Fig. 2
Taok2 KO mice show alterations in neurodevelopmental disorder-related mouse behavior. a Taok2 KO mice travel longer distances in the open field. (WT(M) = 12, WT(F) = 16, Het(M) = 12, Het(F) = 17, KO(M) = 9, KO(F) = 17 mice from three different cohorts; two-way ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni’s test, effect of genotype F2, 77 = 12.89, p < 0.001; WT vs. KO p < 0.001, Het vs. KO p < 0.01). (b) Taok2 KO mice moved at longer distances from the wall in the open field test. (WT(M) = 12, WT(F) = 16, Het(M) = 12, Het(F) = 17, KO(M) = 9, KO(F) = 16 mice from three different cohorts; two-way ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni’s test, effect of genotype F2, 76 = 8.38, p < 0.001¸ WT vs. KO p < 0.001, Het vs. KO p < 0.05). c Taok2 KO mice spent more time in the open arm of an elevated plus maze compared with WT. (WT(M) = 10, WT(F) = 10, Het(M) = 12, Het(F) = 12, KO(M) = 9, KO(F) = 9 mice from three different cohorts; two-way ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni’s test; effect of genotype F2, 56 = 5.16, p = 0.009; WT vs. KO p < 0.01). d Taok2 KO mice spent less time investigating and sniffing an unfamiliar sex-matched mouse instead of an unfamiliar object compared with WT littermates. (WT(F) = 11, WT(M) = 11, Het(F) = 8, Het(M) = 15, KO(F) = 12, KO(M) = 12 mice from three different cohorts; three-way mixed ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni; effect of the interaction “genotype × stimulus” F2, 63 = 4.96, p = 0.001; Mouse: WT vs. KO p < 0.001; Object vs. Mouse: WT p < 0.001, Het p < 0.01). e Taok2 KO did not perform more alternations than chance and performed fewer alternations than WT littermates. (WT(M) = 11, WT(F) = 14, Het(M) = 13, Het(F) = 15, KO(M) = 8, KO(F) = 15 mice from three different cohorts; two-way ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni’s test, effect of genotype F2, 70 = 7.26, p = 0.001; WT vs. KO p < 0.01). f Taok2 KO mice have a lower preference index than WT mice for a displaced object. (WT(M) = 11, WT(F) = 11, Het(M) = 15, Het(F) = 11, KO(M) = 10, KO(F) = 12 from three different cohorts; two-way ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni’s test, effect of genotype F2, 64 = 9.05, p < 0.001; WT vs. KO p < 0.01, Het vs. KO p < 0.01). g Taok2 Het and KO mice spent less time immobile during recall trial for contextual fear conditioning. (WT(M) = 8, WT(F) = 9, Het(M) = 9, Het(F) = 9, KO(M) = 7, KO(F) = 9 from three different cohorts; three-way mixed ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni; effect of the interaction “genotype × sex” F2, 45 = 7.21, p = 0.002; WT vs. KO p < 0.001, Het vs. KO p < 0.01, WT vs. Het p < 0.05). h Taok2 KO showed reduced mean minimal distance to the platform during the recall trial of the water maze test. (WT(M) = 10, WT(F) = 12, Het(M) = 11, Het(F) = 12, KO(M) = 8, KO(F) = 12 mice from three different cohorts; two-way ANOVA, post hoc Bonferroni’s test, effect of genotype F2, 59 = 8.52, p < 0.001; WT vs. Het p = 0.09, WT vs. KO < 0.01). i Heat maps showing Taok2 KO male mice search for platform more at former position compared with WT and Het male mice. Blue to red indicates increased probability of a mouse being present. ns > 0.05, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001. Values are mean ± s.e.m.
