| 概要： |
The discovery that neurogenesis occurs in the adult hippocampus has attracted considerable attention, yet its function remains unclear. Initial theories about the role of adult neurogenesis implicated the production of new neurons in spatial-working memory and anxiety-related behaviour.
To study the function of adult neurogenesis, we used a stock of outbred mice and performed a genetic mapping experiment. The stock is descended from eight inbred progenitor strains, and genetic mapping with 12,000 markers has identified more than 800 quantitative trait loci (QTLs), mapped to an average resolution of 3 Mb. Furthermore, loci contributing to transcript abundance in the hippocampus (expression QTLs, (eQTLs)) have been mapped, potentially providing a powerful resource for the identification of genes. Here we exploit the phenotypic, genetic and transcript information available for the HS to investigate the function of adult neurogenesis.
We found a phenotypic correlation between neurogenesis and a T-cell phenotype, the CD4/CD8 ratio. Genetic mapping indicated that genetic effects on neurogenesis also influence the CD4/CD8 ratio on several chromosomes. We confirmed this by measuring hippocampal neurogenesis level in T cell mutant mice. Our results point to a new function for adult neurogenesis.
S. Arnold*, and G-J. Huang* et al., (2008). Genes and Development 22(18):2479-84 (*equal contribution)
D. Keays, G. Tian, K. Poirier, G-J. Huang, et al., (2007). Cell 128(1):45-57
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