical Bureau, China, and by the Animal Ethics Committee of Hebei Normal University. All mice were housed at an ambient temperature of 21 ± 2 °C, and given free access to food and water under a 12 h light/dark cycle. 6 M or 18 M male mice were…