Animals

The TRPC1^−/− mice were obtained from Prof. Lutz Birnbaumer (NIEHS, US) and the wild type (WT) mice were purchased from Vital River Laboratory Animal Technology Co. Ltd (Beijing, China). A total of thirty mice at 5 months old were used in this study. All the mice were randomly divided into WT mice and TRPC1^−/− mice. The mice were housed in groups of 15 mice per cage (470×350×200mm), and kept under controlled light and environmental conditions (12-hour light / 12-hour dark cycle with light on from 6: 00 am to 18: 00 am at a constant temperature of 24 ± 2 °C and humidity) with free access to food and water. Animal treatment and care procedures were performed following the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NIH publications no. 80-23) and the Regulations for Animal Care and Use Committee of Experimental Animal Center at Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention. All efforts were made to minimize animal suffering and reduced the number of mice used.