Genetic dissection of GABAergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex

Diverse and flexible cortical functions rely on the ability of neural circuits to perform multiple types of neuronal computations. GABAergic inhibitory interneurons significantly contribute to this task by regulating the balance of activity, synaptic integration, spiking, synchrony, and oscillation...

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Main Author: Taniguchi, Hiroki
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3902216/
id pubmed-3902216
recordtype oai_dc
spelling pubmed-39022162014-01-29 Genetic dissection of GABAergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex Taniguchi, Hiroki Neuroscience Diverse and flexible cortical functions rely on the ability of neural circuits to perform multiple types of neuronal computations. GABAergic inhibitory interneurons significantly contribute to this task by regulating the balance of activity, synaptic integration, spiking, synchrony, and oscillation in a neural ensemble. GABAergic interneurons display a high degree of cellular diversity in morphology, physiology, connectivity, and gene expression. A considerable number of subtypes of GABAergic interneurons diversify modes of cortical inhibition, enabling various types of information processing in the cortex. Thus, comprehensively understanding fate specification, circuit assembly, and physiological function of GABAergic interneurons is a key to elucidate the principles of cortical wiring and function. Recent advances in genetically encoded molecular tools have made a breakthrough to systematically study cortical circuitry at the molecular, cellular, circuit, and whole animal levels. However, the biggest obstacle to fully applying the power of these to analysis of GABAergic circuits was that there were no efficient and reliable methods to express them in subtypes of GABAergic interneurons. Here, I first summarize cortical interneuron diversity and current understanding of mechanisms, by which distinct classes of GABAergic interneurons are generated. I then review recent development in genetically encoded molecular tools for neural circuit research, and genetic targeting of GABAergic interneuron subtypes, particularly focusing on our recent effort to develop and characterize Cre/CreER knockin lines. Finally, I highlight recent success in genetic targeting of chandelier cells, the most unique and distinct GABAergic interneuron subtype, and discuss what kind of questions need to be addressed to understand development and function of cortical inhibitory circuits. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-01-27 /pmc/articles/PMC3902216/ /pubmed/24478631 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2014.00008 Text en Copyright © 2014 Taniguchi. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Taniguchi, Hiroki
spellingShingle Taniguchi, Hiroki
Genetic dissection of GABAergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex
author_facet Taniguchi, Hiroki
author_sort Taniguchi, Hiroki
title Genetic dissection of GABAergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex
title_short Genetic dissection of GABAergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex
title_full Genetic dissection of GABAergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex
title_fullStr Genetic dissection of GABAergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex
title_full_unstemmed Genetic dissection of GABAergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex
title_sort genetic dissection of gabaergic neural circuits in mouse neocortex
description Diverse and flexible cortical functions rely on the ability of neural circuits to perform multiple types of neuronal computations. GABAergic inhibitory interneurons significantly contribute to this task by regulating the balance of activity, synaptic integration, spiking, synchrony, and oscillation in a neural ensemble. GABAergic interneurons display a high degree of cellular diversity in morphology, physiology, connectivity, and gene expression. A considerable number of subtypes of GABAergic interneurons diversify modes of cortical inhibition, enabling various types of information processing in the cortex. Thus, comprehensively understanding fate specification, circuit assembly, and physiological function of GABAergic interneurons is a key to elucidate the principles of cortical wiring and function. Recent advances in genetically encoded molecular tools have made a breakthrough to systematically study cortical circuitry at the molecular, cellular, circuit, and whole animal levels. However, the biggest obstacle to fully applying the power of these to analysis of GABAergic circuits was that there were no efficient and reliable methods to express them in subtypes of GABAergic interneurons. Here, I first summarize cortical interneuron diversity and current understanding of mechanisms, by which distinct classes of GABAergic interneurons are generated. I then review recent development in genetically encoded molecular tools for neural circuit research, and genetic targeting of GABAergic interneuron subtypes, particularly focusing on our recent effort to develop and characterize Cre/CreER knockin lines. Finally, I highlight recent success in genetic targeting of chandelier cells, the most unique and distinct GABAergic interneuron subtype, and discuss what kind of questions need to be addressed to understand development and function of cortical inhibitory circuits.
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate 2014
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3902216/
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