2.6.1. Animals and surgical procedures

C57Bl/6J mice (female, 8 weeks of age) were obtained from Jackson Lab and housed in groups of 3–5 animals in standard mouse cages on a 12‐hr light/dark cycle at a room temperature of 23°C with free access to food and water. The animal protocols were carried out in accordance with the Johns Hopkins University Animal Care and Use Committee. All experiments were performed during the light half of the cycle. Procedures were conducted using aseptic techniques. Mice were anesthetized with a 0.75–1% isoflurane‐oxygen mixture (2% for induction) and placed in a supine position on a heating pad connected to a rectal thermometer (∼37°C). For the dorsal hippocampus, 0.5 μl of LVV‐sGFAP‐IRES‐tdTomato (control; 5 × 10⁹ TU/ml) or LVV‐sGFAP‐LOx‐IRES‐tdTomato (7 × 10⁹ TU/ml) were injected bilaterally into the dorsal CA1 area of the hippocampus (AP, ML, DV: −1.9 mm; ±1.4 mm; −1.6 mm) at 1 nl/s using Nanoject III (Drummond Scientific Company, Broomall, PA), as previously described (Jouroukhin et al., ²⁰¹⁹). After the injection, we waited 10 min before raising the glass micropipette. After surgery, mice were treated with buprenorphine (0.01 mg/kg s.c.) and Baytril (enrofloxacin, 2.5 mg/kg).