期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：2017
卷号：114
期号：12
页码：3228-3233
DOI：10.1073/pnas.1613237114
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Electrical coupling between excitatory neurons in the neocortex is developmentally regulated. It is initially prominent but eliminated at later developmental stages when chemical synapses emerge. However, it remains largely unclear whether early electrical coupling networks broadly contribute to neocortical circuit formation and animal behavior. Here, we report that neonatal electrical coupling between neocortical excitatory neurons is critical for proper neuronal development, synapse formation, and animal behavior. Conditional deletion of Connexin 26 ( CX26 ) in the superficial layer excitatory neurons of the mouse neocortex around birth significantly reduces spontaneous firing activity and the frequency and size of spontaneous network oscillations at postnatal day 5–6. Moreover, CX26 -conditional knockout ( CX26 -cKO) neurons tend to have simpler dendritic trees and lower spine density compared with wild-type neurons. Importantly, early, but not late, postnatal deletion of CX26 , decreases the frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) in both young and adult mice, whereas miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) were unaffected. Furthermore, CX26 -cKO mice exhibit increased anxiety-related behavior. These results suggest that electrical coupling between excitatory neurons at early postnatal stages is a critical step for neocortical development and function.
