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The Journal of Neuroscience, December 26, 2007, 27(52):14317-14325; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3206-07.2007

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Development/Plasticity/Repair
Conditional Knock-Out of β-Catenin in Postnatal-Born Dentate Gyrus Granule Neurons Results in Dendritic Malformation

Xiang Gao,¹ Paola Arlotta,³ Jeffrey D. Macklis,³ and Jinhui Chen^1,2

¹Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center and ²Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40536, and ³Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology and Program in Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical School Center for Nervous System Repair, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114

Correspondence should be addressed to Jinhui Chen at the above address. Email: jchen{at}uky.edu

Neurons are continuously added to the brain throughout life, and these neurons must develop dendritic arbors and functional connections with existing neurons to be integrated into neuronal circuitry. The molecular mechanisms that regulate dendritic development of newborn neurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus are still unclear. Here, we show that β-catenin is expressed in newborn granule neurons and in neural progenitor cells in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Specific knock-out of β-catenin in newborn neurons, without affecting β-catenin expression in neural progenitor cells, led to defects in dendritic morphology of these newborn neurons in vivo. Majority of newborn neurons that cannot extend dendrites survive <1 month after they were born. Our results indicate that β-catenin plays an important role in dendritic development of postnatal-born neurons in vivo, and is therefore essential for the neurogenesis in the postnatal brain.

Key words: conditional knock-out; β-catenin; dendritic development; newborns; dentate gyrus granule neurons; hippocampus

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Received March 27, 2007; revised Nov. 2, 2007; accepted Nov. 3, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Jinhui Chen at the above address. Email: jchen{at}uky.edu

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