Fig. 9: Proper Slitrk2 function in the hippocampal CA1 is required for mediating spatial reference memory in mice.

a Experimental configuration for electrophysiology and immunohistochemistry experiments (c–g). b Representative brain sections illustrating the precise targeting of AAVs for expression of Cre recombinase in the hippocampal CA1. Scale bar: 500 µm. c–e Representative traces (c) and summary graphs showing the frequency (d) and amplitude (e) of mEPSCs recorded from Slitrk2-floxed mice injected with AAVs expressing ΔCre or Cre. Data are shown as means ± SEMs (ΔCre, n = 13; Cre, n = 20; *p < 0.05; two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test). f, g Representative images (f) and summary graphs quantifying the integrated intensity (g) of VGLUT1 and PSD-95 puncta. Data are shown as means ± SEMs (ΔCre, n = 6; Cre, n = 6; Cre+WT, n = 5; and Cre+T312A, n = 5 mice; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001; ANOVA with Tukey’s test). Scale bar, 10 µm (applies to all images). h Experimental configuration for Barnes Maze tests (i–l). i Representative traces of locomotive behavior for Barnes Maze tests. Target box is indicated with a yellow circle. j Number of errors before first encountering the escape hole, escape latency, and total distance for Slitrk2-floxed mice injected with ΔCre (Control) or Cre during the training session. Data are presented as means ± SEMs (ΔCre, n = 12; Cre, n = 8; two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons test). k, l Number of errors before first encountering the escape hole for Slitrk2-floxed mice injected with ΔCre (Control) or Cre during 1st (k) and 2nd (l) probe trials. Data are presented as means ± SEMs (ΔCre, n = 12; Cre, n = 8; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; two-tailed unpaired t-test). See Source data for raw data values and Supplementary Table 4 for statistical details.