scholarly journals GluA1 trafficking and metabotropic NMDA: addressing results from other laboratories inconsistent with ours

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1633) ◽  
pp. 20130145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadegh Nabavi ◽  
Rocky Fox ◽  
Stephanie Alfonso ◽  
Jonathan Aow ◽  
Roberto Malinow

We have previously shown that when over-expressed in neurons, green fluorescent protein (GFP) tagged GluA1 (GluA1-GFP) delivery into synapses is dependent on plasticity. A recent study suggests that GluA1 over-expression leads to its incorporation into the synapse, in the absence of additional long-term potentiation-like manipulations. It is possible that a GFP tag was responsible for the difference. Using rectification index as a measure of synaptic delivery of GluA1, we found no difference in the synaptic delivery of GluA1-GFP versus untagged GluA1. We recently published a study showing that while D-APV blocks NMDAr-dependent long-term depression (LTD), MK-801 and 7-chloro kynurenate (7CK) fail to block LTD. We propose a metabotropic function for the NMDA receptor in LTD induction. In contrast to our observations, recent unpublished data suggest that the above antagonists are equally effective in blocking LTD. We noticed different methodology in their study. Here, we show that their methodology has complex effects on synaptic transmission. Therefore, it is not possible to conclude that 7CK is effective in blocking LTD from their type of experiment.

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua J. W. Paulin ◽  
Peter Haslehurst ◽  
Alexander D. Fellows ◽  
Wenfei Liu ◽  
Joshua D. Jackson ◽  
...  

The laying down of memory requires strong stimulation resulting in specific changes in synaptic strength and corresponding changes in size of dendritic spines. Strong stimuli can also be pathological, causing a homeostatic response, depressing and shrinking the synapse to prevent damage from too much Ca2+influx. But do all types of dendritic spines serve both of these apparently opposite functions? Using confocal microscopy in organotypic slices from mice expressing green fluorescent protein in hippocampal neurones, the size of individual spines along sections of dendrite has been tracked in response to application of tetraethylammonium. This strong stimulus would be expected to cause both a protective homeostatic response and long-term potentiation. We report separation of these functions, with spines of different sizes reacting differently to the same strong stimulus. The immediate shrinkage of large spines suggests a homeostatic protective response during the period of potential danger. In CA1, long-lasting growth of small spines subsequently occurs consolidating long-term potentiation but only after the large spines return to their original size. In contrast, small spines do not change in dentate gyrus where potentiation does not occur. The separation in time of these changes allows clear functional differentiation of spines of different sizes.


2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 3251-3259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan-Xin Chen ◽  
Mali Jiang ◽  
Dilek Akakin ◽  
Steven N. Roper

Synaptic plasticity has been extensively studied in principal neurons of the neocortex, but less work has been done on GABAergic interneurons. Interneurons consist of multiple subtypes and their synaptic properties vary between subtypes. In the present study, we have examined long-term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory synapses on somatostatin (SS)-expressing interneurons in neocortex using transgenic mice that express enhanced green fluorescent protein in these interneurons. We found that a strong theta burst stimulation was required to induce LTP in SS interneurons. LTP was associated with a reduction in paired-pulse facilitation and was not blocked by an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist. LTP was not affected by chelating postsynaptic Ca2+ with BAPTA, a fast Ca2+ chelator, and blocking L-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels with nimodipine. Application of forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase that increases cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) concentration, enhanced synaptic transmission and occluded subsequent induction of LTP. Finally, we found that LTP was blocked by protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitors. Our results suggest that excitatory synapses on SS interneurons express a presynaptic form of LTP that is not dependent on NMDARs or postsynaptic Ca2+ rise but is dependent on the cAMP–PKA signaling pathway.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Xing Ge ◽  
Ying-Ying Lin ◽  
Qian-Qian Bi ◽  
Yu-Juan Chen

Background: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) usually suffer from cognitive deficits and recurrent seizures. Brivaracetam (BRV) is a novel anti-epileptic drug (AEDs) recently used for the treatment of partial seizures with or without secondary generalization. Different from other AEDs, BRV has some favorable properties on synaptic plasticity. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the neuroprotective mechanism of BRV on synaptic plasticity in experimental TLE rats. Methods: The effect of chronic treatment with BRV (10 mg/kg) was assessed on Pilocarpine induced TLE model through measurement of the field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in vivo. Differentially expressed synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A) were identified with immunoblot. Then, fast phosphorylation of synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) during long-term potentiation (LTP) induction was performed to investigate the potential roles of BRV on synaptic plasticity in the TLE model. Results: An increased level of SV2A accompanied by a depressed LTP in the hippocampus was shown in epileptic rats. Furthermore, BRV treatment continued for more than 30 days improved the over-expression of SV2A and reversed the synaptic dysfunction in epileptic rats. Additionally, BRV treatment alleviates the abnormal SNAP-25 phosphorylation at Ser187 during LTP induction in epileptic ones, which is relevant to the modulation of synaptic vesicles exocytosis and voltagegated calcium channels. Conclusion: BRV treatment ameliorated the over-expression of SV2A in the hippocampus and rescued the synaptic dysfunction in epileptic rats. These results identify the neuroprotective effect of BRV on TLE model.


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