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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Recording Synaptic Plasticity in Acute Hippocampal Slices Maintained in a Small-volume Recycling-, Perfusion-, and Submersion-type Chamber System
Published on: January 1, 2018
Acute stress facilitates hippocampal CA1 metabotropic glutamate receptor-dependent long-term depression
Francis Chaouloff1, Agnès Hémar, Olivier Manzoni
1Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 5091 Physiologie Cellulaire de la Synapse, Institut François Magendie, 33077 Bordeaux, France. francis.chaouloff@bordeaux.inserm.fr
Abstract:
Acute stress affects NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-dependent synaptic plasticity in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, with long-term potentiation and long-term depression (LTD) being, respectively, diminished and facilitated by acute exposure to stress. Here, we examined whether this facilitatory effect of stress on NMDAR-dependent LTD extends to metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)-dependent LTD at Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses. Application of a low dose (50 microM) of the selective group 1 mGluR agonist (RS)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG) promoted LTD in slices from stressed, but not from control, rats. Pretreatment of stressed rats with the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist RU38486 prevented the facilitation of DHPG-induced LTD (DHPG-LTD), indicating the involvement of corticosterone secretion and, in turn, stimulation of GRs. Finally, pretreatment of slices with an mGluR1, but not an mGluR5, antagonist blunted the sensitizing effect of stress on DHPG-LTD. These results indicate that acute stress, through corticosterone stimulation of GRs, facilitates the expression of mGluR1-dependent DHPG-LTD in the hippocampal CA1 region.
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