Distinct recruitment dynamics of chandelier cells and basket cells by thalamocortical inputs

Diverse types of GABAergic interneurons tend to specialize in their inhibitory control of various aspects of cortical circuit operations. Among the most distinctive interneuron types, chandelier cells (i.e., axo-axonic cells) are a bona fide cell type that specifically innervates pyramidal cells at the axon initial segment, the site of action potential initiation. Chandelier cells have been speculated to exert ultimate inhibitory control over pyramidal cell spiking. Thus, chandelier cells appear to share multiple similarities with basket cells, not only in firing pattern (fast spiking) and molecular components, but also in potentially perisomatic inhibitory control. Unlike basket cells, however, synaptic recruitment of chandelier cells is little known yet. Here, we examined the mediodorsal thalamocortical input to both chandelier cells and basket cells in medial prefrontal cortex, through combining mouse genetic, optogenetic and electrophysiological approaches. We demonstrated that this thalamocortical input produced initially weak, but facilitated synaptic responses at chandelier cells, which enabled chandelier cells to spike persistently. In contrast, this thalamocortical input evoked initially strong, but rapidly depressed synaptic responses at basket cells, and basket cells only fired at the initiation of input. Overall, the distinct synaptic recruitment dynamics further underscores the differences between chandelier cells and basket cells, suggesting that these two types of fast spiking interneurons play different roles in cortical circuit processing and physiological operation.