Exogenous AMPA downregulates gamma-frequency network oscillation in CA3 of rat hippocampal slices

The calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase inhibitor, STO-609, inhibits nicotine-induced currents and intracellular calcium increase in insect neurosecretory cells

Insect neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are transmembrane receptors that play a key role in the development and synaptic plasticity of both vertebrates and invertebrates and are considered to be major targets of neonicotinoid insecticides. We used dorsal unpaired median (DUM) neurons, which are insect neurosecretory cells, in order to explore the intracellular mechanisms leading to the regulation of insect neuronal nAChRs in more detail. Using whole-cell patch-clamp and fura-2AM calcium imaging techniques, we found that a novel CaMKK/AMPK pathway could be involved in the intracellular regulation of DUM neuron nAChRs. The CaMKK selective inhibitor, STO, reduced nicotinic current amplitudes, and strongly when co-applied with α-Bgt. Interestingly, intracellular application of the AMPK activator, A-76, prevented the reduction in nicotine-induced currents observed in the presence of the AMPK inhibitor, dorsomorphin. STO prevented the increase in intracellular calcium induced by nicotine, which was not dependent on α-Bgt. Currents induced by 1 mM LMA, a selective activator of nAChR2, were reduced under bath application of STO, and mecamylamine, which blocked nAChR2 subtype, inhibited the increase in intracellular calcium induced by LMA. These findings provide insight into potential complex mechanisms linked to the modulation of the DUM neuron nAChRs and CaMKK pathway.

Mechanisms of Sustained Increases in γ Power Post-Ketamine in a Computational Model of the Hippocampal CA3: Implications for Ketamine's Antidepressant Mechanism of Action

Subanaesthetic doses of ketamine increase γ oscillation power in neural activity measured using electroencephalography (EEG), and this effect lasts several hours after ketamine administration. The mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. Using a computational model of the hippocampal cornu ammonis 3 (CA3) network, which is known to reproduce ketamine's acute effects on γ power, we simulated the plasticity of glutamatergic synapses in pyramidal cells to test which of the following hypotheses would best explain this sustained γ power: the direct inhibition hypothesis, which proposes that increased γ power post-ketamine administration may be caused by the potentiation of recurrent collateral synapses, and the disinhibition hypothesis, which proposes that potentiation affects synapses from both recurrent and external inputs. Our results suggest that the strengthening of external connections to pyramidal cells is able to account for the sustained γ power increase observed post-ketamine by increasing the overall activity of and synchrony between pyramidal cells. The strengthening of recurrent pyramidal weights, however, would cause an additional phase shifted voltage increase that ultimately reduces γ power due to partial cancellation. Our results therefore favor the disinhibition hypothesis for explaining sustained γ oscillations after ketamine administration.