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Synaptic physiology

Putting receptors in their place

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 5, pages 166–167 (2004)Cite this article

It was previously shown that expression of PSD95 in hippocampal neurons in slice culture could mimic long-term potentiation (LTP) by increasing the recruitment of AMPA receptors to the synapse, and that it also prevented the induction of further LTP, indicating that the two phenomena probably shared a mechanism. Now, Ehrlich and Malinow have confirmed these findings and taken them further by showing that PSD95 is also important for a different form of plasticity in vivo.

The authors investigated whether PSD95 was involved in experience-driven plasticity in the barrel cortex of young rats. At synapses between layer IV and layer II/III pyramidal neurons in neonatal rats, sensory experience from the whiskers causes an increase in AMPA receptors and consequently strengthens synaptic transmission. When the rats are deprived of sensory experience because their whiskers are trimmed, this recruitment process is reduced. Ehrlich and Malinow found that expression of a PSD95–GFP (green fluorescent protein) construct in barrel cortex neurons in rats with trimmed whiskers mimicked the AMPA receptor recruitment that is normally induced by sensory experience. Expression of PSD95 also occluded experience-dependent recruitment of AMPA receptors to synapses, and a dominant-negative form of the protein blocked receptor recruitment.

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Ehrlich, I. & Malinow, R. Postsynaptic density 95 controls AMPA receptor incorporation during long-term potentiation and experience-driven synaptic plasticity. J. Neurosci. 24, 916–927 (2004)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Stein, V. et al. Postsynaptic density-95 mimics and occludes hippocampal long-term potentiation and enhances long-term depression. J. Neurosci. 23, 5503–5506 (2003)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors
  1. Rachel Jones
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Jones, R. Putting receptors in their place. Nat Rev Neurosci 5, 166–167 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1352

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1352

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