Quantifying the Magnitude of Changes in Synaptic Level Parameters With Long-Term Potentiation

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 1478-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Holmes ◽  
Lawrence M. Grover
Keyword(s):  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Channel Conductance ◽  
Single Channel Conductance ◽  
Vesicle Release ◽  
Silent Synapses ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Synaptic Level

Experimental evidence supports a number of mechanisms for the synaptic change that occurs with long-term potentiation (LTP) including insertion of AMPA receptors, an increase in AMPA receptor single channel conductance, unmasking silent synapses, and increases in vesicle release probability. Here we combine experimental and modeling studies to quantify the magnitude of the change needed at the synaptic level to explain LTP with these proposed mechanisms. Whole cell patch recordings were used to measure excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) amplitude in response to near minimal afferent stimulation before and after LTP induction in CA1 pyramidal cells. Detailed neuron and synapse level models were constructed to estimate quantitatively the changes needed to explain the experimental results. For cells in normal artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF), we found a 60% average increase in EPSP amplitude with LTP. This was explained in the models by a 63% increase in the number of activated synapses, a 64% increase in the AMPA receptor single channel conductance, or a 73% increase in the number of AMPA receptors per potentiated synapse. When the percentage LTP was above the average, the required increases through the proposed mechanisms became nonlinear, particularly for increases in the number of receptors. Given constraints from other experimental studies, our quantification suggests that neither unmasking silent synapses nor increasing the numbers of AMPA receptors at synapses is sufficient to explain the magnitude of LTP we observed, but increasing AMPA single channel conductance or vesicle release probability can be sufficient. Our results are most compatible with a combination of mechanisms producing LTP.

scholarly journals PKA drives an increase in AMPA receptor unitary conductance during LTP in the hippocampus

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pojeong Park ◽  
John Georgiou ◽  
Thomas M. Sanderson ◽  
Kwang-Hee Ko ◽  
Heather Kang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Theta Burst Stimulation ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Hippocampal Ca1 ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
Theta Burst

AbstractLong-term potentiation (LTP) at hippocampal CA1 synapses can be expressed by an increase either in the number (N) of AMPA (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid) receptors or in their single channel conductance (γ). Here, we have established how these distinct synaptic processes contribute to the expression of LTP in hippocampal slices obtained from young adult rodents. LTP induced by compressed theta burst stimulation (TBS), with a 10 s inter-episode interval, involves purely an increase in N (LTPN). In contrast, either a spaced TBS, with a 10 min inter-episode interval, or a single TBS, delivered when PKA is activated, results in LTP that is associated with a transient increase in γ (LTPγ), caused by the insertion of calcium-permeable (CP)-AMPA receptors. Activation of CaMKII is necessary and sufficient for LTPN whilst PKA is additionally required for LTPγ. Thus, two mechanistically distinct forms of LTP co-exist at these synapses.

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 PKA drives an increase in AMPA receptor unitary conductance during LTP in the hippocampus

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pojeong Park ◽  
John Georgiou ◽  
Thomas M. Sanderson ◽  
Kwang-Hee Ko ◽  
Heather Kang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Single Channel ◽  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Theta Burst Stimulation ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Hippocampal Ca1 ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient ◽  
Theta Burst

ABSTRACTLong-term potentiation (LTP) at hippocampal CA1 synapses can be expressed by an increase either in the number (N) of AMPA (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid) receptors or in their single channel conductance (γ). Here we have established how these distinct synaptic processes contribute to the expression of LTP in hippocampal slices obtained from young adult rodents. LTP induced by compressed theta burst stimulation (TBS), with a 10 s inter-episode interval, involved purely an increase in N (LTPN). In contrast, either a spaced TBS, with a 10 min inter-episode interval, or a single TBS, delivered when PKA was activated, resulted in LTP that was associated with a transient increase in γ (LTPγ). This γ increase was due to the insertion of calcium-permeable (CP)-AMPA receptors. Activation of CaMKII was necessary and sufficient for LTPN whilst PKA was additionally required for LTPγ. Thus, two mechanistically distinct forms of LTP co-exist at these synapses.

scholarly journals Incorporation of inwardly rectifying AMPA receptors at silent synapses during hippocampal long-term potentiation

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1633) ◽  
pp. 20130156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daiju Morita ◽  
Jong Cheol Rah ◽  
John T. R. Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Calcium Influx ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Subunit Composition ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Silent Synapses ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Inwardly Rectifying

Despite decades of study, the mechanisms by which synapses express the increase in strength during long-term potentiation (LTP) remain an area of intense interest. Here, we have studied how AMPA receptor subunit composition changes during the early phases of hippocampal LTP in CA1 pyramidal neurons. We studied LTP at silent synapses that initially lack AMPA receptors, but contain NMDA receptors. We show that strongly inwardly rectifying AMPA receptors are initially incorporated at silent synapses during LTP and are then subsequently replaced by non-rectifying AMPA receptors. These findings suggest that silent synapses initially incorporate GluA2-lacking, calcium-permeable AMPA receptors during LTP that are then replaced by GluA2-containing calcium-impermeable receptors. We also show that LTP consolidation at CA1 synapses requires a rise in intracellular calcium concentration during the early phase of expression, indicating that calcium influx through the GluA2-lacking AMPA receptors drives their replacement by GluA2-containing receptors during LTP consolidation. Taken together with previous studies in hippocampus and in other brain regions, these findings suggest that a common mechanism for the expression of activity-dependent glutamatergic synaptic plasticity involves the regulation of GluA2-subunit composition and highlights a critical role for silent synapses in this process.

AMPA Silencing Is a Prerequisite for Developmental Long-Term Potentiation in the Hippocampal CA1 Region

2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (5) ◽  
pp. 2605-2614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therése Abrahamsson ◽  
Bengt Gustafsson ◽  
Eric Hanse
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Synaptic Strength ◽  
Ca1 Region ◽  
Hippocampal Ca1 Region ◽  
Silent Synapses ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Hippocampal Ca1 ◽  
Hippocampal Ca3

AMPA (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid) unsilencing is an often proposed expression mechanism both for developmental long-term potentiation (LTP), involved in circuitry refinement during brain development, and for mature LTP, involved in learning and memory. In the hippocampal CA3–CA1 connection naïve (nonstimulated) synapses are AMPA signaling and AMPA-silent synapses are created from naïve AMPA-signaling (AMPA-labile) synapses by test-pulse synaptic activation (AMPA silencing). To investigate to what extent LTPs at different developmental stages are explained by AMPA unsilencing, the amount of LTP obtained at these different developmental stages was related to the amount of AMPA silencing that preceded the induction of LTP. When examined in the second postnatal week Hebbian induction was found to produce no more stable potentiation than that causing a return to the naïve synaptic strength existing prior to the AMPA silencing. Moreover, in the absence of a preceding AMPA silencing Hebbian induction produced no stable potentiation above the naïve synaptic strength. Thus this early, or developmental, LTP is nothing more than an unsilencing (dedepression) and stabilization of the AMPA signaling that was lost by the prior AMPA silencing. This dedepression and stabilization of AMPA signaling was mimicked by the presence of the protein kinase A activator forskolin. As the relative degree of AMPA silencing decreased with development, LTP manifested itself more and more as a “genuine” potentiation (as opposed to a dedepression) not explained by unsilencing and stabilization of AMPA-labile synapses. This “genuine,” or mature, LTP rose from close to nothing of total LTP prior to postnatal day (P)13, to about 70% of total LTP at P16, and to about 90% of total LTP at P30. Developmental LTP, by stabilization of AMPA-labile synapses, thus seems adapted to select synaptic connections to the growing synaptic network. Mature LTP, by instead strengthening existing stable connections between cells, may then create functionally tightly connected cell assemblies within this network.

Activation of silent synapses with sustained but not decremental long-term potentiation

2007 ◽  
Vol 417 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Kasten ◽  
Yuan Fan ◽  
Paul E. Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Silent Synapses ◽  
Term Potentiation

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 GluR2 protein-protein interactions and the regulation of AMPA receptors during synaptic plasticity

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 715-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Duprat ◽  
Michael Daw ◽  
Wonil Lim ◽  
Graham Collingridge ◽  
John Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Ampa Receptor ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Synaptic Proteins ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Term Potentiation

AMPA-type glutamate receptors mediate most fast excitatory synaptic transmissions in the mammalian brain. They are critically involved in the expression of long-term potentiation and long-term depression, forms of synaptic plasticity that are thought to underlie learning and memory. A number of synaptic proteins have been identified that interact with the intracellular C-termini of AMPA receptor subunits. Here, we review recent studies and present new experimental data on the roles of these interacting proteins in regulating the AMPA receptor function during basal synaptic transmission and plasticity.

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