Although neocortical GABAergic (gamma-aminobutyric acidergic) interneurons have been the focus of intense study, especially in the rat, a consensus view of the functional diversity and organization of inhibitory cortical neurons has not yet been achieved. To better analyze GABAergic neurons in the rat, we used a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) construct and established 2 lines of transgenic rats that coexpress Venus, a yellow fluorescent protein, with the vesicular GABA transporter. The brain GABA content from both transgenic lines was similar to the level found in wild-type rats. In the frontal cortex, Venus was expressed in >95% of GABAergic neurons, most of which also expressed at least one of 6 biochemical markers, including alpha-actitin-2, which preferentially labeled late-spiking neurogliaform cells. Taking advantage of the fact that Venus expression allows for targeted recording from all classes of nonpyramidal cells, irrespective of their somatic morphologies, we demonstrated that fast-spiking neurons, which were heterogeneous in somatic size as well as vertical dendritic projection, had relatively uniform horizontal dimensions, suggesting a cell type-specific columnar input territory. Our data demonstrate the benefits of VGAT-Venus rats for investigating GABAergic circuits, as well as the feasibility of using BAC technology in rats to label subsets of specific, genetically defined neurons.

BackgroundThe vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT) loads GABA and glycine from the neuronal cytoplasm into synaptic vesicles. To address functional importance of VGAT during embryonic development, we generated global VGAT knockout mice and analyzed them.ResultsVGAT knockouts at embryonic day (E) 18.5 exhibited substantial increases in overall GABA and glycine, but not glutamate, contents in the forebrain. Electrophysiological recordings from E17.5-18.5 spinal cord motoneurons demonstrated that VGAT knockouts presented no spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents mediated by GABA and glycine. Histological examination of E18.5 knockout fetuses revealed reductions in the trapezius muscle, hepatic congestion and little alveolar spaces in the lung, indicating that the development of skeletal muscle, liver and lung in these mice was severely affected.ConclusionVGAT is fundamental for the GABA- and/or glycine-mediated transmission that supports embryonic development. VGAT knockout mice will be useful for further investigating the roles of VGAT in normal physiology and pathophysiologic processes.

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