FIGURE 1. Elimination of MACF1 suppresses dendritic branching in developing cortical neurons.

(A) Neuron-specific deletion of MACF1 leads to abnormal dendritic branching in the developing cortical neurons. Control (MACF1^loxP/+) or MACF1^loxP/loxP embryos were electroporated in utero with Dcx-cre-iGFP at E14.5 to delete MACF1 in cortical pyramidal neurons. The electroporated mice were then sacrificed at P10 and the brain samples were collected. GFP-positive cells were visualized in the lateral cerebral cortex. Scale bar: 25 μm. (B) Representative single cell traces of soma and dendrites shown in (A). (C) The numbers and lengths of dendrites were quantified. The lengths and thickness of apical and basal dendrites were decreased in MACF1^loxP/loxP neurons compared with controls while the number of primary dendrites was increased. n = 75 cells from 5 mice for each condition. Statistical significance was determined by two-tailed Student's t-test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001. (D) MACF1^loxP/loxP neurons showed abnormal orientation of apical dendrites in the cerebral cortex.