Cortico-striatal synaptic defects and OCD-like behaviours in Sapap3-mutant mice.

Targeted deletion of SAPAP3, a postsynaptic scaffolding protein expressed in the striatum, yields a behavioral phenotype with many characteristics of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). SAPAP3−/− mice compulsively overgroom themselves and are unusually anxious. Behavioral symptoms are alleviated by SSRIs, and both behaviour and physiological abnormalities are rescued by lentiviral-mediated expression of SAPAP3 in the striatum.