scholarly journals Crossed Entorhino-Dentate Projections Form and Terminate With Correct Layer-Specificity in Organotypic Slice Cultures of the Mouse Hippocampus

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Hildebrandt-Einfeldt ◽  
Kenrick Yap ◽  
Mandy H. Paul ◽  
Carolin Stoffer ◽  
Nadine Zahn ◽  
...  

The entorhino-dentate projection, i.e., the perforant pathway, terminates in a highly ordered and laminated fashion in the rodent dentate gyrus (DG): fibers arising from the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) terminate in the middle molecular layer, whereas fibers arising from the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) terminate in the outer molecular layer of the DG. In rats and rabbits, a crossed entorhino-dentate projection exists, which originates from the entorhinal cortex (EC) and terminates in the contralateral DG. In contrast, in mice, such a crossed projection is reportedly absent. Using single and double mouse organotypic entorhino-hippocampal slice cultures, we studied the ipsi- and crossed entorhino-dentate projections. Viral tracing revealed that entorhino-dentate projections terminate with a high degree of lamina-specificity in single as well as in double cultures. Furthermore, in double cultures, entorhinal axons arising from one slice freely intermingled with entorhinal axons originating from the other slice. In single as well as in double cultures, entorhinal axons exhibited a correct topographical projection to the DG: medial entorhinal axons terminated in the middle and lateral entorhinal axons terminated in the outer molecular layer. Finally, entorhinal neurons were virally transduced with Channelrhodopsin2-YFP and stimulated with light, revealing functional connections between the EC and dentate granule cells. We conclude from our findings that entorhino-dentate projections form bilaterally in the mouse hippocampus in vitro and that the mouse DG provides a permissive environment for crossed entorhinal fibers.

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 474-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Brown ◽  
Michael Ariel

Physiological activity of the turtle cerebellar cortex (Cb), maintained in vitro, was recorded during microstimulation of inferior olive (IO). Previous single-electrode responses to such stimulation showed similar latencies across a limited region of Cb, yet those recordings lacked spatial and temporal resolution and the recording depth was variable. The topography and timing of those responses were reexamined using photodiode optical recordings. Because turtle Cb is thin and unfoliated, its entire surface can be stained by a voltage-sensitive dye and transilluminated to measure changes in its local absorbance. Microstimulation of the IO evoked widespread depolarization from the rostral to the caudal edge of the contralateral Cb. The time course of responses measured at a single photodiode matched that of single-microelectrode responses in the corresponding Cb locus. The largest and most readily evoked response was a sagittal band centered about 0.7 mm from the midline. Focal white-matter (WM) microstimulation on the ventricular surface also activated sagittal bands, whereas stimulation of adjacent granule cells evoked a radial patch of activation. In contrast, molecular-layer (ML) microstimulation evoked transverse beams of activation, centered on the rostrocaudal stimulus position, which traveled bidirectionally across the midline to the lateral edges of the Cb. A timing analysis demonstrated that both IO and WM microstimulation evoked responses with a nearly simultaneous onset along a sagittal band, whereas ML microstimulation evoked a slowly propagating wave traveling about 25 cm/s. The response similarity to IO and WM microstimulation suggests that the responses to WM microstimulation are dominated by activation of its climbing fibers. The Cb's role in the generation of precise motor control may result from these temporal and topographic differences in orthogonally oriented pathways. Optical recordings of the turtle's thin flat Cb can provide insights into that role.


2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 258-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
James G. Heys ◽  
Lisa M. Giocomo ◽  
Michael E. Hasselmo

In vitro whole cell patch-clamp recordings of stellate cells in layer II of medial entorhinal cortex show a subthreshold membrane potential resonance in response to a sinusoidal current injection of varying frequency. Physiological recordings from awake behaving animals show that neurons in layer II medial entorhinal cortex, termed “grid cells,” fire in a spatially selective manner such that each cell's multiple firing fields form a hexagonal grid. Both the spatial periodicity of the grid fields and the resonance frequency change systematically in neurons along the dorsal to ventral axis of medial entorhinal cortex. Previous work has also shown that grid field spacing and acetylcholine levels change as a function of the novelty to a particular environment. Using in vitro whole cell patch-clamp recordings, our study shows that both resonance frequency and resonance strength vary as a function of cholinergic modulation. Furthermore, our data suggest that these changes in resonance properties are mediated through modulation of h-current and m-current.


1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 2441-2450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solange van der Linden ◽  
Ferruccio Panzica ◽  
Marco de Curtis

Fast oscillations at 25–80 Hz (gamma activity) have been proposed to play a role in attention-related mechanisms and synaptic plasticity in cortical structures. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the preservation of the entorhinal cortex is necessary to maintain gamma oscillations in the hippocampus. Because gamma activity can be reproduced in vitro by cholinergic activation, this study examined the characteristics of gamma oscillations induced by arterial perfusion or local intracortical injections of carbachol in the entorhinal cortex of the in vitro isolated guinea pig brain preparation. Shortly after carbachol administration, fast oscillatory activity at 25.2–28.2 Hz was observed in the medial but not in the lateral entorhinal cortex. Such activity was transiently associated with oscillations in the theta range that showed a variable pattern of distribution in the entorhinal cortex. No oscillatory activity was observed when carbachol was injected in the lateral entorhinal cortex. Gamma activity in the medial entorhinal cortex showed a phase reversal at 200–400 μm, had maximal amplitude at 400–500 μm depth, and was abolished by arterial perfusion of atropine (5 μM). Local carbachol application in the medial entorhinal cortex induced gamma oscillations in the hippocampus, whereas no oscillations were observed in the amygdala and in the piriform, periamygdaloid, and perirhinal cortices ipsilateral and contralateral to the carbachol injection. Hippocampal oscillations had higher frequency than the gamma activity recorded in the entorhinal cortex, suggesting the presence of independent generators in the two structures. The selective ability of the medial but not the lateral entorhinal cortex to generate gamma activity in response to cholinergic activation suggests a differential mode of signal processing in entorhinal cortex subregions.


1988 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 1476-1496 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Jones ◽  
U. Heinemann

1. Extracellular recordings were made from slices of hippocampus plus parahippocampal regions maintained in vitro. Field potentials, recorded in the entorhinal cortex after stimulation in the subiculum, resembled those observed in vivo. 2. Washout of magnesium from the slices resulted in paroxysmal events which resembled those occurring during sustained seizures in vivo. These events were greatest in amplitude and duration in layers IV/V of the medial entorhinal cortex and could occur both spontaneously and in response to subicular stimulation. Spontaneous seizure-like events were not prevented by severing the connections between the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex, but much smaller and shorter events occurring in the dentate gyrus were stopped by this manipulation. Both spontaneous and evoked paroxysmal events were blocked by perfusion with the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (2-AP5). 3. Neurons in layers IV/V were characterized by intracellular recording. Injection of depolarizing current in most cells evoked a train of nondecrementing action potentials with only weak spike frequency accommodation and little or no posttrain after hyperpolarization. 4. A small number of cells displayed burst response when depolarized by positive current. The burst consisted of a slow depolarization with superimposed action potentials which decreased in amplitude and increased in duration during the discharge. The burst was terminated by a strong after hyperpolarization and thereafter, during prolonged current pulses a train of nondecrementing spikes occurred. The burst response remained if the cell was held at hyperpolarized levels but was inactivated by holding the cell at a depolarized level. 5. Depolarizing synaptic potentials could be evoked by stimulation in the subiculum. A delayed and prolonged depolarization clearly decremented with membrane hyperpolarization and, occasionally, increased with depolarization. 6. Washout of magnesium from the slices resulted in an enhancement of the late depolarization and a reversal of its voltage dependence. Eventually a single shock to the subiculum evoked a large all-or-none paroxysmal depolarization associated with a massive increase in membrane conductance. Similar events occurred spontaneously in all cells tested. The paroxysmal depolarizations, both spontaneous and evoked, were rapidly blocked by 2-AP5. 7. It is concluded that medial entorhinal cortical cells possess several intrinsic and synaptic properties which confer an extreme susceptibility to generation of sustained seizure activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 712-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Buckmaster ◽  
F. Edward Dudek

In vivo intracellular analysis of granule cell axon reorganization in epileptic rats. In vivo intracellular recording and labeling in kainate-induced epileptic rats was used to address questions about granule cell axon reorganization in temporal lobe epilepsy. Individually labeled granule cells were reconstructed three dimensionally and in their entirety. Compared with controls, granule cells in epileptic rats had longer average axon length per cell; the difference was significant in all strata of the dentate gyrus including the hilus. In epileptic rats, at least one-third of the granule cells extended an aberrant axon collateral into the molecular layer. Axon projections into the molecular layer had an average summed length of 1 mm per cell and spanned 600 μm of the septotemporal axis of the hippocampus—a distance within the normal span of granule cell axon collaterals. These findings in vivo confirm results from previous in vitro studies. Surprisingly, 12% of the granule cells in epileptic rats, and none in controls, extended a basal dendrite into the hilus, providing another route for recurrent excitation. Consistent with recurrent excitation, many granule cells (56%) in epileptic rats displayed a long-latency depolarization superimposed on a normal inhibitory postsynaptic potential. These findings demonstrate changes, occurring at the single-cell level after an epileptogenic hippocampal injury, that could result in novel, local, recurrent circuits.


Neuroscience ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 937-950 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.T Dickson ◽  
A.R Mena ◽  
A Alonso

2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 896-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Buckmaster

The predominant excitatory synaptic input to the hippocampus arises from entorhinal cortical axons that synapse with dentate granule cells, which in turn synapse with CA3 pyramidal cells.Thus two highly excitable brain areas—the entorhinal cortex and the CA3 field—are separated by dentate granule cells, which have been proposed to function as a gate or filter. However, unlike rats, primates have “dentate” CA3 pyramidal cells with an apical dendrite that extends into the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus, where they could receive strong, monosynaptic, excitatory synaptic input from the entorhinal cortex. To test this possibility, the dentate gyrus molecular layer was stimulated while intracellular recordings were obtained from CA3 pyramidal cells in hippocampal slices from neurologically normal macaque monkeys. Stimulus intensity of the outer molecular layer of the dentate gyrus was standardized by the threshold intensity for evoking a dentate gyrus field potential population spike. Recorded proximal CA3 pyramidal cells were labeled with biocytin, processed with diaminobenzidine for visualization, and classified according to their dendritic morphology. In response to stimulation of the dentate gyrus molecular layer, action potential thresholds were similar in proximal CA3 pyramidal cells with different dendritic morphologies. These findings do not support the hypothesis that dentate CA3 pyramidal cells receive stronger synaptic input from the entorhinal cortex than do other proximal CA3 pyramidal cells.


1993 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Alonso ◽  
R. Klink

1. The electroresponsive properties of neurons from layer II of the rat medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) were studied by intracellular recording under current clamp in an in vitro brain slice preparation. From a total of 184 cells that fulfilled our criteria for recording stability, two groups of projection neurons were distinguished on the basis of their intrinsic biophysical properties and morphological characteristics (demonstrated by intracellular biocytin injection; n = 34). 2. Stellate cells (SCs) were the most abundant (69%). They were highly electroresponsive, and minimal changes (1-3 mV) of membrane potential generated an active response. Subthreshold depolarizing or hyperpolarizing current pulse injection always caused the membrane potential to attain an early peak and then sag to a lower level. Depolarization-induced "sags" were larger and determined early firing in all cells. The voltage-current relationship of SCs was markedly non-linear, demonstrating robust inward rectification in the hyperpolarizing and depolarizing range. 3. SCs generated persistent rhythmic subthreshold voltage oscillations on DC depolarization positive to -60 mV. The mean frequency of the oscillations was 8.6 Hz (theta range) at a membrane potential of approximately -55 mV, at which level occasional single spiking also occurred. At slightly more positive potentials, a striking 1- to 3-Hz repetitive bursting pattern emerged. This consisted of nonadapting trains of spikes ("clusters") interspersed with subthreshold oscillations that had a mean frequency of 21.7 Hz (beta range). 4. Nonstellate cells (39%; mostly pyramidal-like) displayed time-dependent inward rectification that was less pronounced than that of SCs, and minimal depolarization-induced sags. On threshold depolarization, firing was always preceded by a slowly rising ramp depolarization and thus occurred with a long delay. Inward rectification in the depolarizing range was very pronounced. However, non-SCs did not generate persistent rhythmic subthreshold oscillatory activity or spike clusters. 5. Of the electrophysiological parameters quantified, spike threshold, spike duration, depolarizing afterpotential amplitude and apparent membrane time constant demonstrated statistically significant differences between SCs and non-SCs. 6. The repetitive hiring properties in response to square current pulses of short duration (< 500 ms) were also different between SCs and non-SCs. First, most SCs displayed a bilinear frequency-current (f-I) relationship for only the first interspike interval, whereas most non-SCs displayed a bilinear relationship for all intervals. Second, SCs had a much steeper primary f-I slope for early intervals than non-SCs. Finally, SCs displayed more pronounced and faster spike frequency adaptation than non-SCs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


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