Perineuronal nets reflect a continuum of fast-spiking specialization in adult parvalbumin interneurons

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Abstract

SUMMARY Perineuronal nets (PNNs) preferentially enwrap parvalbumin (PV) interneurons, regulating plas-ticity and circuit function. The molecular differences between PNN-positive and PNN-negative PV neurons remain unknown. We combined Xenium spatial transcriptomics with PNN-labeling in adult mouse cortex (378,349 cells) and found that 97% of PNNs enwrap PV neurons; sub-stantially higher than previous estimates. PNN status reflected a transcriptional continuum rather than discrete subtypes. A classifier trained on Xenium data (AUC = 0.87) applied to Allen Brain scRNA-seq data, enabled genome-wide analysis of 34,326 cortical PV neurons. PNN-positive PV neurons expressed mature fast-spiking markers: Kv3 channels, mature NMDA subunits (Grin2a), fast-kinetic GABA-A receptors (Gabra1), oxidative phosphorylation genes, and gap junctions (Gjd2). PNN-negative PV neurons expressed neuropeptides and GABA-A subunits typical of Sst interneurons, suggesting a transcriptomic boundary between cell types and potentially ele-vated plasticity. This establishes PNN status as a molecular correlate of PV cell specialization, with implications for therapeutic strategies targeting cortical plasticity.
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SUMMARY Perineuronal nets (PNNs) preferentially enwrap parvalbumin (PV) interneurons, regulating plas-ticity and circuit function. The molecular differences between PNN-positive and PNN-negative PV neurons remain unknown. We combined Xenium spatial transcriptomics with PNN-labeling in adult mouse cortex (378,349 cells) and found that 97% of PNNs enwrap PV neurons; sub-stantially higher than previous estimates. PNN status reflected a transcriptional continuum rather than discrete subtypes. A classifier trained on Xenium data (AUC = 0.87) applied to Allen Brain scRNA-seq data, enabled genome-wide analysis of 34,326 cortical PV neurons. PNN-positive PV neurons expressed mature fast-spiking markers: Kv3 channels, mature NMDA subunits (Grin2a), fast-kinetic GABA-A receptors (Gabra1), oxidative phosphorylation genes, and gap junctions (Gjd2). PNN-negative PV neurons expressed neuropeptides and GABA-A subunits typical of Sst interneurons, suggesting a transcriptomic boundary between cell types and potentially ele-vated plasticity. This establishes PNN status as a molecular correlate of PV cell specialization, with implications for therapeutic strategies targeting cortical plasticity. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

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europepmc
last seen: 2026-05-20T01:45:00.602351+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-05-22T02:00:06.705733+00:00
License: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0