PlexinA2 Forward Signaling through Rap1 GTPases Regulates Dentate Gyrus Development and Schizophrenia-like Behaviors.

Dentate gyrus (DG) development requires specification of granule cell (GC) progenitors in the hippocampal neuroepithelium, as well as their proliferation and migration into the primordial DG. We identify the Plexin family members Plxna2 and Plxna4 as important regulators of DG development. Distribution of immature GCs is regulated by Sema5A signaling through PlxnA2 and requires a functional PlxnA2 GTPase-activating protein (GAP) domain and Rap1 small GTPases. In adult Plxna2-/- but not Plxna2-GAP-deficient mice, the dentate GC layer is severely malformed, neurogenesis is compromised, and mossy fibers form aberrant synaptic boutons within CA3. Behavioral studies with Plxna2-/- mice revealed deficits in associative learning, sociability, and sensorimotor gating-traits commonly observed in neuropsychiatric disorder. Remarkably, while morphological defects are minimal in Plxna2-GAP-deficient brains, defects in fear memory and sensorimotor gating persist. Since allelic variants of human PLXNA2 and RAP1 associate with schizophrenia, our studies identify a biochemical pathway important for brain development and mental health.

Deletion of the Mouse Homolog of CACNA1C Disrupts Discrete Forms of Hippocampal-Dependent Memory and Neurogenesis within the Dentate Gyrus.

L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (LVGCCs) have been implicated in various forms of learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity. Within the hippocampus, the LVGCC subtype, CaV1.2 is prominently expressed throughout the dentate gyrus. Despite the apparent high levels of CaV1.2 expression in the dentate gyrus, the role of CaV1.2 in hippocampal- and dentate gyrus-associated forms of learning remain unknown. To address this question, we examined alternate forms of hippocampal-dependent associative and spatial memory in mice lacking the mouse ortholog of CACNA1C (Cacna1c), which encodes CaV1.2, with dentate gyrus function implicated in difficult forms of each task. We found that while the deletion of CaV1.2 did not impair the acquisition of fear of a conditioned context, mice lacking CaV1.2 exhibited deficits in the ability to discriminate between two contexts, one in which the mice were conditioned and one in which they were not. Similarly, CaV1.2 knock-out mice exhibited normal acquisition and recall of the location of the hidden platform in a standard Morris water maze, but were unable to form a memory of the platform location when the task was made more difficult by restricting the number of available spatial cues. Within the dentate gyrus, pan-neuronal deletion of CaV1.2 resulted in decreased cell proliferation and the numbers of doublecortin-positive adult-born neurons, implicating CaV1.2 in adult neurogenesis. These results suggest that CaV1.2 is important for dentate gyrus-associated tasks and may mediate these forms of learning via a role in adult neurogenesis and cell proliferation within the dentate gyrus.