Figure 1. Contrasting the effects of Kcnq2 and Kcnq3 conditional deletion on survival and ECoG activity. A, Targeting strategy for generation of Kcnq2fllfl and Kcnq3fllfl mice. Targeted axons (red, kcnq2; blue, Kcnq3) were flanked by two loxP sites. Inset, PCR validating Kcnq2fllfl and Kcnq3fllfl genotypes. Cerebral cortex deletion was achieved by crossing Kcnq2fllfl and Kcnq3fllfl with Emx1-ires-cre (Emx1) mice. B, Immunoblot analysis of hippocampal membrane fractions of KCNQ2 or KCNQ3 from cerebral cortex-specific Kcnq2 cKO and Kcnq3 cKO mice. Levels of KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 are reduced by ∼80% in the Kcnq2 cKO (n = 8) and Kcnq3 cKO (n = 7) mice, respectively. C, Survival curves of control (black, n = 10), Kcnq2 cKO (red, n = 17), and Kcnq3 cKO (blue, n = 8) mice. The survival graphs show that most Kcnq2 cKO mice die prematurely between P15 and P20. Control and Kcnq3 cKO mice did not die during the same time period. D, Left, Representative ECoG recordings from control, Kcnq2 cKO, and Kcnq3 cKO mice. Representative polyspike events were indicated by asterisk from Kcnq2 cKO and shown in extended time scale. Right, Polyspike events were counted every 30 s during the first 15 min of recordings from control (black, n = 5; P15–P19), Kcnq2 cKO (red, n = 4, P15–P19), and Kcnq3 cKO (blue, n = 5, P16–P19) mice.