Our findings suggest that the susceptibility of parvalbumin neurons to stress may represent a key mechanism contributing to functional and structural impairments in specific brain regions relevant for psychiatric disorders.
Parvalbumin-positive (PV+) neurons in the cerebral cortex, mostly corresponding to fast-spiking basket cells, have been implicated in higher-order brain functions and psychiatric disorders.
Exposure to prenatal stress (PS) and mutations in <i>Gad1</i>, which encodes GABA synthesizing enzyme glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) 67, are the primary risk factors for psychiatric disorders associated with abnormalities in parvalbumin (PV)-positive GABAergic interneurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC).
Moreover, deficits in parvalbumin (PV)-immunoreactive and/or GABAergic neurons are closely associated with various psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.
These observations demonstrate a crucial function for Erbin in AMPAR surface expression in cortical PV-positive interneurons and may contribute to a better understanding of psychiatric disorders.