A recent study has discovered a direct link between the protein p53 and autism-like behaviors in mice, revealing its key role in managing communicative abilities, repetitive movements, and learning and memory linked to the hippocampus. New findings reveal a link between the gene encoding the TP53 protein and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorder.
The researchers confirmed that the protein p53 plays a crucial role in managing sociability, repetitive behaviors, and learning and memory related to the hippocampus in mice. This discovery reveals a link between the gene encoding the TP53 protein and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorder.
"This study is the first to show that p53 is directly related to autism-like behaviors," said Nien-Pei Tsai, associate professor of molecular and integrative biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, led by Professors Nianpei Cai (right) and Kwan Young Lee, have determined that the protein p53 is critical for regulating sociability, repetitive behaviors, and hippocampus-related learning and memory in mice, revealing a relationship between the protein-coding gene TP53 and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. Source: University of Illinois/L. Brian Staver
In living systems, genes are like biological versions of binary code, using the letters A, C, G and T instead of ones and zeros to spell out the cell's marching orders. Some genes, called coding genes, instruct cells to make proteins with specific functions. For example, the TP53 gene instructs cells to make the protein p53; its job is to regulate how other genes are expressed.
In this study, Tsai and colleagues reduced p53 levels in the hippocampus of mice and looked for changes in gene expression associated with behavior. They observed that reduced p53 levels promoted repetitive behaviors in mice, reduced the mice's sociability, and impaired hippocampus-dependent learning and memory, especially in male mice.
The researchers also observed elevated p53 levels following periods of active communication between hippocampal neurons, known as long-term potentials. Flexible neuronal firing, called plasticity, is associated with positive learning and memory outcomes.
Nien-Pei Tsai, a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, led a research team that identified the protein p53 as critical for regulating sociability, repetitive behaviors, and hippocampus-related learning and memory in mice, revealing a link between the protein-coding gene TP53 and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorder. Source: School of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
In a 2018 study, Tsai and colleagues discovered that p53 is a key protein involved in irregular brain cell activity in autism spectrum disorders and epilepsy. In future studies, they aim to explore how p53 coordinates the expression of genes associated with autism to guide behavior.