Aberrant outputs of cerebellar nuclei and targeted rescue of social deficits in an autism mouse model.
Protein Cell
; 2024 Jul 27.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39066574
ABSTRACT
The cerebellum is heavily connected with other brain regions, sub-serving not only motor but also non-motor functions. Genetic mutations leading to cerebellar dysfunction are associated with mental diseases, but cerebellar outputs have not been systematically studied in this context. Here, we present three dimensional distributions of 50,168 target neurons of cerebellar nuclei (CN) from wild-type mice and Nlgn3R451C mutant mice, a mouse model for autism. Our results derived from 36 target nuclei show that the projections from CN to thalamus, midbrain and brainstem are differentially affected by Nlgn3R451C mutation. Importantly, Nlgn3R451C mutation altered the innervation power of CNâzona incerta (ZI) pathway, and chemogenetic inhibition of a neuronal subpopulation in the ZI that receives inputs from the CN rescues social defects in Nlgn3R451C mice. Our study highlights potential role of cerebellar outputs in the pathogenesis of autism and provides potential new therapeutic strategy for this disease.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Protein & Cell (Online)
/
Protein Cell
/
Protein Cell (Online)
Journal subject:
BIOQUIMICA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China
Country of publication:
Alemania