Fig. 7. Conditional knockdown of NRBF2 in aNSCs induces AHN impairment and depression-like phenotype of mice.

a Schematic diagram showing the experimental strategy of NRBF2 conditional knockdown (cKD) (upper). Timeline of experiments (bottom). b–e Behavioral tests of SPT (b), TST (c), FST (d), and OFT (e) in Nestin-CreER^T2 mice treated with AAV-mCherry or AAV-shNrbf2 (n = 8–10 mice per group). f Timeline of experiments. g, h Representative images (g) and quantification (h) of BrdU⁺Sox2⁺GFAP⁺ RGLs, BrdU⁺DCX⁺ neuroblasts, and BrdU⁺NeuN⁺ neurons in the DG (n = 4 mice per group). Yellow arrows indicate BrdU⁺ and marker⁺ cells. Scale bars, 30 μm. i, j Summarized data of the resting potential (i), and membrane resistance (j) of newborn neurons in the DG (n = 22–26 cells per group). k Representative spiking pattern of newborn neurons in response to current injection of 0–150 pA. l, m Quantification of the frequency of action potential elicited by current injection (l) and the threshold required for the first elicited action potential (m) (n = 22–26 cells per group). Data are presented as means ± SEM and analyzed by two-sided unpaired t-test (b–e, h–j, m) or two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test (l). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001.