title: Cortical fosGFP expression reveals broad receptive field excitatory neurons targeted by POm.
abstract: Neighboring cortical excitatory neurons show considerable heterogeneity in their responses to sensory stimulation. We hypothesized that a subset of layer 2 excitatory neurons in the juvenile (P18 to 27) mouse whisker somatosensory cortex, distinguished by expression of the activity-dependent fosGFP reporter gene, would be preferentially activated by whisker stimulation. In fact, two-photon targeted, dual whole-cell recordings showed that principal whisker stimulation elicits similar amplitude synaptic responses in fosGFP-expressing and fosGFP(-) neurons. FosGFP(+) neurons instead displayed shorter latency and larger amplitude subthreshold responses to surround whisker stimulation. Using optogenetic stimulation, we determined that these neurons are targeted by axons from the posteromedial nucleus (POm), a paralemniscal thalamic nucleus associated with broad receptive fields and widespread cortical projections. We conclude that fosGFP expression discriminates between single- and multi-whisker receptive field layer 2 pyramidal neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin-Buch, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13092 Berlin, Germany; Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Neuroscience Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jean-Sébastien
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jouhanneau
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin-Buch, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13092 Berlin, Germany; Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Neuroscience Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Leiron
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrarese
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin-Buch, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13092 Berlin, Germany; Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Neuroscience Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Estebanez
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Nick J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Audette
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Neuroscience Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN), Humboldt University Berlin, Philippstrasse 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brecht
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Alison L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Barth
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin-Buch, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10, 13092 Berlin, Germany; Cluster of Excellence NeuroCure, Neuroscience Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: james.poulet@mdc-berlin.de.
authors.forename: James F A
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Poulet
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008239:Lysine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D020644:Midline Thalamic Nuclei / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000294:innervation
chemical_list: D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D016761:Oncogene Proteins v-fos; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; C013411:biocytin; D008239:Lysine