Mecp2 Truncation in Male Mice Promotes Affiliative Social Behavior

Mouse models of Rett syndrome, with targeted mutations in the Mecp2 gene, show a high degree of phenotypic consistency with the clinical syndrome. In addition to severe and age-specific regression in motor and cognitive abilities, a variety of studies have demonstrated that Mecp2 mutant mice display...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavior genetics 2012-03, Vol.42 (2), p.299-312
Main Authors: Pearson, B. L., Defensor, E. B., Pobbe, R. L. H., Yamamoto, L. H. L., Bolivar, V. J., Blanchard, D. C., Blanchard, R. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal models
Animals
Autism
Behavior
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Cognitive abilities
Cognitive ability
Disease Models, Animal
Genes
Genotypes
Health Psychology
Male
Males
MeCP2 protein
Methyl-CpG binding protein
Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2 - genetics
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Mutant Strains
Mutation
Neurosciences
Original Research
Prosocial behaviour
Proteins
Psychology
Public Health
Rett syndrome
Rett Syndrome - genetics
Rett Syndrome - psychology
Social Behavior
Social Behavior Disorders - genetics
Social Behavior Disorders - psychology
Social behaviour
Social interaction
Stereotyped behavior
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Summary:Mouse models of Rett syndrome, with targeted mutations in the Mecp2 gene, show a high degree of phenotypic consistency with the clinical syndrome. In addition to severe and age-specific regression in motor and cognitive abilities, a variety of studies have demonstrated that Mecp2 mutant mice display impaired social behavior. Conversely, other studies indicate complex enhancements of social behavior in Mecp2 mutant mice. Since social behavior is a complicated accumulation of constructs, we performed a series of classic and refined social behavior tasks and revealed a relatively consistent pattern of enhanced pro-social behavior in hypomorphic Mecp2 308/Y mutant mice. Analyses of repetitive motor acts, and cognitive stereotypy did not reveal any profound differences due to genotype. Taken together, these results suggest that the mutations associated with Rett syndrome are not necessarily associated with autism-relevant social impairment in mice. However, this gene may be a valuable candidate for revealing basic mechanisms of affiliative behavior.
ISSN:0001-8244
1573-3297
DOI:10.1007/s10519-011-9501-2