title: Re-structuring of synapses 24 hours after induction of long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus of the rat hippocampus in vivo.
abstract: In male rats, long-term potentiation was induced unilaterally in the dentate gyrus, either by high frequency (200Hz) or theta rhythm stimulation. Structural synaptic changes were examined 24h after induction using quantitative electron microscopy. A disector technique was employed in order to estimate the density of synapses (using 70-80-nm sections) and of granule cell nuclei (using 2-microm sections) in the middle, and inner molecular layer in both hemispheres. Synaptic height and total lateral areas of synaptic active zones per unit tissue volume were assessed via assumption-free stereological techniques coupled with image analysis. The results obtained indicated that both synaptic density and number (corrected per neuron) of axo-spinous, but not axo-dendritic, synapses were approximately 40% higher in the middle, but not inner molecular layer of the potentiated hemisphere compared to the contralateral (control hemisphere). No significant inter-hemispheric difference was found in the volume densities of lateral areas of active zones. These data suggest that 24h after long-term potentiation induction, active zones of existing axo-spinous synapses either split forming separate contacts, or decrease in size while new synapses are formed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The Open University, Walton Hall, MK7 6AA, Milton Keynes, UK. m.g.stewart@open.ac.uk
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Rusakov
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Richter-Levin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maroun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018891:Dentate Gyrus / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure