Glutamatergic synaptic responses and long-term potentiation are impaired in the CA1 hippocampal area of calbindin D28k-deficient mice
✍ Scribed by Anne Jouvenceau; Brigitte Potier; Renata Battini; Stefano Ferrari; Patrick Dutar; Jean-Marie Billard
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 168 KB
- Volume
- 33
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0887-4476
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The contribution of the cytosolic calcium binding protein calbindin D 28K (CaBP) to glutamatergic neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity was investigated in hippocampal CA1 area of wild-type and antisense transgenic CaBP-deficient mice, with the use of extracellular recordings in the ex vivo slice preparation. The amplitude of non-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (non-NMDAr)-mediated extracellular field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) recorded in control medium was significantly greater in CaBP-deficient mice, whereas the afferent fiber volley was not affected. In contrast, the amplitude of NMDAr-mediated fEPSPs isolated in a magnesium-free medium after blockade of non-NMDAr and GABAergic receptors was significantly depressed in these animals. No alteration in the magnitude of paired-pulse facilitation was found, indicating that the presynaptic calcium mechanisms controlling glutamate release were not altered in CaBP-deficient mice. The magnitude and time course of the short-term potentiation (STP) of fEPSPs induced by a 30 Hz conditioning stimulation, which was blocked by the NMDAr antagonist 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate acid (2-APV), was not impaired in the transgenic mice, whereas long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by a 100 Hz tetanus was not maintained. The long-term depression (LTD) induced by low-frequency stimulation (1 Hz, 15 min) in the presence of the GABA antagonist bicuculline was not altered. These results argue for a contribution of CaBP to the mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of long-term synaptic potentiation, at least in part by modulating the activation of NMDA receptors.