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The Journal of Neuroscience, April 15, 2000, 20(8):2904-2916
Blockade of Neuronal Activity During Hippocampal Development
Produces a Chronic Focal Epilepsy in the Rat
Cynthia D.
Galvan1, 2,
Richard A.
Hrachovy4, 5,
Karen L.
Smith1, 3, and
John
W.
Swann1, 2, 3
1 The Cain Foundation Laboratories,
2 Division of Neuroscience, 3 Department of
Pediatrics, and 4 Department of Neurology, Baylor College
of Medicine, and 5 Veterans Administrative Medical Center,
Houston, Texas 77030
During brain development, neuronal activity can transform neurons
characterized by widely ranging axonal projections to ones with more
restricted patterns of synaptic connectivity. Previous studies have
shown that an exuberant outgrowth of local recurrent excitatory axons
occurs in hippocampal area CA3 during postnatal weeks 2 and 3. Axons
are remodeled with maturation, and nearly half of the branches are
eliminated. Postnatal weeks 2 and 3 also coincide with a "critical"
period of development, when CA3 networks have a marked propensity to
generate electrographic seizures. In an attempt to prevent axonal
remodeling, local circuit activity was blocked unilaterally in dorsal
hippocampus by continuous infusion of tetrodotoxin (TTX). Field
potential recordings from behaving animals were dramatically altered
when TTX infusion was initiated at the beginning of the critical
period, week 2, but not later in life. Spontaneous, synchronized spikes
and electrographic seizures with behavioral accompaniments were
observed after 4 weeks of TTX infusion and persisted into adulthood.
When recordings were made during TTX infusion, synchronized spiking was
recorded in ventral hippocampus as early as 2 weeks after infusate
introduction. At this same time, extracellular field recordings from
in vitro slices demonstrated spontaneous network-driven
"mini-bursts" arising from ventral hippocampal slices. These were
abolished by glutamate receptor antagonists. Whole-cell recordings from
CA3 neurons revealed bursts of excitatory synaptic potentials
coincident with the network bursts recorded extracellularly. Thus,
local assemblies of mutually excitatory CA3 pyramidal cells are
hyperexcitable in these rats. Whether alterations in developmental
axonal remodeling mediate these effects awaits further studies.
Key words:
hippocampus; epilepsy; TTX; axons; EEG; pyramidal
cells
Copyright © 2000 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/00/2082904-13$05.00/0
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