Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026
Transient Expression of Proteins by Hydrodynamic Gene Delivery in Mice
Published on: May 5, 2014
Phenotypic Insights Into Anti-IgLON5 Disease in IgLON5-Deficient Mice
Sin Yi Lee1, Hirotaka Shoji1, Aki Shimozawa1
1From the Department of Neurology (S.Y.L., H.M., K.O., K.S., J.N.), Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo; Division of Systems Medical Science (H.S., T.M.), Center for Medical Science, Fujita Health University, Toyoake; Eisai-Keio Innovation Laboratory for Dementia (A.S., H.A., Y.S., M.T., J.K.), Human Biology Integration, DHBL, Eisai Co., Ltd., Shinjuku-ku; Proteome Homeostasis Research Unit (K.T.), RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Yokohama; Department of Neurology (H.M.), The Jikei University School of Medicine; and Department of Physiology/Memory Center (D.I.), Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Background And Objectives:
Anti-IgLON5 disease is an autoimmune neurodegenerative disorder characterized by various phenotypes, notably sleep and movement disorders and tau pathology. Although the disease is known to be associated with the neuronal cell adhesion protein IgLON5, the physiologic function of IgLON5 remains elusive. There are conflicting views on whether autoantibodies cause loss of function, activation of IgLON5, or inflammation-associated neuronal damage, ultimately leading to the disease. We generated IgLON5 knockout (-/-) mice to investigate the functions of IgLON5 and elucidate the pathomechanism of anti-IgLON5 disease.
Methods:
IgLON5 knockout (-/-) mice underwent behavioral tests investigating motor function, psychiatric function (notably anxiety and depression), social and exploratory behaviors, spatial learning and memory, and sensory perception. Histologic analysis was conducted to investigate tau aggregation in mice with tauopathy.
Results:
IgLON5-/- mice had poorer performance in the wire hang and rotarod tests (which are tests for motor function) than wild-type mice. Moreover, IgLON5-/- mice exhibited decreased anxiety-like behavior and/or hyperactivity in behavior tests, including light/dark transition test and open field test. IgLON5-/- mice also exhibited poorer remote memory in the contextual fear conditioning test. However, neither sleeping disabilities assessed by EEG nor tau aggregation was detected in the knockout mice.
Discussion:
These results suggest that IgLON5 is associated with activity, anxiety, motor ability, and contextual fear memory. Comparing the various phenotypes of anti-IgLON5 disease, anti-IgLON5 disease might partially be associated with loss of function of IgLON5; however, other phenotypes, such as sleep disorders and tau aggregation, can be caused by gain of function of IgLON5 and/or neuronal damage due to inflammation. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of IgLON5 in the pathogenesis of anti-IgLON5 diseases.
