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Volume 17, Number 12,
Issue of June 15, 1997
pp. 4527-4535
Copyright ©1997 Society for Neuroscience
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Mediates the Activity-Dependent
Regulation of Inhibition in Neocortical Cultures
Received Jan. 17, 1997; revised March 26, 1997; accepted March 28, 1997.
Lana C. Rutherford,
Andrew DeWan,
Holly M. Lauer, and
Gina
G. Turrigiano
Department of Biology and Volen Center for Complex Systems,
Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02254
The excitability of cortical circuits is modulated by interneurons
that release the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. In primate and
rodent visual cortex, activity deprivation leads to a decrease in the
expression of GABA. This suggests that activity is able to adjust the
strength of cortical inhibition, but this has not been demonstrated
directly. In addition, the nature of the signal linking activity to
GABA expression has not been determined. Activity is known to regulate
the expression of the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor
(BDNF), and BDNF has been shown to influence the phenotype of GABAergic
interneurons. We use a culture system from postnatal rat visual cortex
to test the hypothesis that activity is regulating the strength of
cortical inhibition through the regulation of BDNF. Cultures were
double-labeled against GABA and the neuronal marker MAP2, and the
percentage of neurons that were GABA-positive was determined. Blocking
spontaneous activity in these cultures reversibly decreased the number
of GABA-positive neurons without affecting neuronal survival.
Voltage-clamp analysis of inhibitory currents demonstrated that
activity blockade also decreased GABA-mediated inhibition onto
pyramidal neurons and raised pyramidal neuron firing rates. All of
these effects were prevented by incubation with BDNF during activity
blockade, but not by neurotrophin 3 or nerve growth factor.
Additionally, blockade of neurotrophin signaling mimicked the effects
of activity blockade on GABA expression. These data suggest that
activity regulates cortical inhibition through a BDNF-dependent
mechanism and that this neurotrophin plays an important role in the
control of cortical excitability.
Key words:
BDNF;
visual cortex;
dissociated culture;
activity-dependent;
inhibition;
GABA;
interneurons
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