Transporter Protein Boosts Learning Ability and Memory in Mice

Results of a recent study in mice have revealed that a transporter protein called KF17 can help to boost intelligence in the animals. Dr Nobutaka Hirokawa and colleagues at the University of Tokyo in Japan decided to test whether boosting levels of KF17, which transports another brain-boosting protein called NR28 through cells, had any effect on the learning and memory skills of mice. Results showed that mice engineered to have higher-than-normal levels of KF17 learned how to navigate mazes and perform tasks significantly more quickly than normal mice. Furthermore, the KF17-booted animals also appeared to have a better memory. The results suggest that KF17 plays a "significant role" in memory and learning, although how it does this remains uncertain. Hirokawa suspects that it has something to do with NR28 as the KF17-boosted mice were also found to have high levels of NR28. Hirokawa also believes that some diseases that affect memory and learning could be caused, at least in part, by KF17 defects.

SOURCE/REFERENCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2002;10.1073/pnas.222371099