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The Journal of Neuroscience, August 26, 2009, 29(34):10779-10783; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1697-09.2009

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Brief Communications
Long-Term Potentiation in the Rat Medial Vestibular Nuclei Depends on Locally Synthesized 17β-Estradiol

Silvarosa Grassi, Adele Frondaroli, Cristina Dieni, Mariangela Scarduzio, and Vito E. Pettorossi

Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Perugia, I-06126 Perugia, Italy

Correspondence should be addressed to Silvarosa Grassi, Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Perugia, Via del Giochetto, I-06100 Perugia, Italy. Email: sgrassi{at}unipg.it

In male rat brainstem slices, we investigated the involvement of locally synthesized 17β-estradiol (E₂) in the induction in the medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) of long-term potentiation (LTP) by high-frequency stimulation (HFS) of the primary vestibular afferents. We demonstrated that the blockade of aromatase by letrozole or of E₂ receptors (ER and ERβ) by ICI 182,780 prevented the HFS-induced LTP of the N1 wave of the evoked field potential (FP) without affecting baseline responses. Only prolonged afferent activation could induce low LTP. In contrast, HFS applied under a combined blockade of GABA_A receptors and aromatase or ERs was still able to induce LTP, but it was significantly lower and slower. These findings demonstrate that E₂ does not have a tonic influence on the activity of the MVN neurons and provide the first evidence of the crucial role played by local synthesis of E₂ in inducing LTP. We suggest that the synthesis of E₂ occurs after aromatase activation during HFS and facilitates the development of vestibular synaptic plasticity by influencing glutamate and GABA transmission.

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Received April 7, 2009; revised July 28, 2009; accepted July 29, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Silvarosa Grassi, Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Perugia, Via del Giochetto, I-06100 Perugia, Italy. Email: sgrassi{at}unipg.it

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