| First Author | Motro B | Year | 1996 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 93 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 1808-13 |
| PubMed ID | 8700840 | Mgi Jnum | J:32130 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:79635 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.93.5.1808 |
| Citation | Motro B, et al. (1996) Steel mutant mice are deficient in hippocampal learning but not long-term potentiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 93(5):1808-13 |
| abstractText | Mice carrying mutations in either the dominant white-spotting (W) or Steel (Sl) loci exhibit deficits in melanogenesis, gametogenesis, and hematopoiesis. W encodes the Kit receptor tyrosine kinase, while Sl encodes the Kit ligand, Steel factor, and the receptor-ligand pair are contiguously expressed at anatomical sites expected from the phenotypes of W and Sl mice. The c-kit and Steel genes are also both highly expressed in the adult murine hippocampus: Steel is expressed in dentate gyrus neurons whose mossy fiber axons synapse with the c-kit expressing CA3 pyramidal neurons. We report here that Sl/Sld mutant mice have a specific deficit in spatial learning. These mutant mice are also deficient in baseline synaptic transmission between the dentate gyrus and CA3 but show normal long-term potentiation in this pathway. These observations demonstrate a role for Steel factor/Kit signaling in the adult nervous system and suggest that a severe deficit in hippocampal-dependent learning need not be associated with reduced hippocampal long-term potentiation. |
