Fig. 1

Impaired sociability of the SOM-Cre/Magel2 KO mice. A Breeding strategy to generate SOM-Cre/Magel2 KO (KO) mice is displayed. B Representative heat map from each group in the social interaction test. C During the sociability test, SOM-Cre/Magel2 WT (WT) mice spent prominently more time in the chamber of the unfamiliar mouse in comparison to the novel object. No significant difference in the time spent exploring the chamber containing the novel mice relative to the familiar chamber for KO mice. D WT mice spent more time sniffing the novel mouse relative to empty cage (novel object). In contrast, KO mice spent equal amounts of time sniffing the novel mouse and the novel object. E WT mice had a significantly lower discrimination index than control mice. F Representative images displaying the exploration path during the entire 30 min in the open field. Quantification of the distance moved across 5-min time bins (G), the 30-min period (H), and time spend in the center zone (I). Values are means ± SEM. (n = 10 mice per group). Student’s t-test. ^***p < 0.001, ^###p < 0.001 for novel mouse vs. novel object; ^$$$p < 0.001 for KO group vs. WT group. “ns” indicates no statistical significance