Knockout Mouse Points to Second Form of Tryptophan Hydroxylase
- 1Department of Psychiatry,
- 2Departments of Pediatrics and Human Genetics; Committees on Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, Molecular Medicine, Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637
- EHC ed{at}yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu; fax 773-834-0505.
Abstract
A second form of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) is expressed in the brain by the gene Tph2. The presence of the gene was discovered when Tph 1–/–mice were found to express normal amounts of serotonin in brain, but not in the periphery. Additionally, Tph1–/– mice showed no observed behavioral differences from wild-type littermates. Veenstra-Vanderweele and Cook discuss the ramifications of these findings and what they might mean for designing drugs that target the expression and activity of TPH in differing tissues.
Footnotes
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Edwin H. Cook, Jr., MD , is a Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Human Genetics and member of the Committees on Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics, Molecular Medicine, and Genetics at the University of Chicago. He is the director of the Laboratory of Developmental Neuroscience. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, MD , is a Resident Physician in Psychiatry and a member of the Laboratory of Developmental Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine.
- © American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Theraputics 2003
