Alterations of slitrk5a induce OCD-like "checking behaviors" in zebrafish

The six transmembrane SLITRK proteins differentially regulate important aspects of neuronal development and function. Variants in SLITRK5 have been associated with complex neuropsychiatric conditions including obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Slitrk5 knockout mice exhibit overgrooming and anxiety-like behaviors. This study generated slitrk5a zebrafish mutants using CRISPR-Cas9. Alterations in slitrk5a did not affect F ₀ gross embryonic development or anxiety-like behaviors, however, a repetitive, checking behavior was significantly increased in the novel approach test (NAT). This observation in zebrafish supports an emerging association of SLITRK5 sequence alterations with OCD-like repetitive behaviors.