IBCN   20355
INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA CELULAR Y NEUROCIENCIA "PROFESOR EDUARDO DE ROBERTIS"
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
From axonal transport to physiology. Neuronal specific dependence for Kif5b, an ubiquitous molecular motor
Autor/es:
CROMBERG, L E; SAEZ, TMM; OTERO, M G; POZO DEVOTO, V M; ALLOATTI, M; FALZONE, TL
Reunión:
Congreso; XXIX Annual Meeting SAN; 2014
Resumen:
The molecular motor family kif5 transport cargos such as app, mitochondria and ion channels, along
the axon to the synapses. Many studies have focus on its molecular properties, although its role in
neuron function and physiology remains unclear. Because Kif5b knockout mice are lethal, we deleted
kif5b from neurons using a conditional cre strategy to achieve a better comprehension of the relevance
of kif5b in neuronal physiology. Mice with kif5b alleles flanked by loxp sequences and expressing cre
recombinase under the nestin promoter were generated. Surprisingly, kif5b conditional knockout
mice were viable, showed similar brain volume and have no apparent phenotype. Interestingly, their
locomotor response was impaired showing less covered distance and more pauses in an open field
assay. To test for locomotors impairments associated with fine coordination we perform a rotarod
test. During the first trials knockout mice showed higher number of fallings although they reach a
normal performance at the last trial. To test whether locomotor coordination defects were induced
by compromised nigrostriatal neurons we conditionally deleted kif5b from dopaminergic neurons.
Contrary to what we expected locomotor ability was not impaired neither in the open field or the
rotarod assay. Taken together, these results suggest the presence of specific neuron dependence for
kif5b and support the interesting possibility that dopaminergic neuronal pathways are not affected by
kif5b deletion.