Heterozygous Mice with Ric-8 Mutation Exhibit Impaired Spatial Memory and Decreased Anxiety.
From: Department of Integrative Zoology, University of Tartu, 46 Vanemuise St., Tartu 51014, Estonia.
Behavioural brain research
- Publish Date: Feb 2006
- ISSN: 0166-4328
- Volume: 167
- Issue: 1
- Pages: 42-8
- Medium: Print
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Tõnissoo Tambet, Kõks Sulev, Meier Riho, et al. Heterozygous Mice with Ric-8 Mutation Exhibit Impaired Spatial Memory and Decreased Anxiety.. Behav. Brain Res. Feb 2006;167:42-8
Abstract
Ric-8 is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for a subset of Galpha proteins and it is required to maintain Galpha(q) and the Galpha(s) pathways in functional state. In adult mice Ric-8 is expressed in regions involved in the regulation of behavior (neocortex, cingulate cortex and hippocampus). As Ric-8 is shown to regulate neuronal transmitter release, the aim of present study was to perform behavioral analysis of ric-8 mutant. Homozygous (-/-) ric-8 mutant mice are not viable and die in early embryonic development, therefore for behavioral analysis heterozygous (+/-) ric-8 mutant mice were used. We found decreased anxiety of ric-8 heterozygous mice in light-dark compartment test where mutant mice significantly avoided the light compartment. In spatial learning paradigm (Morris water maze) the performance of ric-8 (+/-) mice was impaired. Namely, in the reversal test, ric-8 (+/-) mice exhibited significant delay to find the hidden platform compared to wild-type (wt) littermates. We did not find differences in the behavioral tests reflecting the motor abilities of mice (motor activity, rota-rod). Therefore, described alterations seem to be specific for anxiety and spatial learning. Based on these results we can conclude the importance of ric-8 in the regulation of memory and emotional behavior.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Animals, Anxiety, Behavior, Animal, Exploratory Behavior, Female, Galactosides, Hippocampus, Indoles, Male, Maze Learning, Memory, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Knockout, Motor Activity, Mutation, Nuclear Proteins, Pyramidal Cells, Reaction Time, Rotarod Performance Test, Spatial Behavior
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 16221497
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