1
|
Viglione A, Sagona G, Carrara F, Amato G, Totaro V, Lupori L, Putignano E, Pizzorusso T, Mazziotti R. Behavioral impulsivity is associated with pupillary alterations and hyperactivity in CDKL5 mutant mice. Hum Mol Genet 2022; 31:4107-4120. [PMID: 35861639 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddac164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Revised: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (Cdkl5) deficiency disorder (CDD) is a severe neurodevelopmental condition caused by mutations in the X-linked Cdkl5 gene. CDD is characterized by early-onset seizures in the first month of life, intellectual disability, motor and social impairment. No effective treatment is currently available and medical management is only symptomatic and supportive. Recently, mouse models of Cdkl5 disorder have demonstrated that mice lacking Cdkl5 exhibit autism-like phenotypes, hyperactivity and dysregulations of the arousal system, suggesting the possibility to use these features as translational biomarkers. In this study, we tested Cdkl5 male and female mutant mice in an appetitive operant conditioning chamber to assess cognitive and motor abilities, and performed pupillometry to assess the integrity of the arousal system. Then, we evaluated the performance of artificial intelligence models to classify the genotype of the animals from the behavioral and physiological phenotype. The behavioral results show that CDD mice display impulsivity, together with low levels of cognitive flexibility and perseverative behaviors. We assessed arousal levels by simultaneously recording pupil size and locomotor activity. Pupillometry reveals in CDD mice a smaller pupil size and an impaired response to unexpected stimuli associated with hyperlocomotion, demonstrating a global defect in arousal modulation. Finally, machine learning reveals that both behavioral and pupillometry parameters can be considered good predictors of CDD. Since early diagnosis is essential to evaluate treatment outcomes and pupillary measures can be performed easily, we proposed the monitoring of pupil size as a promising biomarker for CDD.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aurelia Viglione
- BIO@SNS Lab, Scuola Normale Superiore, via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Giulia Sagona
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, viale del Tirreno 331, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Fabio Carrara
- ISTI-Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell'Informazione, National Research Council, via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Amato
- ISTI-Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell'Informazione, National Research Council, via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Valentino Totaro
- BIO@SNS Lab, Scuola Normale Superiore, via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Leonardo Lupori
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, viale del Tirreno 331, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| | - Elena Putignano
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council, via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Tommaso Pizzorusso
- BIO@SNS Lab, Scuola Normale Superiore, via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.,Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council, via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Raffaele Mazziotti
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, viale del Tirreno 331, 56128 Pisa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|