Pre and Post Synaptic NMDA Effects Targeting Purkinje Cells in the Mouse Cerebellar Cortex
PLoS ONE. 2012-01-19; 7(1): e30180
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030180
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1. PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e30180. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030180. Epub 2012 Jan 19.
Pre and post synaptic NMDA effects targeting Purkinje cells in the mouse
cerebellar cortex.
Lonchamp E(1), Gambino F, Dupont JL, Doussau F, Valera A, Poulain B, Bossu JL.
Author information:
(1)Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, associé à l’Université de
Strasbourg, Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives, Strasbourg,
France.
N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are associated with many forms of synaptic
plasticity. Their expression level and subunit composition undergo developmental
changes in several brain regions. In the mouse cerebellum, beside a developmental
switch between NR2B and NR2A/C subunits in granule cells, functional postsynaptic
NMDA receptors are seen in Purkinje cells of neonate and adult but not juvenile
rat and mice. A presynaptic effect of NMDA on GABA release by cerebellar
interneurons was identified recently. Nevertheless whereas NMDA receptor subunits
are detected on parallel fiber terminals, a presynaptic effect of NMDA on
spontaneous release of glutamate has not been demonstrated. Using mouse
cerebellar cultures and patch-clamp recordings we show that NMDA facilitates
glutamate release onto Purkinje cells in young cultures via a presynaptic
mechanism, whereas NMDA activates extrasynaptic receptors in Purkinje cells
recorded in old cultures. The presynaptic effect of NMDA on glutamate release is
also observed in Purkinje cells recorded in acute slices prepared from juvenile
but not from adult mice and requires a specific protocol of NMDA application.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030180
PMCID: PMC3261884
PMID: 22276158 [Indexed for MEDLINE]