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Neuronal plasticity is a crucial mechanism for an adapting nervous system to change. It is shown to be regulated by perineuronal nets (PNNs), the condensed forms of the extracellular matrix (ECM) around neuronal bodies. By assessing the changes in the number, intensity, and structure of PNNs, the ultrastructure of the PNN mesh, and the expression of inhibitory and excitatory synaptic inputs on these neurons, we aimed to clarify the role of an ECM glycoprotein, tenascin-C (TnC), in the dorsal hippocampus. To enhance neuronal plasticity, TnC-deficient (TnC-/-) and wild-type (TnC+/+) young adult male mice were reared in an enriched environment (EE) for 8 weeks. Deletion of TnC in TnC-/- mice showed an ultrastructural reduction of the PNN mesh and an increased inhibitory input in the dentate gyrus (DG), and an increase in the number of PNNs with a rise in the inhibitory input in the CA2 region. EE induced an increased inhibitory input in the CA2, CA3, and DG regions; in DG, the change was also followed by an increased intensity of PNNs. No changes in PNNs or synaptic expression were found in the CA1 region. We conclude that the DG and CA2 regions emerged as focal points of alterations in PNNs and synaptogenesis with EE as mediated by TnC.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom14040508 | DOI Listing |
Mol Psychiatry
September 2025
Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine and Department of Pharmacy, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College; and State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430030, China. chenjg@hu
Dysfunction of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons (PV-INs) in the cerebral cortex has been implicated in major depressive disorder. Perineuronal nets (PNNs), which encapsulate PV-INs, are considered to influence the structural and functional properties of PV-INs. Semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) is a secreted protein constituent of PNNs, but the specific roles of Sema3A in modulating PV-INs during stress remain unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurosci
September 2025
Lendület Laboratory of Thalamus Research, HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine; Budapest, Hungary
The paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) integrates subcortical signals related to arousal, stress, addiction, and anxiety with top-down cortical influences. Increases or decreases in PVT activity exert profound, long-lasting effects on behavior related to motivation, addiction and homeostasis. Yet the sources of its subcortical excitatory and inhibitory afferents, their distribution within the PVT, and their integration with layer-specific cortical inputs remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Biol Macromol
September 2025
Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, PO. Box 222, Dschang, Cameroon.
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a key role in grassland carbon biogeochemistry and shows sensitivity to global climate change, particularly nitrogen (N) deposition. We investigated the soil DOM molecular composition by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, and FT-ICR MS through a N addition experiment (CK, N5, N10, N20, and N40 [0, 5, 10, 20, and 40 g N m-2 year-1, respectively]) in a desert steppe of northwest China. Moderate N inputs (N5-N20) caused a dose-dependent increase in DOM content (9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurochem
September 2025
Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) may experience neurobehavioral and cognitive concerns, including psychiatric symptoms, due to the absence of full-length dystrophin (Dp427), frequently accompanied by deficiencies in shorter isoforms. The lack of dystrophin affects neurophysiological processes from the uterine phase, impacting neural circuitry in brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum. This leads to reduced inhibitory GABAergic transmission and altered hippocampal glutamatergic signaling.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objectives: Brief sleep loss alters cognition and the activity and synaptic structures of both principal neurons and interneurons in hippocampus. However, although sleep-dependent coordination of activity between hippocampus and neocortex is essential for memory consolidation, much less is known about how sleep loss affects neocortical input to hippocampus, or excitatory-inhibitory balance within neocortical structures. We aimed to test how the synaptic structures of SST+ interneurons in lateral and medial entorhinal cortex (LEC and MEC), which are the major neocortical input to hippocampus, are affected by brief sleep disruption in the hours following learning.
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