第三军医大学陈晓薇研究小组取得一项新突破。他们报道了小白蛋白中间神经元是听觉皮层张力的重要组成部分。2025年6月16日出版的《科学通报》发表了这项成果。

利用一种新型的双通道宽视场Ca²⁺成像系统，即2通道交替暴露宽视场探测器（2-CAFE），该课题组研究人员同时测量了清醒小鼠不同神经元类型的声音反应性。结合双光子成像，该课题组研究人员观察到GABA能中间神经元在中尺度和单细胞分辨率下都遵循与传统听觉图相似的张力组织。在主要的中间神经元亚型——小白蛋白（PV）、生长抑素（SST）和血管活性肠肽（VIP）中，PV中间神经元在维持张力toptopy中发挥了关键作用。PV神经元的失活，而VIP和SST神经元的失活，显著削弱了听觉皮层的张力。这些发现证实PV中间神经元是听觉皮层张力toptopy的重要组成部分。

据悉，Tonotopy是神经元基于其声音频率响应的空间组织，是从耳蜗延伸到听觉皮层的听觉通路的基本特征。虽然兴奋性神经元被认为是皮层tontoptopy的必要条件，但抑制性中间神经元的作用尚不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: Parvalbumin interneurons are essential for tonotopy strength in the auditory cortex

Author: Zhikai Zhao a , Sunny C. Li b g, Xiaowei Chen d

Issue&Volume: 2025/06/16

Abstract: Tonotopy, the spatial organization of neurons based on their sound frequency responses, is a fundamental feature of the auditory pathway, extending from the cochlea to the auditory cortex. While excitatory neurons have been considered necessary for tonotopy in the cortex, the role of inhibitory interneurons remains unclear. Using a novel two-channel widefield Ca2+ imaging system, the 2-Channel Alternating exposure wide-Field Explorer (2-CAFE), we simultaneously measured the sound responsiveness of distinct neuron types in awake mice. Combined with two-photon imaging, we observed that GABAergic interneurons followed a similar tonotopic organization to the conventional auditory maps at both mesoscale and single-cell resolutions. Among the major interneuron subtypes—parvalbumin (PV), somatostatin (SST), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)—PV interneurons demonstrated a critical role in maintaining tonotopy. Inactivation of PV neurons, but not VIP or SST neurons, significantly weakened the tonotopic strength in the auditory cortex. These findings establish PV interneurons as essential components of auditory cortical tonotopy.

DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2025.06.020

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095927325006280