Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biol Psychiatry. 2016 Feb 13;81(3):220–230. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.02.008

Figure 5. Foxp2 sumoylation regulates vocal communication.

Figure 5

(A) qRT-PCR of Cntnap2 during mouse cerebellar development. Cntnap2 mRNA expression is decreased at the time point when sumoylation of Foxp2 is strongly observed in developing mouse cerebellum at P7. qRT-PCR results were normalized to Cntnap2 expression at P0 (Figure 1A). Data are represented as means (±sem), n=3/condition. (B) Quantification of qRT-PCR in human neural progenitors (hNPs) expressing either FOXP2 WT or FOXP2 KR. FOXP2 WT but not KR can repress expression of CNTNAP2. Data are represented as means (±sem). Asterisks indicate ***P<0.001, *P<0.05, one-way ANOVA with a Tukey’s multiple comparison test (P<0.0001 for FOXP2, P<0.0001 for CNTNAP2), n=12/condition. (C–H) USVs were analyzed in detail. Foxp2 knockdown results in a decrease in USVs at P4 and P7. This USV deficiency can be rescued with FOXP2 WT construct, but not KR construct. (C), Total number of whistle calls (USVs: interaction, P=0.70; age, P=0.0001, genotype, P<0.0001); (D), percentage of calls with frequency jumps (interaction, P=0.63; age, P=0.61, genotype, P=0.048); (E), call duration (interaction, P=0.11; age, P=0.12, genotype, P=0.08); (F), mean frequency (interaction, P=0.86; age, P<0.0001, genotype, P=0.89); (G), frequency range (interaction, P=0.74; age, P=0.37, genotype, P=0.14); and (H), mean call slope (interaction, P=0.44; age, P=0.14, genotype, P=0.98). Data are represented as means (±sem). Asterisks indicate ***P<0.001, **P<0.01, *P<0.05, two-way ANOVA with a Tukey’s multiple comparison test, n=9–15/condition.