DCC Receptors Drive Prefrontal Cortex Maturation by Determining Dopamine Axon Targeting in Adolescence.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Dopaminergic input to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) increases throughout adolescence and, by establishing precisely localized synapses, calibrates cognitive function. However, why and how mesocortical dopamine axon density increases across adolescence remains unknown.

Methods

We used a developmental application of axon-initiated recombination to label and track the growth of dopamine axons across adolescence in mice. We then paired this recombination with cell-specific knockdown of the netrin-1 receptor DCC to determine its role in adolescent dopamine axon growth. We then assessed how altering adolescent PFC dopamine axon growth changes the structural and functional development of the PFC by quantifying pyramidal neuron morphology and cognitive performance.

Resul

SUBMITTER: Reynolds LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5723533 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature