Graft-mediated functional recovery on a skilled forelimb use paradigm in a rodent model of Parkinson's disease is dependent on reward contingency

The Staircase test measures lateralised deficits in skilled paw reaching in rodents, and there is a long-standing discrepancy in the literature on whether the paradigm is sensitive to graft-mediated functional recovery in the rodent model of Parkinson's disease. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the critical influence of test conditions like pellet density on dopamine-dependent graft-mediated functional recovery. Rats were pre-trained on the Staircase test with a configuration of 8 pellets in each of the 6 wells bilaterally prior to receiving unilateral 6-OHDA lesions of the medial forebrain bundle. Later, the lesioned animals received E14 VM grafts into the striatum, and were tested on the Staircase test under one of two test configurations: bilaterally, either with 10 (HIGH) or with 2 (LOW) pellets per well. Subsequent sessions included unilateral forced-choice testing under the same pellet configuration, and second bilateral and forced-choice sessions with the pellet density configurations switched around between the groups (Cross-over). Animals were also tested on the Corridor and the Cylinder test, and subjected to drug-induced rotation. Graft-mediated functional recovery was observed in the pellets taken criteria only under the HIGH pellet configuration during the bilateral and the forced choice condition. When tested under the LOW configuration, the graft provided no measurable benefit. The presence of VM grafts reduced lateralised motor deficits in the Cylinder test, the adjacent version of the Corridor test, and drug-induced rotation. Our results confirm that VM transplants can partially restore skilled forelimb sensorimotor deficits under specific testing configuration.