Vasoactive intestinal peptide-expressing interneurons are impaired in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome.

Abstract

Dravet Syndrome (DS) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder caused by pathogenic loss of function variants in the gene <i>SCN1A</i> which encodes the voltage gated sodium (Na⁺) channel subunit Nav1.1. GABAergic interneurons expressing parvalbumin (PV-INs) and somatostatin (SST-INs) exhibit impaired excitability in DS (<i>Scn1a</i>^+/-) mice. However, the function of a third major class of interneurons in DS - those expressing vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP-IN) -is unknown. We recorded VIP-INs in brain slices from <i>Scn1a</i>^+/-mice and wild-type littermate controls and found prominent impairment of irregular spiking (IS), but not continuous adapting (CA) VIP-INs, in <i>Scn1a^+/-</i> mice. Application of the Nav1.1-specific toxin Hm1a rescued the observed deficits. The IS vs. CA firing pattern is determined by expression of KCNQ channels; IS VIP-INs switched to tonic firing with both pharmacologic blockade of M-current and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor activation. These results show that VIP-INs express Nav1.1 and are dysfunctional in DS, which may contribute to DS pathogenesis.