Fig. 3: PV-INs density and PV puncta-rings and morphology in the cortex layer II/III.

A Representative confocal image of a coronal brain section illustrating the distribution of PV⁺ cells in the cerebral cortex of a PV-Cre mouse across the defined regions of interest, with a specific focus on layers II/III of M2, M1, and S1BF. Scale bar: 500 mm. Total PV+ cell density. B In M2. C In M1. D In S1BF. Unbiased stereology quantification of PV⁺ cell density. E High magnification of the cortex immunostained with anti-PV for CNT and 6-OHDA groups. Interhemispheric analysis of anti-PV fluorescence mean values of puncta-rings, calculated in puncta-rings around cell bodies of non-PV positive neurons in control and 6-OHDA group. Scale bar, 20 µm. F In M2 interhemispheric analysis of anti-PV fluorescence mean values of puncta-rings in control and 6-OHDA group. G In M1. H In S1BF. I–K Normalized PV puncta density (PV puncta per PV-IN) in superficial layers of the ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheres across cortical regions in the controls and 6-OHDA group. I In M2. J In M1. K In S1BF. L IMARIS semi-automatic three-dimensional reconstruction and quantitative morphometric analysis of PV-IN. Scale bar, 20 µm. M Sholl analysis to study PV-IN morphology complexity in M1. N Interhemispheric analysis of PV-IN total branching points in control and 6-OHDA mice in M1. In blue, CNT n = 5 and in orange, 6-OHDA n = 4. Data are expressed as mean ± Standard Error of Mean. *p ≤ 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001. See also Supplementary Table 3.