Neuronal Dystroglycan regulates postnatal development of CCK/cannabinoid receptor-1 interneurons

The development of functional neural circuits requires the precise formation of synaptic connections between diverse neuronal populations. The molecular pathways that allow GABAergic interneuron subtypes in the mammalian brain to recognize their postsynaptic partners remain largely unknown. The transmembrane glycoprotein Dystroglycan is localized to inhibitory synapses in pyramidal neurons, where it is required for the proper function of CCK+ interneurons. We show that deletion of Dystroglycan from pyramidal neurons selectively impairs CCK+ interneuron development during the first postnatal week. In the absence of postsynaptic Dystroglycan, presynaptic CCK+ interneurons fail to elaborate their axons and largely disappear from the cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and olfactory bulb. Bax deletion did not rescue CCK+ interneurons, suggesting that they are not eliminated by canonical apoptosis in Dystroglycan mutants. Rather, we observed an increase in CCK+ interneuron innervation of the striatum, suggesting that the remaining CCK+ interneurons re-directed their axons to neighboring areas where Dystroglycan expression remained intact. Together these findings identify Dystroglycan as a critical regulator of CCK+ interneuron development.