Ephrin-B2 deletion in GABAergic neurons induces cognitive deficits associated with single-nucleus transcriptomic differences in the prefrontal cortex.

Ephrin-B2 (EB2) signaling plays a crucial role in regulating memory and synaptic plasticity. Comprehensive identification of cell-type-specific transcriptomic changes in EB2 knockout mice is expected to shed light on potential mechanisms associated with EB2 signaling in cognitive functions. Our study captures changes in cell populations in response to EB2 manipulation and reveals previously uncharacterized cell types (CPA6 + inhibitory neurons) in the mPFC. We validated the differential transcriptomic activity of Pbx1 and Meis1 in CPA6 + neurons using fluorescence in situ hybridization (ISH) in EB2-vGATCre mice. The aberrant presence of CPA6 + neurons in the mPFC may correlate with cognitive impairments induced by EB2 deletion in vGAT + neurons. Analyzing differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in individual cell clusters, we identified alterations related to synapse organization and development, cognition, amyloid-beta formation, and locomotor behavior. Additionally, our DEGs overlapped with human genome-wide association study (GWAS) candidate genes related to cognition and anxiety, underscoring the relevance of our mouse model to human disease. We present a comprehensive atlas of cell-type-specific gene expression changes in this synaptic deficiency model and identify novel cell-type-specific targets implicated in cognitive deficits. Our investigation provides a detailed map of the cell types, genes, and pathways altered in this inhibitory synaptic deficiency model.