Fast-spiking, parvalbumin + GABAergic interneurons: From cellular design to microcircuit function

作者：Hua Hu, Jian Gan, Péter Jónás · 发表于：Science · 年份：2014 · DOI：10.1126/science.1255263 · 被引用次数：1285 · 研究领域：Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research、Neural dynamics and brain function、Memory and Neural Mechanisms

Background Neuronal networks in the brain include glutamatergic principal neurons and GABAergic interneurons (GABA, γ-aminobutyric acid). The latter may be a minority cell type, but they are vital for normal brain function because they regulate the activity of principal neurons. If interneuron function is impaired, higher brain function can be damaged and seizures may result. The fast-spiking, parvalbumin-positive interneurons (PV + interneurons) are readily characterized and, consequently, have been adopted as a research model for systematic and quantitative investigations. These cells contribute to feedback and feedforward inhibition and are critically involved in the generation of network oscillations. They can convert an excitatory input signal into an inhibitory output signal within a millisecond, but it is unclear how these signaling properties are implemented at the molecular and cellular levels, nor how PV + interneurons shape complex network functions. Advances Recent work sheds light on the subcellular signaling properties of PV + interneurons. PV + cells show a high degree of polarity. The weakly excitable dendrites allow PV + interneurons to sample activity in the surrounding network, whereas the highly excitable axons enable analog-to-digital conversion and fast propagation of the digital signal to a large number of target cells. Additionally, tight coupling of Ca 2+ channels and release sensors at GABAergic output synapses increases the efficacy and speed of the...