Lineup, including trainee talks, is all set for this year's Neural Circuits and Behaviour Satellite at @canacn.bsky.social, co-hosted with @franklandlab.bsky.social . One week away, with a few tickets remaining for anyone interested! www.eventbrite.com/e/neural-cir...
We found that deleting exon 2 does not necessarily abolish PTCHD1 function because it triggers compensatory upregulation of the Ptchd1-C isoform. In contrast, targeting exon 3 disrupts both major brain isoforms (Ptchd1-A and Ptchd1-C), producing a more complete loss-of-function model.
Sharing the latest from the lab. Led by Yunlong Liu, this work explores how microglia and engram neurons interact during fear extinction in the hippocampus.
rdcu.be/fgNH7
One especially cool thing was Sangyoon’s use of machine learning-based analysis of ultrasonic vocalizations (based on this paper: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28472651/). Exon 3 mice exhibited an impoverished vocal repertoire, reminiscent of the communication deficits observed in ASD.
The trainee talks are invariably the highlight of the meeting. Sign up with the link below for consideration!
This distinction mattered. Ptchd1 exon 3 mice exhibited a broader autism-relevant phenotype, including social and communication deficits not observed in the exon 2 model (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27007844/)
rdcu.be
Nature Neuroscience - Liu et al. show in mice that microglia are recruited to the soma and dendritic processes of fear engram neurons during extinction learning and that they weaken fear memories...
Just a few tickets remaining-- grab them while you can:
www.eventbrite.ca/e/neural-cir...
Human genetics provided the motivation. Pathogenic PTCHD1 mutations in patients are concentrated in exon 3, yet previous mouse models primarily targeted exon 2.
Paul Frankland
Paul Frankland
Paul Frankland
Paul Frankland
Paul Frankland
Trainees attending @canacn.bsky.social 2026 Meeting - @franklandlab.bsky.social and I are co-hosting the Circuits & Behaviour satellite and seeking 4 trainee speakers (one of whom will receive a $500 "Best Talk" prize). Register by next Friday for consideration:
www.eventbrite.ca/e/neural-cir...
New paper from the lab, led by Sangyoon Ko (and a long-term collaboration with John Vincent at CAMH).
The study revisits a basic question in modeling PTCHD1-associated autism: which exon should be targeted to best capture the human disorder?
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