Experience strengthening transmission by driving AMPA receptors into synapses
The mechanisms underlying experience-dependent plasticity in the brain may depend on
the AMPA subclass of glutamate receptors (AMPA-Rs). We examined the trafficking of AMPA-
Rs into synapses in the developing rat barrel cortex. In vivo gene delivery was combined
with in vitro recordings to show that experience drives recombinant GluR1, an AMPA-R
subunit, into synapses formed between layer 4 and layer 2/3 neurons. Moreover, expression
of the GluR1 cytoplasmic tail, a construct that inhibits synaptic delivery of endogenous AMPA …
the AMPA subclass of glutamate receptors (AMPA-Rs). We examined the trafficking of AMPA-
Rs into synapses in the developing rat barrel cortex. In vivo gene delivery was combined
with in vitro recordings to show that experience drives recombinant GluR1, an AMPA-R
subunit, into synapses formed between layer 4 and layer 2/3 neurons. Moreover, expression
of the GluR1 cytoplasmic tail, a construct that inhibits synaptic delivery of endogenous AMPA …
The mechanisms underlying experience-dependent plasticity in the brain may depend on the AMPA subclass of glutamate receptors (AMPA-Rs). We examined the trafficking of AMPA-Rs into synapses in the developing rat barrel cortex. In vivo gene delivery was combined with in vitro recordings to show that experience drives recombinant GluR1, an AMPA-R subunit, into synapses formed between layer 4 and layer 2/3 neurons. Moreover, expression of the GluR1 cytoplasmic tail, a construct that inhibits synaptic delivery of endogenous AMPA-Rs during long-term potentiation, blocked experience-driven synaptic potentiation. In general, synaptic incorporation of AMPA-Rs in vivo conforms to rules identified in vitro and contributes to plasticity driven by natural stimuli in the mammalian brain.
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