Animal model of a mood disorder and screening method
AssigneesVirus Ikagaku Kenkyusho Inc., Japan Tobacco Inc.
InventorsKazuhiro KONDO, Nobuyuki KOBAYASHI
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Abstract
Disclosed are a protein and a gene each of which is a factor involved in latent infection with a herpesvirus. An antibody against the factor was detected in approximately 50% of patients suffering from mental disorders, whereas the antibody was hardly detected in healthy persons. Further, a mouse having SITH-1 introduced therein developed a mental disorder such as a manic-depressive illness or depression-like disorder. Based on these findings, it is possible to provide a method for objectively determining a mental disorder and an animal model of a mental disorder.
Claims9
An animal model of a mood disorder comprising:
- an animal;
- wherein the animal is produced by transfer of a nucleic acid, wherein the nucleic acid selected from:
- (a) a nucleic acid encoding a protein having the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:
- 1;
- or
- (b) a nucleic acid comprising an open reading frame region having the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:
- 2.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.