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Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2004, p. 5788-5796, Vol. 24, No. 13
0270-7306/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.13.5788-5796.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Rhes Is Involved in Striatal Function

Daniela Spano,1 Igor Branchi,2 Annamaria Rosica,1 Maria Teresa Pirro,1 Antonio Riccio,1 Pratibha Mithbaokar,1 Andrea Affuso,3 Claudio Arra,3 Patrizia Campolongo,2 Daniela Terracciano,4 Vincenzo Macchia,4 Juan Bernal,5 Enrico Alleva,2 and Roberto Di Lauro1*

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples,1 Section of Behavioural Neurosciences, Dipartimento di Biologia Cellulare e Neuroscienze, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome,2 Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori Pascale, 80131 Naples,3 Dipartimento di Biologia e Patologia Cellulare e Molecolare L. Califano, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, I-80131 Naples, Italy,4 Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, 28029 Madrid, Spain5

Received 1 August 2003/ Returned for modification 16 September 2003/ Accepted 5 April 2004

The development and the function of central nervous system depend on thyroid hormones. In humans, the lack of thyroid hormones causes cretinism, a syndrome of severe mental deficiency. It is assumed that thyroid hormones affect the normal development and function of the brain by activating or suppressing target gene expression because several genes expressed in the brain have been shown to be under thyroid hormone control. Among these, the Rhes gene, encoding a small GTP-binding protein, is predominantly expressed in the striatal region of the brain. To clarify the role of Rhes in vivo, we disrupted the Rhes gene by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells and generated mice homozygous for the Rhes null mutation (Rhes–/–). Rhes–/– mice were viable but weighed less than wild-type mice. Furthermore, they showed behavioral abnormalities, displaying a gender-dependent increase in anxiety levels and a clear motor coordination deficit but no learning or memory impairment. These results suggest that Rhes disruption affects selected behavioral competencies.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy. Phone: 39 081 5833278. Fax: 39 081 5833258. E-mail: rdilauro{at}unina.it.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, July 2004, p. 5788-5796, Vol. 24, No. 13
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.13.5788-5796.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Thapliyal, A., Bannister, R. A., Hanks, C., Adams, B. A. (2008). The monomeric G proteins AGS1 and Rhes selectively influence G{alpha}i-dependent signaling to modulate N-type (CaV2.2) calcium channels. Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol. 295: C1417-C1426 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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