Gα and Gα/Gα deletion differentially affect hippocampal mossy fiber tract anatomy and neuronal morphogenesis.

The heterotrimeric G-protein αo subunit is ubiquitously expressed in the CNS as two splice variants Gα and Gα, regulating various brain functions. Here, we investigated the effect of single Gα, Gα, and double Gα knockout on the postnatal development of the murine mossy fiber tract, a central pathway of the hippocampal connectivity circuit. The size of the hippocampal synaptic termination fields covered by mossy fiber boutons together with various fiber length parameters of the tract was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining of the vesicular Zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3) or Synaptoporin at postnatal days 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and in the adult.