%0 Journal Article
%T Microglia enable cross-modal plasticity by removing inhibitory synapses.
%A Hashimoto A
%A Kawamura N
%A Tarusawa E
%A Takeda I
%A Aoyama Y
%A Ohno N
%A Inoue M
%A Kagamiuchi M
%A Kato D
%A Matsumoto M
%A Hasegawa Y
%A Nabekura J
%A Schaefer A
%A Moorhouse AJ
%A Yagi T
%A Wake H
%J Cell Rep
%V 42
%N 5
%D 2023 05 30
%M 37086724
暂无%R 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112383
%X Cross-modal plasticity is the repurposing of brain regions associated with deprived sensory inputs to improve the capacity of other sensory modalities. The functional mechanisms of cross-modal plasticity can indicate how the brain recovers from various forms of injury and how different sensory modalities are integrated. Here, we demonstrate that rewiring of the microglia-mediated local circuit synapse is crucial for cross-modal plasticity induced by visual deprivation (monocular deprivation [MD]). MD relieves the usual inhibition of functional connectivity between the somatosensory cortex and secondary lateral visual cortex (V2L). This results in enhanced excitatory responses in V2L neurons during whisker stimulation and a greater capacity for vibrissae sensory discrimination. The enhanced cross-modal response is mediated by selective removal of inhibitory synapse terminals on pyramidal neurons by the microglia in the V2L via matrix metalloproteinase 9 signaling. Our results provide insights into how cortical circuits integrate different inputs to functionally compensate for neuronal damage.