Fig. 6

Reduced activity in glycinergic interneurons is associated with increased activity of interneurons in the dorsal laminae I and II. Activation patterns in glycinergic interneurons and interneurons in dorsal laminae upon activation. Mice were treated with low concentration of Formalin and c-fos levels were measured 120 min later (a, b) Saline injection resulted in no difference in c-fos levels in glycinergic cells between WT and Shank2^−/− mice (p > 0.05). Upon Formalin injection c-fos was significantly higher in WT vs Shank2^−/− mice in glycinergic cells (p < 0.01); (N = 4) scale bar: 20 µm. c and d The reduced activity of glycinergic cells in Shank2^−/− mice in turn significantly increased the overall c-fos expression in the Shank2.^−/− in laminae I (p < 0.001), Laminae II (p < 0.01) but no difference in laminae III and IV–V (p > 0.05; p > 0.05) upon formalin injection; (N = 4) scale bar: 100 µm. Data shown as average ± SD. **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001