Prolongation and enhancement of gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor mediated excitation by chronic treatment with estradiol in developing rat hippocampal neurons.

GABA(A) receptor activation during brain development is a critical source of excitation. This is due to the positive equilibrium potential for chloride relative to resting membrane potential, resulting in membrane depolarization sufficient to open voltage sensitive calcium channels. The gonadal steroid estradiol has pronounced trophic effects on the developing hippocampus, promoting cell survival and synaptogenesis. In the current study, we investigated the effect of estradiol on GABA(A) receptor-mediated calcium transients in cultured neonatal hippocampal neurons, from Sprague-Dawley rats, using the calcium sensitive dye, Fura-2-AM. Treatment of hippocampal neurons with physiological levels of estradiol significantly increased the peak amplitude of calcium transients, increased the number of cells responding to the GABA(A) agonist muscimol with membrane depolarization, and delayed the rate of clearance of free intracellular calcium. These effects were significantly attenuated by pretreatment with the oestrogen receptor antagonist ICI-182,780. This suggests that estradiol, via its action on the oestrogen receptor, prolongs the developmental duration of depolarizing GABA. Estradiol likely maintains GABA-mediated excitation by promoting increased protein levels of the active/phosphorylated form of the chloride cotransporter Na+K+2CL- and L-type voltage sensitive calcium channels containing the alpha1C subunit. We propose that a component of the trophic effects of estradiol on hippocampal development results from enhanced calcium influx subsequent to GABA(A) receptor activation.

Concurrent generation of subplate and cortical plate neurons in developing trisomy 16 mouse cortex.

During embryonic development of the mammalian cerebral cortex, the generation of the marginal zone (MZ) and subplate (SP) precedes that of the cortical plate (CP). MZ and SP neurons are believed to play a 'pioneering' role in directing the organization of the CP and the specificity of connections between the CP and other brain regions. Here we report that this sequential order of neurogenesis is disrupted in the trisomy 16 (Ts16) mouse, a potential animal model of Down syndrome. Bromodeoxyuridine labeling was used to establish the date of generation of postmitotic SP and CP neurons in the somatosensory cortex. As has been previously reported, most SP neurons in euploid (control) cortex were generated on embryonic day 12.5 (E12.5), and production of CP neurons began a day later. In contrast, in the Ts16 cortex, few SP neurons were born on E12.5 and most were generated on E13.5 and E14.5 when CP neurons were also being produced. Thus, in the Ts16 cortex, many CP neurons are born and arrive at their destinations before the normal complement of SP neurons is present. This disruption of the temporal sequence of SP and CP generation may, therefore, interfere with the pioneering functions of the SP during cortical neurogenesis and may alter the connectivity of the cortex. Indeed, using lipophilic membrane tracers to label axonal projections, we found very little thalamocortical innervation of the Ts16 SP at an age when there is extensive innervation of the euploid SP.