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Spontaneous glutamatergic activity induces a BDNF‐dependent potentiation of GABAergic synapses in the newborn rat hippocampus
Author(s) -
Kuczewski Nicola,
Langlois Anais,
Fiorentino Hervé,
Bonnet Stéphanie,
Marissal Thomas,
Diabira Diabe,
Ferrand Nadine,
Porcher Christophe,
Gaiarsa JeanLuc
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.2008.158550
Subject(s) - glutamatergic , long term potentiation , neuroscience , tropomyosin receptor kinase b , gabaergic , postsynaptic potential , ampa receptor , synaptic plasticity , hippocampus , chemistry , biology , neurotrophic factors , nmda receptor , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , glutamate receptor , receptor , biochemistry
Spontaneous ongoing synaptic activity is thought to play an instructive role in the maturation of the neuronal circuits. However the type of synaptic activity involved and how this activity is translated into structural and functional changes is not fully understood. Here we show that ongoing glutamatergic synaptic activity triggers a long‐lasting potentiation of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) mediated synaptic activity (LLP GABA‐A ) in the developing rat hippocampus. LLP GABA‐A induction requires (i) the activation of AMPA receptors and L‐type voltage‐dependent calcium channels, (ii) the release of endogenous brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and (iii) the activation of postsynaptic tropomyosin‐related kinase receptors B (TrkB). We found that spontaneous glutamatergic activity is required to maintain a high level of native BDNF in the newborn rat hippocampus and that application of exogenous BDNF induced LLP GABA‐A in the absence of glutamatergic activity. These results suggest that ongoing glutamatergic synaptic activity plays a pivotal role in the functional maturation of hippocampal GABAergic synapses by means of a cascade involving BDNF release and downstream signalling through postsynaptic TrkB receptor activation.