RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Complex Interactions between Genes and Social Environment Cause Phenotypes Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Mice
JF eneuro
JO eNeuro
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP ENEURO.0124-20.2020
DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0124-20.2020
VO 7
IS 4
A1 Monika Sledziowska
A1 Shireene Kalbassi
A1 Stéphane J. Baudouin
YR 2020
UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/7/4/ENEURO.0124-20.2020.abstract
AB The etiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is a complex combination of genetic and environmental factors. Neuroligin3, a synaptic adhesion protein, and cytoplasmic FMR1 interacting protein 1 (CYFIP1), a regulator of protein translation and actin polymerization, are two proteins associated with ASDs that interact in neurons in vivo. Here, we investigated the role of the Neuroligin3/CYFIP1 pathway in behavioral functioning and synapse formation in mice and found that it contributes to motor learning and synapse formation in males. Similar investigation in female mice revealed an absence of such phenotypes, suggesting that females are protected against mutations affecting this pathway. Previously, we showed that the social environment influences the behavior of male mice. We extended this finding and found that the transcriptome of wild-type mice housed with their mutant littermates, lacking Neuroligin3, differed from the transcriptome of wild-type mice housed together. Altogether, these results identify the role of the Neuroligin3/CYFIP1 pathway in male mouse behavior and highlight its sensitivity to social environment.