Disruption of PLC-β1-mediated signal transduction in mutant mice causes age-dependent hippocampal mossy fiber sprouting and neurodegeneration

Aberrant reorganization of hippocampal mossy fibers occurs in human temporal lobe epilepsy and rodent epilepsy models. We generated a mouse model showing massive late-onset aberrant mossy fiber sprouting in the adult hippocampus. The mutation in this mouse model derives from an intronic insertion of transgene DNA in the mouse PLC-beta1 gene (PLC-beta1(TC)(-/-) mutation) leading to a splice mutation of the PLC-beta1 gene and a complete loss of downstream PLC-beta1 expression. PLC-beta1(TC)(-/-) mutants develop a loss of NMDA-receptors in the stratum oriens of region CA1, apoptotic neuronal death, and reduced hippocampal PKC activity. The phenotype of these mice further consists of a late-onset epileptiform hyperexcitability, behavioral modifications in a radial maze and in an open field, female nurturing defect, and male infertility. In the present study, we provide evidence that the arising of the behavioral phenotype in PLC-beta1(TC)(-/-) mice correlates in time with the development of the aberrant mossy fiber projections and that the disruption of the PLC-beta1-mediated signal transduction pathway may lead to a functional cholinergic denervation, which could cause hippocampal remodeling and, in consequence, epileptiform hyperexcitability.