Phenotypic analysis of mice deficient in the type 2 galanin receptor (GALR2)
Date
2005-06Author
Weinshenker, David
Hohmann, John G.
Steiner, Robert A.
Clifton, Donald K.
Gottsch, Michelle L.
Zeng, Hongkui
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Galanin is a neuropeptide implicated in the regulation of feeding,
reproduction, cognition, nociception, and seizure susceptibility. There
are three known galanin receptor (GALR) subtypes (GALR1, GALR2, and
GALR3), which bind to galanin with different affinities and have their own
unique distributions, signaling mechanisms, and putative functions in the
brain and peripheral nervous system. To gain further insight into the
possible physiological significance of GALR2, we created mutant mice that
were deficient in GALR2 and compared their phenotype to that of wild-type
(WT) littermate or age-matched controls, with respect to basic motor and
sensory function, feeding behavior, reproduction, mood, learning and
memory, and seizure susceptibility. Phenotypic analysis revealed that
animals bearing a deletion of GALR2 did not differ significantly from
their WT controls in any of the measured variables. We conclude that
either GALR2 plays no role in these physiological functions or through
redundancy or compensation these mutant animals can adapt to the
congenital absence of GALR2. It is also conceivable that GALR2 plays only
a subtle role in some of these functions and that the impact of its loss
could not be detected by the analytical procedures used here.