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The Journal of Neuroscience, February 1, 2002, 22(3):775-781

Stability and Plasticity of Developing Synapses in Hippocampal Neuronal Cultures

F. Woodward Hopf¹, Jack Waters², Samar Mehta³, and Stephen J. Smith⁴

¹ Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, Emeryville, California 94608, ² Abteilung Zellphysiologie, Max-Planck-Institut fuer medizinische Forschung, D69120 Heidelberg, Germany, ³ Group in Neuroscience, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, and ⁴ Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, California 94305

To explore mechanisms governing the formation, stability, and elimination of synapses during neuronal development, we used FM 1-43 fluorescence imaging to track vesicle turnover at >7000 individually identified developing synapses between embryonic rat hippocampal neurons in culture. The majority of presynaptic boutons were stable in efficacy and position over a period of 1.5 hr. Activity, evoked by burst-patterned field stimulation, decreased presynaptic function across the population of boutons, an effect that required NMDA receptor activation. Decreased FM 1-43 staining correlated with low synapsin-I and synaptophysin immunoreactivities, suggesting that decreased presynaptic function was commensurate with synaptic disassembly. These observations provide new information on the stability of developing presynaptic function and suggest that NMDA receptor activation may regulate the stability of developing synapses.

Key words: hippocampus; activity; NMDA receptor; synaptogenesis; plasticity; FM 1-43

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Copyright © 2002 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/02/223775-07$05.00/0

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