Animals
All animal care and experimental procedures was performed in accordance with the UK Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, approved by the institutional ethical review committee, and conducted under the authority of project licences held at the University of Liverpool. Animal studies are reported in compliance with the ARRIVE guidelines (Kilkenny et al., 2010; McGrath and Lilley, 2015).
Male Wistar rats were bred in the departmental animal unit (the Nuffield Joint Facilities) or, in exceptional circumstances of supply shortage, acquired from the Biomedical Services Unit, Faculty of Medicine or the Department of Veterinary Pathology. Rats were kept under conditions of 12 hour light / dark cycle at 20°C with food (CRM diets, SDS, Witham, Essex) and water available ad libitum . The optimal weight range for experimental use was 200-400 g.