β-catenin deficiency in forebrain excitatory neurons induces fear memory deficits and physiological alterations

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ID: 321792
2026
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Abstract
Abstract β-catenin-coding gene CTNNB1 is a top-ranking risk gene for autism and intellectual disability. To better understand how CTNNB1 haploinsufficiency is involved in the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, we generated a new mouse model that enables Ctnnb1 deletion in forebrain excitatory neurons starting at embryonic corticogenesis. Behavioral assays of the Ctnnb1 conditional knockout (cKO) mice revealed significant fear memory deficits, despite normal social preference, anxiety, spatial and recognition memory. Pyramidal neurons in prefrontal cortex (PFC) of Ctnnb1 cKO mice exhibited the significantly elevated intrinsic excitability but markedly decreased AMPA receptor-mediated synaptic response, while GABAA or NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic response was unchanged. Gene profiling revealed the significantly reduced mRNA level of Syp (encoding Synaptophysin) and Nlng2 (encoding Neuroligin-2) in PFC of Ctnnb1 cKO mice, while most of other screened genes were unchanged. These results suggest that β-catenin deficiency in forebrain excitatory neurons leads to fear conditioning impairment, which could be contributed by the diminished excitatory synaptic transmission in PFC resulting from disrupted synaptic gene expression.
Reference Key
openalex_W7169871972 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Gustavo Hernández-Carballo, Rachel Senek, Ksenia Novototskaya-Vlasova, Pei Li, Mikhail Pletnikov, Zhen Yan
Journal Brain communications
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/braincomms/fcag286
URL
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