Mice that can't relate to people....

Pten Regulates Neuronal Arborization and Social Interaction in Mice:

...PTEN mutations in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have also been reported, although a causal link between PTEN and ASD remains unclear. In the present study, we deleted Pten in limited differentiated neuronal populations in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of mice. Resulting mutant mice showed abnormal social interaction and exaggerated responses to sensory stimuli...Thus, our data suggest that abnormal activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway in specific neuronal populations can underlie macrocephaly and behavioral abnormalities reminiscent of certain features of human ASD.

A Eureka Alert press release is more digestible. Standard caveats and grains of salt need to be taken, but if you throw enough darts at a dart board, you'll hit bullseye eventually.

Tags

More like this

(This is an intro to a n upcoming entry.) When I was an undergrad, working in a lab at McGill, my then boss Morag Park would joke that Phosphoinositides were at the center of the universe.
There are 11 new articles in PLoS ONE today.
Researchers On The Path To Building Bone:
I've been really busy of late. Over the summer I have been mentoring two students, Gloria who sadly left us for Danesh Moazed's lab (a great choice if you ask me) and Lesley who will be leaving next week to work in a lab at Duke.

Actually, it's mice that can't relate to other mice.

Too bad I don't have time to write about this study this week. Maybe next week.

How did the "autistic" mice respond to each other? I'm sure in mammals there is something similar to generic "social response," but this needs to be separated from the behavior that causes gorillas not to "interact socially" with kittens (Koko notwithstanding) or other "Others."