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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
The Tail Suspension Test
Published on: January 28, 2012
Genetic dissection of the tail suspension test: a mouse model of stress vulnerability and antidepressant response
Xiaoqing Liu1, Devin Stancliffe, Samuel Lee
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
Background:
The tail suspension test (TST) is a mouse screening test for antidepressants.
Methods:
An F2 intercross was derived from NMRI and 129S6 inbred strains (n = 747). Mice underwent standardized TST with 2 sessions: (1) baseline and (2) imipramine (30 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) TST.
Results:
A whole genome scan of this intercross mapped significant basal TST quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosomes (chr) 5 (peak 61 cM, Lod 5.7), 12 (peak 43 cM, Lod 5.2), and 18 (peak 51 cM, Lod 3.0). A suggestive QTL on chr 4 (peak 62 cM; Lod 3.1) overlapped regions containing previously mapped QTLs. For TST imipramine response, QTL were mapped on chr 1, 4, and 5. The chromosome 5 locus affected basal TST, antidepressant immobility response, and tail suspension-induced hyperthermia (TSIH) behaviors. An outbred NMRI F2 population provided further evidence for a chr 5 QTL. This chr 5 region harbors a cluster of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A receptor subunits and the human syntenic region includes chr 4p, 1p11, 12q24, and 22q11.24. A significant TSIH QTL (Tsih1) mapped on chr 4 near the Leptin receptor (Lepr).
Conclusions:
These QTL provide potential regions of interest for human genetic studies in stress-diathesis models of psychiatric illness and antidepressant responsiveness.
