Functional analysis of microtubule regulating factors in filial imprinting

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Birds have a diverse behavioral repertoire and are thus ideal models for experimental analyses of neural and behavioral plasticity. The domestic chick has been intensively studied as a model for filial imprinting. To elucidate the molecular processes underlying the neural mechanism of filial imprinting in newly-hatched chicks more extensively, we previously conducted a cDNA microarray and the quantitative RT-PCR study. One of the genes was microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), which is involved in cytoskeletal organization. The levels of MAP2 transcripts and proteins were increased in the mesopallium and the hippocampus after imprinting training. Here, we used in vivo gene-transfer technique we have originally developed and showed that transfected microRNA vectors preferentially silence exogenous DNA expression in neuronal cells. Using this system, the up-regulation of MAP2 accompanying filial imprinting was suppressed in vivo, which impaired the filial imprinting in chicks. Our results suggest that the regulation of MAP2 expression is required for filial imprinting.