title: Integrative properties of radial oblique dendrites in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons.
abstract: Although radial oblique dendrites are a major synaptic input site in CA1 pyramidal neurons, little is known about their integrative properties. We have used multisite two-photon glutamate uncaging to deliver different spatiotemporal input patterns to single branches while simultaneously recording the uncaging-evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials and local Ca2+ signals. Asynchronous input patterns sum linearly in spite of the spatial clustering and produce Ca2+ signals that are mediated by NMDA receptors (NMDARs). Appropriately timed and sized input patterns ( approximately 20 inputs within approximately 6 ms) produce a supralinear summation due to the initiation of a dendritic spike. The Ca2+ signals associated with synchronous input were larger and mediated by influx through both NMDARs and voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (VGCCs). The oblique spike is a fast Na+ spike whose duration is shaped by the coincident activation of NMDAR, VGCCs, and transient K+ currents. Our results suggest that individual branches can function as single integrative compartments.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Center, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA. aloson@lsuhsc.edu
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Losonczy
authors.forename: Jeffrey C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Magee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000378:metabolism; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D018698:Glutamic Acid