J. Flint et R. Corley, DO ANIMAL-MODELS HAVE A PLACE IN THE GENETIC-ANALYSIS OF QUANTITATIVEHUMAN BEHAVIORAL TRAITS, Journal of molecular medicine, 74(9), 1996, pp. 515-521
Citations number
56
Categorie Soggetti
Medical Laboratory Technology","Genetics & Heredity
It seems that the genetic basis of common psychiatric diseases such as
schizophrenia and manic-depressive psychosis is amenable to the genet
ic mapping strategies that have been successful in other complex disor
ders such as diabetes. The next challenge is the genetic dissection of
quantitative behavioural traits such as mood, personality and intelli
gence. Quantitative traits pose new problems for gene cloning experime
nts. We argue that one way forward is by using animal models. One of t
he features of quantitative traits is that the DNA sequence variants w
hich are responsible for them are unlikely to be immediately recogniza
ble. In contrast to many qualitative traits where a discrete phenotypi
c difference is often the consequence of an inactivating mutation, the
allelic variation responsible for quantitative traits probably has a
more subtle basis. This distinction means that strategies to clone the
genetic basis of quantitative behavioural traits will have to rely on
functional assays of alleles thought to be important in determining t
he phenotype. We suggest that an efficient strategy for detecting sequ
ences that give rise to quantitative behavioural traits can be devised
in the mouse. The importance and utility of the mouse for quantitativ
e trait analysis make it worthwhile to investigate mouse models of hum
an behaviour; these advantages outweigh the difficulties that arise in
attempts to validate the animal models. As an example we review the e
vidence that validates rodent emotionality as an animal model for susc
eptibility to human anxiety. We show that there is good evidence that
rodent emotionality is a central nervous system state with a genetic b
asis, and that there are neuropharmacological and neuroanatomical para
llels with human anxiety. Furthermore, our own work has shown that the
genetic basis of the trait is relatively simple, and that the task of
characterizing it at a molecular level is feasible. We expect that fu
ture experiments will show us how genetic variation gives rise to quan
titative behavioural traits.