Wehner J M, Bowers B J, Paylor R
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309, USA.
Behav Genet. 1996 May;26(3):301-12. doi: 10.1007/BF02359386.
A number of neural substrates have been proposed to mediate complex learning and memory processes in mammalian organisms. One strategy for testing the involvement of a particular gene in learning and memory is to create a mouse line with a null mutation in that gene. Recently, embryonic stem cell-based gene-targeted homologous recombination techniques have been employed to create a number of such mutant mouse lines that do not express interesting candidate genes. These animals have been examined for impairments in several complex learning paradigms which are known to depend on the integrity of the hippocampus. In this review several complex learning and memory paradigms are described, the techniques to create null mutants are reviewed, and the results of recent studies with null mutants are described. Finally, the limitations for interpretation of behavioral data using null mutants are discussed.
已有多种神经基质被提出用于介导哺乳动物机体中的复杂学习和记忆过程。测试特定基因在学习和记忆中的作用的一种策略是创建该基因发生无效突变的小鼠品系。最近，基于胚胎干细胞的基因靶向同源重组技术已被用于创建许多这样不表达感兴趣候选基因的突变小鼠品系。这些动物已在几种已知依赖海马体完整性的复杂学习范式中接受了损伤检查。在这篇综述中，描述了几种复杂学习和记忆范式，回顾了创建无效突变体的技术，并描述了最近对无效突变体的研究结果。最后，讨论了使用无效突变体解释行为数据的局限性。
