Role of neuropsin in parvalbumin immunoreactivity changes in hippocampal basket terminals of mice reared in various environments

• Main Authors: Harumitsu eSuzuki, Dai eKanagawa, Hitomi eNakazawa, Yoshie eTawara-Hirata, Yoko eKogure, Chigusa eShimizu-Okabe, Chitoshi eTakayama, Yasuyuki eIshikawa, Sadao eShiosaka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-12-01
• Series: Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
• Subjects: Hippocampus; GABA; interneuron; synaptic plasticity; ErbB4; Neuregulin1
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncel.2014.00420/full

In vitro approaches have suggested that neuropsin (or kallikrein 8/KLK8), which controls gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission through neuregulin-1 and its receptor (ErbB4), is involved in neural plasticity (Tamura et al., 2012, 2013). In the present study, we examined whether parvalbumin (PV)-positive neuronal networks, the majority of which are ErbB4-positive GABAergic interneurons, are controlled by neuropsin in tranquil and stimulated voluntarily behaving mice.PV-immunoreactive fibers surrounding hippocampal pyramidal and granular neurons in mice reared in their home cage were decreased in neuropsin-deficient mice, suggesting that neuropsin controls PV immunoreactivity. One- or two-week exposures of wild mice to novel environments, in which they could behave freely and run voluntarily in a wheel resulted in a marked upregulation of both neuropsin mRNA and protein in the hippocampus. To elucidate the functional relevance of the increase in neuropsin during exposure to a rich environment, the intensities of PV-immunoreactive fibers were compared between neuropsin-deficient and wild-type mice under environmental stimuli. When mice were transferred into novel cages (large cages with toys), the intensity of PV-immunoreactive fibers increased in wild-type mice and neuropsin-deficient mice. Therefore, behavioral stimuli control a neuropsin-independent form of PV immunoreactivity. However, the neuropsin-dependent part of the change in PV-immunoreactive fibers may occur in the stimulated hippocampus because increased levels of neuropsin continued during these enriched conditions.