Figure 5: Diagram summarizing the findings of this study on differences in autism model mice (IMAGE)
Caption
In BTBR autism model mice (BTBR/J and BTBR/R variants), retrovirus activation makes copy number variations occur easily. In other words, they could be said to evolve at a faster speed than normal mice. The supporting evidence for this is that although BTBR/J and BTBR/R mice share a common ancestry, a mere 30 years of being raised in different environments has led not only to behavioral differences between the two species but also significant differences in brain structure (i.e. BTBR/R mice have a functioning corpus callosum, while BTBR/J mice do not).
Credit
Lin, CW., Ellegood, J., Tamada, K. et al. An old model with new insights: endogenous retroviruses drive the evolvement toward ASD susceptibility and hijack transcription machinery during development. Mol Psychiatry (2023).
Usage Restrictions
Credit must be given to the creator.
License
CC BY