Université de Fribourg

Reduction in parvalbumin expression not loss of the parvalbumin-expressing GABA interneuron subpopulation in genetic parvalbumin and shank mouse models of autism

Filice, Federica ; Vörckel, Karl Jakob ; Sungur, Ayse Özge ; Wöhr, Markus ; Schwaller, Beat

In: Molecular Brain, 2016, vol. 9, p. 10

Background A reduction of the number of parvalbumin (PV)-immunoreactive (PV⁺) GABAergic interneurons or a decrease in PV immunoreactivity was reported in several mouse models of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This includes Shank mutant mice, with SHANK being one of the most important gene families mutated in human ASD. Similar findings were obtained in heterozygous (PV+/-)...

Université de Fribourg

The effect of parvalbumin deficiency on the acoustic startle response and prepulse inhibition in mice

Popelář, Jiří ; Rybalko, Natalia ; Burianová, Jana ; Schwaller, Beat ; Syka, Josef

In: Neuroscience Letters, 2013, vol. 553, p. 216–220

The strength of the acoustic startle response (ASR) to short bursts of broadband noise or tone pips (4, 8 and 16 kHz) and the prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the ASR elicited by prepulse tones (4, 8 and 16 kHz) were measured in parvalbumin-deficient (PV−/−) mice and in age-matched PV+/+ mice as controls. Hearing thresholds as determined from recordings of auditory brainstem responses were found...

Université de Fribourg

The use of transgenic mouse models to reveal the functions of Ca² ⁺ buffer proteins in excitable cells

Schwaller, Beat

In: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects, 2012, p. -

Background Cytosolic Ca² ⁺ buffers are members of the large family of Ca² ⁺-binding proteins and are essential components of the Ca² ⁺ signaling toolkit implicated in the precise regulation of intracellular Ca² ⁺ signals. Their physiological role in excitable cells has been investigated in vivo by analyzing the phenotype of mice either lacking one of the Ca² ⁺ buffers or...

Université de Fribourg

Differences in locomotor behavior revealed in mice deficient for the calcium-binding proteins parvalbumin, calbindin D-28k or both

Farré-Castany, Maria A. ; Schwaller, Beat ; Gregory, Patrick ; Barski, Jaroslaw ; Mariethoz, Céline ; Eriksson, Jan L. ; Tetko, Igor V. ; Wolfer, David ; Celio, Marco R. ; Schmutz, Isabelle ; Albrecht, Urs ; Villa, Alessandro E.P.

In: Behavioural Brain Research, 2007, vol. 178, no. 2, p. 250-261

We investigated the role of the two calcium-binding proteins parvalbumin (PV) and calbindin D-28k (CB) in the locomotor activity and motor coordination using null-mutant mice for PV (PV−/−), CB (CB−/−) or both proteins (PV−/−CB−/−). These proteins are expressed in distinct, mainly non-overlapping populations of neurons of the central and peripheral nervous system and PV...