What is "reeler"

Reeler \Reel"er\ (r?l"?r), n.

1. One who reels.

2. (Zo["o]l.) The grasshopper warbler; -- so called from its note. [Prov. Eng.]

Etymology 1 n. The grasshopper warbler. Etymology 2

n. (context genetics English) An autosomal-recessive mouse mutant in which cortical neurons are generated normally but abnormally placed, a lack of reelin causing disorganization of cortical laminar layers.

1. n. someone who walks unsteadily as if about to fall [syn: staggerer, totterer]

2. a dancer of reels

A reeler mouse.

A reeler is a mouse mutant, so named because of its characteristic "reeling" gait. This is caused by profound hypoplasia of the mouse's cerebellum, in which the normal cerebellar folia are missing. The mutation is autosomal and recessive.

Cortical neurons are generated normally but are abnormally placed, resulting in disorganization of cortical laminar layers in the CNS. The reason is the lack of Reelin, an extracellular matrix glycoprotein, which during the corticogenesis is secreted mainly by the Cajal-Retzius cells. In the reeler neocortex, cortical plate neurons are aligned in a practically inverted fashion (‘‘outside-in’’). In the ventricular zone of the cortex fewer neurons have been found to have radial glial processes. In the dentate gyrus of hippocampus, no characteristic radial glial scaffold is formed and no compact granule cell layer is established. Therefore, the reeler mouse presents a good model in which to investigate the mechanisms of establishment of the precise neuronal network during development.