SLC9A9 mutations, gene expression, and protein-protein interactions in rat models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2011 Dec;156B(7):835-43. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.b.31229. Epub 2011 Aug 19.

Abstract

SLC9A9 (solute carrier family 9, member 9, also known as Na+/H+ exchanger member (NHE9)) is a membrane protein that regulates the luminal pH of the recycling endosome, an essential organelle for synaptic transmission and plasticity. SLC9A9 has been implicated in human attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and in rat studies of hyperactivity. We examined the SLC9A9 gene sequence and expression profile in prefrontal cortex, dorsal striatum and hippocampus in two genetic rat models of ADHD. We report two mutations in a rat model of inattentive ADHD, the WKY/NCrl rat, which affect the interaction of SLC9A9 with calcineurin homologous protein (CHP). We observed an age-dependent abnormal expression of SLC9A9 in brains of this inattentive model and in the Spontaneous Hypertensive Rat (SHR) model of ADHD. Our data suggest a novel mechanism whereby SLC9A9 sequence variants and abnormalities in gene expression could contribute to the ADHD-like symptoms of rat models and possibly the pathophysiology of ADHD in humans.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / genetics*
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / metabolism*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Immunoprecipitation
  • Mutation / genetics*
  • Protein Binding / genetics
  • Protein Interaction Maps / genetics*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Mutant Strains
  • Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers / genetics*
  • Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers / metabolism
  • Synaptophysin / genetics

Substances

  • Slc9a9 protein, rat
  • Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers
  • Synaptophysin