Disruption of the midkine gene (Mdk) resulted in altered expression of a calcium binding protein in the hippocampus of infant mice and their abnormal behaviour

Abstract

Background: Midkine (MK) is a growth factor implicated in the development and repair of various tissues, especially neural tissues. However, its in vivo function has not been clarified.

Association between genetic variation in a region on chromosome 11 and schizophrenia in large samples from Europe

“…It has been shown that Mdk(−/−) mice exhibited a delayed hippocampal development with impaired working memory and increased anxiety 37 . In addition, midkine was found to accumulate in senile plaques in the hippocampus of patients with Alzheimer's disease 38 39 .…”

Midkine‐b regulates cell specification at the neural plate border in zebrafish

“…While Midkine in higher vertebrates shows a variety of activities in cell culture assays (Muramatsu, 2002), its in vivo functions remain unclear as knockout mice lack any early phenotype (Nakamura et al, 1998). In contrast to this, we could show that the two duplicated midkine genes in zebrafish show divergent activities (Winkler et al, 2003).…”

Inhibition of midkine alleviates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis through the expansion of regulatory T cell population

“…The protocols for animal experiments were approved by the Animal Experiment Committee of Nagoya University. C57BL/6J mice deficient for the MK gene (Mdk) were generated as described previously (43). After backcrossing Mdk ϩ/Ϫ mice to C57BL/6J mice for Ͼ10 generations, Mdk ϩ/Ϫ mice were mated with each other to generate Mdk ϩ/ϩ and Mdk Ϫ/Ϫ mice, which were used in the present study.…”