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BDNF variant linked to anxiety‐related behaviors
Author(s) -
Hashimoto Kenji
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.20534
Subject(s) - neurotrophic factors , brain derived neurotrophic factor , hippocampal formation , anxiety , single nucleotide polymorphism , snp , psychology , allele , gene , tropomyosin receptor kinase b , genetics , neurotrophin , methionine , biology , neuroscience , genotype , psychiatry , amino acid , receptor
Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is the most‐abundant neurotrophin in the brain. In mammals, it is synthesized as a precursor called proBDNF, which is proteolytically cleaved to generate mature BDNF. The BDNF gene is located on chromosome 11p13, and a functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of this gene has been shown to produce a valine (Val)‐to‐methionine (Met) substitution in the proBDNF protein at codon 66 (Val66Met). Several papers suggest that this SNP is related to decreased hippocampal volume and hippocampus‐mediated memory performance in humans. Recently, Chen et al.1 generated a variant BDNF mouse (BDNF Met/Met ) that reproduces the phenotypic hallmarks in humans with a variant Met allele. In the behavioral analysis, BDNF Met/Met mice show increased anxiety‐related behaviors. This mini‐review examines the impact of Met substitution of proBDNF on anxiety‐related behaviors. BioEssays 29: 116–119, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.