@article {46606,
	title = {Taok2 controls behavioral response to ethanol in mice.},
	journal = {Genes, Brain, and Behavior},
	volume = {12},
	year = {2013},
	month = {2013 Feb},
	pages = {87-97},
	abstract = {<p>Despite recent advances in the understanding of ethanol{\textquoteright}s biological action, many of the molecular targets of ethanol and mechanisms behind ethanol{\textquoteright}s effect on behavior remain poorly understood. In an effort to identify novel genes, the products of which regulate behavioral responses to ethanol, we recently identified a mutation in the dtao gene that confers resistance to the locomotor stimulating effect of ethanol in Drosophila. dtao encodes a member of the Ste20 family of serine/threonine kinases implicated in MAP kinase signaling pathways. In this study, we report that conditional ablation of the mouse dtao homolog, Taok2, constitutively and specifically in the nervous system, results in strain-specific and overlapping alterations in ethanol-dependent behaviors. These data suggest a functional conservation of dtao and Taok2 in mediating ethanol{\textquoteright}s biological action and identify Taok2 as a putative candidate gene for ethanol use disorders in humans.</p>
},
	keywords = {Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholism, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Conditioning, Classical, Ethanol, Gait Ataxia, Locomotion, MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Transgenic, Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases},
	issn = {1601-183X},
	doi = {10.1111/j.1601-183X.2012.00834.x},
	author = {Kapfhamer, D and Taylor, S and Zou, M E and Lim, J P and Kharazia, V and Heberlein, U}
}
@article {46616,
	title = {Lmo4 in the nucleus accumbens regulates cocaine sensitivity.},
	journal = {Genes, Brain, and Behavior},
	volume = {9},
	year = {2010},
	month = {2010 Oct},
	pages = {817-24},
	abstract = {<p>An estimated 2 million Americans use cocaine, resulting in large personal and societal costs. Discovery of the genetic factors that contribute to cocaine abuse is important for understanding this complex disease. Previously, mutations in the Drosophila LIM-only (dLmo) gene were identified because of their increased behavioral sensitivity to cocaine. Here we show that the mammalian homolog Lmo4, which is highly expressed in brain regions implicated in drug addiction, plays a similar role in cocaine-induced behaviors. Mice with a global reduction in Lmo4 levels show increased sensitivity to the locomotor stimulatory effects of cocaine upon chronic cocaine administration. This effect is reproduced with downregulation of Lmo4 in the nucleus accumbens by RNA interference. Thus, Lmo genes play conserved roles in regulating the behavioral effects of cocaine in invertebrate and mammalian models of drug addiction.</p>
},
	keywords = {Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing, Animals, Behavior, Animal, beta-Galactosidase, Cells, Cultured, Cloning, Molecular, Cocaine, Dendritic Spines, Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors, Gene Expression, Homeodomain Proteins, Immunohistochemistry, Lentivirus, LIM Domain Proteins, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Microdissection, Motor Activity, Mutagenesis, Insertional, Nucleus Accumbens, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, RNA, RNA Interference, Stereotaxic Techniques, Transcription Factors},
	issn = {1601-183X},
	doi = {10.1111/j.1601-183X.2010.00620.x},
	author = {Lasek, A W and Kapfhamer, D and Kharazia, V and Gesch, J and Giorgetti, F and Heberlein, U}
}
