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Mbnl2 loss alters novel context processing and impairs object recognition memory.
Abinash Khandelwal1, Jesse Cushman2, Jongkyu Choi1
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Iscience
|May 22, 2023
Summary
Myotonic dystrophy type I (DM1) patients exhibit memory deficits. Inactivating MBNL2 in mice impairs object recognition memory and alters hippocampal gene expression, suggesting a link to DM1-associated cognitive dysfunction.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Myotonic dystrophy type I (DM1) is associated with visuospatial and memory impairments.
- In DM1, CUG expansion RNAs inactivate muscleblind-like (MBNL) proteins, crucial for cellular regulation.
- The precise mechanisms linking MBNL protein dysfunction to cognitive deficits in DM1 remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of MBNL2 in object recognition memory and hippocampal function.
- To determine if Mbnl2 inactivation in mice recapitulates cognitive deficits observed in DM1 patients.
- To explore the molecular and transcriptomic changes in the hippocampus following Mbnl2 inactivation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized constitutive Mbnl2 knockout (Mbnl2-/-) mice.
- Assessed object recognition memory using the novel object recognition test.
- Analyzed hippocampal transcriptomic alterations and pathway enrichment during novel context exploration.
Main Results:
- Mbnl2-/- mice exhibited selective impairment in object recognition memory.
- Exploration of a novel context by Mbnl2-/- mice showed a lack of enrichment for learning/memory pathways in the dorsal hippocampus.
- Transcriptome alterations in Mbnl2-/- dorsal hippocampus predicted impaired growth, neuron viability, and implicated genes in tauopathy and dementia.
Conclusions:
- Constitutive Mbnl2 inactivation selectively impairs object recognition memory.
- MBNL2 deficiency disrupts hippocampal processing of novel contexts, impacting learning and memory pathways.
- These findings suggest MBNL2 inactivation contributes to cognitive deficits in DM1 by altering hippocampal function and potentially promoting neurodegenerative pathways.
Keywords:
Biological sciencesMolecular biologyMolecular mechanism of gene regulationNeuroscienceTranscriptomicsMore Related Videos
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