Deficit in emotional learning in neurotrimin knockout mice

Neurotrimin (Ntm) belongs to the IgLON family of cell adhesion molecules with Lsamp, Obcam and kilon that regulate the outgrowth of neurites mostly by forming heterodimers. IgLONs have been associated with psychiatric disorders, intelligence, body weight, heart disease and tumours. This study provides an initial behavioural and pharmacological characterization of the phenotype of Ntm-deficient mice. We expected to see at least some overlap with the phenotype of Lsamp-deficient mice as Ntm and Lsamp are the main interaction partners in the IgLON family and are colocalized in some brain regions. However, Ntm-deficient mice displayed none of the deviations in behaviour that we have previously shown in Lsamp-deficient mice, but differently from Lsamp-deficient mice, had a deficit in emotional learning in the active avoidance task. The only overlap was decreased sensitivity to the locomotor stimulating effect of amphetamine in both knockout models. Thus, despite being interaction partners, on the behavioural level Lsamp seems to play a much more central role than Ntm and the roles of these two proteins seem to be complementary rather than overlapping.