scholarly journals Expression mechanisms underlying long-term potentiation: a postsynaptic view

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 721-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger A. Nicoll
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Glutamate Release ◽  
Glutamate Transporter ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Covalent Modification ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Expression Mechanism

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.

scholarly journals Expression mechanisms underlying long-term potentiation: a postsynaptic view, 10 years on

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1633) ◽  
pp. 20130136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Granger ◽  
Roger A. Nicoll
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Postsynaptic Density ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Reserve Pool ◽  
Extrasynaptic Receptors ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Expression Mechanism

This review focuses on the research that has occurred over the past decade which has solidified a postsynaptic expression mechanism for long-term potentiation (LTP). However, experiments that have suggested a presynaptic component are also summarized. It is argued that the pairing of glutamate uncaging onto single spines with postsynaptic depolarization provides the final and most elegant demonstration of a postsynaptic expression mechanism for NMDA receptor-dependent LTP. The fact that the magnitude of this LTP is similar to that evoked by pairing synaptic stimulation and depolarization leaves little room for a substantial presynaptic component. Finally, recent data also require a revision in our thinking about the way AMPA receptors (AMPARs) are recruited to the postsynaptic density during LTP. This recruitment is independent of subunit type, but does require an adequate reserve pool of extrasynaptic receptors.

scholarly journals Silent synapses: what are they telling us about long-term potentiation?

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 727-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitri M. Kullmann
Keyword(s):  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Hippocampal Neurons ◽  
Glutamate Release ◽  
Postsynaptic Density ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Silent Synapses ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Silent Synapse ◽  
Cortical Synapses

At several cortical synapses glutamate release events can be mediated exclusively by NMDA receptors, with no detectable contribution from AMPA receptors. This observation was originally made by comparing the trial-to-trial variability of the two components of synaptic signals evoked in hippocampal neurons, and was subsequently confirmed by recording apparently pure NMDA receptor-mediated EPSCs with stimulation of small numbers of axons. It has come to be known as the ‘silent synapse’ phenomenon, and is widely assumed to be caused by the absence of functional AMPA receptors, which can, however, be recruited into the postsynaptic density by long-term potentiation (LTP) induction. Thus, it provides an important impetus for relating AMPA receptor trafficking mechanisms to the expression of LTP, a theme that is taken up elsewhere in this issue. This article draws attention to several findings that call for caution in identifying silent synapses exclusively with synapses without AMPA receptors. In addition, it attempts to identify several missing pieces of evidence that are required to show that unsilencing of such synapses is entirely accounted for by insertion of AMPA receptors into the postsynaptic density. Some aspects of the early stages of LTP expression remain open to alternative explanations.

scholarly journals Moderate AMPA receptor clustering on the nanoscale can efficiently potentiate synaptic current

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1633) ◽  
pp. 20130167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonid P. Savtchenko ◽  
Dmitri A. Rusakov
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Monte Carlo Model ◽  
Release Site ◽  
Synaptic Cleft ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Central Synapses ◽  
Prevailing View

The prevailing view at present is that postsynaptic expression of the classical NMDA receptor-dependent long-term potentiation relies on an increase in the numbers of local AMPA receptors (AMPARs). This is thought to parallel an expansion of postsynaptic cell specializations, for instance dendritic spine heads, which accommodate synaptic receptor proteins. However, glutamate released into the synaptic cleft can normally activate only a hotspot of low-affinity AMPARs that occur in the vicinity of the release site. How the enlargement of the AMPAR pool is causally related to the potentiated AMPAR current remains therefore poorly understood. To understand possible scenarios of postsynaptic potentiation, here we explore a detailed Monte Carlo model of the typical small excitatory synapse. Simulations suggest that approximately 50% increase in the synaptic AMPAR current could be provided by expanding the existing AMPAR pool at the expense of 100–200% new AMPARs added at the same packing density. Alternatively, reducing the inter-receptor distances by only 30–35% could achieve a similar level of current potentiation without any changes in the receptor numbers. The NMDA receptor current also appears sensitive to the NMDA receptor crowding. Our observations provide a quantitative framework for understanding the ‘resource-efficient’ ways to enact use-dependent changes in the architecture of central synapses.

scholarly journals NMDA receptor activation induces long-term potentiation of glycine synapses

PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. e0222066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Kloc ◽  
Bruno Pradier ◽  
Anda M. Chirila ◽  
Julie A. Kauer
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Nmda Receptor Activation

scholarly journals Phosphorylation-State-Dependent Regulation of NMDA Receptor Short-Term Plasticity Modifies Hippocampal Dendritic Ca2+ Transients

2010 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 2203-2213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debika Chatterjea ◽  
Edaeni Hamid ◽  
John P. Leonard ◽  
Simon Alford
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Pyramidal Neurons ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Short Term Plasticity ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Protocol Enhancement

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.

scholarly journals Fusion pore modulation as a presynaptic mechanism contributing to expression of long-term potentiation

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 695-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukwoo Choi ◽  
Jürgen Klingauf ◽  
Richard W. Tsien
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Glutamate Release ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Fusion Pore ◽  
Silent Synapses ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Presynaptic Mechanisms

Working on the idea that postsynaptic and presynaptic mechanisms of long-term potentiation (LTP) expression are not inherently mutually exclusive, we have looked for the existence and functionality of presynaptic mechanisms for augmenting transmitter release in hippocampal slices. Specifically, we asked if changes in glutamate release might contribute to the conversion of ‘silent synapses’ that show N -methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) responses but no detectable α -amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) responses, to ones that exhibit both. Here, we review experiments where NMDA receptor responses provided a bioassay of cleft glutamate concentration, using opposition between peak [glu] cleft and a rapidly reversible antagonist, L-AP5. We discuss findings of a dramatic increase in peak [glu] cleft upon expression of pairing-induced LTP (Choi). We present simulations with a quantitative model of glutamatergic synaptic transmission that includes modulation of the presynaptic fusion pore, realistic cleft geometry and a distributed array of postsynaptic receptors and glutamate transporters. The modelling supports the idea that changes in the dynamics of glutamate release can contribute to synaptic unsilencing. We review direct evidence from Renger et al ., in accord with the modelling, that trading off the strength and duration of the glutamate transient can markedly alter AMPA receptor responses with little effect on NMDA receptor responses. An array of additional findings relevant to fusion pore modulation and its proposed contribution to LTP expression are considered.

Cell-Permeable Scavengers of Superoxide Prevent Long-Term Potentiation in Hippocampal Area CA1

1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 452-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Klann
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Receptor Activation ◽  
Manganese Porphyrin ◽  
Area Ca1 ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Hippocampal Area ◽  
Nmda Receptor Activation

Klann, Eric. Cell-permeable scavengers of superoxide prevent long-term potentiation in hippocampal area CA1. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 452–457, 1998. Long-term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampal area CA1 is generally dependent on N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide, are produced in response to NMDA receptor activation in a number of brain regions, including the hipppocampus. In this study, two cell-permeable manganese porphyrin compounds that mimic superoxide dismutase (SOD) were used to determine whether production of superoxide is required for the induction of LTP in area CA1 of rat hippocampal slices. Incubation of hippocampal slices with either Mn(III) tetrakis (4-benzoic acid) porphyrin (MnTBAP) or Mn(III) tetrakis (1-methyl-4-pyridyl) porphyrin (MnTMPyP) prevented the induction of LTP. Incubation of slices with either light-inactivated MnTBAP or light-inactivated MnTMPyP had no effect on induction of LTP. Neither MnTBAP nor MnTMPyP was able to reverse preestablished LTP. These observations suggest that production of superoxide occurs in response to LTP-inducing stimulation and that superoxide is necessary for the induction of LTP.

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