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Updated: Sep 7, 2025

Author Spotlight: Deciphering Neural Circuit Formation from Two-Photon Microscopy and Single Neuron Imaging
Published on: November 21, 2023
Postnatal development of the microstructure of cortical GABAergic synapses and perineuronal nets requires sensory
Nikita Lipachev1, Anastasia Melnikova2, Svetlana Fedosimova3
1Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 4, P.O. Box 56, 00790 Helsinki, Finland; Institute of Physics, Kazan Federal University, Kremlyovskaya 16a, 420111 Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia.
Abstract:
The brain synaptic circuitry is formed as a result of pre-defined genetic programs and sensory experience during postnatal development. Perineuronal nets ensheath synaptic boutons and control several crucial features of the synapse physiology. Formation of the perineuronal net microstructure during the brain development remains largely unstudied. Here we provide a detailed quantitative description of the 3-dimensional geometry of the synapse and the surrounding perineuronal net in the mouse somatosensory cortex layer IV. We compare the morphology of the synapse+perineuronal net complex in the adult brain formed under normal conditions or in the whisker shaving model of somatosensory deprivation. We demonstrate that the sensory deprivation causes flattening of the 3D PNN mesh geometry and reduction of the VGAT-positive cluster volume in presynaptic boutons. These results reveal a mechanism of the sensory input-dependent synapse morphogenesis during the brain development.
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