Developmental synaptic changes increase the range of integrative capabilities of an identified excitatory neocortical connection.
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Excitatory synaptic transmission between pyramidal cells and fast-spiking (FS) interneurons of layer V of the motor cortex was investigated in acute slices by using paired recordings at 30 degrees C combined with morphological analysis. The presynaptic and postsynaptic properties at these identified central synapses were compared between 3- and 5-week-old rats. At these two postnatal developmental stages, unitary EPSCs were mediated by the activation of AMPA receptors with fast kinetics at a holding potential of -72 mV. The amplitude distribution analysis of the EPSCs indicates that, at both stages, pyramidal-FS connections consisted of multiple functional release sites. The apparent quantal size obtained by decreasing the external calcium ([Ca2+]e) varied from 11 to 29 pA near resting membrane potential. In young rats, pairs of presynaptic action potentials elicited unitary synaptic responses that displayed paired-pulse depression at all tested frequencies. In older animals, inputs from different pyramidal cells onto the same FS interneuron had different paired-pulse response characteristics and, at most of these connections, a switch from depression to facilitation occurred when decreasing the rate of presynaptic stimulation. The balance between facilitation and depression endows pyramidal-FS connections from 5-week-old animals with wide integrative capabilities and confers unique functional properties to each synapse. (+info)
Clustering of AMPA receptors by the synaptic PDZ domain-containing protein PICK1.
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Synaptic clustering of neurotransmitter receptors is crucial for efficient signal transduction and integration in neurons. PDZ domain-containing proteins such as PSD-95/SAP90 interact with the intracellular C termini of a variety of receptors and are thought to be important in the targeting and anchoring of receptors to specific synapses. Here, we show that PICK1 (protein interacting with C kinase), a PDZ domain-containing protein, interacts with the C termini of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) receptors in vitro and in vivo. In neurons, PICK1 specifically colocalizes with AMPA receptors at excitatory synapses. Furthermore, PICK1 induces clustering of AMPA receptors in heterologous expression systems. These results suggest that PICK1 may play an important role in the modulation of synaptic transmission by regulating the synaptic targeting of AMPA receptors. (+info)
Changes in protein tyrosine phosphorylation in the rat brain after cerebral ischemia in a model of ischemic tolerance.
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A brief period of sublethal cerebral ischemia, followed by several days of recovery, renders the brain resistant to a subsequent lethal ischemic insult, a phenomenon termed ischemic preconditioning or tolerance. Ischemic tolerance was established in the rat two-vessel occlusion model of ischemia, induced by occlusion of both carotid arteries in combination with hypotension. Ischemic preconditioning (3 minutes) provided maximal neuroprotection when induced 2 days prior to a lethal ischemic insult of 9-minute duration. Neuroprotection persisted for at least 8 weeks. Since neurotransmission has been implicated in ischemic cell death, the effect of ischemic preconditioning on tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins and on the levels of glutamate receptor subunits in hippocampus and neocortex was studied. Regional levels of tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins in general and the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit NR2 in particular are markedly enhanced after ischemia in nonconditioned brains, in both the synaptosomal fraction and the whole-tissue homogenate of rat neocortex and hippocampus, but recover to control levels only in the preconditioned brain. Ischemic preconditioning selectively induces a decrease in the levels of the NR2A and NR2B subunits and a modest decrease in the levels of NR1 subunit proteins in the synaptosomal fraction of the neocortex but not hippocampus after the second lethal ischemia. It was concluded that ischemic preconditioning prevents a persistent change in cell signaling as evidenced by the tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins after the second lethal ischemic insult, which may abrogate the activation of detrimental cellular processes leading to cell death. (+info)
17beta-estradiol enhances NMDA receptor-mediated EPSPs and long-term potentiation.
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Gonadal steroid hormones influence CNS functioning through a variety of different mechanisms. To test the hypothesis that estrogen modulates synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, in vitro hippocampal slices from 2-mo-old Sprague-Dawley male rats were used to determine the effect of 17beta-estradiol on both N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) through intracellular recordings and long-term potentiation (LTP) through extracellular recordings. Intracellular EPSPs and extracellular field EPSPs (fEPSPs) were recorded from CA1 pyramidal cells by stimulating Schaffer collateral fibers. In intracellular experiments, slices were perfused with medium containing bicuculline (5 microM) and low Mg2+ (0.1 mM) to enhance the NMDA receptor-mediated currents and 6, 7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX) (10 microM) to block the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproprianate (AMPA) receptor-mediated component. The effects of 17beta-estradiol on NMDA receptor-mediated activity were excitatory; concentrations >10 nM induced seizure activity, and lower concentrations (1 nM) markedly increased the amplitude of NMDA-mediated EPSPs (both the first and second responses increased during paired pulse stimulation by 180 and 197%, respectively). In extracellular experiments, slices perfused with 17beta-estradiol (100 pM) exhibited a pronounced, persisting, and significant enhancement of LTP of both the fEPSP slope (192%) and fEPSP amplitude (177%) compared with control slices (fEPSP slope = 155%; fEPSP amplitude = 156%) 30 min after high-frequency stimulation. These data demonstrate that estrogen enhances NMDA receptor-mediated currents and promotes an enhancement of LTP magnitude. (+info)
Synaptically released Zn2+ can enter and cause injury to postsynaptic neurons. Microfluorimetric studies using the Zn2+-sensitive probe, Newport green, examined levels of [Zn2+]i attained in cultured cortical neurons on exposure to N-methyl-D-asparte, kainate, or high K+ (to activate voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels) in the presence of 300 microM Zn2+. Indicating particularly high permeability through Ca2+-permeable alpha-amino3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic-acid/kainate (Ca-A/K) channels, micromolar [Zn2+]i rises were observed only after kainate exposures and only in neurons expressing these channels [Ca-A/K(+) neurons]. Further studies using the oxidation-sensitive dye, hydroethidine, revealed Zn2+-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation that paralleled the [Zn2+]i rises, with rapid oxidation observed only in the case of Zn2+ entry through Ca-A/K channels. Indicating a mitochondrial source of this ROS generation, hydroethidine oxidation was inhibited by the mitochondrial electron transport blocker, rotenone. Additional evidence for a direct interaction between Zn2+ and mitochondria was provided by the observation that the Zn2+ entry through Ca-A/K channels triggered rapid mitochondrial depolarization, as assessed by using the potential-sensitive dye tetramethylrhodamine ethylester. Whereas Ca2+ influx through Ca-A/K channels also triggers ROS production, the [Zn2+]i rises and subsequent ROS production are of more prolonged duration. (+info)
Src-family protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) transduce signals to regulate neuronal development and synaptic plasticity. However, the nature of their activators and molecular mechanisms underlying these neural processes are unknown. Here, we show that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and platelet-derived growth factor enhance expression of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)-type glutamate receptor 1 and 2/3 proteins in rodent neocortical neurons via the Src-family PTK(s). The increase in AMPA receptor levels was blocked in cultured neocortical neurons by addition of a Src-family-selective PTK inhibitor. Accordingly, neocortical cultures from Fyn-knockout mice failed to respond to BDNF whereas those from wild-type mice responded. Moreover, the neocortex of young Fyn mutants exhibited a significant in vivo reduction in these AMPA receptor proteins but not in their mRNA levels. In vitro kinase assay revealed that BDNF can indeed activate the Fyn kinase: It enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation of Fyn as well as that of enolase supplemented exogenously. All of these results suggest that the Src-family kinase Fyn, activated by the growth factors, plays a crucial role in modulating AMPA receptor expression during brain development. (+info)
Glutamate-, kainate- and NMDA-evoked membrane currents in identified glial cells in rat spinal cord slice.
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The effect of L-glutamate, kainate and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) on membrane currents of astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and their respective precursors was studied in acute spinal cord slices of rats between the ages of postnatal days 5 and 13 using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. L-glutamate (10(-3) M), kainate (10(-3) M), and NMDA (2x10(-3) M) evoked inward currents in all glial cells. Kainate evoked larger currents in precursors than in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, while NMDA induced larger currents in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes than in precursors. Kainate-evoked currents were blocked by the AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist CNQX (10(-4) M) and were, with the exception of the precursors, larger in dorsal than in ventral horns, as were NMDA-evoked currents. Currents evoked by NMDA were unaffected by CNQX and, in contrast to those seen in neurones, were not sensitive to Mg2+. In addition, they significantly decreased during development and were present when synaptic transmission was blocked in a Ca2+-free solution. NMDA-evoked currents were not abolished during the block of K+ inward currents in glial cells by Ba2+; thus they are unlikely to be mediated by an increase in extracellular K+ during neuronal activity. We provide evidence that spinal cord glial cells are sensitive to the application of L-glutamate, kainate and transiently, during postnatal development, to NMDA. (+info)
The distribution of neurons expressing calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in the superficial laminae of the spinal cord dorsal horn.
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The superficial dorsal horn is a major site of termination of nociceptive primary afferents. Fast excitatory synaptic transmission in this region is mediated mainly by release of glutamate onto postsynaptic AMPA and NMDA receptors. NMDA receptors are known to be Ca2+-permeable and to provide synaptically localized Ca2+ signals that mediate short-term and long-term changes in synaptic strength. Less well known is a subpopulation of AMPA receptors that is Ca2+-permeable and has been shown to be synaptically localized on dorsal horn neurons in culture (Gu et al., 1996) and expressed by dorsal horn neurons in situ (Nagy et al., 1994; Engelman et al., 1997). We used kainate-induced cobalt uptake as a functional marker of neurons expressing Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptors and combined this with markers of nociceptive primary afferents in the postnatal rat dorsal horn. We have shown that cobalt-positive neurons are located in lamina I and outer lamina II, a region strongly innervated by nociceptors. These cobalt-positive neurons colocalize with afferents labeled by LD2, and with the most dorsal region of capsaicin-sensitive and IB4- and LA4-positive afferents. In contrast, inner lamina II has a sparser distribution of cobalt-positive neurons. Some lamina I neurons expressing the NK1 receptor, the receptor for substance P, are also cobalt positive. These neurons are likely to be projection neurons in the nociceptive pathway. On the basis of all of these observations, we propose that Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptors are localized to mediate transmission of nociceptive information. (+info)