Expression of dominant negative cadherin in the adult mouse brain modifies rearing behavior

The cadherin superfamily of cell-cell adhesion molecules (CAM) are crucial regulators of morphogenesis and axonal guidance during development of the nervous system and have been suggested to play important roles in neural plasticity of the brain. To study the latter, we created a mouse model that expressed a dominant negative classical cadherin in the brain of adult mice. The mice were tested for spontaneous motor activity and exploratory behavior in the open field, anxiety in the plus-maze, and spatial learning and memory in the water-T maze. Mice expressing the dominant negative cadherin displayed reduced rearing behavior, but no change in motor activity, in the open field, indicating deficits in exploratory behavior. In the water maze, animals expressing the mutant cadherin showed normal escape latencies and were indistinguishable from control littermates. Similarly, LTP in hippocampal slices of cadherin mutant and control mice were indistinguishable. These findings demonstrate intact spatial learning in mice expressing a dominant negative cadherin but altered rearing behavior, suggesting the involvement of classical cadherins in mechanisms mediating rearing behavior.