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Specificity and actions of an arylaspartate inhibitor of glutamate transport at the Schaffer collateral-CA1 pyramidal cell synapse.

ABSTRACT: In this study we characterized the pharmacological selectivity and physiological actions of a new arylaspartate glutamate transporter blocker, L-threo-ß-benzylaspartate (L-TBA). At concentrations up to 100 µM, L-TBA did not act as an AMPA receptor (AMPAR) or NMDA receptor (NMDAR) agonist or antagonist when applied to outside-out patches from mouse hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. L-TBA had no effect on the amplitude of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) recorded at the Schaffer collateral-CA1 pyramidal cell synapse. Excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) in CA1 pyramidal neurons were unaffected by L-TBA in the presence of physiological extracellular Mg(2+) concentrations, but in Mg(2+)-free solution, EPSCs were significantly prolonged as a consequence of increased NMDAR activity. Although L-TBA exhibited approximately four-fold selectivity for neuronal EAAT3 over glial EAAT1/EAAT2 transporter subtypes expressed in Xenopus oocytes, the L-TBA concentration-dependence of the EPSC charge transfer increase in the absence of Mg(2+) was the same in hippocampal slices from EAAT3 +/+ and EAAT3 -/- mice, suggesting that TBA effects were primarily due to block of glial transporters. Consistent with this, L-TBA blocked synaptically evoked transporter currents in CA1 astrocytes with a potency in accord with its block of heterologously expressed glial transporters. Extracellular recording in the presence of physiological Mg(2+) revealed that L-TBA prolonged fEPSPs in a frequency-dependent manner by selectively increasing the NMDAR-mediated component of the fEPSP during short bursts of activity. The data indicate that glial glutamate transporters play a dominant role in limiting extrasynaptic transmitter diffusion and binding to NMDARs. Furthermore, NMDAR signaling is primarily limited by voltage-dependent Mg(2+) block during low-frequency activity, while the relative contribution of transport increases during short bursts of higher frequency signaling.

SUBMITTER: Sun W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3161057 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Specificity and actions of an arylaspartate inhibitor of glutamate transport at the Schaffer collateral-CA1 pyramidal cell synapse.

Sun Weinan W Hoffman Katie M KM Holley David C DC Kavanaugh Michael P MP

PloS one 20110824 8

In this study we characterized the pharmacological selectivity and physiological actions of a new arylaspartate glutamate transporter blocker, L-threo-ß-benzylaspartate (L-TBA). At concentrations up to 100 µM, L-TBA did not act as an AMPA receptor (AMPAR) or NMDA receptor (NMDAR) agonist or antagonist when applied to outside-out patches from mouse hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. L-TBA had no effect on the amplitude of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) recorded at the Schaffer ...[more]

PMID: 21887314

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Project description:It is well established that selective activation of group I metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors induces LTD of synaptic transmission at Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses. In contrast, application of 1S,3R-ACPD, a mixed agonist at group I and group II mGlu receptors, induces LTP. Using whole-cell recordings from CA1 pyramidal cells and field recordings in the hippocampal CA1 region, we investigated the specific contribution of group II mGlu receptors to synaptic plasticity at Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses in acute slices of adult mice. Pharmacological activation of group II mGlu receptors (mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptors) with the specific agonist LY354740 in conjunction with electrical stimulation induced postsynaptic LTP. This form of plasticity requires coactivation of NMDA receptors (NMDARs). Group II mGlu receptor activation led to PKC-dependent phosphorylation of the GluN1 subunit. We found that both synaptic and extrasynaptic NMDARs, which are differentially modulated by mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptors, contribute to LTP induction. Furthermore, LTP initiated by activation of group II mGlu receptors was not occluded by LTP induced with high-frequency trains of stimuli. However, the phosphorylation of NMDARs mediated by group II mGlu receptor activation led to a priming effect that enhanced subsequent high-frequency stimulation-induced LTP. These findings reveal a novel metaplastic mechanism through which group II mGlu receptors modulate synaptic function at the Schaffer collateral input to CA1 pyramidal cells, thereby lowering the threshold to induce plasticity.Significance statementThe group II metabotropic glutamate (mGlu II) receptors exert a well characterized action on presynaptic neuron terminals to modulate neurotransmitter release. Here, we show that these receptors also have postsynaptic effects in promoting the induction of synaptic plasticity. Using an electrophysiological approach including field and whole-cell patch recording in hippocampi from wild-type and transgenic mice, we show that activation of group II mGlu receptors enhances NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated currents through PKC-dependent phosphorylation. This priming of NMDARs lowers the threshold for the induction of LTP of synaptic transmission. These findings may also provide new insights into the mechanisms through which drugs targeting mGlu II receptors alleviate hypoglutamatergic conditions such as those occurring in certain brain disorders such as schizophrenia.

Project description:CA1 pyramidal neurons receive two distinct excitatory inputs that are each capable of influencing hippocampal output and learning and memory. The Schaffer collateral (SC) input from CA3 axons onto the more proximal dendrites of CA1 is part of the trisynaptic circuit, which originates in Layer II of the entorhinal cortex (EC). The temporoammonic (TA) pathway to CA1 provides input directly from Layer III of the EC onto the most distal dendrites of CA1 pyramidal cells, and is involved in spatial memory and memory consolidation. We have previously described a developmental decrease in short-term facilitation from juvenile (P13-18) to young adult (P28-42) rats at SC synapses that is due to feedback inhibition via synaptically activated mGluR1 on CA1 interneurons. It is not known how short-term changes in synaptic strength are regulated at TA synapses, nor is it known how short-term plasticity is balanced at SC and TA inputs during development. Here we describe a novel developmental increase in short-term facilitation at TA synapses, which is the opposite of the decrease in facilitation occurring at SC synapses. Although short-term facilitation is much lower at TA synapses when compared with SC synapses in juveniles, short-term plasticity at SC and TA synapses converges at similar levels of paired-pulse facilitation in the young adult rat. However, in young adults CA3-CA1 synapses still exhibit more facilitation than TA-CA1 synapses during physiologically-relevant activity, suggesting that the two pathways are each poised to uniquely modulate CA1 output in an activity-dependent manner. Finally, we show that there is a developmental decrease in the initial release probability at TA synapses that underlies their developmental decrease in facilitation, but no developmental change in release probability at SC synapses. This represents a fundamental difference in the presynaptic function of the two major inputs to CA1, which could alter the flow of information in hippocampus during development.

Dataset Information

Specificity and actions of an arylaspartate inhibitor of glutamate transport at the Schaffer collateral-CA1 pyramidal cell synapse.

Publications

Specificity and actions of an arylaspartate inhibitor of glutamate transport at the Schaffer collateral-CA1 pyramidal cell synapse.

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