scholarly journals NCAM promotes assembly and activity-dependent remodeling of the postsynaptic signaling complex

2006 ◽  
Vol 174 (7) ◽  
pp. 1071-1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Sytnyk ◽  
Iryna Leshchyns'ka ◽  
Alexander G. Nikonenko ◽  
Melitta Schachner

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) regulates synapse formation and synaptic strength via mechanisms that have remained unknown. We show that NCAM associates with the postsynaptic spectrin-based scaffold, cross-linking NCAM with the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II α (CaMKIIα) in a manner not firmly or directly linked to PSD95 and α-actinin. Clustering of NCAM promotes formation of detergent-insoluble complexes enriched in postsynaptic proteins and resembling postsynaptic densities. Disruption of the NCAM–spectrin complex decreases the size of postsynaptic densities and reduces synaptic targeting of NCAM–spectrin–associated postsynaptic proteins, including spectrin, NMDA receptors, and CaMKIIα. Degeneration of the spectrin scaffold in NCAM-deficient neurons results in an inability to recruit CaMKIIα to synapses after NMDA receptor activation, which is a critical process in NMDA receptor–dependent long-term potentiation. The combined observations indicate that NCAM promotes assembly of the spectrin-based postsynaptic signaling complex, which is required for activity-associated, long-lasting changes in synaptic strength. Its abnormal function may contribute to the etiology of neuropsychiatric disorders associated with mutations in or abnormal expression of NCAM.

2000 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 1279-1288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuei-Sen Hsu ◽  
Wen-Chia Ho ◽  
Chiung-Chun Huang ◽  
Jing-Jane Tsai

Previous work has shown that seizure-like activity can disrupt the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). However, how seizure-like event disrupts the LTP induction remains unknown. To understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this process better, a set of studies was implemented in area CA1 of rat hippocampal slices using extracellular recording methods. We showed here that prior transient seizure-like activity generated by perfused slices with Mg2+-free artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) exhibited a persistent suppression of LTP induction. This effect lasted between 2 and 3 h after normal ACSF replacement and was specifically inhibited by N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonistd-2-amino-5-phosphovaleric acid (d-APV) and L-type voltage-operated Ca2+ channel (VOCC) blocker nimodipine, but not by non-NMDA receptor antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). In addition, this suppressive effect was specifically blocked by the selective protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor NPC-15437. However, neither Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II inhibitor KN-62 nor cAMP-dependent protein kinase inhibitor Rp-adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphothioate (Rp-cAMPS) affected this suppressive effect. This persistent suppression of LTP was not secondary to the long-lasting changes in NMDA receptor activation, because the isolated NMDA receptor–mediated responses did not show a long-term enhancement in response to a 30-min Mg2+-free ACSF application. Additionally, in prior Mg2+-free ACSF–treated slices, the entire frequency-response curve of LTP and long-term depression (LTD) is shifted systematically to favor LTD. These results suggest that the increase of Ca2+ influx through NMDA channels and L-type VOCCs in turn triggering a PKC-dependent signaling cascade is a possible cellular basis underlying this seizure-like activity-induced inhibition of LTP.


Physiology ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 256-260
Author(s):  
D Debanne ◽  
SM Thompson

Two opposing types of plasticity at excitatory synapses in the hippocampus, long-term potentiation and depression, require N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activation and Ca2+ influx for their induction.The direction of the change in synaptic strength is determined by a balance between phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, as regulated by protein kinases and phosphatases that are activated selectively by different levels of intracellular Ca2+.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiati Guli ◽  
Tursonjan Tokay ◽  
Timo Kirschstein ◽  
Rüdiger Köhling

N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) can be reversed by low-frequency stimulation (LFS) referred to as depotentiation (DP). We previously found GluN2B upregulated in CA1 neurons from post-status epilepticus (post-SE) tissue associated with an enhanced LTP. Here, we tested whether LFS-induced DP is also altered in pathological GluN2B upregulation. Although LTP was enhanced in post-SE tissue, LTP was significantly reversed in this tissue, but not in controls. We next tested the effect of the GluN2B subunit-specific blocker Ro 25-6981 (1 μM) on LFS-DP. As expected, LFS had no effect on synaptic strength in the presence of the GluN2B blocker in control tissue. In marked contrast, LFS-DP was also attained in post-SE tissue indicating that GluN2B was obviously not involved in depotentiation. To test for NMDA receptor-dependence, we applied the NMDA receptor antagonist D-AP5 (50 μM) prior to LFS and observed that DP was abolished in both control and post-SE tissue confirming NMDA receptor involvement. These results indicate that control Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses cannot be depotentiated after fully established LTP, but LFS was able to reverse LTP significantly in post-SE tissue. However, while LFS-DP clearly required NMDA receptor activation, GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors were not involved in this form of depotentiation.


2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 721-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger A. Nicoll

This review summarizes the various experiments that have been carried out to determine if the expression of long-term potentiation (LTP), in particular N -methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent LTP, is presynaptic or postsynaptic. Evidence for a presynaptic expression mechanism comes primarily from experiments reporting that glutamate overflow is increased during LTP and from experiments showing that the failure rate decreases during LTP. However, other experimental approaches, such as monitoring synaptic glutamate release by recording astrocytic glutamate transporter currents, have failed to detect any change in glutamate release during LTP. In addition, the discovery of silent synapses, in which LTP rapidly switches on α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor function at NMDA-receptor-only synapses, provides a postsynaptic mechanism for the decrease in failures during LTP. It is argued that the preponderance of evidence favours a postsynaptic expression mechanism, whereby NMDA receptor activation results in the rapid recruitment of AMPA receptors as well as a covalent modification of synaptic AMPA receptors.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. e0222066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Kloc ◽  
Bruno Pradier ◽  
Anda M. Chirila ◽  
Julie A. Kauer

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 2818-2826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Hellier ◽  
David R. Grosshans ◽  
Steven J. Coultrap ◽  
Jethro P. Jones ◽  
Peter Dobelis ◽  
...  

Metaplasticity describes the stabilization of synaptic strength such that strong synapses are likely to remain strong while weak synapses are likely to remain weak. A potential mechanism for metaplasticity is a correlated change in both N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated postsynaptic conductance and synaptic strength. Synchronous activation of CA3–CA3 synapses during spontaneous bursts of population activity caused long-term potentiation (LTP) of recurrent CA3–CA3 glutamatergic synapses under control conditions and depotentiation when NMDA receptors were partially blocked by competitive antagonists. LTP was associated with a significant increase in membrane-bound NMDA receptors, whereas depotentiation was associated with a significant decrease in membrane-bound NMDA receptors. During burst activity, further depotentiation could be induced by sequential reductions in antagonist concentration, consistent with a depotentiation-associated reduction in membrane-bound NMDA receptors. The decrease in number of membrane-bound NMDA receptors associated with depotentiation reduced the probability of subsequent potentiation of weakened synapses in the face of ongoing synchronous network activity. This molecular mechanism stabilizes synaptic strength, which in turn stabilizes the state of the CA3 neuronal network, reflected in the frequency of spontaneous population bursts.


2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 2203-2213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debika Chatterjea ◽  
Edaeni Hamid ◽  
John P. Leonard ◽  
Simon Alford

N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated currents are enhanced by phosphorylation. We have investigated effects of phosphorylation-dependent short-term plasticity of NMDA receptor-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) on the induction of long-term depression (LTD). We confirmed in whole cell clamped CA1 pyramidal neurons that LTD is induced by pairing stimulus protocols. However, after serine-threonine phosphorylation was modified by postsynaptic introduction of a protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) inhibitor, the same pairing protocol evoked long-term potentiation (LTP). We determined effects of modification of phosphatase activity on evoked NMDA EPSCs during LTD induction protocols. During LTD induction, using a protocol pairing depolarization to –40 mV and 0.5 Hz stimulation, NMDA receptor-mediated EPSCs undergo a short-term enhancement at the start of the protocol. In neurons in which PP1 activity was inhibited, this short-term enhancement was markedly amplified. We then investigated the effect of this enhancement on Ca2+ entry during the start of the LTD induction protocol. Enhancement of NMDA receptor-mediated responses was accompanied by an amplification of induction protocol-evoked Ca2+ transients. Furthermore, this amplification required synaptic activation during the protocol, consistent with an enhancement of Ca2+ entry mediated by NMDA receptor activation. The sign of NMDA receptor-mediated long-term plasticity, whether potentiation or depression depends on the amplitude of the synaptic Ca2+ transient during induction. We conclude that short-term phosphorylation-dependent plasticity of the NMDA receptor-mediated EPSCs contributes significantly to the effect of phosphatase inhibition on the subsequent induction of LTD or LTP.


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