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Long-term potentiation of electrotonic coupling at mixed synapses

Nature volume 348, pages 542–545 (1990)Cite this article

Abstract

LONG-TERM potentiation1,2 of chemical synapses is closely related to memory and learning3,4. Studies of this process have concentrated on chemically mediated excitatory synapses. By contrast, activity-dependent modification of gap junctions, which also widely exist in higher structures such as hippocampus and neocortex5, has not been described. Here we report that at mixed synapses between sensory afferents and an identified reticulospinal neuron, the electrotonic coupling potential can be potentiated, as well as the chemically mediated excitatory postsynaptic potential, for a prolonged time period using a stimulation paradigm like that which produces long-term potentiation in hippocampus. The effect on coupling is due to an increase in gap-junctional conductance. Our data indicate that the potentiation of both synaptic components requires an increase in intracellular calcium, involves activation of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors, and is specific to the tetanized pathway.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, 14214, USA

    Xian-Da Yang & Donald S. Faber

  2. Laboratoire de Neurobiologie Cellulaire,Departement des Biotechnologies (INSERM U261), Institut Pasteur, 75724, Paris, Cedex 15, France

    Henri Korn

Authors
  1. Xian-Da Yang
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  2. Henri Korn
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  3. Donald S. Faber
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Yang, XD., Korn, H. & Faber, D. Long-term potentiation of electrotonic coupling at mixed synapses. Nature 348, 542–545 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/348542a0

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