A New Form of Cerebellar Long-Term Potentiation is Postsynaptic and Depends on Nitric Oxide but not cAMP

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 99; no. 12; pp. 8389 - 8393
• Main Authors: Lev-Ram, Varda, Wong, Scott T., Storm, Daniel R., Tsien, Roger Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 11-06-2002; National Acad Sciences; The National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Animals; Biological Sciences; Biology; Brain; Cerebellum - drug effects; Cerebellum - physiology; Coincidence; Cyclic AMP - physiology; Egtazic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Egtazic Acid - pharmacology; Electric Stimulation; Enzymes; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - drug effects; Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - physiology; Long term depression; Long term potentiation; Long-Term Potentiation - drug effects; Long-Term Potentiation - physiology; Neurology; Neurons; Neuroscience; Nitric Oxide - physiology; Nitroarginine - pharmacology; Oxides; Pharmacology; Pipettes; Rats; Synapses; Synapses - physiology
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.122206399

Long-term depression (LTD) at cerebellar parallel fiber (PF)-Purkinje cell synapses must be balanced by long-term potentiation (LTP) to prevent saturation and allow reversal of motor learning. The only previously analyzed form of cerebellar LTP is induced by 4-8 Hz PF stimulation and requires cAMP but not nitric oxide. It is a poor candidate to reverse LTD because it is presynaptically expressed whereas LTD is postsynaptic. We now characterize a new form of LTP induced by 1 Hz PF stimulation for at least 300 s. This LTP is postsynaptically expressed, enhanced by chelating postsynaptic Ca2+, and depends on nitric oxide but not cAMP or cGMP, making it a plausible anti-Hebbian counterpart to Hebbian LTD.