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Vaccinia‐related kinase 2 plays a critical role in microglia‐mediated synapse elimination during neurodevelopment
Author(s) -
Lee Juhyun,
Lee Seunghyun,
Ryu YoungJae,
Lee Dohyun,
Kim Sangjune,
Seo JiYoung,
Oh Eunji,
Paek Sun Ha,
Kim Seung U.,
Ha ChangMan,
Choi SeYoung,
Kim KyongTai
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
glia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.954
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1098-1136
pISSN - 0894-1491
DOI - 10.1002/glia.23638
Subject(s) - microglia , neuroscience , synaptic pruning , autism , synapse , biology , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , vaccinia , biological neural network , cofilin , immunology , psychology , psychiatry , cell , gene , actin cytoskeleton , inflammation , biochemistry , recombinant dna , genetics , cytoskeleton
During postnatal neurodevelopment, excessive synapses must be eliminated by microglia to complete the establishment of neural circuits in the brain. The lack of synaptic regulation by microglia has been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, and intellectual disability. Here we suggest that vaccinia‐related kinase 2 (VRK2), which is expressed in microglia, may stimulate synaptic elimination by microglia. In VRK2‐deficient mice (VRK2 KO ), reduced numbers of presynaptic puncta within microglia were observed. Moreover, the numbers of presynaptic puncta and synapses were abnormally increased in VRK2 KO mice by the second postnatal week. These differences did not persist into adulthood. Even though an increase in the number of synapses was normalized, adult VRK2 KO mice showed behavioral defects in social behaviors, contextual fear memory, and spatial memory.