Pathogen-free, normal E18 pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats (Envigo Laboratories) were housed 1 per cage in temperature- (23 ± 3 °C) and light (12-h light/12-h dark cycle; lights on 07:00–19:00)-controlled rooms with standard rodent chow and water available ad libitum. The neonates are designated as post-natal day 0 (PD0) on the day of birth, the litter size range included in current study was 11–14 pups.
After weaning the rat pups were separated from the dams and maintained 4 per cage. Animals were divided into six groups. SAK3 (Catalog No: SML-2039–5MG, Sigma Aldrich) was dissolved in distilled water and orally administered (0.25 mg/kg, p.o) to the animals from PD21 to PD35 (Figure 1A ). We chose this dose of SAK3 because it has been shown to be effective in restoring cognitive function in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (Wang et al. 2018 (link)). Rats were sacrificed at PD35. Animals were behaviorally assessed before being euthanized for histological and protein expression analysis. All biochemical, electrophysiology and behavior experiments were performed in a blinded fashion. Animal protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona and conducted in accordance with the Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals published by the National Institutes of Health.
After weaning the rat pups were separated from the dams and maintained 4 per cage. Animals were divided into six groups. SAK3 (Catalog No: SML-2039–5MG, Sigma Aldrich) was dissolved in distilled water and orally administered (0.25 mg/kg, p.o) to the animals from PD21 to PD35 (