| First Author | Clipperton-Allen AE | Year | 2021 |
| Journal | Genes (Basel) | Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 9 | PubMed ID | 34573348 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:340341 | Mgi Id | MGI:7430881 |
| Doi | 10.3390/genes12091366 | Citation | Clipperton-Allen AE, et al. (2021) Environmental Enrichment Rescues Social Behavioral Deficits and Synaptic Abnormalities in Pten Haploinsufficient Mice. Genes (Basel) 12(9) |
| abstractText | Pten germline haploinsufficient (Pten(+/-)) mice, which model macrocephaly/autism syndrome, show social and repetitive behavior deficits, early brain overgrowth, and cortical-subcortical hyperconnectivity. Previous work indicated that altered neuronal connectivity may be a substrate for behavioral deficits. We hypothesized that exposing Pten(+/-) mice to environmental enrichment after brain overgrowth has occurred may facilitate adaptation to abnormal "hard-wired" connectivity through enhancing synaptic plasticity. Thus, we reared Pten(+/-) mice and their wild-type littermates from weaning under either standard (4-5 mice per standard-sized cage, containing only bedding and nestlet) or enriched (9-10 mice per large-sized cage, containing objects for exploration and a running wheel, plus bedding and nestlet) conditions. Adult mice were tested on social and non-social assays in which Pten(+/-) mice display deficits. Environmental enrichment rescued sex-specific deficits in social behavior in Pten(+/-) mice and partially rescued increased repetitive behavior in Pten(+/-) males. We found that Pten(+/-) mice show increased excitatory and decreased inhibitory pre-synaptic proteins; this phenotype was also rescued by environmental enrichment. Together, our results indicate that environmental enrichment can rescue social behavioral deficits in Pten(+/-) mice, possibly through normalizing the excitatory synaptic protein abundance. |
