title: Changes in neuropil ultrastructure in hippocampal field CA1 in rat pups after application of hyaluronidase.
abstract: Electron microscopy and electrophysiological studies were performed on cross-sectional slices of the hippocampus of four-week-old male rat pups (n = 35) to detect ultrastructural changes in hippocampal field CA1 and the characteristics of the formation of excitatory postsynaptic potentials in this area of the brain after incubation of slices in hyaluronidase solution (10 U/ml), whose specific substrate is the extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan hyaluronic acid. At 1.5 min after enzyme application, there were reductions in synaptic cleft widths in axodendritic contacts of the striatum radiatum of hippocampal field CA1 by 15-25%, which were consistent with increases seen in the amplitudes of excitatory postsynaptic potentials. At 4.5 min of incubation, the lumens of synaptic clefts decreased by 45-55%: during this time there was blockade of signal transmission via Schäffer collaterals to hippocampal field CA1. Thus, the structural-functional state of glycosaminoglycans is among the factors determining the efficiency of synaptic transmission in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and General Pathology (Director: Professor V. A. Kul'chitskii), Institute of Physiology, Belarus National Academy of Sciences, Belarus, Minsk.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Kul'chitskii
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Yakubovich
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Emel'yanova
authors.forename: Yu S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Garkun
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Pashkevich
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Kul'chitskii
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D019581:Neuropil / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase