Developmental changes in the susceptibility to long-term potentiation of neurones in rat visual cortex slices.
We investigated with intracellular recordings from rat visual cortex slices whether the susceptibility to undergo long-term potentiation (LTP) is age-dependent and whether it is correlated with the expression of synaptic responses mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Test and tetanic stimuli were applied to the white matter and post-tetanic modifications of the amplitude of postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) were assessed in regular spiking cells of supragranular layers. At 2 weeks of age, the amplitudes of early (8-10 ms post-stimulus) and late (20 ms post-stimulus) PSP-components increased after tetanic stimulation to 137.1 +/- 13.4% and 141.3 +/- 12.1% of the pretetanic controls, respectively. At 3 weeks, potentiation of both PSP-components was less pronounced but still significant, the late component being on average more potentiated than the early one. At 4 weeks, PSPs were no longer potentiated. Bath application of 25 microM DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV), an NMDA receptor antagonist, blocked LTP induction both at 2 and at 3 weeks. We also studied developmental changes of two synaptic responses known to influence the susceptibility of cortical neurones to LTP, the NMDA receptor-mediated excitatory PSP (EPSP) and the initial inhibitory PSP (iIPSP). The amplitude of the APV-sensitive EPSP decreased with age and reached adult values in 4-week-old animals. The iIPSPs were pronounced already at 2 weeks and showed no marked change during further development. The results suggest a close correlation between the susceptibility to undergo LTP and the extent to which NMDA receptor-gated conductances contribute to the synaptic response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Kato
N
N
Max-Planck-Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, F.R.G.
Artola
A
A
Singer
W
W
D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate / Q000494:pharmacology; D018750:6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D007051:Ibotenic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011810:Quinoxalines / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D013569:Synapses / Q000187:drug effects; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D018350:alpha-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic Acid
D011810:Quinoxalines; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D007051:Ibotenic Acid; D018750:6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione; D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate; D018350:alpha-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic Acid