Functional consequences of presynaptic inhibition during behaviorally relevant activity

GABAA presynaptic inhibition regulates the gain and kinetics of retinal output neurons

Output signals of neural circuits, including the retina, are shaped by a combination of excitatory and inhibitory signals. Inhibitory signals can act presynaptically on axon terminals to control neurotransmitter release and regulate circuit function. However, it has been difficult to study the role of presynaptic inhibition in most neural circuits due to lack of cell type-specific and receptor type-specific perturbations. In this study, we used a transgenic approach to selectively eliminate GABA_A inhibitory receptors from select types of second-order neurons - bipolar cells - in mouse retina and examined how this affects the light response properties of the well-characterized ON alpha ganglion cell retinal circuit. Selective loss of GABA_A receptor-mediated presynaptic inhibition causes an enhanced sensitivity and slower kinetics of light-evoked responses from ON alpha ganglion cells thus highlighting the role of presynaptic inhibition in gain control and temporal filtering of sensory signals in a key neural circuit in the mammalian retina.

Dorsal-Ventral Differences in Modulation of Synaptic Transmission in the Hippocampus

Functional diversification along the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus is a rapidly growing concept. Modulation of synaptic transmission by neurotransmitter receptors may importantly contribute to specialization of local intrinsic network function along the hippocampus. In the present study, using transverse slices from the dorsal and the ventral hippocampus of adult rats and recordings of evoked field postsynaptic excitatory potentials (fEPSPs) from the CA1 stratum radiatum, we aimed to compare modulation of synaptic transmission between the dorsal and the ventral hippocampus. We found that transient heterosynaptic depression (tHSD, <2 s), a physiologically relevant phenomenon of regulation of excitatory synaptic transmission induced by paired stimulation of two independent inputs to stratum radiatum of CA1 field, has an increased magnitude and duration in the ventral hippocampus, presumably contributing to increased input segregation in this segment of the hippocampus. GABA_B receptors, GABA_A receptors, adenosine A1 receptors and L-type voltage-gated calcium channels appear to contribute differently to tHSD in the two hippocampal segments; GABA_BRs play a predominant role in the ventral hippocampus while both GABA_BRs and A1Rs play important roles in the dorsal hippocampus. Activation of GABA_B receptors by an exogenous agonist, baclofen, robustly and reversibly modulated both the initial fast and the late slow components of excitatory synaptic transmission, expressed by the fEPSPslope and fEPSP decay time constant (fEPSP_τ), respectively. Specifically, baclofen suppressed fEPSP slope more in the ventral than in the dorsal hippocampus and enhanced fEPSP_τ more in the dorsal than in the ventral hippocampus. Also, baclofen enhanced paired-pulse facilitation in the two hippocampal segments similarly. Blockade of GABA_B receptors did not affect basal paired-pulse facilitation in either hippocampal segment. We propose that the revealed dorsal-ventral differences in modulation of synaptic transmission may provide a means for specialization of information processing in the local neuronal circuits, thereby significantly contributing to diversifying neuronal network functioning along the dorsal-ventral axis of hippocampus.

Target-cell-specific Short-term Plasticity Reduces the Excitatory Drive onto CA1 Interneurons Relative to Pyramidal Cells During Physiologically-derived Spike Trains

Short-term plasticity enables synaptic strength to be dynamically regulated by input timing. Excitatory synapses arising from the same axon can have profoundly different presynaptic forms of short-term plasticity onto inhibitory and excitatory neurons. We previously showed that Schaffer collateral synapses onto most hippocampal CA1 stratum radiatum interneurons have less paired-pulse facilitation than synapses onto CA1 pyramidal cells, but little difference in steady-state short-term depression. However, less is known about how synapses onto interneurons respond to temporally complex patterns that occur in vivo. Here we compared Schaffer collateral synapses onto stratum radiatum interneurons and pyramidal cells in acute hippocampal slices in response to physiologically-derived spike trains. We find that synapses onto interneurons have less short-term facilitation than synapses onto pyramidal cells, and a subset expresses only short-term depression. Mathematical modeling predicts this target cell-specific short-term plasticity occurs through differences in initial release probability. All three groups have more short-term facilitation during physiologically-derived train stimulation than during constant-frequency stimulation at the same frequency, indicating that variability in stimulus timing is important. These target-cell specific differences in short-term plasticity reduce the strength of excitatory input onto interneurons relative to pyramidal cells, and of depression interneurons relative to facilitation interneurons, during high frequency portions of the train. This occurs to a similar extent at 25 °C and at 33 °C, and is even greater at physiological extracellular calcium. Target-cell specific differences in short-term plasticity enable synapses to have different temporal filtering characteristics, which may help to dynamically regulate the balance of inhibition and excitation in CA1.

Distinct roles for Cav2.1-2.3 in activity-dependent synaptic dynamics

Synaptic transmission throughout most of the CNS is steeply dependent on presynaptic calcium influx through the voltage-gated calcium channels Cav2.1-Cav2.3. In addition to triggering exocytosis, this calcium influx also recruits short-term synaptic plasticity. During the complex patterns of presynaptic activity that occur in vivo, several forms of plasticity combine to generate a synaptic output that is dynamic, in which the size of a given excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) in response to a given spike depends on the short-term history of presynaptic activity. It remains unclear whether the different Cav2 channels play distinct roles in defining these synaptic dynamics and, if so, under what conditions different Cav2 family members most effectively determine synaptic output. We examined these questions by measuring the effects of calcium channel-selective toxins on synaptic transmission at the Schaffer collateral synapse in hippocampal slices from adult mice in response to both low-frequency stimulation and complex stimulus trains derived from in vivo recordings. Blockade of Cav2.1 had a greater inhibitory effect on synaptic transmission during low-frequency components of the stimulus train than on synaptic transmission during high-frequency components of the train, indicating that Cav2.1 had a greater fractional contribution to synaptic transmission at low frequencies than at high frequencies. Relative to Cav2.1, Cav2.2 had a disproportionately reduced contribution to synaptic transmission at frequencies >20 Hz, while Cav2.3 had a disproportionately increased contribution to synaptic transmission at frequencies >1 Hz. These activity-dependent effects of different Cav2 family members shape the filtering characteristics of GABAB receptor-mediated presynaptic inhibition. Thus different Cav2 channels vary in their coupling to synaptic transmission over different frequency ranges, with consequences for the frequency tuning of both synaptic dynamics and presynaptic neuromodulation.

Spontaneous spiking and synaptic depression underlie noradrenergic control of feed-forward inhibition

Inhibitory interneurons across diverse brain regions commonly exhibit spontaneous spiking activity, even in the absence of external stimuli. It is not well understood how stimulus-evoked inhibition can be distinguished from background inhibition arising from spontaneous firing. We found that noradrenaline simultaneously reduced spontaneous inhibitory inputs and enhanced evoked inhibitory currents recorded from principal neurons of the mouse dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN). Together, these effects produced a large increase in signal-to-noise ratio for stimulus-evoked inhibition. Surprisingly, the opposing effects on background and evoked currents could both be attributed to noradrenergic silencing of spontaneous spiking in glycinergic interneurons. During spontaneous firing, glycine release was decreased due to strong short-term depression. Elimination of background spiking relieved inhibitory synapses from depression and thereby enhanced stimulus-evoked inhibition. Our findings illustrate a simple yet powerful neuromodulatory mechanism to shift the balance between background and stimulus-evoked signals.

Natural spike trains trigger short- and long-lasting dynamics at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses in rodents

Background

Synapses exhibit strikingly different forms of plasticity over a wide range of time scales, from milliseconds to hours. Studies on synaptic plasticity typically use constant-frequency stimulation to activate synapses, whereas in vivo activity of neurons is irregular.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Using extracellular and whole-cell electrophysiological recordings, we have here studied the synaptic responses at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses in vitro to stimulus patterns obtained from in vivo recordings of place cell firing of dentate gyrus granule cells in behaving rodents. We find that synaptic strength is strongly modulated on short- and long-lasting time scales during the presentation of the natural stimulus trains.

Conclusions/Significance

We conclude that dynamic short- and long-term synaptic plasticity at the hippocampal mossy fiber synapse plays a prominent role in normal synaptic function.

Modulation of excitatory synaptic transmission by Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol switches from agonist to antagonist depending on firing rate

Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, acts as a partial agonist on presynaptic cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptors to inhibit neurotransmitter release. Here, we report that THC inhibits excitatory neurotransmission between cultured rat hippocampal neurons in a manner highly sensitive to stimulus rate. THC (1 microM) inhibited excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) and whole-cell I(Ca) evoked at 0.1 Hz but at 0.5 Hz THC had little effect. The cannabinoid receptor full agonists [(R)-(+)-[2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3[(4-morpholinyl)methyl]pyrrolo[1,2,3-de]-1,4-benzoxazinyl]-(1-naphthalenyl)methanone mesylate salt] (Win55212-2) (100 nM) and 2-arachidonylglycerol (1 microM) inhibited EPSCs independent of stimulation at 0.1 or 0.5 Hz. THC occupied CB1 receptors at 0.5 Hz, but the receptors failed to couple to presynaptic Ca(2+) channels. Consequently, 1 microM THC blocked the inhibition of EPSC amplitude by Win55212-2 when EPSCs were evoked at 0.5 Hz. A depolarizing prepulse to 0 mV reversed THC inhibition of I(Ca), but reversal of the inhibition produced by Win55212-2 required a pulse to +80 mV, suggesting that the voltage-dependent reversal of Gbetagamma inhibition of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels accounts for the frequency-dependence of cannabinoid action. THC blocked depolarization-induced suppression of EPSCs evoked at 0.5 Hz, indicating that it inhibited retrograde endocannabinoid signaling in a frequency-dependent manner. Thus, THC displayed a state-dependent switching from agonist to antagonist that may account for its complex actions in vivo.

Spinal use-dependent plasticity of synaptic transmission in humans after a single cycling session

The spinal cord is able to express use-dependent plasticity, as demonstrated in spinalized cats following treadmill training. In humans, spinal use-dependent plasticity is inferred from modifications in the size of H reflex, which are often more prominent after skilled motor training. Plasticity can develop at synaptic connections between afferent fibres and/or descending tracts and motoneurones or interneurones interposed in the spinal pathways. Here we explore whether skilled training induces a change in synaptic efficacy at the synapse between Ia afferents and soleus (Sol) motoneurones. Synaptic efficacy can be modulated presynaptically through changes of the probability of transmitter release (homosynaptic depression, HD). The frequency-related depression of the Sol H reflex, thought to reflect HD, was tested at rest, before and after one single skilled (14 subjects) or non-skilled (9 subjects) cycling training session. Performance improved in both groups but to a larger extent with skilled training, while HD increased immediately after and the day following skilled training in the absence of changes with non-skilled training. These results support the view that spinal cord function is able to encode a local motor memory.