Journal
NATURE
Volume 486, Issue 7402, Pages 261-265Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nature11208
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Categories
Funding
- National Creative Research Initiative Program [2007-0054846]
- WCU [2007-0054846, R31-2008-000-10071-0]
- Institute for Basic Science
- National Research Foundation of Korea [2012-0000812, 2011-0028240]
- National Leading Research Laboratory [2011-0028772]
- BK21 fellowship
- TJ Park Doctoral Fellowship
- National Junior Research Fellowship
- National Research Foundation of Korea [2007-0054846] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of conditions characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviours. ASD is a highly heritable disorder involving various genetic determinants(1). Shank2 (also known as ProSAP1) is a multi-domain scaffolding protein and signalling adaptor enriched at excitatory neuronal synapses(2-4), and mutations in the human SHANK2 gene have recently been associated with ASD and intellectual disability(5). Although ASD-associated genes are being increasingly identified and studied using various approaches, including mouse genetics(6-16), further efforts are required to delineate important causal mechanisms with the potential for therapeutic application. Here we show that Shank2-mutant (Shank2(-/-)) mice carrying a mutation identical to the ASD-associated microdeletion in the human SHANK2 gene exhibit ASD-like behaviours including reduced social interaction, reduced social communication by ultrasonic vocalizations, and repetitive jumping. These mice show a marked decrease in NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) glutamate receptor (NMDAR) function. Direct stimulation of NMDARs with D-cycloserine, a partial agonist of NMDARs, normalizes NMDAR function and improves social interaction in Shank2(-/-) mice. Furthermore, treatment of Shank2(-/-) mice with a positive allosteric modulator of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5), which enhances NMDAR function via mGluR5 activation(17), also normalizes NMDAR function and markedly enhances social interaction. These results suggest that reduced NMDAR function may contribute to the development of ASD-like phenotypes in Shank2(-/-) mice, and mGluR modulation of NMDARs offers a potential strategy to treat ASD.
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