Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 19, 2026
Induction of Protein Deletion Through In Utero Electroporation to Define Deficits in Neuronal Migration in Transgenic Models
Published on: January 12, 2015
Conditional Deletion of PDK1 in the Forebrain Causes Neuron Loss and Increased Apoptosis during Cortical Development
Congyu Xu1, Linjie Yu2, Jinxing Hou1
1State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Model Animal Research Center, Ministry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of Model Animal for Disease Study, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
Abstract:
Decreased expression but increased activity of PDK1 has been observed in neurodegenerative disease. To study in vivo function of PDK1 in neuron survival during cortical development, we generate forebrain-specific PDK1 conditional knockout (cKO) mice. We demonstrate that PDK1 cKO mice display striking neuron loss and increased apoptosis. We report that PDK1 cKO mice exhibit deficits on several behavioral tasks. Moreover, PDK1 cKO mice show decreased activities for Akt and mTOR. These results highlight an essential role of endogenous PDK1 in the maintenance of neuronal survival during cortical development.
