CD3 and immunoglobulin G Fc receptor regulate cerebellar functions

The immune and nervous systems display considerable overlap in their molecular repertoire. Molecules originally shown to be critical for immune responses also serve neuronal functions that include normal brain development, neuronal differentiation, synaptic plasticity, and behavior. We show here that Fc gamma RIIB, a low-affinity immunoglobulin G Fc receptor, and CD3 are involved in cerebellar functions. Although membranous CD3 and Fc gamma RIIB are crucial regulators on different cells in the immune system, both CD3 epsilon and Fc gamma RIIB; are expressed on Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. Both CD3 epsilon-deficient mice and Fc gamma RIIB-deficient mice showed an impaired development of Purkinje neurons. In the adult, rotarod performance of these mutant mice was impaired at high speed. In the two knockout mice, enhanced paired-pulse facilitation of parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses was shared. These results indicate that diverse immune molecules play critical roles in the functional establishment in the cerebellum.