Schizophrenia-like phenotypes in mice with NMDA receptor ablation in intralaminar thalamic nucleus cells and gene therapy-based reversal in adults.

ABSTRACT: In understanding the mechanism of schizophrenia pathogenesis, a significant finding is that drug abuse of phencyclidine or its analog ketamine causes symptoms similar to schizophrenia. Such drug effects are triggered even by administration at post-adolescent stages. Both drugs are N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists, leading to a major hypothesis that glutamate hypofunction underlies schizophrenia pathogenesis. The precise region that depends on NMDAR function, however, is unclear. Here, we developed a mouse strain in which NMDARs in the intralaminar thalamic nuclei (ILN) were selectively disrupted. The mutant mice exhibited various schizophrenia-like phenotypes, including deficits in working memory, long-term spatial memory, and attention, as well as impulsivity, impaired pr

SUBMITTER: Yasuda K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5545645 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature