Fig. 5: Impaired NMDAR-dependent LTP disrupts the formation of social engram cells in the mPFC of NL3 R451C KI mice. | Communications Biology

Fig. 5: Impaired NMDAR-dependent LTP disrupts the formation of social engram cells in the mPFC of NL3 R451C KI mice.

From: Social memory engram formation impairment in neuroligin-3 R451C knock-in mice is caused by disrupted prefrontal NMDA receptor-dependent potentiation

Fig. 5

A Experimental design for social-associated ensemble labeling. Doxycycline was taken off 24 hours before the social test on Day 1 and placed back 24 h after it. B Left: Images of neurons in the mPFC of the WT/KI mice activated during the social tests on Day 1. DAPI (blue) was used to label nuclei (scale bars, 50 and 200 μm). Cg1, cingulate cortex, area 1; PrL, prelimbic cortex; IL, infralimbic cortex. Right: The number of GFP-positive cells did not change in the KI group (Two-tailed unpaired t test, t = 0.397, df = 10, p = 0.700; n, number of mice). C Left: Representative images of the prelimbic cortex (PrL) of the WT (top) and KI (bottom) mice following dual exposure to social stimuli from the same mice. The cells activated by social stimuli on Day 1 were marked with GFP (green), while the c-Fos expression induced by social stimuli on Day 7 was revealed through immunostaining (red). Yellow arrows indicate cells co-labeled with GFP and c-Fos (GFP+ Fos+) (scale bar, 50 μm). Right: The number of reactivated (GFP+ Fos+) neurons during social stimuli exposure was not changed in the KI mice compared to the WT mice (Two-tailed unpaired t test, t = 0.506, df = 10, p = 0.624; n, number of mice). D Cartoon diagram of whole-cell recordings in layer V/VI neurons of the mPFC, with a concentric bipolar electrode placed in layer II/III. E Top: Sample traces of averaged EPSCs recorded 5 minutes before (dark traces) and 25 min after (light traces) LTP induction. Below: Changes in EPSC amplitude induced by 100 Hz stimulation and quantification of EPSCs 25 min after stimulation compared to the respective values before stimulation in pyramidal neurons of WT mice, KI mice, and KI slices treated with 20 μM D-cycloserine (one-way ANOVA, Between columns: F(2, 22) = 6.486, p = 0.006; WT vs. KI: p = 0.049; KI vs. KI-DCS: p = 0.006; n in each bar, number of neurons recorded from 5 mice per group). F Top: Sample traces of averaged EPSCs recorded 5 min before (dark traces) and 25 min after (light traces) LTP induction. Below: Changes in EPSC amplitude induced by 100 Hz stimulation and quantification of EPSCs 25 min after stimulation compared to the respective values before stimulation in PV+ interneurons of WT mice, KI mice, and KI slices treated with 60 μM D-cycloserine (one-way ANOVA, Between columns: F(2, 19) = 3.750, p = 0.042; WT vs. KI: p = 0.034; KI vs. KI-DCS: p = 0.379; n in each bar, number of neurons recorded from 5 mice per group).All data were mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

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