Stress switches cannabinoid type-1 (CB1) receptor-dependent plasticity from LTD to LTP in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.
Journal of Neuroscience. 2013-12-11; 33(50): 19657-19663
DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3175-13.2013
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1. J Neurosci. 2013 Dec 11;33(50):19657-63. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3175-13.2013.
Stress switches cannabinoid type-1 (CB1) receptor-dependent plasticity from LTD
to LTP in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.
Glangetas C(1), Girard D, Groc L, Marsicano G, Chaouloff F, Georges F.
Author information:
(1)UMR 5297 CNRS, Institut Interdisciplinaire de NeuroScience, Development and
Adaptation of Neuronal Circuits, Bordeaux F-33076, France, Université Bordeaux
Segalen, Bordeaux F-33076, France, and INSERM, U862, Neurocentre Magendie,
Pathophysiology of Neuronal Plasticity, Bordeaux F-33076, France.
The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) exerts a coordinated modulation of
the psychoneuroendocrine responses to stress. However, how acute stress impacts
on BNST in vivo plasticity is a crucial question that still remains unanswered.
Here, neurons from the anterior portion of the BNST (aBNST) were recorded in vivo
during and after stimulation of their medial prefrontal cortical (mPFC)
afferents. In C57BL/6N mice, a 1 h restraint stress induced a switch from
long-term depression (LTD) to long-term potentiation (LTP) in the aBNST after a
10 Hz mPFC stimulation. This switch was independent from glucocorticoid receptor
stimulation. Because the endocannabinoid system regulates aBNST activity, we next
examined the role of cannabinoid type-1 receptors (CB1-Rs) in these changes.
Mutant mice lacking CB1-Rs (CB1(-/-) mice) displayed a marked deficit in the
ability to develop plasticity under control and stress conditions, compared with
their wild-type littermates (CB1(+/+) mice). This difference was not accounted
for by genetic differences in stress sensitivity, as revealed by Fos
immunohistochemistry analyses. Local blockade of CB1-Rs in the aBNST and the use
of mutant mice bearing a selective deletion of CB1-Rs in cortical glutamatergic
neurons indicated that stress-elicited LTP involved CB1-Rs located on aBNST
excitatory terminals. These results show that acute stress reverts LTD into LTP
in the aBNST and that the endocannabinoid system plays a key role therein.
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3175-13.2013
PMID: 24336729 [Indexed for MEDLINE]