Dendritic morphological development of traumatic brain injury-induced new neurons in the dentate gyrus is important for post-injury cognitive recovery and is regulated by Notch1.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a prevalent problem with survivors suffering from chronic cognitive impairments. Following TBI there is a series of neuropathological changes including neurogenesis. It is well established that neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus is important for hippocampal dependent learning and memory functions. Following TBI, injury-enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis is believed to contribute to post-injury cognitive recovery. Behavioral function is connected to synaptic plasticity and neuronal dendritic branching is critical for successful synapse formation. To ascertain the functional contribution of injury-induced DG new neurons in post-TBI cognitive recovery, it is necessary to study their dendritic morphological development and the molecular mechanisms controlling this process. Utilizing transgenic mice with tamoxifen-induced GFP expression and Notch1 knock-out in nestin+ neural stem cells, this study examined dendritic morphology, the role of Notch1 in regulating dendritic complexity of injury-induced DG new neurons, and their association to post-TBI cognitive recovery. We found that at 8 weeks after a moderate TBI, injury-induced DG new neurons in the injured control mice displayed a similar dendritic morphology as the cells in non-injured mice accompanied with cognitive recovery. In comparison, in Notch1 conditional knock-out mice, DG new neurons in the injured mice had a significant reduction in dendritic morphological development including dendritic arbors, volume span, and number of branches in comparison to the cells in non-injured mice concomitant with persistent cognitive dysfunction. The results of this study confirm the importance of post-injury generated new neurons in cognitive recovery following TBI and the role of Notch1 in regulating their maturation process.