Region-specific Effects of Maternal Separation on Perineuronal Net and Parvalbumin-expressing Interneuron Formation in Male and Female Rats

•Perineuronal nets increased with age, plateauing in adolescence in the PFC.•PFC parvalbumin peaked in adolescence in males and females.•Maternal separation (MS) delayed formation of PFC perineuronal nets.•MS increased BLA perineuronal nets and parvalbumin cells of male adolescents.•MS altered BLA and PFC perineuronal nets of adults in a sex-specific manner. Early life experiences play a vital role in contributing to healthy brain development. Adverse experiences have a lasting impact on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA), brain regions associated with emotion regulation. Early life adversity via maternal separation (MS) has sex-specific effects on expression of parvalbumin (PV), which is expressed in fast-spiking GABAergic interneurons that are preferentially enwrapped by perineuronal nets (PNNs). Importantly, PNN formation coincides with the closure of developmental critical periods and regulates PV-expressing interneuron activity. Since aberrant PNN organization has been reported following adverse experiences in adolescent and adult rats, we investigated the impact of adversity early in life in the form of MS on the developing brain. Rat pups were separated from their dams for 4 h per day from postnatal day (P) 2–20. Tissue sections from juvenile (P20), adolescent (P40), and early adult (P70) animals containing the PFC and BLA were fluorescently stained to visualize Wisteria floribunda agglutinin+ PNNs and PV-expressing interneurons, and density and intensity was quantified. Our results confirm past reports that PFC PNNs form gradually throughout development; however, PNN density plateaus in adolescence, while intensity continues to increase into adulthood. Importantly, MS delays PNN formation in the prelimbic PFC and results in sex-specific aberrations in PNN structural integrity that do not appear until adulthood. The present findings reveal sex-, age-, and region-specific effects of early life adversity on PNN and PV maturation, implicating neuroplastic alterations following early life adversity that may be associated with sex differences in psychopathology and resilience.