Publications by authors named "Ryeonghwa Kang"

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) frequently accompany macrocephaly, which often involves hydrocephalic enlargement of brain ventricles. Katnal2 is a microtubule-regulatory protein strongly linked to ASD, but it remains unclear whether Katnal2 knockout (KO) in mice leads to microtubule- and ASD-related molecular, synaptic, brain, and behavioral phenotypes. We found that Katnal2-KO mice display ASD-like social communication deficits and age-dependent progressive ventricular enlargements.

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Glycine transporters (GlyT1 and GlyT2) that regulate levels of brain glycine, an inhibitory neurotransmitter with co-agonist activity for NMDA receptors (NMDARs), have been considered to be important targets for the treatment of brain disorders with suppressed NMDAR function such as schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear whether other amino acid transporters expressed in the brain can also regulate brain glycine levels and NMDAR function. Here, we report that SLC6A20A, an amino acid transporter known to transport proline based on in vitro data but is understudied in the brain, regulates proline and glycine levels and NMDAR function in the mouse brain.

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Article Synopsis
  • Synaptic adhesion molecules influence how synapses develop and work, but little is known about how presynaptic molecules affect postsynaptic NMDAR function.
  • The study shows that presynaptic PTPσ, a type of receptor tyrosine phosphatase, boosts postsynaptic NMDAR activity and related synaptic changes in the hippocampus without relying on direct adhesion between cells.
  • It also finds that changes in phosphotyrosine levels in presynaptic proteins are significant in PTPσ-mutant mice and suggests that PTPσ plays a critical role in social and reward-related recognition behaviors.
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Nav1.2, a voltage-gated sodium channel subunit encoded by the gene, has been implicated in various brain disorders, including epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and schizophrenia. Nav1.

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