RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Pten Deletion in Adult Hippocampal Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells Causes Cellular Abnormalities and Alters Neurogenesis JF The Journal of Neuroscience JO J. Neurosci. FD Society for Neuroscience SP 5880 OP 5890 DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5462-11.2012 VO 32 IS 17 A1 Anahita Amiri A1 Woosung Cho A1 Jing Zhou A1 Shari G. Birnbaum A1 Christopher M. Sinton A1 Renée M. McKay A1 Luis F. Parada YR 2012 UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/32/17/5880.abstract AB Adult neurogenesis persists throughout life in restricted brain regions in mammals and is affected by various physiological and pathological conditions. The tumor suppressor gene Pten is involved in adult neurogenesis and is mutated in a subset of autism patients with macrocephaly; however, the link between the role of PTEN in adult neurogenesis and the etiology of autism has not been studied before. Moreover, the role of hippocampus, one of the brain regions where adult neurogenesis occurs, in development of autism is not clear. Here, we show that ablating Pten in adult neural stem cells in the subgranular zone of hippocampal dentate gyrus results in higher proliferation rate and accelerated differentiation of the stem/progenitor cells, leading to depletion of the neural stem cell pool and increased differentiation toward the astrocytic lineage at later stages. Pten-deleted stem/progenitor cells develop into hypertrophied neurons with abnormal polarity. Additionally, Pten mutant mice have macrocephaly and exhibit impairment in social interactions and seizure activity. Our data reveal a novel function for PTEN in adult hippocampal neurogenesis and indicate a role in the pathogenesis of abnormal social behaviors.