- Pai, Emily Ling-Lin;
- Vogt, Daniel;
- Clemente-Perez, Alexandra;
- McKinsey, Gabriel L;
- Cho, Frances S;
- Hu, Jia Sheng;
- Wimer, Matt;
- Paul, Anirban;
- Darbandi, Siavash Fazel;
- Pla, Ramon;
- Nowakowski, Tomasz J;
- Goodrich, Lisa V;
- Paz, Jeanne T;
- Rubenstein, John LR
Mafb and c-Maf transcription factor (TF) expression is enriched in medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) lineages, beginning in late-secondary progenitors and continuing into mature parvalbumin (PV+) and somatostatin (SST+) interneurons. However, the functions of Maf TFs in MGE development remain to be elucidated. Herein, Mafb and c-Maf were conditionally deleted, alone and together, in the MGE and its lineages. Analyses of Maf mutant mice revealed redundant functions of Mafb and c-Maf in secondary MGE progenitors, where they repress the generation of SST+ cortical and hippocampal interneurons. By contrast, Mafb and c-Maf have distinct roles in postnatal cortical interneuron (CIN) morphological maturation, synaptogenesis, and cortical circuit integration. Thus, Mafb and c-Maf have redundant and opposing functions at different steps in CIN development.