Neuron
Volume 80, Issue 1, 2 October 2013, Pages 72-79
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Experience-Induced Arc/Arg3.1 Primes CA1 Pyramidal Neurons for Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor-Dependent Long-Term Synaptic Depression

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.07.020Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • mGluR activation induces LTD only in CA1 neurons with recent in vivo Arc induction

  • mGluRs stimulate dendritic Arc protein in CA1 neurons with recent Arc induction

  • Novelty increases dendritic Arc mRNA, mGluR-induced synaptic Arc synthesis, and LTD

  • Repeated experience induces mGluR-LTD onto Arc-positive CA1 neurons in vivo

Summary

A novel experience induces the Arc/Arg3.1 gene as well as plasticity of CA1 neural networks. To understand how these are linked, we briefly exposed GFP reporter mice of Arc transcription to a novel environment. Excitatory synaptic function of CA1 neurons with recent in vivo Arc induction (ArcGFP+) was similar to neighboring noninduced neurons. However, in response to group 1 metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) activation, ArcGFP+ neurons preferentially displayed long-term synaptic depression (mGluR-LTD) and robust increases in dendritic Arc protein. mGluR-LTD in ArcGFP+ neurons required rapid protein synthesis and Arc, suggesting that dendritic translation of Arc underlies the priming of mGluR-LTD. In support of this idea, novelty exposure increased Arc messenger RNA in CA1 dendrites and promoted mGluR-induced translation of Arc in hippocampal synaptoneurosomes. Repeated experience suppressed synaptic transmission onto ArcGFP+ neurons and occluded mGluR-LTD ex vivo. mGluR-LTD priming in neurons with similar Arc activation history may contribute to encoding a novel environment.

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