Cited by 92Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchGenetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Sociability Deficits and Altered Amygdala Circuits in Mice Lacking Pcdh10, an Autism Associated Gene

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Abstract

Background Behavioral symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been attributed to abnormal neuronal connectivity, but the molecular bases of these behavioral and brain phenotypes are largely unknown. Human genetic studies have implicated PCDH10, a member of the δ2 subfamily of nonclustered protocadherin genes, in ASD. PCDH10 expression is enriched in the basolateral amygdala, a brain region implicated in the social deficits of ASD. Previous reports indicate that Pcdh10 plays a role in axon outgrowth and glutamatergic synapse elimination, but its roles in social behaviors and amygdala neuronal connectivity are unknown. We hypothesized that haploinsufficiency of Pcdh10 would reduce social approach behavior and alter the structure and function of amygdala circuits. Methods Mice lacking one copy of Pcdh10 (Pcdh10+/-) and wild-type littermates were assessed for social approach and other behaviors. The lateral/basolateral amygdala was assessed for dendritic spine number and morphology, and amygdala circuit function was studied using voltage-sensitive dye imaging. Expression of Pcdh10 and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) subunits was assessed in postsynaptic density fractions of the amygdala. Results Male Pcdh10+/- mice have reduced social approach behavior, as well as impaired gamma synchronization, abnormal spine morphology, and reduced levels of NMDAR subunits in the amygdala. Social approach deficits in Pcdh10+/- male mice were rescued with acute treatment with the NMDAR partial agonist d-cycloserine. Conclusions Our studies reveal that male Pcdh10+/- mice have synaptic and behavioral deficits, and establish Pcdh10+/- mice as a novel genetic model for investigating neural circuitry and behavioral changes relevant to ASD.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.06.008

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  • Vehicle-treated mice exhibited behavior statistically equivalent to historical never-injected control mice for social preference at ~PN30 and 24 hr fear memory at ~PN60.

    “veh-treated mice exhibited behavior statistically equivalent to historical data of ours with mice that were undisturbed as neonates (no neonatal injection)”

    From Excess Neonatal Testosterone Causes Male-Specific Social and Fear Memory Deficits in Wild-Type Mice (2025) · cites this paper as Schoch et al., 2017

    The Methods and Materials > Behavior section describes social-approach testing at 28–32 days and a separate cohort injected with saline or d-cycloserine 30 minutes before testing. Our copy does not report a statistical comparison with historical never-injected mice, neonatal vehicle injections, or 24-hour fear memory at approximately PN60 (searched those terms and their paraphrases). (LLM, conf=0.77)

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  1. [47]Verbeke G Molenberghs G Linear mixed models for longitudinal data Springer series in statistics 2000 568

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Authors
Schoch, H., Kreibich, A. S., Ferri, S. L., White, R. S., Bohorquez, D., Banerjee, A., Port, R. G., Dow, H. C., Cordero, L., Pallathra, A. A., Kim, H., Li, H., Bilker, W. B., Hirano, S., Schultz, R. T., Borgmann-Winter, K., Hahn, C.-G., Feldmeyer, D., Carlson, G. C., Abel, T., & Brodkin, E. S.
Affiliations
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
  • Kansai Medical University (JP)
  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
  • Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
Corresponding author
Brodkin, Edward S.
Venue
Biological Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-02
Volume
81
Issue
3
Pages
193-202
ISSN
0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2433184682
Cited by
92
References
82
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 2
FWCI
4.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Pennsylvania Department of Health
  • National Institutes of Health (5t32mh017168-34)
  • Johnson and Johnson
  • National Institute of Mental Health (P50MH096891, R01MH080718, T32 MH-017168)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (T32NS007413)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords
PCDH10, autism spectrum disorder, social approach behavior, social dysfunction, basolateral amygdala, dendritic spines, NMDA receptor subunits, gamma oscillations, D-cycloserine, haploinsufficiency, mouse model, glutamatergic synapses, neuronal connectivity
MeSH terms
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Protocadherins, Amygdala, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Disease Models, Animal, Electric Stimulation, Female, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Mutant Strains, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Social Behavior, Vocalization, Animal, Cadherins, Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate, Dendritic Spines, Mice, Haploinsufficiency, Post-Synaptic Density, Gamma Rhythm

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