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Original Research ARTICLE

Comprehensive behavioral phenotyping of ryanodine receptor type 3 (RyR3) knockout mice: decreased social contact duration in two social interaction tests

Naoki Matsuo^1,2, Koichi Tanda^3,4, Kazuo Nakanishi³, Nobuyuki Yamasaki^3,5, Keiko Toyama^1,2, Keizo Takao^1,2,3,6, Hiroshi Takeshima⁷ and Tsuyoshi Miyakawa^1,2,3,6*

Division of Systems Medical Science, Institute for Comprehensive Medical Science, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Japan

Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Japan

Genetic Engineering and Functional Genomics Group, Frontier Technology Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Department of Pediatrics, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Institute for Bioinformatics Research and Development (BIRD), Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Japan

Department of Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

Dynamic regulation of the intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration is crucial for various neuronal functions such as synaptic transmission and plasticity, and gene expression. Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) are a family of intracellular calcium release channels that mediate calcium-induced calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum. Among the three RyR isoforms, RyR3 is preferentially expressed in the brain especially in the hippocampus and striatum. To investigate the behavioral effects of RyR3 deficiency, we subjected RyR3 knockout (RyR3−/−) mice to a battery of behavioral tests. RyR3−/− mice exhibited significantly decreased social contact duration in two different social interaction tests, where two mice can freely move and make contacts with each other. They also exhibited hyperactivity and mildly impaired prepulse inhibition and latent inhibition while they did not show significant abnormalities in motor function and working and reference memory tests. These results indicate that RyR3 has an important role in locomotor activity and social behavior.

Keywords:

ryanodine receptor, knockout mouse, behavior, social interaction, schizophrenia, autism

Citation:

Matsuo N, Tanda K, Nakanishi K, Yamasaki N, Toyama K, Takao K, Takeshima H and Miyakawa T (2009). Comprehensive behavioral phenotyping of ryanodine receptor type 3 (RyR3) knockout mice: decreased social contact duration in two social interaction tests. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 3:3. doi: 10.3389/neuro.08.003.2009

Received:

21 January 2009;

Paper pending published:

17 February 2009;

Accepted:

06 April 2009;

Published online:

07 May 2009.

Edited by:

Shigeyoshi Itohara, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan

Reviewed by:

Craig M. Powell, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, USA
Satoshi Kida, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan

© 2009 Matsuo, Tanda, Nakanishi, Yamasaki, Toyama, Takao, Takeshima and Miyakawa. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.

*Correspondence:

Tsuyoshi Miyakawa, Division of Systems Medical Science, Institute for Comprehensive Medical Science, Fujita Health University, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan. e-mail: miyakawa@fujita-hu.ac.jp