A dynamic gene regulatory code drives synaptic development of hippocampal granule cells [SS2]

Connecting neurons into functional circuits requires the formation, maturation, and plasticity of synapses. While advances have been made in identifying individual genes regulating synapse development, the molecular programs orchestrating their action during circuit integration of neurons remain poorly understood. Here, we have employed a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) method (Smart-seq2) to study the development of hippocampal GCs. GCs represent the first relay in the hippocampal tri-synaptic loop and play an essential role in processing spatial representations and memory acquisition. This study provides a high temporal resolution analysis of the transcriptome of GCs during early postnatal development (P5, P7, P10, P15, and P28). Together, these findings highlight the networks of key TFs and target genes orchestrating GC synapse development.