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We used recording and stimulation electrodes in longitudinal hippocampal brain slices and longitudinally positioned recording and stimulation electrodes in the dorsal hippocampus in vivo to evoke extracellular postsynaptic potentials and demonstrate long-term synaptic plasticity along the longitudinal interlamellar CA1.
The study of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus has focused on the use of the CA3-CA1 lamellar network. Less attention has been given to the longitudinal interlamellar CA1-CA1 network. Recently however, an associational connection between CA1-CA1 pyramidal neurons has been shown. Therefore, there is the need to investigate whether the longitudinal interlamellar CA1-CA1 network of the hippocampus supports synaptic plasticity.
We designed a protocol to investigate the presence or absence of long-term synaptic plasticity in the interlamellar hippocampal CA1 network using electrophysiological field recordings both in vivo and in vitro. For in vivo extracellular field recordings, the recording and stimulation electrodes were placed in a septal-temporal axis of the dorsal hippocampus at a longitudinal angle, to evoke field excitatory postsynaptic potentials. For in vitro extracellular field recordings, hippocampal longitudinal slices were cut parallel to the septal-temporal plane. Recording and stimulation electrodes were placed in the stratum oriens (S.O) and the stratum radiatum (S.R) of the hippocampus along the longitudinal axis. This enabled us to investigate the directional and layer specificity of evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials. Already established protocols were used to induce long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) both in vivo and in vitro. Our results demonstrated that the longitudinal interlamellar CA1 network supports N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) with no directional or layer specificity. The interlamellar network, however, in contrast to the transverse lamellar network, did not present with any significant long-term depression (LTD).
The hippocampus has been widely used in cognitive studies1,2,3. The hippocampal lamellar network in the transverse axis forms the tri-synaptic circuitry that is made up of the dentate gyrus, CA3, and CA1 regions. The lamellar network is considered to be a parallel and independent unit4,5. This lamellar viewpoint has influenced the use of transverse orientation and transverse slices for both in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological studies of the hippocampus. In light of emerging research, the lamellar hypothesis is being reevaluated6 and attention is also being given to the interlamellar network of the hippocampus. With regards to the hippocampal interlamellar network, the CA3 region has long been investigated7,8,9,10, however the longitudinal CA1 hippocampal region has received relatively little attention until recently. With regards to the CA1 interlamellar network, the short-term synaptic properties along the dorsoventral longitudinal hippocampal CA1 axis of rats have been shown to vary11. Also, clusters of hippocampal cells responding to the phase and the place were found to be arranged systematically along the longitudinal axis of the hippocampus in rats, undergoing a short term memory task12. Also, epileptic seizure activities were found to be synchronized along the whole hippocampus along the longitudinal axis13.
Most studies of the longitudinal CA1 hippocampal region however, have utilized input from the CA3 to the CA1 regions11,14,15. Using a unique protocol to make longitudinal brain slices, our previous work demonstrated the associational connectivity of CA1 pyramidal neurons along the longitudinal axis and implicated its ability to process neuronal signaling effectively16. However, there is a need to determine whether the CA1 pyramidal neurons along the longitudinal axis without transverse input can support long term synaptic plasticity. This finding can add another angle into investigations of neurological issues pertaining to the hippocampus.
The ability of neurons to adapt the efficacy of information transfer is known as synaptic plasticity. Synaptic plasticity is implicated as the underlying mechanism for cognitive processes such as learning and memory17,18,19,20. Long-term synaptic plasticity is demonstrated as either long-term potentiation (LTP), which represents the strengthening of neuronal response, or long-term depression (LTD), which represents the weakening of neuronal response. Long-term synaptic plasticity has been studied in the transverse axis of the hippocampus. However, this is the first study to demonstrate long-term synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal longitudinal axis of CA1 pyramidal neurons.
Building from a protocol used by Yang et al.16, we designed the protocol to demonstrate LTP and LTD in the hippocampal longitudinal axis of CA1 pyramidal neurons. We used C57BL6 male mice with ages ranging between 5-9 weeks old for in vitro experiments and 6-12 weeks old for in vivo experiments. This detailed article shows how longitudinal hippocampal brain slices from mice were obtained for in vitro recordings and how in vivo recordings were recorded in the longitudinal axis. For in vitro recordings, we investigated directional specificity of longitudinal CA1 synaptic plasticity by targeting the septal and temporal end of the hippocampus. We also investigated layer specificity of the longitudinal CA1 synaptic plasticity by recording from the stratum oriens and stratum radiatum of the hippocampus. For in vivo recordings, we investigated the angles that best correspond to the longitudinal direction of the hippocampus.
Using both in vivo and in vitro extracellular field recordings, we observed that the longitudinally connected CA1 pyramidal neurons presented with LTP, not LTD. The transverse orientation involving both CA3 and CA1 neurons, however, supports both LTP and LTD. The distinction in the synaptic capabilities between the transverse and the longitudinal orientation of the hippocampus could speculatively signify differences in their functional connectivity. Further experiments are needed to decipher the differences in their synaptic capabilities.
All animals were treated in accordance with the guidelines and regulations from the Animal Care and Use of Laboratory of National Institute of Health. All methods described here have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of City University of Hong Kong and Incheon National University.
1. In vivo field recording
2. In vitro field recording
We explored long-term synaptic plasticity of longitudinal CA1 pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus using extracellular field recordings both in vivo and in vitro. LTP and LTD are facets of long-term synaptic plasticity that have been demonstrated in the transverse axis of the hippocampus to be unidirectional.
We showed here that using longitudinal hippocampal brain slices, there is LTP in the CA1 longitudinal axis of the hippocampus. We prepared longitudinal slices of the hippocampus along the...
The protocol demonstrates the method to induce long-term synaptic plasticity in vivo as well as from brain slices in the longitudinal CA1-CA1 axis of the hippocampus in vitro. The steps outlined give enough details for an experimenter to investigate LTP and LTD in a longitudinal hippocampal CA1-CA1 connection. Practice is needed to hone the skills required to successfully record field excitatory potentials.
In addition to needing practice, there are several critical steps that are essential to...
We have nothing to disclose.
This work was supported by Incheon National University (International Cooperative) Research Grant. We will like to thank Ms. Gona Choi for assisting with some data collection.
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
Atropine Sulphate salt monohydrate, ≥97% (TLC), crystalline | Sigma-Aldrich | 5908-99-6 | Stored in Dessicator |
Axon Digidata 1550B | |||
Calcium chloride | Sigma-Aldrich | 10035-04-8 | |
Clampex 10.7 | |||
D-(+)-Glucose ≥ 99.5% (GC) | Sigma-Aldrich | 50-99-7 | |
Eyegel | Dechra | ||
Isoflurane | RWD Life Sciences | R510-22 | |
Magnesium chloride hexahydrate, BioXtra, ≥99.0% | Sigma-Aldrich | 7791-18-6 | |
Matrix electrodes, Tungsten | FHC | 18305 | |
Multiclamp 700B Amplifier | |||
Potassium chloride, BioXtra, ≥99.0% | Sigma-Aldrich | 7447-40-7 | |
Potassium phosphate monobasic anhydrous ≥99% | Sigma-Aldrich | 7778-77-0 | Stored in Dessicator |
Pump | Longer precision pump Co., Ltd | T-S113&JY10-14 | |
Silicone oil | Sigma-Aldrich | 63148-62-9 | |
Sodium Bicarbonate, BioXtra, 99.5-100.5% | Sigma-Aldrich | 144-55-8 | |
Sodium Chloride, BioXtra, ≥99.5% (AT) | Sigma-Aldrich | 7647-14-5 | |
Sodium phosphate monobasic, powder | Sigma-Aldrich | 7558-80-7 | |
Sucrose, ≥ 99.5% (GC) | Sigma-Aldrich | 57-50-1 | |
Temperature controller | Warner Instruments | TC-324C | |
Tungsten microelectrodes | FHC | 20843 | |
Urethane, ≥99% | Sigma-Aldrich | 51-79-6 | |
Vibratome | Leica | VT-1200S | |
Water bath | Grant Instruments | SAP12 |
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