Table 3.

Neural phenotype and behavior phenotype in manipulation of MEF2C

Sample	Neural phenotype	Behavior phenotype	References
Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII)-Cre93 line conditioned MEF2C-KO mice after birth	Increased the number of spines in the hippocampus of mice	Not related with the presentation of learning and memory, LTP or social behavior	[16]
Late embryonic deletion of MEF2C in the forebrain Transgenic expression of a superactive form of MEF2C in neurons of mice (NSE-MEF2C-VP16 transgenic mice)	Increased the number of excitatory synapses and spinous processes Enhanced basal and evoked synaptic transmission Reduced structural and functional glutamatergic synapse density in hippocampal pyramidal neurons	Hippocampus-dependent learning and memory impairment	[6]
Conventional exon 2-deleted allele of MEF2 deletion or downregulation of MEF2C	Increased dendritic branches and spines in Purkinje cells, and changes in excitatory and inhibitory synaptic protein localization		[37, 39]
Conditional MEF2C gene KO in neural stem/progenitor cell	Abnormal density and cell body size of cortical plate neurons	More immature electrophysiological network characteristics and serious behavioral defects	[5]
Knockdown of MEF2C Overexpression of MEF2C	Reduced the number of dendritic spines on apical dendrites of cultured neural progenitor cells Increased spine density	Hyper-sensitive passive avoidance behavior	[31]
Embryonic MEF2C deletion from most forebrain excitatory neurons in mice (EmxCre × MEF2C flox/flox)	A ~ twofold increase in dendritic GABAergic synapse density on excitatory cortical pyramidal neurons	Deficits in fear learning and memory, multiple social behaviors, socially-motivated ultrasonic vocalizations, and reward-related behaviors	[26]
HSV-Cre-GFP virus injection in MEF2C flox/flox pups at P2 to down-regulate MEF2C expression HSV-Cre-GFP virus injection in MEF2C flox/flox mice at P14-15 to down-regulate MEF2C expression In utero electroporation of pcBIG-Mef2C-VP16 plasmids at E12.5 in wild-type embryos to overexpress MEF 2C	Increased in spine counts in SPNs at P8 Normal number of dendritic spines in SPNs at P19-20 Decreased number of spines in SPNs at P14	Defective neonatal isolation-induced USVs, a form of vocal communication in neonatal rodents	[18]
Postnatal MEF2C deletion AAV-Cre-GFP infection in dissociated neocortical cultures	Decreased excitatory synapse number from L4 / L2/3 pyramidal neurons A reduced spine density on basal of normal dendritic branching in neurons		[56]
Conventional exon 2-deleted allele of MEF2C	Reduced number of neurons and total dendritic lengths Dendritic interactions impairment Increased E/I ratio in the hippocampus	Intellectual disability, speech deficit, autism-like symptoms, seizures or motor abnormalities	[70]
Upregulation of MEF2C in the adult prefrontal cortex (PFC) by AAV-MEF2C virus injections	Decrease in mushroom spines proportion in layer III of the PFC with no difference in total spine density	Improved cognition	[47]

SPNs striatal projecting neurons