Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Pivot Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Target Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Query: UMLS:C0004352 (
autism
)
32,579
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
During postnatal neurodevelopment, excessive synapses must be eliminated by microglia to complete the establishment of neural circuits in the brain. The lack of synaptic regulation by microglia has been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders such as
autism
, schizophrenia, and intellectual disability. Here we suggest that
vaccinia-related kinase 2
(
VRK2
), which is expressed in microglia, may stimulate synaptic elimination by microglia. In
VRK2
-deficient mice (
VRK2
KO
), reduced numbers of presynaptic puncta within microglia were observed. Moreover, the numbers of presynaptic puncta and synapses were abnormally increased in
VRK2
KO
mice by the second postnatal week. These differences did not persist into adulthood. Even though an increase in the number of synapses was normalized, adult
VRK2
KO
mice showed behavioral defects in social behaviors, contextual fear memory, and spatial memory.
...
PMID:Vaccinia-related kinase 2 plays a critical role in microglia-mediated synapse elimination during neurodevelopment. 3105 55
