Variable kainate receptor distributions of oriens interneurons

Interneuron kainate receptor (KAR) activation regulates normal network activity and modulates cell excitability. As a result, determining the subcellular distribution of KARs in a cell-specific manner is a necessary step toward understanding their role in network function. We have functionally mapped synaptic and extrasynaptic dendritic KARs on hippocampal oriens interneurons using local photolysis of caged glutamate. We find that the majority of trilaminar and oriens lacunosum-moleculare (O-LM) cells have uniform and continuous current densities along the lengths of their dendrites. However, there is a subpopulation of interneurons that have no KAR currents or currents exclusively at "hot spots" on the soma and dendrites. Finally, bistratified cells have KAR currents on all dendrites except those extending into the stratum radiatum. Thus KARs are functionally distributed in a cell-specific and cell-independent manner that may reflect the physiologically distinct roles they play in the hippocampal network.