Deletion of PTEN Produces Deficits in Conditioned Fear and Increases Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein

The phosphatase and tensin homolog detected on chromosome 10 (PTEN) gene product modulates activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway. The PI3K pathway has been found to be involved in the regulation of the fragile X mental retardation protein, which is important for long-term depression and in the formation of new memories. We used delayed fear conditioning and trace fear conditioning to determine learning and memory deficits in neuron subset-specific Pten (NS-Pten) conditional knockout (KO) mice. We found that NS-Pten KO mice had deficits in contextual learning and trace conditioning, but did not have deficits in the ability to learn a conditioned stimulus. Furthermore, we found increased levels in the total and phosphorylated forms of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) in the hippocampus of NS-Pten KO mice.