Synaptic NMDA receptors in basolateral amygdala principal neurons are triheteromeric proteins: physiological role of GluN2B subunits

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (5) ◽  
pp. 1391-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Delaney ◽  
Petra L. Sedlak ◽  
Elenora Autuori ◽  
John M. Power ◽  
Pankaj Sah
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptors ◽  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Physiological Role ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Subunit Composition ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Nmda Current ◽  
Synaptic Receptors ◽  
Kinetics Of

N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are heteromultimeric ion channels that contain an essential GluN1 subunit and two or more GluN2 (GluN2A–GluN2D) subunits. The biophysical properties and physiological roles of synaptic NMDA receptors are dependent on their subunit composition. In the basolateral amygdala (BLA), it has been suggested that the plasticity that underlies fear learning requires activation of heterodimeric receptors composed of GluN1/GluN2B subunits. In this study, we investigated the subunit composition of NMDA receptors present at synapses on principal neurons in the BLA. Purification of the synaptic fraction showed that both GluN2A and GluN2B subunits are present at synapses, and co-immunoprecipitation revealed the presence of receptors containing both GluN2A and GluN2B subunits. The kinetics of NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic currents and pharmacological blockade indicate that heterodimeric GluN1/GluN2B receptors are unlikely to be present at glutamatergic synapses on BLA principal neurons. Selective RNA interference-mediated knockdown of GluN2A subunits converted synaptic receptors to a GluN1/GluN2B phenotype, whereas knockdown of GluN2B subunits had no effect on the kinetics of the synaptically evoked NMDA current. Blockade of GluN1/GluN2B heterodimers with ifenprodil had no effect, but knockdown of GluN2B disrupted the induction of CaMKII-dependent long-term potentiation at these synapses. These results suggest that, on BLA principal neurons, GluN2B subunits are only present as GluN1/GluN2A/GluN2B heterotrimeric NMDA receptors. The GluN2B subunit has little impact on the kinetics of the receptor, but is essential for the recruitment of signaling molecules essential for synaptic plasticity.

scholarly journals Fear Memory

2016 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 695-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Izquierdo ◽  
Cristiane R. G. Furini ◽  
Jociane C. Myskiw
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Inhibitory Avoidance ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Fear Memory ◽  
Contextual Fear Conditioning ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Mechanisms Of Memory

Fear memory is the best-studied form of memory. It was thoroughly investigated in the past 60 years mostly using two classical conditioning procedures (contextual fear conditioning and fear conditioning to a tone) and one instrumental procedure (one-trial inhibitory avoidance). Fear memory is formed in the hippocampus (contextual conditioning and inhibitory avoidance), in the basolateral amygdala (inhibitory avoidance), and in the lateral amygdala (conditioning to a tone). The circuitry involves, in addition, the pre- and infralimbic ventromedial prefrontal cortex, the central amygdala subnuclei, and the dentate gyrus. Fear learning models, notably inhibitory avoidance, have also been very useful for the analysis of the biochemical mechanisms of memory consolidation as a whole. These studies have capitalized on in vitro observations on long-term potentiation and other kinds of plasticity. The effect of a very large number of drugs on fear learning has been intensively studied, often as a prelude to the investigation of effects on anxiety. The extinction of fear learning involves to an extent a reversal of the flow of information in the mentioned structures and is used in the therapy of posttraumatic stress disorder and fear memories in general.

scholarly journals Fear conditioning and the basolateral amygdala

F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yajie Sun ◽  
Helen Gooch ◽  
Pankaj Sah
Keyword(s):  
Fear Conditioning ◽  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Pavlovian Fear Conditioning ◽  
Defensive Responses ◽  
Laboratory Rodents ◽  
Term Potentiation

Fear is a response to impending threat that prepares a subject to make appropriate defensive responses, whether to freeze, fight, or flee to safety. The neural circuits that underpin how subjects learn about cues that signal threat, and make defensive responses, have been studied using Pavlovian fear conditioning in laboratory rodents as well as humans. These studies have established the amygdala as a key player in the circuits that process fear and led to a model where fear learning results from long-term potentiation of inputs that convey information about the conditioned stimulus to the amygdala. In this review, we describe the circuits in the basolateral amygdala that mediate fear learning and its expression as the conditioned response. We argue that while the evidence linking synaptic plasticity in the basolateral amygdala to fear learning is strong, there is still no mechanism that fully explains the changes that underpin fear conditioning.

Induction of long-term potentiation without participation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in kitten visual cortex

1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Komatsu ◽  
S. Nakajima ◽  
K. Toyama
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptors ◽  
Stimulus Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Nmda Antagonist ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Conditioning Stimulation ◽  
Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Stimulation Of

1. Intracellular recording was made from layer II-III cells in slice preparations of kitten (30-40 days old) visual cortex. Low-frequency (0.1 Hz) stimulation of white matter (WM) usually evoked an excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) followed by an inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). The postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) showed strong dependence on stimulus frequency. Early component of EPSP and IPSP evoked by weak stimulation both decreased monotonically at frequencies greater than 0.5-1 Hz. Strong stimulation similarly depressed the early EPSP at higher frequencies (greater than 2 Hz) and replaced the IPSP with a late EPSP, which had a maximum amplitude in the stimulus frequency range of 2-5 Hz. 2. Very weak WM stimulation sometimes evoked EPSPs in isolation from IPSPs. The falling phase of the EPSP revealed voltage dependence characteristic to the responses mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors and was depressed by application of an NMDA antagonist DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV), whereas the rising phase of the EPSP was insensitive to APV. 3. The early EPSPs followed by IPSPs were insensitive to APV but were replaced with a slow depolarizing potential by application of a non-NMDA antagonist 6,7-dinitro-quinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX), indicating that the early EPSP is mediated by non-NMDA receptors. The slow depolarization was mediated by NMDA receptors because it was depressed by membrane hyperpolarization or addition of APV. 4. The late EPSP evoked by higher-frequency stimulation was abolished by APV, indicating that it is mediated by NMDA receptors, which are located either on the recorded cell or on presynaptic cells to the recorded cells. 5. Long-term potentiation (LTP) of EPSPs was examined in cells perfused with solutions containing 1 microM bicuculline methiodide (BIM), a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonist. WM was stimulated at 2 Hz for 15 min as a conditioning stimulus to induce LTP, and the resultant changes were tested by low-frequency (0.1 Hz) stimulation of WM. 6. LTP of early EPSPs occurred in more than one-half of the cells (8/13) after strong conditioning stimulation. The rising slope of the EPSP was increased 1.6 times on average. 7. To test involvement of NMDA receptors in the induction of LTP in the early EPSP, the effect of conditioning stimulation was studied in a solution containing 100 microM APV, which was sufficient to block completely synaptic transmission mediated by NMDA receptors. LTP occurred in the same frequency and magnitude as in control solution.

scholarly journals A role for BDNF- and NMDAR-induced lysosomal recruitment of mTORC1 in the regulation of neuronal mTORC1 activity

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dany Khamsing ◽  
Solène Lebrun ◽  
Isabelle Fanget ◽  
Nathanaël Larochette ◽  
Christophe Tourain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Nmda Receptors ◽  
Hippocampal Neurons ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Activation Mechanism ◽  
Functional Link ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Endocytic Compartments ◽  
Mtorc1 Activation

AbstractMemory and long term potentiation require de novo protein synthesis. A key regulator of this process is mTORC1, a complex comprising the mTOR kinase. Growth factors activate mTORC1 via a pathway involving PI3-kinase, Akt, the TSC complex and the GTPase Rheb. In non-neuronal cells, translocation of mTORC1 to late endocytic compartments (LEs), where Rheb is enriched, is triggered by amino acids. However, the regulation of mTORC1 in neurons remains unclear. In mouse hippocampal neurons, we observed that BDNF and treatments activating NMDA receptors trigger a robust increase in mTORC1 activity. NMDA receptors activation induced a significant recruitment of mTOR onto lysosomes even in the absence of external amino acids, whereas mTORC1 was evenly distributed in neurons under resting conditions. NMDA receptor-induced mTOR translocation to LEs was partly dependent on the BDNF receptor TrkB, suggesting that BDNF contributes to the effect of NMDA receptors on mTORC1 translocation. In addition, the combination of Rheb overexpression and artificial mTORC1 targeting to LEs by means of a modified component of mTORC1 fused with a LE-targeting motif strongly activated mTOR. To gain spatial and temporal control over mTOR localization, we designed an optogenetic module based on light-sensitive dimerizers able to recruit mTOR on LEs. In cells expressing this optogenetic tool, mTOR was translocated to LEs upon photoactivation. In the absence of growth factor, this was not sufficient to activate mTORC1. In contrast, mTORC1 was potently activated by a combination of BDNF and photoactivation. The data demonstrate that two important triggers of synaptic plasticity, BDNF and NMDA receptors, synergistically power the two arms of the mTORC1 activation mechanism, i.e., mTORC1 translocation to LEs and Rheb activation. Moreover, they unmask a functional link between NMDA receptors and mTORC1 that could underlie the changes in the synaptic proteome associated with long-lasting changes in synaptic strength.

scholarly journals Zinc enhances hippocampal long-term potentiation at CA1 synapses through NR2B containing NMDA receptors

PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. e0205907 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Sullivan ◽  
Xiao-lei Zhang ◽  
Arthur P. Sullivan ◽  
Linnea R. Vose ◽  
Alexander A. Moghadam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptors ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Term Potentiation

Insights into associative long-term potentiation from computational models of NMDA receptor-mediated calcium influx and intracellular calcium concentration changes

1990 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 1148-1168 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. R. Holmes ◽  
W. B. Levy
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Nmda Receptor ◽  
Nmda Receptors ◽  
Dendritic Spine ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Input Frequency ◽  
Spine Head ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Concentration Changes

1. Because induction of associative long-term potentiation (LTP) in the dentate gyrus is thought to depend on Ca2+ influx through channels controlled by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, quantitative modeling was performed of synaptically mediated Ca2+ influx as a function of synaptic coactivation. The goal was to determine whether Ca2+ influx through NMDA-receptor channels was, by itself, sufficient to explain associative LTP, including control experiments and the temporal requirements of LTP. 2. Ca2+ influx through NMDA-receptor channels was modeled at a synapse on a dendritic spine of a reconstructed hippocampal dentate granule cell when 1-115 synapses on spines at different dendritic locations were activated eight times at frequencies of 10-800 Hz. The resulting change in [Ca2+] in the spine head was estimated from the Ca2+ influx with the use of a model of a dendritic spine that included Ca2+ buffers, pumps, and diffusion. 3. To use a compelling model of synaptic activation, we developed quantitative descriptions of the NMDA and non-NMDA receptor-mediated conductances consistent with available experimental data. The experimental data reported for NMDA and non-NMDA receptor-channel properties and data from other non-LTP experiments that separated the NMDA and non-NMDA receptor-mediated components of synaptic events proved to be limiting for particular synaptic variables. Relative to the non-NMDA glutamate-type receptors, 1) the unbinding of transmitter from NMDA receptors had to be slow, 2) the transition from the bound NMDA receptor-transmitter complex to the open channel state had to be even slower, and 3) the average number of NMDA-receptor channels at a single activated synapse on a single spine head that were open and conducting at a given moment in time had to be very small (usually less than 1). 4. With the use of these quantitative synaptic conductance descriptions. Ca2+ influx through NMDA-receptor channels at a synapse was computed for a variety of conditions. For a constant number of pulses, Ca2+ influx was calculated as a function of input frequency and the number of coactivated synapses. When few synapses were coactivated, Ca2+ influx was small, even for high-frequency activation. However, with larger numbers of coactivated synapses, there was a steep increase in Ca2+ influx with increasing input frequency because of the voltage-dependent nature of the NMDA receptor-mediated conductance. Nevertheless, total Ca2+ influx was never increased more than fourfold by increasing input frequency or the number of coactivated synapses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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