• Lorenzo Mattioni, Anna Barbieri, Andrea Grigoli, Luigi Balasco, Yuri Bozzi, and Giovanni Provenzano.
• Department of Cellular, Computational, and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Trento, Italy. Electronic address: lmattion@uni-mainz.de.
• Neuroscience. 2024 May 14; 546: 637463-74.

AbstractGABAergic interneurons and perineuronal nets (PNNs) are important regulators of plasticity throughout life and their dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several neuropsychiatric conditions, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD). PNNs are condensed portions of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that are crucial for neural development and proper formation of synaptic connections. We previously showed a reduced expression of GABAergic interneuron markers in the hippocampus and somatosensory cortex of adult mice lacking the Engrailed2 gene (En2-/- mice), a mouse model of ASD. Since alterations in PNNs have been proposed as a possible pathogenic mechanism in ASD, we hypothesized that the PNN dysfunction may contribute to the neural and behavioral abnormalities of En2-/- mice. Here, we show an increase in the PNN fluorescence intensity, evaluated by Wisteria floribunda agglutinin, in brain regions involved in social behavior and somatosensory processing. In addition, we found that En2-/- mice exhibit altered texture discrimination through whiskers and display a marked decrease in the preference for social novelty. Our results raise the possibility that altered expression of PNNs, together with defects of GABAergic interneurons, might contribute to the pathogenesis of social and sensory behavioral abnormalities.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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