Parvalbumin expression identifies subicular principal cells with high projection specificity

The calcium-binding protein parvalbumin is an established marker for a subset of cortical inhibitory interneurons with similar biophysical features and connectivity. However, parvalbumin is also expressed in a population of excitatory layer 5 cells in neocortex with specific sub-cortical projection targets. Parvalbumin may thus also in excitatory cells identify subclasses with distinct connectivity and function. Here, we investigate parvalbumin expression in excitatory neurons of the hippocampal formation and whether it delineates neurons with specific features. We report parvalbumin-expressing glutamatergic cells in the dorsal distal subiculum, which separate into two subclasses: neurons in deep layers, which specifically project to the antero-ventral thalamus, and neurons in superficial layers, which project to the mammillary bodies. Contrary to adjacent pyramidal cells parvalbumin-positive neurons are non-bursting and display typical morphology. Functionally, the projections diverge from classical driver/modulator subdivisions. Parvalbumin thus marks two sub-types of subicular projection neurons with high target specificity and unique functional features.