title: Comprehensive behavioral phenotyping of calpastatin-knockout mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Calpastatin is an endogenous inhibitor of calpain, intracellular calcium-activated protease. It has been suggested to be involved in molecular mechanisms of long-term plasticity and excitotoxic pathways. However, functions of calpastatin in vivo are still largely unknown. To examine the physiological roles of calpastatin, we subjected calpastatin-knockout mice to a comprehensive behavioral test battery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Calpastatin-knockout mice showed decreased locomotor activity under stressful environments, and decreased acoustic startle response, but we observed no significant change in hippocampus-dependent memory function.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that calpastatin is likely to be more closely associated with affective rather than cognitive aspects of brain function.
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Saitama, Japan. RNakajima@dal.ca
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Keizo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takao
authors.forename: Shu-Ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.forename: Nobuhisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyakawa
authors.forename: Takaomi C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Saido
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000378:metabolism; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology; D018782:Maze Learning; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D010641:Phenotype; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology; D045442:Rotarod Performance Test; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000502:physiology; D012919:Social Behavior; D013550:Swimming
chemical_list: D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; C033668:calpastatin