1. Thyrotropin receptor signaling deficiency impairs spatial learning and memory in mice
- Author
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Xu Hou, Jie Jiang, Zhanbin Li, Li Peng, Shulong Shi, Si-si Luan, Jiajun Zhao, Ling Gao, Wen-kai Bi, Zhao He, and Yifeng Du
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,endocrine system ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Dendritic spine ,endocrine system diseases ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,Spatial Learning ,Hippocampus ,030209 endocrinology & metabolism ,Biology ,Thyrotropin receptor ,Mice ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cognition ,0302 clinical medicine ,Endocrinology ,Memory ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Receptor ,Brain ,Receptors, Thyrotropin ,eye diseases ,030104 developmental biology ,Knockout mouse ,Excitatory postsynaptic potential ,Signal transduction ,hormones, hormone substitutes, and hormone antagonists ,Hormone - Abstract
Subclinical hyperthyroidism, a condition characterized by decreased thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and normal concentration of thyroid hormone, is associated with an elevated risk for cognitive impairment. TSH is the major endogenous ligand of the TSH receptor (TSHR) and its role is dependent on signal transduction of TSHR. It has not, however, been established whether TSHR signaling is involved in the regulation of cognition. Here, we utilized Tshr knockout mice and found that Tshr deletion led to significantly compromised performance in learning and memory tests. Reduced dendritic spine density and excitatory synaptic density as well as altered synaptic structure in CA1 subfield of the hippocampus were also noted. Furthermore, the synapse-related gene expression was altered in the hippocampus of Tshr -/- mice. These findings suggest that TSHR signaling deficiency impairs spatial learning and memory, which discloses a novel role of TSHR signaling in brain function.
- Published
- 2020