Brain Protein Linked to Mental Retardation

Their findings were published in the February 18, 2003, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Investigators from the Oregon Health and Science University (Portland, USA; www.ohsu.edu) genetically engineered mice so that production of WAVE-1 was disrupted. These mice demonstrated reduced anxiety, sensorimotor retardation, and deficits in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory. These sensorimotor and cognitive deficits were analogous to the symptoms of human patients with 3p-syndrome mental retardation, who are deficient for WRP/MEGAP, a component of the WAVE-1 signaling network.

"WAVE-1 is a very important protein involved in brain cell communication,” explained senior author Dr. John Scott, a senior scientist in the Oregon Health and Science University's Vollum Institute. "The protein acts like a scaffolding that supports the lines of communication between different parts of the cell.”




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