Mice with thereeler phenotype cannot form the correct patterns of neurons in the brain. The reelin and scrambler genes are known to be involved in neuronal patterning, but three groups have now identified another player in the pathway — the mouse disabled homologue 1 ( mDab1 ) gene. Inactivation of this gene results in a reeler-like phenotype, and mDab1 is a cytoplasmic protein that is phosphorylated during neural development.
