Figure 2

Altered responses of GSK-3α KO mice in forced swim and tail suspension tests. A. Forced swim test. Mean duration of immobility (± SEM) of GSK-3α KO (n = 25) and WT (n = 18) mice (both genders). Immobility time was decreased in KO group ***p ≤ 0.0001 vs. WT. B. Tail suspension test. Mean duration of immobility (± SEM) of GSK-3α KO (n = 10) and WT (n = 6) mice (both genders). Immobility time was decreased in KO group *p ≤ 0.05 vs. WT. C-D. Novelty-induced locomotion and exploratory activity in the open field. Mean number of beam breaks (± SEM) in 5 min bins by GSK-3α KO (n = 24) and WT (n = 24) mice (both genders). C. Horizontal locomotion was decreased in GSK-3α KO at following time points: 0-5, 5-10, 15-20, 20-25. D. Vertical (exploratory) activity was decreased in GSK-3α KO at following time points: 0-5, 15-20, 20-25. *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.001. E. Basal and stress-induced corticosteroid levels. Basal morning (AM) and evening (PM) levels of corticosteroid (CORT) was measured at 9.00 am and 6.00 pm respectively in the naïve mice. Two weeks after, KO (n = 10-12) and WT (n = 19-20) animals were subjected to 30 minutes of restrain stress and blood samples were collected and analyzed for the level of CORT. Values are mean (± SEM). *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.001