Curriculum Vitae

Publications

2023

Direction selectivity of inhibitory interneurons in mouse barrel cortex differs between interneuron subtypes.
Julien Guy, Martin Möck, Jochen F. Staiger.
Cell Reports 42, 111936; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111936, 2023.
abstract link

GABAergic interneurons represent ∼15% to 20% of all cortical neurons, but their diversity grants them unique roles in cortical circuits. In the barrel cortex, responses of excitatory neurons to stimulation of facial whiskers are direction selective, whereby excitation is maximized over a narrow range of angular deflections. Whether GABAergic interneurons are also direction selective is unclear. Here, we use two-photon-guided whole-cell recordings in the barrel cortex of anesthetized mice and control whisker stimulation to measure direction selectivity in defined interneuron subtypes. Selectivity is ubiquitous in interneurons, but tuning sharpness varies across populations. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) interneurons are as selective as pyramidal neurons, but parvalbumin (PV) interneurons are more broadly tuned. Furthermore, a majority (2/3) of somatostatin (SST) interneurons receive direction-selective inhibition, with the rest receiving direction-selective excitation. Sensory evoked activity in the barrel cortex is thus cell-type specific, suggesting that interneuron subtypes make distinct contributions to cortical representations of stimuli.

2022

Repetitively burst-spiking neurons in reeler mice show conserved but also highly variable morphological features of layer Vb-fated “thick-tufted” pyramidal cells..
Jochen F. Staiger*, Alexandra Sachkova, Martin Möck, Julien Guy and Mirko Witte.
Front. Neuroanat. 16:1000107. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2022.1000107, 2022.
abstract link

Reelin is a large extracellular glycoprotein that is secreted by Cajal-Retziuscells during embryonic development to regulate neuronal migration andcell proliferation but it also seems to regulate ion channel distributionand synaptic vesicle release properties of excitatory neurons well intoadulthood. Mousemutants with a compromised reelin signaling cascade showa highly disorganized neocortex but the basic connectional features of thedisplaced excitatory principal cells seem to be relatively intact. Very little isknown, however, about the intrinsic electrophysiological and morphologicalproperties of individual cells in the reeler cortex. Repetitive burst-spiking (RB)is a unique property of large, thick-tufted pyramidal cells of wild-type layer Vbexclusively, which project to several subcortical targets. In addition, they areknown to possess sparse but far-reaching intracortical recurrent collaterals.Here, we compared the electrophysiological properties and morphologicalfeatures of neurons in the reeler primary somatosensory cortex with thoseof wild-type controls. Whereas in wild-type mice, RB pyramidal cells wereonly detected in layer Vb, and the vast majority of reeler RB pyramidal cellswere found in the superficial third of the cortical depth. There were noobvious di􀀀erences in the intrinsic electrophysiological properties and basicmorphological features (such as soma size or the number of dendrites) werealso well preserved. However, the spatial orientation of the entire dendritictree was highly variable in the reeler neocortex, whereas it was completelystereotyped in wild-typemice. It seems that basic quantitative features of layerVb-fated RB pyramidal cells are well conserved in the highly disorganizedmutant neocortex, whereas qualitative morphological features vary, possiblyto properly orient toward the appropriate input pathways, which are knownto show an atypical oblique path through the reeler cortex. The obliquedendritic orientation thus presumably reflects a re-orientation of dendriticinput domains toward spatially highly disorganized a􀀀erent projections.

2020

Increased Callosal Connectivity in Reeler Mice Revealed by Brain-Wide Input Mapping of VIP Neurons in Barrel Cortex.
Georg Hafner, Julien Guy, Mirko Witte, Pavel Truschow, Alina Rüppel, Nikoloz Sirmpilatze, Rakshit Dadarwal, Susann Boretius, Jochen F Staiger.
Cerebral Cortex, bhaa280, https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaa280, 2020.
abstract link

The neocortex is composed of layers. Whether layers constitute an essential framework for the formation of functional circuits is not well understood. We investigated the brain-wide input connectivity of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) expressing neurons in the reeler mouse. This mutant is characterized by a migration deficit of cortical neurons so that no layers are formed. Still, neurons retain their properties and reeler mice show little cognitive impairment. We focused on VIP neurons because they are known to receive strong long-range inputs and have a typical laminar bias toward upper layers. In reeler, these neurons are more dispersed across the cortex. We mapped the brain-wide inputs of VIP neurons in barrel cortex of wild-type and reeler mice with rabies virus tracing. Innervation by subcortical inputs was not altered in reeler, in contrast to the cortical circuitry. Numbers of long-range ipsilateral cortical inputs were reduced in reeler, while contralateral inputs were strongly increased. Reeler mice had more callosal projection neurons. Hence, the corpus callosum was larger in reeler as shown by structural imaging. We argue that, in the absence of cortical layers, circuits with subcortical structures are maintained but cortical neurons establish a different network that largely preserves cognitive functions.

2019

Mapping Brain-Wide Afferent Inputs of Parvalbumin-Expressing GABAergic Neurons in Barrel Cortex Reveals Local and Long-Range Circuit Motifs.
Hafner G, Witte M, Guy J, Subhashini N, Fenno LE, Ramakrishna C, Kim YS, Deisseroth K, Callaway EC, Oberhuber M, Conzelmann KK, Staiger JF.
Cell Reports 28 (13) P3450-3461.E8, 2019.
abstract link

Parvalbumin (PV)-expressing GABAergic neurons are the largest class of inhibitory neocortical cells. We visualize brain-wide, monosynaptic inputs to PV neurons in mouse barrel cortex. We develop intersectional rabies virus tracing to specifically target GABAergic PV cells and exclude a small fraction of excitatory PV cells from our starter population. Local inputs are mainly from layer (L) IV and excitatory cells. A small number of inhibitory inputs originate from LI neurons, which connect to LII/III PV neurons. Long-range inputs originate mainly from other sensory cortices and the thalamus. In visual cortex, most transsynaptically labeled neurons are located in LIV, which contains a molecularly mixed population of projection neurons with putative functional similarity to LIII neurons. This study expands our knowledge of the brain-wide circuits in which PV neurons are embedded and introduces intersectional rabies virus tracing as an applicable tool to dissect the circuitry of more clearly defined cell types.

2017

The functioning of a cortex without layers.
Guy J, Staiger JF.
Frontiers in Neuroanatomy 11:54, 2017.
abstract link

A major hallmark of cortical organization is the existence of a variable number of layers, i.e., sheets of neurons stacked on top of each other, in which neurons have certain commonalities. However, even for the neocortex, variable numbers of layers have been described and it is just a convention to distinguish six layers from each other. Whether cortical layers are a structural epiphenomenon caused by developmental dynamics or represent a functionally important modularization of cortical computation is still unknown. Here we present our insights from the reeler mutant mouse, a model for a developmental, “molecular lesion”-induced loss of cortical layering that could serve as ground truth of what an intact layering adds to the cortex in terms of functionality. We could demonstrate that the reeler neocortex shows no inversion of cortical layers but rather a severe disorganization that in the primary somatosensory cortex leads to the complete loss of layers. Nevertheless, the somatosensory system is well organized. When exploring an enriched environment with specific sets of whiskers, activity-dependent gene expression takes place in the corresponding modules. Precise whisker stimuli lead to the functional activation of somatotopically organized barrel columns as visualized by intrinsic signal optical imaging. Similar results were obtained in the reeler visual system. When analyzing pathways that could be responsible for preservation of tactile perception, lemniscal thalamic projections were found to be largely intact, despite the smearing of target neurons across the cortical mantle. However, with optogenetic experiments we found evidence for a mild dispersion of thalamic synapse targeting on layer IV-spiny stellate cells, together with a general weakening in thalamocortical input strength. This weakening of thalamic inputs was compensated by intracortical mechanisms involving increased recurrent excitation and/or reduced feedforward inhibition. In conclusion, a layer loss so far only led to the detection of subtle defects in sensory processing by reeler mice. This argues in favor of a view in which cortical layers are not an essential component for basic perception and cognition. A view also supported by recent studies in birds, which can have remarkable cognitive capacities despite the lack of a neocortex with multiple cortical layers. In conclusion, we suggest that future studies directed toward understanding cortical functions should rather focus on circuits specified by functional cell type composition than mere laminar location.

2016

Intracortical Network Effects Preserve Thalamocortical Input Efficacy in a Cortex Without Layers.
Guy,J.; Sachkova,A.; Möck,M.; Witte,M.; Wagener,R.J.; Staiger,J.F..
Cerebral Cortex DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhw281, 2016.
abstract

Layer IV (LIV) of the rodent somatosensory cortex contains the somatotopic barrel field. Barrels receive much of the sensory input to the cortex through innervation by thalamocortical axons from the ventral posteromedial nucleus. In the reeler mouse, the absence of cortical layers results in the formation of mispositioned barrel-equivalent clusters of LIV fated neurons. Although functional imaging suggests that sensory input activates the cortex, little is known about the cellular and synaptic properties of identified excitatory neurons of the reeler cortex. We examined the properties of thalamic input to spiny stellate (SpS) neurons in the reeler cortex with in vitro electrophysiology, optogenetics, and subcellular channelrhodopsin-2-assisted circuit mapping (sCRACM). Our results indicate that reeler SpS neurons receive direct but weakened input from the thalamus, with a dispersed spatial distribution along the somatodendritic arbor. These results further document subtle alterations in functional connectivity concomitant of absent layering in the reeler mutant. We suggest that intracortical amplification mechanisms compensate for this weakening in order to allow reliable sensory transmission to the mutant neocortex

Parvalbumin- and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-expressing neocortical interneurons impose differential inhibition on Martinotti cells.
Walker F, Möck M, Feyerabend M, Guy J, Wagener RJ, Schubert D, Staiger JF, Witte M.
Nature Comunications 7:13664 (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13664, 2016.
abstract link

Disinhibition of cortical excitatory cell gate information flow through and between corticalcolumns. The major contribution of Martinotti cells (MC) is providing dendritic inhibition toexcitatory neurons and therefore they are a main component of disinhibitory connections.Here we show by means of optogenetics that MC in layers II/III of the mouse primarysomatosensory cortex are inhibited by both parvalbumin (PV)- and vasoactive intestinalpolypeptide (VIP)-expressing cells. Paired recordings revealed stronger synaptic inputonto MC from PV cells than from VIP cells. Moreover, PV cell input showed frequencyindependentdepression, whereas VIP cell input facilitated at high frequencies. Thesedifferences in the properties of the two unitary connections enable disinhibition with distincttemporal features.

Intracortical polyimide electrodes with a bioresorbable coating.
Hassler,C.; Guy,J.; Nietzschmann,M.; Plachta,D.T.; Staiger,J.F.; Stieglitz,T..
Biomed.Microdevices 18 (5):81, 2016.
abstract link

Polyimide based shaft electrodes were coated with a bioresorbable layer to stiffen them for intracortical insertion and to reduce the mechanical mismatch between the target tissue and the implanted device after degradation of the coating. Molten saccharose was used as coating material. In a proof-of-concept study, the electrodes were implanted into the cortex of Wistar rats and the insertion forces during implantation were recorded. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was performed immediately after implantation and up to 13 weeks after implantation to monitor the tissue response to the implanted electrodes. The recorded spectra were modeled with an equivalent circuit to differentiate the influence of the single components. In one rat, a peak in the encapsulation resistance was observable after two weeks of implantation, indicating the peak of the acute inflammatory response. In another rat, the lowest resistances were observed after four weeks, indicating the termination of the acute inflammatory response. Multiunit activity was recorded with an adequate signal to noise ratio to allow spike sorting. Histology was performed after 7, 45 and 201 days of implantation. The results showed the highest tissue reaction after 45 days and confirmed impedance data that acute inflammatory reactions terminate over time

2015

Thalamocortical Connections Drive Intracortical Activation of Functional Columns in the Mislaminated Reeler Somatosensory Cortex .
Robin J. Wagener, Mirko Witte, Julien Guy, Nieves Mingo-Moreno, Sebastian Kügler, Jochen F. Staiger.
Cerebral Cortex, 2015.
abstract link

Neuronal wiring is key to proper neural information processing. Tactile information from the rodent's whiskers reaches the cortex via distinct anatomical pathways. The lemniscal pathway relays whisking and touch information from the ventral posteromedial thalamic nucleus to layer IV of the primary somatosensory "barrel" cortex. The disorganized neocortex of the reeler mouse is a model system that should severely compromise the ingrowth of thalamocortical axons (TCAs) into the cortex. Moreover, it could disrupt intracortical wiring. We found that neuronal intermingling within the reeler barrel cortex substantially exceeded previous descriptions, leading to the loss of layers. However, viral tracing revealed that TCAs still specifically targeted transgenically labeled spiny layer IV neurons. Slice electrophysiology and optogenetics proved that these connections represent functional synapses. In addition, we assessed intracortical activation via immediate-early-gene expression resulting from a behavioral exploration task. The cellular composition of activated neuronal ensembles suggests extensive similarities in intracolumnar information processing in the wild-type and reeler brains. We conclude that extensive ectopic positioning of neuronal partners can be compensated for by cell-autonomous mechanisms that allow for the establishment of proper connectivity. Thus, genetic neuronal fate seems to be of greater importance for correct cortical wiring than radial neuronal position.

Persistence of Functional Sensory Maps in the Absence of Cortical Layers in the Somatosensory Cortex of Reeler Mice.
Guy J, Wagener R, Möck M and Staiger JF.
Cerebral Cortex; doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhu052, 2015. 25(9):2517-28
abstract link

In rodents, layer IV of the primary somatosensory cortex contains the barrel field, where individual, large facial whiskers are represented as a dense cluster of cells. In the reeler mouse, a model of disturbed cortical development characterized by a loss of cortical lamination, the barrel field exists in a distorted manner. Little is known about the consequences of such a highly disturbed lamination on cortical function in this model. We used in vivo intrinsic signal optical imaging together with piezo-controlled whisker stimulation to explore sensory map organization and stimulus representation in the barrel field. We found that the loss of cortical layers in reeler mice had surprisingly little incidence on these properties. The overall topological order of whisker representations is highly preserved and the functional activation of individual whisker representations is similar in size and strength to wild-type controls. Because intrinsic imaging measures hemodynamic signals, we furthermore investigated the cortical blood vessel pattern of both genotypes, where we also did not detect major differences. In summary, the loss of the reelin protein results in a widespread disturbance of cortical development which compromises neither the establishment nor the function of an ordered, somatotopic map of the facial whiskers.

2012

Unique functional properties of somatostatin-expressing GABAergic neurons in mouse barrel cortex.
Gentet LJ, Kremer Y, Taniguchi H, Huang ZJ, Staiger J, Petersen CCH.
Nat Neurosci 15:607-612, 2012.
abstract link

Neocortical GABAergic neurons have diverse molecular, structural and electrophysiological features, but the functional correlates of this diversity are largely unknown. We found unique membrane potential dynamics of somatostatin-expressing (SOM) neurons in layer 2/3 of the primary somatosensory barrel cortex of awake behaving mice. SOM neurons were spontaneously active during periods of quiet wakefulness. However, SOM neurons hyperpolarized and reduced action potential firing in response to both passive and active whisker sensing, in contrast with all other recorded types of nearby neurons, which were excited by sensory input. Optogenetic inhibition of SOM neurons increased burst firing in nearby excitatory neurons. We hypothesize that the spontaneous activity of SOM neurons during quiet wakefulness provides a tonic inhibition to the distal dendrites of excitatory pyramidal neurons. Conversely, the inhibition of SOM cells during active cortical processing likely enhances distal dendritic excitability, which may be important for top-down computations and sensorimotor integration.