Analysis of glycan-related gene manipulated mice as new animal models of mental disease

在本研究中，我们重点研究了糖基转移酶在行为调节中的关键作用。为了揭示这些糖基转移酶与人类精神/神经疾病之间的关系，我们采用了几种基因操纵小鼠，并采用了行为、组织学和生化策略。结果表明：1)与糖蛋白形成相关的基因敲除小鼠表现出焦虑增强和注意/感觉门控障碍。2)与糖脂形成相关的敲除小鼠表现出严重的运动功能障碍和发育迟缓，这可能与轴突紊乱有关。因此，在几种基因操纵小鼠中观察到的这些行为表型在人类精神/神经疾病中具有相似性，我们可以证实这些模型小鼠对理解人类疾病是有用的。

In this study, we focused on the functions of glycosyltransferases that acts as key factors in behavioral regulators. To reveal the relationships between those glycosyltransferases and human mental / neurological disease, we employed several strains of gene mamipulated mice and behavioral, histological and biochemical strategies were used. As result, 1) the knockout mouse related to the glycoprotein formation showed enhanced anxiety and disturbance of attention / sensory gating. 2) the knockout mouse related to the glycolipid formation showed severe motor disfunction and developmental retardation that could be explained by axonal disorganization. Therefore these behavioral phenotypes observed in several gene manipulated mice have similarities in human mental / neurological disease, we could confirm that these model mice are useful for the understanding of human disease.