Nature Neuroscience7, 24 - 32 (2003)
Published online: 7 December 2003; | doi:10.1038/nn1162
Synaptic signaling between GABAergic interneurons and oligodendrocyte precursor cells in the hippocampus
Shih-chun Lin
& Dwight E Bergles
Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 N. Wolfe Street, WBSB 813, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Correspondence should be addressed to Dwight E Bergles dbergles@jhmi.edu
Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) express receptors for many neurotransmitters, but the mechanisms responsible for their activation are poorly understood. We have found that quantal release of GABA from interneurons elicits GABAA receptor currents with rapid rise times in hippocampal OPCs. These currents did not exhibit properties of spillover transmission or release by transporters, and immunofluorescence and electron microscopy suggest that interneuronal terminals are in direct contact with OPCs, indicating that these GABA currents are generated at direct interneuron−OPC synapses. The reversal potential of OPC GABAA currents was -43 mV, and interneuronal firing was correlated with transient depolarizations induced by GABAA receptors; however, GABA application induced a transient inhibition of currents mediated by AMPA receptors in OPCs. These results indicate that OPCs are a direct target of interneuronal collaterals and that the GABA-induced Cl- flux generated by these events may influence oligodendrocyte development by regulating the efficacy of glutamatergic signaling in OPCs.
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