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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 31, 2007, 27(44):12025-12032; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4094-07.2007

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Development/Plasticity/Repair
Synaptic Plasticity (and the Lack Thereof) in Hippocampal CA2 Neurons

Meilan Zhao,¹ Yun-Sik Choi,² Karl Obrietan,² and Serena M. Dudek¹

¹National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, and ²Ohio State University, Department of Neuroscience, Columbus, Ohio 43210

Correspondence should be addressed to Serena M. Dudek, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, P.O. Box 12233, MD F2-04, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Email: dudek{at}niehs.nih.gov

The hippocampus is critical for some forms of memory and spatial navigation, but previous research has mostly neglected the CA2, a unique region situated between CA3 and CA1. Here, we show that CA2 pyramidal neurons have distinctive physiological characteristics that include an unprecedented synaptic stability. Although basal synaptic currents in CA1 and CA2 are quite similar, synaptic plasticity including long-term potentiation and long-term depression is absent or less likely to be induced with conventional methods of stimulation in CA2. We also find that CA2 neurons have larger leak currents and more negative resting membrane potentials than CA1 neurons, and consequently, more current is required for action potential generation in CA2 neurons. These data suggest that the molecular "conspiracy against plasticity" in CA2 makes it functionally distinct from the other hippocampal CA regions. This work provides critical insight into hippocampal function and may lead to an understanding of the resistance of CA2 to damage from disease, trauma, and hypoxia.

Key words: long-term potentiation; long-term depression; TREK-1 channels; STEP; ERK; CREB

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Received April 12, 2007; accepted Sept. 14, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Serena M. Dudek, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, P.O. Box 12233, MD F2-04, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Email: dudek{at}niehs.nih.gov

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