title: Rhes is involved in striatal function.
abstract: The development and the function of central nervous system depend on thyroid hormones. In humans, the lack of thyroid hormones causes cretinism, a syndrome of severe mental deficiency. It is assumed that thyroid hormones affect the normal development and function of the brain by activating or suppressing target gene expression because several genes expressed in the brain have been shown to be under thyroid hormone control. Among these, the Rhes gene, encoding a small GTP-binding protein, is predominantly expressed in the striatal region of the brain. To clarify the role of Rhes in vivo, we disrupted the Rhes gene by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells and generated mice homozygous for the Rhes null mutation (Rhes(-/-)). Rhes(-/-) mice were viable but weighed less than wild-type mice. Furthermore, they showed behavioral abnormalities, displaying a gender-dependent increase in anxiety levels and a clear motor coordination deficit but no learning or memory impairment. These results suggest that Rhes disruption affects selected behavioral competencies.
authors.affiliation: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spano
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Branchi
authors.forename: Annamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosica
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pirro
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riccio
authors.forename: Pratibha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mithbaokar
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Affuso
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arra
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Campolongo
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Terracciano
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Macchia
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bernal
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alleva
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Lauro
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety; D001835:Body Weight; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005260:Female; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; C488189:Rasd2 protein, mouse