title: Spatial learning is unimpaired in mice containing a deletion of the alpha-synuclein locus.
abstract: Alpha-synuclein belongs to a family of structurally related proteins expressed highly in the brain and is the major component of filamentous deposits present in a range of neurodegenerative diseases (synucleinopathies). It has been implicated in learning and memory, yet the physiological role of this protein is still unclear. It was recently found that a subpopulation of C57BL/6J mice carries a chromosomal deletion of the alpha-synuclein locus, often unknown to the experimenter. As genetically engineered mice are often backcrossed with C57BL/6J animals for learning and memory experiments, we studied the importance of alpha-synuclein in spatial learning tasks by examining the performance of alpha-synuclein-/- mice in the hidden platform reference memory version of the watermaze. Our data show that alpha-synuclein-/- mice had no significant impairment in performance during training or probe trials, compared with wild-type littermates. Therefore, we conclude that alpha-synuclein is not essential for this type of spatial learning.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Philip E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Christian G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Specht
authors.forename: Richard G M
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schoepfer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D018782:Maze Learning; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013037:Spatial Behavior; D051843:Synucleins; D014867:Water; D051844:alpha-Synuclein
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C497605:Snca protein, mouse; D051843:Synucleins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein; D014867:Water