QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, April 4, 2007, 27(14):3626-3638; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4406-06.2007

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ducret, E. Articles by Fénelon, V. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ducret, E. Articles by Fénelon, V. S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Development/Plasticity/Repair
Removal of GABA within Adult Modulatory Systems Alters Electrical Coupling and Allows Expression of an Embryonic-Like Network

Eric Ducret, ^* Yves Le Feuvre, ^* Pierre Meyrand, and Valérie S. Fénelon

Laboratoire de Neurobiologie des Réseaux, Université Bordeaux I and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5816, 33405 Talence, France

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Yves Le Feuvre at the above address. Email: Yves.Lefeuvre{at}bordeaux.inserm.fr

The maturation and operation of neural networks are known to depend on modulatory neurons. However, whether similar mechanisms may control both adult and developmental plasticity remains poorly investigated. To examine this issue, we have used the lobster stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) to investigate the ontogeny and role of GABAergic modulatory neurons projecting to small pattern generating networks. Using immunocytochemistry, we found that modulatory input neurons to the stomatogastric ganglion (STG) express GABA only after metamorphosis, a time that coincides with the developmental switch from a single to multiple pattern generating networks within the STNS. We demonstrate that blocking GABA synthesis with 3-mercapto-propionic acid within the adult modulatory neurons results in the reconfiguration of the distinct STG networks into a single network that generates a unified embryonic-like motor pattern. Using dye-coupling experiments, we also found that gap-junctional coupling is greater in embryos and GABA-deprived adults exhibiting the unified motor pattern compared with control adults. Furthermore, GABA was found to diminish directly the extent and strength of electrical coupling within adult STG networks. Together, these observations suggest the acquisition of a GABAergic phenotype by modulatory neurons after metamorphosis may induce the reconfiguration of the single embryonic network into multiple adult networks by directly decreasing electrical coupling. The findings also suggest that adult neural networks retain the ability to express typical embryonic characteristics, indicating that network ontogeny can be reversed and that changes in electrical coupling during development may allow the segregation of multiple distinct functional networks from a single large embryonic network.

Key words: stomatogastric nervous system; network reconfiguration; development; 3-mercapto-propionic acid; neurobiotin; motor pattern

---

Received June 21, 2006; revised Jan. 16, 2007; accepted Jan. 16, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Yves Le Feuvre at the above address. Email: Yves.Lefeuvre{at}bordeaux.inserm.fr

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. J. Rehm, K. E. Deeg, and E. Marder Developmental Regulation of Neuromodulator Function in the Stomatogastric Ganglion of the Lobster, Homarus americanus J. Neurosci., September 24, 2008; 28(39): 9828 - 9839. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. J. Rehm, A. L. Taylor, S. R. Pulver, and E. Marder Spectral Analyses Reveal the Presence of Adult-Like Activity in the Embryonic Stomatogastric Motor Patterns of the Lobster, Homarus americanus J Neurophysiol, June 1, 2008; 99(6): 3104 - 3122. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help