Long-term depression of inhibitory synaptic transmission induced by spike-timing dependent plasticity requires coactivation of endocannabinoid and muscarinic receptors.

The precise timing of pre-postsynaptic activity is vital for the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) or depression (LTD) at many central synapses. We show in synapses of rat CA1 pyramidal neurons in vitro that spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP) protocols that induce LTP at glutamatergic synapses can evoke LTD of inhibitory postsynaptic currents or STDP-iLTD. The STDP-iLTD requires a postsynaptic Ca(2+) increase, a release of endocannabinoids (eCBs), the activation of type-1 endocananabinoid receptors and presynaptic muscarinic receptors that mediate a decreased probability of GABA release. In contrast, the STDP-iLTD is independent of the activation of nicotinic receptors, GABAB Rs and G protein-coupled postsynaptic receptors at pyramidal neurons. We determine that the downregulation of presynaptic Cyclic adenosine monophosphate/protein Kinase A pathways is essential for the induction of STDP-iLTD. These results suggest a novel mechanism by which the activation of cholinergic neurons and retrograde signaling by eCBs can modulate the efficacy of GABAergic synaptic transmission in ways that may contribute to information processing and storage in the hippocampus.

Glutamate released spontaneously from astrocytes sets the threshold for synaptic plasticity.

Astrocytes exhibit spontaneous calcium oscillations that could induce the release of glutamate as gliotransmitter in rat hippocampal slices. However, it is unknown whether this spontaneous release of astrocytic glutamate may contribute to determining the basal neurotransmitter release probability in central synapses. Using whole-cell recordings and Ca(2+) imaging, we investigated the effects of the spontaneous astrocytic activity on neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity at CA3-CA1 hippocampal synapses. We show here that the metabolic gliotoxin fluorocitrate (FC) reduces the amplitude of evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents and increases the paired-pulse facilitation, mainly due to the reduction of the neurotransmitter release probability and the synaptic potency. FC also decreased intracellular Ca(2+) signalling and Ca(2+) -dependent glutamate release from astrocytes. The addition of glutamine rescued the effects of FC over the synaptic potency; however, the probability of neurotransmitter release remained diminished. The blockage of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors mimicked the effects of FC on the frequency of miniature synaptic responses. In the presence of FC, the Ca(2+) chelator 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N ',N '-tetra-acetate or group I metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonists, the excitatory postsynaptic current potentiation induced by the spike-timing-dependent plasticity protocol was blocked, and it was rescued by delivering a stronger spike-timing-dependent plasticity protocol. Taken together, these results suggest that spontaneous glutamate release from astrocytes contributes to setting the basal probability of neurotransmitter release via metabotropic glutamate receptor activation, which could be operating as a gain control mechanism that regulates the threshold of long-term potentiation. Therefore, endogenous astrocyte activity provides a novel non-neuronal mechanism that could be critical for transferring information in the central nervous system.

Role of AMPA and NMDA receptors and back-propagating action potentials in spike timing-dependent plasticity.

The cellular mechanisms that mediate spike timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) are largely unknown. We studied in vitro in CA1 pyramidal neurons the contribution of AMPA and N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) components of Schaffer collateral (SC) excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs; EPSP(AMPA) and EPSP(NMDA)) and of the back-propagating action potential (BAP) to the long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by a STDP protocol that consisted in pairing an EPSP and a BAP. Transient blockade of EPSP(AMPA) with 7-nitro-2,3-dioxo-1,4-dihydroquinoxaline-6-carbonitrile (CNQX) during the STDP protocol prevented LTP. Contrastingly LTP was induced under transient inhibition of EPSP(AMPA) by combining SC stimulation, an imposed EPSP(AMPA)-like depolarization, and BAP or by coupling the EPSP(NMDA) evoked under sustained depolarization (approximately -40 mV) and BAP. In Mg(2+)-free solution EPSP(NMDA) and BAP also produced LTP. Suppression of EPSP(NMDA) or BAP always prevented LTP. Thus activation of NMDA receptors and BAPs are needed but not sufficient because AMPA receptor activation is also obligatory for STDP. However, a transient depolarization of another origin that unblocks NMDA receptors and a BAP may also trigger LTP.