Disrupted Cacna1c gene expression perturbs spontaneous Ca 2+ activity causing abnormal brain development and increased anxiety
Open accessAbstract
Significance: The gene CACNA1C encodes for a calcium channel that has been linked to various psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, through hitherto unknown cellular mechanisms. Here, we report that deletion of Cacna1c in neurons of the developing brain disrupts spontaneous calcium activity and causes abnormal brain development and anxiety. Our results indicate that marginally alterations in the expression level of Cacna1c have major effects on the intrinsic spontaneous calcium activity of neural progenitors that play a crucial role in brain development. Thus, Cacna1c acts as a molecular switch that can increase susceptibility to psychiatric disease.
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Embryonic deletion of CaV1.2 in cortical neurons disturbs spontaneous calcium activity, causing increased anxiety in mice.
“embryonic deletion of CaV1.2 in cortical neurons disturbs spontaneous calcium activity, causing increased anxiety in mice96”
From CYFIP1 governs the development of cortical axons by modulating calcium availability (2025) · cites this paper as [96]
The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that forebrain-specific Cacna1c knockout mice had altered spontaneous calcium activity in the developing neocortex and increased anxiety-like behavior as adults. The Methods identify an Emx1-Cre forebrain-specific manipulation, while the Results measure calcium activity in neural progenitors at postnatal day 7. The copy therefore supports the central finding but not the claim’s more specific description of an embryonic deletion in cortical neurons. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- Smedler, E., Louhivuori, L., Romanov, R. A., Masini, D., Dehnisch Ellström, I., Wang, C., Caramia, M., West, Z., Zhang, S., Rebellato, P., Malmersjö, S., Brusini, I., Kanatani, S., Fisone, G., Harkany, T., & Uhlén, P.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE-17177, Sweden
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Smedler, Erik
- Uhlén, Per
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2022-02-08
- Volume
- 119
- Issue
- 7
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC8851547
- OpenAlex
- W4210898293
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 2.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Vetenskapsrådet (2013-3189, 2017-00815, 2021-03108)
- Hjärnfonden (FO2017-0107, FO2018-0209, FO2020-0199)
- Cancerfonden (CAN 2016-801, 19 0544 Pj, 19 0545 Us)
- Barncancerfonden (PR2018-0123, PR2020-0124)
- European Molecular Biology Organization (ALTF 596-2014)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Ion channel regulation and function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- CACNA1C, L-type calcium channels, spontaneous calcium activity, neural progenitor cells, brain development, anxiety, gene deletion, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Anxiety Disorders, Biological Clocks, Brain, Calcium, Mice, Knockout, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Calcium Channels, L-Type, Mice, Neural Stem Cells
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