title: Actions of excitatory amino acid antagonists on synaptic potentials of layer II/III neurons of the cat's visual cortex.
abstract: Actions of excitatory amino acid (EAA) antagonists on the responses of cells in layers II/III and IV of the cat's visual cortex to stimulation of layer VI and the underlying white matter were studied in slice preparations. Antagonists used were 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV), a selective antagonist for the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of EAA receptors, and kynurenate, a broad-spectrum antagonist for the three types of EAA receptors. In extracellular recordings it was demonstrated that most of the layer II/III cells were sensitive to APV, while the great majority of the layer IV cells were not. By contrast, kynurenate suppressed the responses completely in both layers. Excitatory post-synaptic potentials (EPSPs) evoked by stimulation of layer VI and the while matter were recorded intracellularly from layer II/III neurons. To determine whether the EPSPs were elicited mono- or polysynaptically, the synaptic delay for each EPSP was calculated from a pair of onset latencies of EPSPs evoked by stimulation of the two sites. Forty-two percent of the layer II/III cells were classified as having monosynaptic EPSPs. In 60% of these monosynaptic cells, the rising slope of the EPSPs was reduced by APV while in the other 40%, it was not. In the former (APV-sensitive cells), subtraction of the APV-sensitive component from the total EPSP indicated that the onset latency of the NMDA receptor-mediated component was roughly equal to that of the non-NMDA component. In the latter (APV-resistant cells), only the slowly-decaying component was in part mediated by NMDA receptors. The conduction velocities of the afferent fibers innervating APV-resistant cells were slower than those of the APV-sensitive cells, suggesting that both types of cells are innervated by different types of afferents. The polysynaptic EPSPs of almost all layer II/III cells were sensitive to APV. The subtraction method indicated that the NMDA component had about the same magnitude as the non-NMDA components. When the slices were superfused by a Mg2+-free solution, the EPSPs were potentiated dramatically, but this potentiation was reduced to the control level during the administration of APV. Similarly, APV-sensitive components were potentiated during the administration of bicuculline, a selective antagonist for gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors of A type. These results suggest that NMDA receptors participate, at varying degrees, in excitatory synaptic transmission at most layer II/III cells in the cat's visual cortex, and their actions appear to be regulated by intracortical inhibition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shirokawa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishigori
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsumoto
mesh_terms: D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000187:drug effects; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007736:Kynurenic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D017459:Receptors, Amino Acid; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D017459:Receptors, Amino Acid; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate; D007736:Kynurenic Acid