Sox11 - a novel activity-regulated gene with dentate gyrus-specific expression

Neuronal activity initiates transcriptional programs that shape long-term changes in plasticity. Although neuron subtypes differ in their plasticity response, most activity-dependent transcription factors are broadly expressed across different neuron subtypes and brain regions. Thus, how regional and neuronal subtype-specific plasticity are established on the transcriptional level remains poorly understood. Here, we report that the developmental transcription factor Sox11 is induced in mature neurons upon hippocampal circuit activity and that this activity-dependent expression occurs exclusively in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. In addition, we show that Sox11 can modify synaptic plasticity and intrinsic excitability of DG granule cell neurons as well as the expression of plasticity-related genes. We propose that Sox11 is a DG-specific activity-dependent gene and might play a role in fine tuning regional plasticity in the hippocampal circuit. Overall design: mRNA expression levels in dentate gyrus tissue from 10 mice were compared: In the 5 mice of the treatment group, the gyrus was transduced with Sox11-containing adeno-associated virus (AAV); the other 5, forming the control group, were transduced with AAV containing GFP.