scholarly journals Synaptic crosstalk conferred by a zone of differentially regulated Ca2+ signaling in the dendritic shaft adjoining a potentiated spine

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (27) ◽  
pp. 13611-13620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Dittmer ◽  
Mark L. Dell’Acqua ◽  
William A. Sather

Patterns of postsynaptic activity that induce long-term potentiation of fast excitatory transmission at glutamatergic synapses between hippocampal neurons cause enlargement of the dendritic spine and promote growth in spine endoplasmic reticulum (ER) content. Such postsynaptic activity patterns also impact Ca2+ signaling in the adjoining dendritic shaft, in a zone centered on the spine–shaft junction and extending ∼10–20 µm in either direction along the shaft. Comparing this specialized zone in the shaft with the dendrite in general, plasticity-inducing stimulation of a single spine causes more profound depletion of Ca2+ stores in the ER, a greater degree of interaction between stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) and L-type Ca2+ channels, and thus stronger STIM1 inhibition of these channels. Here we show that the length of this zone along the dendritic axis can be approximately doubled through the neuromodulatory action of β-adrenergic receptors (βARs). The mechanism of βAR enlargement of the zone arises from protein kinase A-mediated enhancement of L-type Ca2+ current, which in turn lowers [Ca2+]ER through ryanodine receptor-dependent Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release and activates STIM1 feedback inhibition of L-type Ca2+ channels. An important function of this dendritic zone is to support crosstalk between spines along its length such that spines neighboring a strongly stimulated spine are enabled to undergo structural plasticity in response to stimulation that would otherwise be subthreshold for spine structural plasticity. This form of crosstalk requires L-type Ca2+ channel current to activate STIM1, and βAR activity extends the range along the shaft over which such spine-to-spine communication can occur.

2019 ◽  
Vol 400 (9) ◽  
pp. 1129-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iryna Hlushchenko ◽  
Pirta Hotulainen

Abstract Synaptic plasticity underlies central brain functions, such as learning. Ca2+ signaling is involved in both strengthening and weakening of synapses, but it is still unclear how one signal molecule can induce two opposite outcomes. By identifying molecules, which can distinguish between signaling leading to weakening or strengthening, we can improve our understanding of how synaptic plasticity is regulated. Here, we tested gelsolin’s response to the induction of chemical long-term potentiation (cLTP) or long-term depression (cLTD) in cultured rat hippocampal neurons. We show that gelsolin relocates from the dendritic shaft to dendritic spines upon cLTD induction while it did not show any relocalization upon cLTP induction. Dendritic spines are small actin-rich protrusions on dendrites, where LTD/LTP-responsive excitatory synapses are located. We propose that the LTD-induced modest – but relatively long-lasting – elevation of Ca2+ concentration increases the affinity of gelsolin to F-actin. As F-actin is enriched in dendritic spines, it is probable that increased affinity to F-actin induces the relocalization of gelsolin.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna F. Hobbiss ◽  
Yazmin Ramiro Cortés ◽  
Inbal Israely

AbstractInformation is encoded within neural networks through synaptic weight changes. Synaptic learning rules involve a combination of rapid Hebbian plasticity with slower homeostatic synaptic plasticity (HSP) that regulates neuronal activity through global synaptic scaling. While Hebbian plasticity has been extensively investigated, much less is known about HSP. Here we investigate the structural and functional consequences of HSP at dendritic spines of mouse hippocampal neurons. We find that prolonged activity blockade induces spine growth, paralleling synaptic strength increases. Following activity blockade, glutamate uncaging-mediated long-term potentiation at single spines leads to size-dependent structural plasticity: smaller spines undergo robust growth, while larger spines remain unchanged. Moreover, we find that neighboring spines in the vicinity of the stimulated spine exhibit volume changes following HSP, indicating that plasticity has spread across a group of synapses. Overall, these findings demonstrate that Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity shape neural connectivity through coordinated structural plasticity of clustered inputs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dany Khamsing ◽  
Solène Lebrun ◽  
Isabelle Fanget ◽  
Nathanaël Larochette ◽  
Christophe Tourain ◽  
...  

AbstractMemory and long term potentiation require de novo protein synthesis. A key regulator of this process is mTORC1, a complex comprising the mTOR kinase. Growth factors activate mTORC1 via a pathway involving PI3-kinase, Akt, the TSC complex and the GTPase Rheb. In non-neuronal cells, translocation of mTORC1 to late endocytic compartments (LEs), where Rheb is enriched, is triggered by amino acids. However, the regulation of mTORC1 in neurons remains unclear. In mouse hippocampal neurons, we observed that BDNF and treatments activating NMDA receptors trigger a robust increase in mTORC1 activity. NMDA receptors activation induced a significant recruitment of mTOR onto lysosomes even in the absence of external amino acids, whereas mTORC1 was evenly distributed in neurons under resting conditions. NMDA receptor-induced mTOR translocation to LEs was partly dependent on the BDNF receptor TrkB, suggesting that BDNF contributes to the effect of NMDA receptors on mTORC1 translocation. In addition, the combination of Rheb overexpression and artificial mTORC1 targeting to LEs by means of a modified component of mTORC1 fused with a LE-targeting motif strongly activated mTOR. To gain spatial and temporal control over mTOR localization, we designed an optogenetic module based on light-sensitive dimerizers able to recruit mTOR on LEs. In cells expressing this optogenetic tool, mTOR was translocated to LEs upon photoactivation. In the absence of growth factor, this was not sufficient to activate mTORC1. In contrast, mTORC1 was potently activated by a combination of BDNF and photoactivation. The data demonstrate that two important triggers of synaptic plasticity, BDNF and NMDA receptors, synergistically power the two arms of the mTORC1 activation mechanism, i.e., mTORC1 translocation to LEs and Rheb activation. Moreover, they unmask a functional link between NMDA receptors and mTORC1 that could underlie the changes in the synaptic proteome associated with long-lasting changes in synaptic strength.


1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 2531-2545 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kapur ◽  
R. A. Pearce ◽  
W. W. Lytton ◽  
L. B. Haberly

Kapur, A., R. A. Pearce, W. W. Lytton, and L. B. Haberly.GABAA-mediated IPSCs in piriform cortex have fast and slow components with different properties and locations on pyramidal cells. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 2531–2545, 1997. A recent study in piriform (olfactory) cortex provided evidence that, as in hippocampus and neocortex, γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA)-mediated inhibition is generated in dendrites of pyramidal cells, not just in the somatic region as previously believed. This study examines selected properties of GABAA inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in dendritic and somatic regions that could provide insight into their functional roles. Pharmacologically isolated GABAA-mediated IPSCs were studied by whole cell patch recording in slices. To compare properties of IPSCs in distal dendritic and somatic regions, local stimulation was carried out with tungsten microelectrodes, and spatially restricted blockade of GABAA-mediated inhibition was achieved by pressure-ejection of bicuculline from micropipettes. The results revealed that largely independent circuits generate GABAA inhibition in distal apical dendritic and somatic regions. With such independence, a selective decrease in dendritic-region inhibition could enhance integrative or plastic processes in dendrites while allowing feedback inhibition in the somatic region to restrain system excitability. This could allow modulatory fiber systems from the basal forebrain or brain stem, for example, to change the functional state of the cortex by altering the excitability of interneurons that mediate dendritic inhibition without increasing the propensity for regenerative bursting in this highly epileptogenic system. As in hippocampus, GABAA-mediated IPSCs were found to have fast and slow components with time constants of decay on the order of 10 and 40 ms, respectively, at 29°C. Modeling analysis supported physiological evidence that the slow time constant represents a true IPSC component rather than an artifactual slowing of the fast component from voltage clamp of a dendritic current. The results indicated that, whereas both dendritic and somatic-region IPSCs have both fast and slow GABAA components, there is a greater proportion of the slow component in dendrites. In a companion paper, the hypothesis is explored that the resulting slower time course of the dendritic IPSC increases its capacity to regulate the N-methyl-d-aspartate component of EPSPs. Finally, evidence is presented that the slow GABAA-mediated IPSC component is regulated by presynaptic GABAB inhibition whereas the fast is not. Based on the requirement for presynaptic GABAB-mediated block of inhibition for expression of long-term potentiation, this finding is consistent with participation of the slow GABAA component in regulation of synaptic plasticity. The lack of susceptibility of the fast GABAA component to the long-lasting, activity-induced suppression mediated by presynaptic GABAB receptors is consistent with a protective role for this process in preventing seizure activity.


2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1250-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela B. Fenker ◽  
Julietta U. Frey ◽  
Hartmut Schuetze ◽  
Dorothee Heipertz ◽  
Hans-Jochen Heinze ◽  
...  

Exploring a novel environment can facilitate subsequent hippocampal long-term potentiation in animals. We report a related behavioral enhancement in humans. In two separate experiments, recollection and free recall, both measures of hippocampus-dependent memory formation, were enhanced for words studied after a 5-min exposure to unrelated novel as opposed to familiar images depicting indoor and outdoor scenes. With functional magnetic resonance imaging, the enhancement was predicted by specific activity patterns observed during novelty exposure in parahippocampal and dorsal prefrontal cortices, regions which are known to be linked to attentional orienting to novel stimuli and perceptual processing of scenes. Novelty was also associated with activation of the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area of the midbrain and the hippocampus, but these activations did not correlate with contextual memory enhancement. These findings indicate remarkable parallels between contextual memory enhancement in humans and existing evidence regarding contextually enhanced hippocampal plasticity in animals. They provide specific behavioral clues to enhancing hippocampus-dependent memory in humans.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuheng Jiang ◽  
Antonius M.J. VanDongen

ABSTRACTNew tools in optogenetics and molecular biology have culminated in recent studies which mark immediate-early gene (IEG)-expressing neurons as memory traces or engrams. Although the activity-dependent expression of IEGs has been successfully utilised to label memory traces, their roles in engram specification is incompletely understood. Outstanding questions remain as to whether expression of IEGs can interplay with network properties such as functional connectivity and also if neurons expressing different IEGs are functionally distinct. We investigated the expression of Arc and c-Fos, two commonly utilised IEGs in memory engram specification, in cultured hippocampal neurons. After pharmacological induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the network, we noted an emergent network property of refinement in functional connectivity between neurons, characterized by a global down-regulation of network connectivity, together with strengthening of specific connections. Subsequently, we show that Arc expression correlates with the effects of network refinement, with Arc-positive neurons being selectively strengthened. Arc positive neurons were also found to be located in closer physical proximity to each other in the network. While the expression pattern of IEGs c-Fos and Arc strongly overlaps, Arc was more selectively expressed than c-Fos. These IEGs also act together in coding information about connection strength pruning. These results demonstrate important links between IEG expression and network connectivity, which serve to bridge the gap between cellular correlates and network effects in learning and memory.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Vicario-Orri ◽  
Kensaku Kasuga ◽  
Sheue-Houy Tyan ◽  
Karen Chiang ◽  
Silvia Viana da Silva ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe patterns of Aβ-induced synaptic injury were examined after targeting of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) preferentially to either CA1 or CA3 neurons using Cre-lox technology combined with tetracycline-regulated expression. Both CA1- and CA3-APP-expressing transgenic mouse lines exhibited reduction in long-term potentiation (LTP) only when APP was expressed in neurons presynaptic to the recording site, whereas LTP remained comparable to wild-type mice when APP was expressed in postsynaptic neurons. As quantified by both light and electron microscopy, this orientation-specific impairment in synaptic plasticity was mirrored by synaptic loss in regions receiving axonal inputs from neurons expressing APP. Furthermore, A(plaque deposition also occurred only in the postsynaptic axonal fields of APP-expressing neurons. These deficits were reversed not only with doxycycline to inhibit APP expression but also with γ-secretase and Fyn kinase inhibitors, supporting the interpretation that the observed synaptic injury was mediated by Aβ. Taken together, these results demonstrate that APP/Aβ-induced synaptic toxicity is preferentially initiated by signaling of presynaptically expressed APP to the postsynaptic compartment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 6965-6983 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoonju Kim ◽  
You‐Na Jang ◽  
Ji‐Young Kim ◽  
Nari Kim ◽  
Seulgi Noh ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1624-1632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Orock ◽  
Sreemathi Logan ◽  
Ferenc Deak

AbstractCognitive impairment in the aging population is quickly becoming a health care priority, for which currently no disease-modifying treatment is available. Multiple domains of cognition decline with age even in the absence of neurodegenerative diseases. The cellular and molecular changes leading to cognitive decline with age remain elusive. Synaptobrevin-2 (Syb2), the major vesicular SNAP receptor protein, highly expressed in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, is essential for synaptic transmission. We have analyzed Syb2 protein levels in mice and found a decrease with age. To investigate the functional consequences of lower Syb2 expression, we have used adult Syb2 heterozygous mice (Syb2+/−) with reduced Syb2 levels. This allowed us to mimic the age-related decrease of Syb2 in the brain in order to selectively test its effects on learning and memory. Our results show that Syb2+/− animals have impaired learning and memory skills and they perform worse with age in the radial arm water maze assay. Syb2+/− hippocampal neurons have reduced synaptic plasticity with reduced release probability and impaired long-term potentiation in the CA1 region. Syb2+/− neurons also have lower vesicular release rates when compared to WT controls. These results indicate that reduced Syb2 expression with age is sufficient to cause cognitive impairment.


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