Abstract
The triggering of both NMDA receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in the CA1 region of the hippocampus requires a rise in postsynaptic calcium. A prominent hypothesis has been that the detailed properties of this postsynaptic calcium signal dictate whether LTP or LTD is generated by a given pattern of synaptic activity. Recently, however, evidence has been presented that the subunit composition of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) determines whether a synapse undergoes LTP or LTD with NR2A-containing NMDARs triggering LTP and NR2B-containing NMDARs triggering LTD. In the present study, the role of NR2B-containing synaptic NMDARs in the induction of LTD in CA1 pyramidal cells has been studied using the selective NR2B antagonists, ifenprodil and Ro25-6981. While both antagonists reduced NMDAR-mediated synaptic currents, neither prevented induction of LTD. These results demonstrate that activation of NR2B-containing NMDARs is not an absolute requirement for the induction of LTD in the hippocampus.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 71-76 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Neuropharmacology |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2007 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health to RCM, RAN and MFB.
Keywords
- Hippocampus
- LTD
- Long-term depression
- NMDA receptors
- Synapses