Fig. 2: PV_Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox mice show decreased PV⁺ cell efferent synaptic connectivity and reduced PNN agglomeration around cortical PV⁺ cell bodies.

a PFC coronal sections of PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox and control littermates immunolabeled for PV (cyan) and gephyrin (magenta). White arrows indicate perisomatic PV-positive boutons colocalizing with Gephyrin (PV⁺Gephyrin⁺ boutons), while yellow arrows indicate perisomatic PV-positive boutons that do not colocalise with Gephyrin (PV⁺Gephyrin^- boutons). Scale bar, 5 µm. b The density of perisomatic PV⁺ boutons is not significantly different neither in PFC nor in BLA between the two genotypes. PFC: Mann–Whitney test, P = 0.6825, Hdac2^lox/lox n = 4; PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox n = 5;. BLA: Mann–Whitney test, P = 0.1014, Hdac2^lox/lox n = 7; PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox n = 6. c The density of perisomatic PV⁺ boutons co-localizing with gephyrin puncta is significantly reduced in both PFC and BLA of conditional KO mice compared to their littermates. PFC: Mann–Whitney test, P = 0.0159, Hdac2^lox/lox n = 4; PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox n = 5. BLA: Mann–Whitney test, P = 0.0140, Hdac2^lox/lox n = 7; PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox n = 6). d Coronal sections of PFC of PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox and control littermates labeled with WFA (PNN, cyan) and PV (magenta). White arrows indicate PV-positive cells surrounded by PNN (PV⁺PNN⁺ cell bodies), while yellow arrows point to PV-positives cell that are not surrounded by PNN (PV⁺PNN^- cell bodies). Scale bar, 40 µm. e The percentage of PV⁺ cell bodies surrounded by WFA-stained PNN is significantly reduced in the PFC and BLA, but not in the SSCX, of conditional KO mice compared to their littermates. PFC: Mann–Whitney test, P = 0.0173, Hdac2^lox/lox, n = 6; PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox, n = 5. BLA: Mann–Whitney test, P = 0.0087, Hdac2^lox/lox, n = 6; PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox, n = 6. SSCX: Mann–Whitney test, P = 0.6753, Hdac2^lox/lox, n = 6; PV-Cre; Hdac2^lox/lox n = 6. Data represent mean ± s.e.m. Black circle represent individual data points. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.