The release of inhibitory transmitters from CNS neurons can be modulated by ionotropic glutamate receptors that are present in the presynaptic terminals. In the cerebellum, glutamate released from climbing fibers (but not from parallel fibers) activates presynaptic AMPA receptors and suppresses the release of the inhibitory transmitter GABA from basket cells onto postsynaptic Purkinje cells. Th...

A particular characteristic of the neonatal hippocampus is the presence of spontaneous network-driven oscillatory events, the so-called giant depolarizing potentials (GDPs). GDPs depend on the interplay between GABA and glutamate. Early in development, GABA, acting on GABAA receptors, depolarizes neuronal membranes via a Cl- efflux. Glutamate, via AMPA receptors, generates a positive feedback n...

In this work we study the excitatory AMPA, and NMDA, and inhibitory GABAA receptor mediated dynamical changes in neuronal networks of neonatal rat cortex in vitro. Extracellular network-wide activity was recorded with 59 planar electrodes simultaneously under different pharmacological conditions. We analyzed the changes of overall network activity and network-wide burst frequency between baseli...

Glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, regulating numerous cellular signaling pathways and controlling the excitability of central synapses both pre- and postsynaptically. Localization, cell surface expression, and activity-dependent regulation of glutamate receptors in both neurons and glia are performed and maintained by a complex network of protei...

Cerebellar long-term synaptic depression (LTD) is a model system of neuronal information storage that is expressed postsynaptically as a functional down-regulation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors. What properties of postsynaptic AMPA receptors are changed? Several lines of evidence argue against changes in AMPA-receptor kinetics. Neither LTD evoked i...

BACKGROUND Barbiturates enhance gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA(A)) receptor function and also inhibit the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) subtype of glutamate receptor. The relative contribution of these actions to the behavioral properties of barbiturates is not certain. Because AMPA receptor complexes that lack the GluR2 subunit are relatively insensitive...

Long lasting changes in the strength of synaptic transmission in the hippocampus are thought to underlie certain forms of learning and memory. Accordingly, the molecular mechanisms that account for these changes are heavily studied. Postsynaptically, changes in synaptic strength can occur by altering the amount of neurotransmitter receptors at the synapse or by altering the functional propertie...

Ionotropic glutamate receptors perform diverse functions in the nervous system. As a result, multiple receptor subtypes have evolved with different kinetics, ion permeability, expression patterns, and regulation by second messengers. Kainate receptors show slower recovery from desensitization and have different affinities for agonists than AMPA receptors. Based on analysis of ligand binding dom...

Electrical synapses play an important role in signaling between neurons and the synaptic connections between many neurons possess both electrical and chemical components. Although modulation of electrical synapses is frequently observed, the cellular processes that mediate such changes have not been studied as thoroughly as plasticity in chemical synapses. In the leech (Hirudo sp), the competit...