title: BDNF and NT-3 increase velocity of activity front propagation in unidimensional hippocampal cultures.
abstract: Neurotrophins are known to promote synapse development as well as to regulate the efficacy of mature synapses. We have previously reported that in two-dimensional rat hippocampal cultures, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 significantly increase the number of excitatory input connections. Here we measure the effect of these neurotrophic agents on propagating fronts that arise spontaneously in quasi-one-dimensional rat hippocampal cultures. We observe that chronic treatment with BDNF increased the velocity of the propagation front by about 30%. This change is attributed to an increase in the excitatory input connectivity. We analyze the experiment using the Feinerman-Golomb/Ermentrout-Jacobi/Moses-Osan model for the propagation of fronts in a one-dimensional neuronal network with synaptic delay and introduce the synaptic connection probability between adjacent neurons as a new parameter of the model. We conclude that BDNF increases the number of excitatory connections by favoring the probability to form connections between neurons, but without significantly modifying the range of the connections (connectivity footprint).
authors.affiliation: Weizmann Institute of Science, Department of Physics of Complex Systems, POB 26, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Shimshon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacobi
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soriano
authors.forename: Elisha
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moses
mesh_terms: D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate / Q000494:pharmacology; D018750:6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione / Q000494:pharmacology; D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001640:Bicuculline / Q000494:pharmacology; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D058787:GABA-A Receptor Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D020933:Neurotrophin 3 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013268:Stimulation, Chemical; D013569:Synapses / Q000187:drug effects; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D058787:GABA-A Receptor Antagonists; D020933:Neurotrophin 3; D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D018750:6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione; D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate; D001640:Bicuculline