Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 96, Issue 1, 2 January 1989, Pages 96-101
Neuroscience Letters

N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor activation is required for the induction of both early and late phases of long-term potentiation in rat hippocampal slices

https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3940(89)90249-8Get rights and content

Abstract

The possible involvement of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in mechanisms enabling the maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP) was investigated in rat hippocampal slices. The action of the specific NMDA receptor antagonists (—)-2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid (d-APH) and 2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (dl-APV) as well as of the inactive isomer l-APH was tested on orthodromic population excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) and population spike (PS) responses recorded extracellularly from CA1 pyramidal cells. If the active d-isomer of APH (10 μM) or dl-APV (50 μM), but not if l-APH was present during tetanization, both EPSP and spike potentiation were markedly reduced or even blocked for the whole recording period (8 h after tetanization). It is concluded that the NMDA receptor component expressed during tetanization is a necessary step not only for initiation but also for subsequent mechanisms enabling late phases of synaptic LTP. Some remaining potentiation of the population spike may be related to a second, NMDA-independent mechanism.

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