We first examined morphogenesis of newborn neurons in the adult brain at 14 dpi under different manipulations. Similar to DISC1 knockdown, GFP+ neurons overexpressing KIAA1212 exhibited a significant increase in both soma size and number of primary dendrites, in comparison to those expressing GFP alone (pCUXIE overexpression control; Figures 4A to 4C). In addition, GFP+ neurons expressing PTEN-shRNA or CA-AKT also exhibited soma hypertrophy and ectopic primary dendrites. Collectively, these experiments showed that three different means of genetic manipulations to activate AKT signaling in adult-born new neurons all resulted in similar defects as DISC1 knockdown in their morphological development.
