Olfactory behavior and physiology are disrupted in prion protein knockout mice

• Published in: Nature neuroscience Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 60 - 69
• Main Authors: Le Pichon, Claire E, Valley, Matthew T, Polymenidou, Magdalini, Chesler, Alexander T, Sagdullaev, Botir T, Aguzzi, Adriano, Firestein, Stuart
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.01.2009; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Action Potentials; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animals; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Behavioral Sciences; Biological Techniques; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Dendrites - physiology; Health aspects; Mice; Mice, Congenic; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Mice, Transgenic; Neurobiology; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons - metabolism; Neurosciences; Olfaction Disorders - psychology; Olfactory Bulb - metabolism; Olfactory Bulb - physiology; Olfactory cortex; Phenotype; Physiological aspects; Prion Proteins; Prions; Prions - genetics; Prions - physiology; PrPC Proteins - metabolism; PrPC Proteins - physiology; Respiration; Smell - physiology; Synaptic Transmission - physiology; United States

The normal physiological function of the prion protein PrP C remains unknown. Here, the authors report that PrP knockout mice show altered behavior in two olfactory tasks and that PrP deficiency affects oscillatory activity in the olfactory bulb. Both the behavioral and electrophysiological phenotyp...