Gene expression profiling in brain regions of a rat model displaying schizophrenia-related features

Animal models allow insights into complex neurodevelopmental disorders. Apomorphine-susceptible rats (so-called APO-SUS rats) provide a model that displays a complex phenotype with schizophrenia-related features and together with its phenotypic counterpart (APO-UNSUS rats) has been independently generated twice (original and replicate rat lines). To understand the molecular basis underlying this phenotype, we here performed mRNA expression profiling in various APO-SUS and APO-UNSUS rat brain regions. The expression of only the previously reported Aph-1b and the newly discovered KCnIP1 (a member of the potassium channel-interacting protein family that is known to modulate neuronal channel activity) was significantly different in the APO-SUS and APO-UNSUS rats from both the original and replicate rat lines. Thus, KCnIP1 may constitute a novel candidate gene playing a role in the complex phenotype of the APO-SUS/APO-UNSUS rat model and further studies on this gene are warranted.