title: Hebbian plasticity guides maturation of glutamate receptor fields in vivo.
abstract: Synaptic plasticity shapes the development of functional neural circuits and provides a basis for cellular models of learning and memory. Hebbian plasticity describes an activity-dependent change in synaptic strength that is input-specific and depends on correlated pre- and postsynaptic activity. Although it is recognized that synaptic activity and synapse development are intimately linked, our mechanistic understanding of the coupling is far from complete. Using Channelrhodopsin-2 to evoke activity in vivo, we investigated synaptic plasticity at the glutamatergic Drosophila neuromuscular junction. Remarkably, correlated pre- and postsynaptic stimulation increased postsynaptic sensitivity by promoting synapse-specific recruitment of GluR-IIA-type glutamate receptor subunits into postsynaptic receptor fields. Conversely, GluR-IIA was rapidly removed from synapses whose activity failed to evoke substantial postsynaptic depolarization. Uniting these results with developmental GluR-IIA dynamics provides a comprehensive physiological concept of how Hebbian plasticity guides synaptic maturation and sparse transmitter release controls the stabilization of the molecular composition of individual synapses.
authors: Institute of Physiology, Department of Neurophysiology, University of Würzburg, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
authors: Dmitrij
authors: D
authors: Ljaschenko
authors: Nadine
authors: N
authors: Ehmann
authors: Robert J
authors: RJ
authors: Kittel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila / Q000254:growth & development; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate / Q000378:metabolism*; D012243:Rhodopsin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate; D012243:Rhodopsin