Figure 7.

Silencing PV Interneurons with AAV.flex.TeLC Results in Increased Network Activity in Laminae I–IV following Innocuous Tactile Stimulation

(A–D) Plots of the distribution of cFOS-labeled cells in laminae I–IV following brush and punctate stimulation of hairy and glabrous skin over the hindpaw and lower limb of PV^Cre mice that had undergone unilateral intraspinal injections of AAV.flex.TeLC (TeLC; A) or AAV.flex.GFP (B) into lumbar segments L3–L5, naive PV^Cre mice (C) that had undergone the same hindpaw stimulation, and naive PV^Cre mice not subjected to the hindpaw stimulation protocol (D). The location of individual cFOS cells in representative sections from each experimental group is depicted, with cells in each lamina denoted by colored circles: lamina I (dark green); IIo (red), IIi (bright green); III and IV (blue).

(E) Representative section from a TeLC-treated mouse following the stimulation protocol. Cells are widely distributed across the dorsal horn, with a high incidence of cells in superficial laminae.

(F and G) The incidence of cFOS cells is significantly higher in TeLC animals (red) than in any of the control groups, both in the superficial (F) and deeper laminae (G). The incidence of cFOS labeling in control animals did not differ significantly between groups (n.s., p > 0.05; ^∗∗p < 0.01; one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post-test of multiple comparisons).

Scale bars represent 187 μm (A–D), 100 μm (E), and 50 μm (F).