Abstract
Activity-dependent synaptic plasticity triggered by N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation is a fundamental property of many glutamatergic synapses and may be critical for the shaping and refinement of the structural and functional properties of neuronal circuits during early postnatal development. Using a combined morphological and electrophysiological approach, we showed that chronic blockade of NMDA receptors in hippocampal slice cultures during the first two weeks of postnatal development leads to a substantial increase in synapse number and results in a more complex dendritic arborization of CA1 pyramidal cells. Thus, the development of excitatory circuitry in the hippocampus is determined by two opposing processes: NMDA receptor-independent synapse formation and NMDA receptor-dependent attenuation of synaptogenesis.
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Acknowledgements
We thank L. Heeb, L. Rietschin and R. Schöb for technical assistance and U. Gerber, P. Streit and M. Scanziani for discussions and for reading the manuscript. Supported by Norvatis Pharma Ltd., the Basque Government, and the Dr Eric Slack-Gyr and Swiss National Science (31-41829.94) Foundations.
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Lüthi, A., Schwyzer, L., Mateos, J. et al. NMDA receptor activation limits the number of synaptic connections during hippocampal development. Nat Neurosci 4, 1102–1107 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn744
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn744
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