Pairing of pre- and postsynaptic activities in cerebellar Purkinje cells induces long-term changes in synaptic efficacy in vitro.
1. An in vitro slice preparation of rat cerebellar cortex was used to analyse long-lasting modifications of synaptic transmission at parallel fibre (PF)-Purkinje cell (PC) synapses. These use-dependent changes were induced by pairing PF-mediated EPSPs evoked at low frequency (1 Hz) with different levels of membrane polarization (or bioelectrical activities) of PCs for 15 min. 2. Experiments were performed on forty-eight PCs recorded intracellularly in a conventional perfused chamber, and in fifty other cells maintained in a static chamber either in the presence (n = 21) or in the absence (n = 29) of 400 nM-phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu). 3. In these three experimental conditions, PF-mediated EPSPs were always measured on PCs maintained at a holding potential of -75 mV, and further hyperpolarized by constant hyperpolarizing pulses. This allowed us both to test the input resistance of PCs and to avoid their firing during PF-mediated EPSPs. 4. In all cells retained for the present study, latencies of PF-mediated EPSPs evoked at 0.2 Hz were stable during the pre-pairing period, and the same was true for their amplitude and time course. 5. In the perfused chamber, pairing of PF-mediated EPSPs with the same hyperpolarization of PCs as that used for measurements of synaptic responses had no effect on these EPSPs in 30% of PCs. It induced long-term depression (LTD) and long-term potentiation (LTP) in 23 and 47% of the tested cells respectively (n = 17). 6. In the perfused chamber, pairing of PF-mediated EPSPs with moderate depolarization of PCs (n = 19) giving rise to a sustained firing of sodium spikes significantly favoured the appearance of LTP as compared to the previous pairing protocol. However, there were still 27 and 15% of cells which showed no modification and LTD respectively. 7. In contrast, pairing of PF-mediated EPSPs with calcium (Ca2+) spikes evoked by strong depolarization of PCs (n = 12) led to LTD of synaptic transmission in nearly half of the tested cells, whereas LTP was now observed in less than 20% of them. 8. In the static chamber and in the absence of PDBu, LTD of PF-mediated EPSPs was observed in most cells, whatever the pairing protocol with sodium or Ca2+ spikes. 9. This shift towards LTD was significantly reversed by PDBu in the pairing protocol using firing of sodium spikes, but not in the case of pairings with Ca2+ spikes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Crepel
F
F
CNRS URA 1121, Laboratoire de Neurobiologie et Neuropharmacologie du Développement, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France.
Jaillard
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D
D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D015240:Phorbol 12,13-Dibutyrate / Q000494:pharmacology; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*
D015240:Phorbol 12,13-Dibutyrate; D012964:Sodium; D002118:Calcium