Ionic Mechanisms of Spontaneous GABAergic Events in Rat Hippocampal Slices Exposed to 4-Aminopyridine

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 2582-2591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karri Lamsa ◽  
Kai Kaila
Keyword(s):  
Pyramidal Cell ◽  
Cell Response ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Stratum Radiatum ◽  
Intracellular Recordings ◽  
Free Medium ◽  
Ionic Mechanisms

Lamsa, Karri and Kai Kaila. Ionic mechanisms of spontaneous GABAergic events in rat hippocampal slices exposed to 4-aminopyridine. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 2582–2591, 1997. Ion-selective (H+ and K+) microelectrode techniques as well as conventional extra- and intracellular recordings were used to study the ionic mechanisms of propagating spontaneous GABAergic events (SGEs) in rat hippocampal slices exposed to 4-aminopyridine (4-AP, 50–100 μM). All experiments were made in the presence of antagonists of ionotropic glutamate receptors [10 μM 6-nitro-7-sulphamoylbenzoquinoxaline-2,3-dione (NBQX) and 40 μM dl-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP5)]. The SGEs were composed of a negative-going change in field potential with a temporally coincident increase (0.7 ± 0.3 mM; mean ± SE) in extracellular K+ ([K+]o) and an alkaline transient (0.01–0.08 units) in extracellular pH (pHo) in stratum radiatum of the area CA1. Simultaneous intracellular recordings showed a triphasic hyperpolarization-depolarization–late hyperpolarization response in pyramidal cells. Application of pentobarbital sodium (PB, 100 μM) decreased the interval between SGEs from a mean value of 35 to ∼20 s and shortened the period of refractoriness of stimulus-evoked propagating events. This was accompanied by an increase in the amplitude of the field potential response of the [K+]o and the pHo shifts and of the depolarizing phase of the pyramidal-cell response. The SGEs were completely blocked by the γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) receptor antagonist, picrotoxin (PiTX; 100 μM). The amplitudes of the negative-going field potential and of the depolarizing phase of the pyramidal-cell response as well as the ionic shifts associated with SGEs were strongly suppressed in the nominal absence of CO2/HCO− 3. There was a five-fold increase in the interevent interval, and propagating SGEs could not be evoked by stimuli given at intervals shorter than ∼2–3 min. Exposure to inhibitors of carbonic anhydrase, benzolamide (BA; 10 μM) or ethoxyzolamide (EZA; 50 μM) fully blocked the alkaline pHo transients and turned them into acid shifts. The poorly membrane-permeant BA had no discernible effect on the other components of the SGEs, but application of EZA had effects reminiscent to those of CO2/HCO− 3-free medium. Addition of the GABAA receptor–permeant weak-acid anion, formate (20 mM) reestablished the SGEs that were first suppressed by exposure to the CO2/HCO− 3-free medium. No SGEs were seen in the presence of a similar concentration of the GABAA receptor–impermeant anion propionate. Unlike the alkaline transients associated with HCO− 3-driven SGEs, those supported by formate were not blocked by BA. The present data suggest that an inward current carried by bicarbonate is necessary for the generation of SGEs and that the GABAA receptor–mediated excitatory coupling among GABAergic interneurons is essentially dependent on the availability of intracellular bicarbonate.

Synchronization of GABAergic Inputs to CA3 Pyramidal Cells Precedes Seizure-Like Event Onset in Juvenile Rat Hippocampal Slices

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 2538-2553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bálint Lasztóczi ◽  
Gabriella Nyitrai ◽  
László Héja ◽  
Julianna Kardos
Keyword(s):  
Pyramidal Cell ◽  
Synaptic Input ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Reversal Potential ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
High Frequency Oscillation ◽  
Recurrent Seizure ◽  
Cell Firing ◽  
Ca3 Pyramidal Cells

Here we address how dynamics of glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic input to CA3 pyramidal cells contribute to spontaneous emergence and evolution of recurrent seizure-like events (SLEs) in juvenile (P10-13) rat hippocampal slices bathed in low-[Mg2+] artificial cerebrospinal fluid. In field potential recordings from the CA3 pyramidal layer, a short epoch of high-frequency oscillation (HFO; 400–800 Hz) was observed during the first 10 ms of SLE onset. GABAergic synaptic input currents to CA3 pyramidal cells were synchronized and coincided with HFO, whereas the glutamatergic input lagged by ∼10 ms. If the intracellular [Cl−] remained unperturbed (cell-attached recordings) or was set high with whole cell electrode solution, CA3 pyramidal cell firing peaked with HFO and GABAergic input. By contrast, with low intracellular [Cl−], spikes of CA3 pyramidal cells lagged behind HFO and GABAergic input. This temporal arrangement of HFO, synaptic input sequence, synchrony of GABAergic currents, and pyramidal cell firing emerged gradually with preictal discharges until the SLE onset. Blockade of GABAA receptor-mediated currents by picrotoxin reduced the inter-SLE interval and the number of preictal discharges and did not block recurrent SLEs. Our data suggest that dynamic changes of the functional properties of GABAergic input contribute to ictogenesis and GABAergic and glutamatergic inputs are both excitatory at the instant of SLE onset. At the SLE onset GABAergic input contributes to synchronization and recruitment of pyramidal cells. We conjecture that this network state is reached by an activity-dependent shift in GABA reversal potential during the preictal phase.

scholarly journals Activity-dependent differences in function between proximal and distal Schaffer collaterals

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (10) ◽  
pp. 3646-3662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Owen ◽  
Lawrence M. Grover
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Stratum Radiatum ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Burst Stimulation ◽  
Schaffer Collateral ◽  
Whole Cell ◽  
Schaffer Collaterals

Axon conduction fidelity is important for signal transmission and has been studied in various axons, including the Schaffer collateral axons of the hippocampus. Previously, we reported that high-frequency stimulation (HFS) depresses Schaffer collateral excitability when assessed by whole-cell recordings from CA3 pyramidal cells but induces biphasic excitability changes (increase followed by decrease) in extracellular recordings of CA1 fiber volleys. Here, we examined responses from proximal (whole-cell or field-potential recordings from CA3 pyramidal cell somata) and distal (field-potential recordings from CA1 stratum radiatum) portions of the Schaffer collaterals during HFS and burst stimulation in hippocampal slices. Whole-cell and dual-field-potential recordings using 10–100-Hz HFS revealed frequency-dependent changes like those previously described, with higher frequencies producing more drastic changes. Dual-field-potential recordings revealed substantial differences in the response to HFS between proximal and distal regions of the Schaffer collaterals, with proximal axons depressing more strongly and only distal axons showing an initial excitability increase. Because CA3 pyramidal neurons normally fire in short bursts rather than long high-frequency trains, we repeated the dual recordings using 100–1,000-ms interval burst stimulation. Burst stimulation produced changes similar to those during HFS, with shorter intervals causing more drastic changes and substantial differences observed between proximal and distal axons. We suggest that functional differences between proximal and distal Schaffer collaterals may allow selective filtering of nonphysiological activity while maximizing successful conduction of physiological activity throughout an extensive axonal arbor.

scholarly journals Chloride-Cotransport Blockade Desynchronizes Neuronal Discharge in the “Epileptic” Hippocampal Slice

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 406-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daryl W. Hochman ◽  
Philip A. Schwartzkroin
Keyword(s):  
Action Potential ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Extracellular Potassium ◽  
Intracellular Recordings ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Ca1 Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Epileptiform Discharges

Antagonism of the chloride-cotransport system in hippocampal slices has been shown to block spontaneous epileptiform (i.e., hypersynchronized) discharges without diminishing excitatory synaptic transmission. Here we test the hypotheses that chloride-cotransport blockade, with furosemide or low-chloride (low-[Cl−]o) medium, desynchronizes the firing activity of neuronal populations and that this desynchronization is mediated through nonsynaptic mechanisms. Spontaneous epileptiform discharges were recorded from the CA1 and CA3 cell body layers of hippocampal slices. Treatment with low-[Cl−]o medium led to cessation of spontaneous synchronized bursting in CA1 ≥5–10 min before its disappearance from CA3. During the time that CA3 continued to burst spontaneously but CA1 was silent, electrical stimulation of the Schaffer collaterals showed that hyperexcited CA1 synaptic responses were maintained. Paired intracellular recordings from CA1 pyramidal cells showed that during low-[Cl−]otreatment, the timing of action potential discharges became desynchronized; desynchronization was identified with phase lags in firing times of action potentials between pairs of neurons as well as a with a broadening and diminution of the CA1 field amplitude. Continued exposure to low-[Cl−]o medium increased the degree of the firing-time phase shifts between pairs of CA1 pyramidal cells until the epileptiform CA1 field potential was abolished completely. Intracellular recordings during 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) treatment showed that prolonged low-[Cl−]oexposure did not diminish the frequency or amplitude of spontaneous postsynaptic potentials. CA3 antidromic responses to Schaffer collateral stimulation were not significantly affected by prolonged low-[Cl−]o exposure. In contrast to CA1, paired intracellular recordings from CA3 pyramidal cells showed that chloride-cotransport blockade did not cause a significant desynchronization of action potential firing times in the CA3 subregion at the time that CA1 synchronous discharge was blocked but did reduce the number of action potentials associated with CA3 burst discharges. These data support our hypothesis that the anti-epileptic effects of chloride-cotransport antagonism in CA1 are mediated through the desynchronization of population activity. We hypothesize that interference with Na+,K+,2Cl−cotransport results in an increase in extracellular potassium ([K+]o) that reduces the number of action potentials that are able to invade axonal arborizations and varicosities in all hippocampal subregions. This reduced efficacy of presynaptic action potential propagation ultimately leads to a reduction of synaptic drive and a desynchronization of the firing of CA1 pyramidal cells.

Nonsynaptic epileptogenesis in the mammalian hippocampus in vitro. I. Development of seizurelike activity in low extracellular calcium

1986 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Konnerth ◽  
U. Heinemann ◽  
Y. Yaari
Keyword(s):  
Epileptiform Activity ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Discharge Zone ◽  
Critical Threshold ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Stratum Pyramidale ◽  
Ca1 Area

Epileptiform activity induced in rat hippocampal slices by lowering extracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]o) was studied with extracellular and intracellular recordings. Perfusing the slices with low Ca2+ (less than or equal to 0.2 mM) or EGTA-containing solutions blocked the synaptic responses of hippocampal pyramidal cells (HPCs). Despite the block, spontaneous paroxysms, termed seizurelike events (SLEs), appeared in the CA1 area and then recurred regularly at a stable frequency. Transient hypoxia accelerated their development and increased their frequency. When [Ca2+]o was raised in a stepwise manner, the SLEs disappeared at 0.3 mM. With extracellular recording from the CA1 stratum pyramidale, a SLE was characterized by a large negative shift in the field potential, which lasted for several seconds. During this period a large population of CA1 neurons discharged intensely and often in synchrony, as concluded from the frequent appearance of population spikes. Synchronization, however, was not a necessary precursor for the development of paroxysmal activity, but seemed to be the end result of massive neuronal excitation. The cellular counterpart of a SLE, as revealed by intracellular recording from HPCs in the discharge zone of the paroxysms, was a long-lasting depolarization shift (LDS) of up to 20 mV. This was accompanied by accelerated firing of the neuron. A prolonged after-hyperpolarization succeeded each LDS and arrested cell firing. Brief (approximately 50 ms) bursts were commonly observed before LDS onset. Single electrical stimuli applied focally to the stratum pyramidale or alveus evoked paroxysms identical to the spontaneous SLEs, provided they surpassed a critical threshold intensity. Subthreshold stimuli elicited only small local responses, whereas stimuli of varied suprathreshold intensities evoked the same maximal SLEs. Thus the buildup of a SLE is an all or nothing or a regenerative process, which mobilizes the majority, if not all, of the local neuronal population. Each SLE was followed by absolute and relative refractory periods during which focal stimulation was, respectively, ineffective and less effective in evoking a maximal SLE. In most slices the spontaneous SLEs commenced at a "focus" located in the CA1a subarea (near the subiculum). SLEs evoked by focal stimulation arose near the stimulating electrode. From their site of origin the paroxysmal discharges spread transversely through the entire CA1 area at a mean velocity of 1.74 mm/s. Consequently, the discharge zone of a SLE could encompass for several seconds the entire CA1 area.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Evidence from simultaneous intracellular recordings in rat hippocampal slices that area CA3 pyramidal cells innervate dentate hilar mossy cells

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 2167-2180 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Scharfman
Keyword(s):  
Pyramidal Cell ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Granule Cells ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Probability Of Failure ◽  
Mossy Cells ◽  
Mossy Cell ◽  
Ca3 Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Area Ca3

1. Simultaneous intracellular recordings of area CA3 pyramidal cells and dentate hilar “mossy” cells were made in rat hippocampal slices to test the hypothesis that area CA3 pyramidal cells excite mossy cells monosynaptically. Mossy cells and pyramidal cells were differentiated by location and electrophysiological characteristics. When cells were impaled near the border of area CA3 and the hilus, their identity was confirmed morphologically after injection of the marker Neurobiotin. 2. Evidence for monosynaptic excitation of a mossy cell by a pyramidal cell was obtained in 7 of 481 (1.4%) paired recordings. In these cases, a pyramidal cell action potential was followed immediately by a 0.40 to 6.75 (mean, 2.26) mV depolarization in the simultaneously recorded mossy cell (mossy cell membrane potentials, -60 to -70 mV). Given that pyramidal cells used an excitatory amino acid as a neurotransmitter (Cotman and Nadler 1987; Ottersen and Storm-Mathisen 1987) and recordings were made in the presence of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (25 microM), it is likely that the depolarizations were unitary excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs). 3. Unitary EPSPs of mossy cells were prone to apparent “failure.” The probability of failure was extremely high (up to 0.72; mean = 0.48) if the effects of all presynaptic action potentials were examined, including action potentials triggered inadvertently during other spontaneous EPSPs of the mossy cell. Probability of failure was relatively low (as low as 0; mean = 0.24) if action potentials that occurred during spontaneous activity of the mossy cell were excluded. These data suggest that unitary EPSPs produced by pyramidal cells are strongly affected by concurrent synaptic inputs to the mossy cell. 4. Unitary EPSPs were not clearly affected by manipulation of the mossy cell's membrane potential. This is consistent with the recent report that area CA3 pyramidal cells innervate distal dendrites of mossy cells (Kunkel et al. 1993). Such a distal location also may contribute to the high incidence of apparent failures. 5. Characteristics of unitary EPSPs generated by pyramidal cells were compared with the properties of the unitary EPSPs produced by granule cells. In two slices, pyramidal cell and granule cell inputs to the same mossy cell were compared. In other slices, inputs to different mossy cells were compared. In all experiments, unitary EPSPs produced by granule cells were larger in amplitude but similar in time course to unitary EPSPs produced by pyramidal cells. Probability of failure was lower and paired-pulse facilitation more common among EPSPs triggered by granule cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The dendritic origins of penicillin-induced epileptogenesis in CA3 hippocampal pyramidal cells

1986 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 1718-1738 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Swann ◽  
R. J. Brady ◽  
R. J. Friedman ◽  
E. J. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Cell Body ◽  
Average Distance ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Current Source ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Large Current ◽  
Hippocampal Ca3 ◽  
Ca3 Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Negative Field

Experiments were performed in order to identify the sites of epileptiform burst generation in rat hippocampal CA3 pyramidal cells. A subsequent slow field potential was studied, which is associated with afterdischarge generation. Laminar field potential and current source-density (CSD) methods were employed in hippocampal slices exposed to penicillin. Simultaneous intracellular and extracellular field recordings from the CA3 pyramidal cell body layer showed that whenever an epileptiform burst was recorded extracellularly, individual CA3 neurons underwent an intense depolarization shift. In extracellular records a slow negative field potential invariably followed epileptiform burst generation. In approximately 10% of slices, synchronous afterdischarges rode on the envelope of this negative field potential. Intracellularly a depolarizing afterpotential followed the depolarization shift and was coincident with the extracellular slow negative field potential. A one-dimensional CSD analysis performed perpendicular to the CA3 cell body layer showed that during epileptiform burst generation large current sinks occur simultaneously in the central portions of both the apical and basilar dendrites. The average distance of the peak amplitude for these sinks from the center of the cell body layer was 175 +/- 46.8 microns and 158 +/- 25.0 microns, respectively. A large current source was recorded in the cell body layer. Smaller current sources were observed in the distal portions of the dendritic layers. During the postburst slow field potential a current sink was recorded at the edge of the cell body layer in stratum oriens--a region referred to as the infrapyramidal zone. Simultaneous with the current sink recorded there, smaller sinks were often observed in the dendritic layers that appeared to be "tails" or prolongations of the currents underlying burst generation. Two-dimensional analyses of these field potentials were performed on planes parallel and perpendicular to the exposed surface of the slice. Isopotential contours showed that the direction of extracellular current is mainly orthogonal to the CA3 laminae. Correction of CSD estimates made perpendicular to the cell body layer for current flowing in the other direction did not alter the location of computed current sources and sinks. In order to show that the dendritic currents associated with epileptiform burst generation were active sinks, tetrodotoxin (TTX) was applied locally to the dendrites where the current sinks were recorded.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

On the synchronous activity induced by 4-aminopyridine in the CA3 subfield of juvenile rat hippocampus

1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 1018-1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Avoli ◽  
C. Psarropoulou ◽  
V. Tancredi ◽  
Y. Fueta
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Gabaa Receptor ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Occurrence Rate ◽  
Gamma Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Synchronous Activity ◽  
Ca3 Pyramidal Cells

1. Extracellular field potential and intracellular recordings were made in the CA3 subfield of hippocampal slices obtained from 10- to 24-day-old rats during perfusion with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) containing the convulsant 4-aminopyridine (4-AP, 50 microM). 2. Three types of spontaneous, synchronous activity were recorded in the presence of 4-AP by employing extracellular microelectrodes positioned in the CA3 stratum (s.) radiatum: first, inter-ictal-like discharges that lasted 0.2-1.2 s and had an occurrence rate of 0.3-1.3 Hz; second, ictal-like events (duration: 3-40 s) that occurred at 4-38 x 10(-3) Hz; and third, large-amplitude (up to 8 mV) negative-going potentials that preceded the onset of the ictal-like events and thus appeared to initiate them. 3. None of these synchronous activities was consistently modified by addition of antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor to the ACSF. In contrast, the non-NMDA receptor antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX, 2-10 microM) reversibly blocked interictal- and ictallike discharges. The only synchronous, spontaneous activity recorded in this type of medium consisted of the negative-going potentials that were abolished by the GABAA receptor antagonists bicuculline methiodide (5-20 microM) or picrotoxin (50 microM). Hence they were mediated through the activation of the GABAA receptor. 4. Profile analysis of the 4-AP-induced synchronous activity revealed that the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated field potential had maximal negative amplitude in s. lacunosum-moleculare, attained equipotentiality at the border between s. radiatum and s. pyramidale, and became positive-going in s. oriens. These findings indicated that the GABA-mediated field potential presumably represented a depolarization occurring in the dendrites of CA3 pyramidal cells. 5. This conclusion was supported by intracellular analysis of the 4-AP-induced activity. The GABA-mediated potential was reflected by a depolarization of the membrane of CA3 pyramidal cells that triggered a few variable-amplitude, fractionated spikes or fast action potentials. By contrast, the ictal-like discharge was associated with a prolonged depolarization during which repetitive bursts of action potentials occurred. Short-lasting depolarizations with bursts of action potentials occurred during each interictal-like discharge. 6. The GABA-mediated potential recorded intracellularly in the presence of CNQX consisted of a prolonged depolarization (up to 12 s) that was still capable of triggering a few fast action potentials and/or fractionated spikes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals Evidence of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in dendritic spines of CA1 pyramidal neurons

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley A. Mattison ◽  
Ashish A. Bagal ◽  
Michael Mohammadi ◽  
Nisha S. Pulimood ◽  
Christian G. Reich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dendritic Spines ◽  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Pyramidal Neurons ◽  
Calcium Influx ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Stratum Radiatum ◽  
Acute Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Cultured Slices ◽  
Apical Dendrites

GluA2-lacking, calcium-permeable α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate receptors (AMPARs) have unique properties, but their presence at excitatory synapses in pyramidal cells is controversial. We have tested certain predictions of the model that such receptors are present in CA1 cells and show here that the polyamine spermine, but not philanthotoxin, causes use-dependent inhibition of synaptically evoked excitatory responses in stratum radiatum, but not s. oriens, in cultured and acute hippocampal slices. Stimulation of single dendritic spines by photolytic release of caged glutamate induced an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor-independent, use- and spermine-sensitive calcium influx only at apical spines in cultured slices. Bath application of glutamate also triggered a spermine-sensitive influx of cobalt into CA1 cell dendrites in s. radiatum. Responses of single apical, but not basal, spines to photostimulation displayed prominent paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) consistent with use-dependent relief of cytoplasmic polyamine block. Responses at apical dendrites were diminished, and PPF was increased, by spermine. Intracellular application of pep2m, which inhibits recycling of GluA2-containing AMPARs, reduced apical spine responses and increased PPF. We conclude that some calcium-permeable, polyamine-sensitive AMPARs, perhaps lacking GluA2 subunits, are present at synapses on apical dendrites of CA1 pyramidal cells, which may allow distinct forms of synaptic plasticity and computation at different sets of excitatory inputs.

scholarly journals Presynaptic cholinergic neuromodulation alters the temporal dynamics of short-term depression at parvalbumin-positive basket cell synapses from juvenile CA1 mouse hippocampus

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (7) ◽  
pp. 2408-2419 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Josh Lawrence ◽  
Heikki Haario ◽  
Emily F. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Pyramidal Cell ◽  
Acetylcholine Receptors ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Calcium Transient ◽  
Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors ◽  
Presynaptic Calcium

Parvalbumin-positive basket cells (PV BCs) of the CA1 hippocampus are active participants in theta (5–12 Hz) and gamma (20–80 Hz) oscillations in vivo. When PV BCs are driven at these frequencies in vitro, inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in synaptically connected CA1 pyramidal cells exhibit paired-pulse depression (PPD) and multiple-pulse depression (MPD). Moreover, PV BCs express presynaptic muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) that may be activated by synaptically released acetylcholine during learning behaviors in vivo. Using acute hippocampal slices from the CA1 hippocampus of juvenile PV-GFP mice, we performed whole cell recordings from synaptically connected PV BC-CA1 pyramidal cell pairs to investigate how bath application of 10 μM muscarine impacts PPD and MPD at CA1 PV BC-pyramidal cell synapses. In accordance with previous studies, PPD and MPD magnitude increased with stimulation frequency. mAChR activation reduced IPSC amplitude and transiently reduced PPD, but MPD was largely maintained. Consistent with a reduction in release probability ( pr), MPD and mAChR activation increased both the coefficient of variation of IPSC amplitudes and the fraction of failures. Using variance-mean analysis, we converted MPD trains to pr functions and developed a kinetic model that optimally fit six distinct pr conditions. The model revealed that vesicular depletion caused MPD and that recovery from depression was dependent on calcium. mAChR activation reduced the presynaptic calcium transient fourfold and initial pr twofold, thereby reducing PPD. However, mAChR activation slowed calcium-dependent recovery from depression during sustained repetitive activity, thereby preserving MPD. Thus the activation of presynaptic mAChRs optimally protects PV BCs from vesicular depletion during short bursts of high-frequency activity.

scholarly journals Progesterone Withdrawal Reduces Paired-Pulse Inhibition in Rat Hippocampus: Dependence on GABAA Receptor α4 Subunit Upregulation

2003 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fu-Chun Hsu ◽  
Sheryl S. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Pyramidal Neurons ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Extracellular Recording ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Chronic Administration ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Stratum Radiatum ◽  
Intraventricular Administration ◽  
Paired Pulse ◽  
Ca1 Region

Withdrawal from the endogenous steroid progesterone (P) after chronic administration increases anxiety and seizure susceptibility via declining levels of its potent GABA-modulatory metabolite 3α-OH-5α-pregnan-20-one (3α,5αTHP). This 3α,5α-THP withdrawal also results in a decreased decay time constant for GABA-gated current assessed using whole cell patch-clamp techniques on pyramidal cells acutely dissociated from CA1 hippocampus. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the decreases in total integrated GABA-gated current observed at the level of the isolated pyramidal cell would be manifested as a reduced GABA inhibition at the circuit level following hormone withdrawal. Toward this end, adult, female rats were administered P via subcutaneous capsule for 3 wk using a multiple withdrawal paradigm. We then evaluated paired-pulse inhibition (PPI) of pyramidal neurons in CA1 hippocampus using extracellular recording techniques in hippocampal slices from rats 24 h after removal of the capsule (P withdrawal, P Wd). The population spike (PS) was recorded at the stratum pyramidale following homosynaptic orthodromic stimulation in the nearby stratum radiatum. The threshold for eliciting a response was decreased after P Wd, and the mean PS amplitude was significantly increased compared with control values at this time. Paired pulses with 10-ms inter-pulse intervals were then applied across an intensity range from 2 to 20 times threshold. Evaluation of paired-pulse responses showed a significant 40–50% reduction in PPI for PS recorded in the hippocampal CA1 region after P Wd, suggesting an increase in circuit excitability. At this time, enhancement of PPI by the benzodiazepine lorazepam (LZM; 10 μM) was prevented, while pentobarbital (10 μM) potentiation of PPI was comparable to control levels of response. These data are consistent with upregulation of the α4 subunit of the GABAA receptor (GABAR) as we have previously shown. Moreover, the reduced PPI caused by P Wd was prevented by suppression of GABAR α4-subunit expression following intraventricular administration of specific antisense oligonucleotides (1 μg/h for 72 h). These results demonstrating a reduction in PPI following P Wd suggest that GABAergic-mediated recurrent or feed-forward inhibition occurring at the circuit level were decreased following P Wd in female rats, an effect at least partially attributable to alterations in the GABAR subunit gene expression.

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