Journal
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY
Volume 517, Issue 1, Pages 105-121Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/cne.22137
Keywords
homeostatic synaptic plasticity; synaptic plasticity; drebrin A
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [1 P30 EY13079, 5 R01 DA009618-09, R01 NS41091, R01 13145]
- NYU Research Challenge Fund
- National Science Foundation-REU
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan [19200029, 20021002]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [20021002, 19200029] Funding Source: KAKEN
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Div Of Biological Infrastructure [1004172] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Homeostatic synaptic plasticity (HSP) is important for maintaining neurons' excitability within the dynamic range and for protecting neurons from unconstrained long-term potentiation that can cause breakdown of synapse specificity (Turrigiano [2008] Cell 135:422-435). Knowledge of the molecular mechanism underlying this phenomenon remains incomplete, especially for the rapid form of HSP. To test whether HSP in adulthood depends on an F-actin binding protein, drebrin A, mice deleted of the adult isoform of drebrin (DAKO) but retaining the embryonic isoform (drebrin E) were generated. HSP was assayed by determining whether the NR2A subunit of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) can rise rapidly within spines following the application of an NMDAR antagonist, D-APV, onto the cortical surface. Electron microscopic immunocytochemistry revealed that, as expected, the D-APV treatment of wild-type (WT) mouse cortex increased the proportion of NR2A-immunolabeled spines within 30 minutes relative to basal levels in hemispheres treated with an inactive enantiomer, L-APV. This difference was significant at the postsynaptic membrane and postsynaptic density (i.e., synaptic junction) as well as at nonsynaptic sites within spines and was not accompanied by spine size changes. In contrast, the D-APV treatment of DAKO brains did not augment NR2A labeling within the spine cytoplasm or at the synaptic junction, even though basal levels of NR2A were not significantly different from those of WT cortices. These findings indicate that drebrin A is required for the rapid (<30 minutes) form of HSP at excitatory synapses of adult cortices, whereas drebrin E is sufficient for maintaining basal NR2A levels within spines. J. Comp. Neurol. 517: 105-121,2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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