Postnatal Loss of Mef2c Results in Dissociation of Effects on Synapse Number and Learning and Memory

AbstractBackgroundMyocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) transcription factors play critical roles in diverse cellular processes during central nervous system development. Studies attempting to address the role of MEF2 in brain have largely relied on overexpression of a constitutive MEF2 construct that im...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological psychiatry (1969) 2016-07, Vol.80 (2), p.140-148
Main Authors: Adachi, Megumi, Lin, Pei-Yi, Pranav, Heena, Monteggia, Lisa M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder - genetics
Behavior
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Dendritic Spines
Disease Models, Animal
Fear conditioning
Learning - physiology
MEF2 Transcription Factors
MEF2C
Memory - physiology
Mice
Mice, Knockout
Motor Activity - genetics
Neuronal Plasticity - genetics
Postnatal brain
Psychiatric/Mental Health
Synaptic plasticity
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Summary:AbstractBackgroundMyocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) transcription factors play critical roles in diverse cellular processes during central nervous system development. Studies attempting to address the role of MEF2 in brain have largely relied on overexpression of a constitutive MEF2 construct that impairs memory formation or knockdown of MEF2 function that increases spine numbers and enhances memory formation. Genetic deletion of individual MEF2 isoforms in brain during embryogenesis demonstrated that Mef2c loss negatively regulates spine numbers resulting in learning and memory deficits, possibly as a result of its essential role in development. MethodsTo investigate MEF2C function in brain further, we genetically deleted Mef2c during postnatal development in mice. We characterized these conditional Mef2c knockout mice in an array of behavioral paradigms and examined the impact of postnatal loss of Mef2c on long-term potentiation. ResultsWe observed increased spine numbers in hippocampus of the conditional Mef2c knockout mice. However, the postnatal loss of Mef2c did not impact learning and memory, long-term potentiation, or social and repetitive behaviors. ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate a critical role for MEF2C in the regulation of spine numbers with a dissociation of learning and memory, synaptic plasticity, and measures of autism-related behaviors in postnatal brain.
ISSN:0006-3223
1873-2402
DOI:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.09.018