Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 27, 2025

Investigating Long-term Synaptic Plasticity in Interlamellar Hippocampus CA1 by Electrophysiological Field Recording
Published on: August 11, 2019
Developmental Time Course of SNAP-25 Isoforms Regulate Hippocampal Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity and
Katisha R Gopaul1, Muhammad Irfan1,2, Omid Miry1
1Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA.
Syntaxin-binding protein 25 (SNAP-25) isoforms influence brain plasticity. SNAP-25b deficiency impairs synaptic plasticity in young mice, but compensatory mechanisms in adults restore function, especially after learning.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Synaptic Plasticity
Background:
- SNAP-25 is crucial for neurotransmitter release and synaptic plasticity.
- Two SNAP-25 splice variants, SNAP-25a and SNAP-25b, are developmentally regulated.
- These variants may differentially affect hippocampal and neocortical synapses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the distinct roles of SNAP-25a and SNAP-25b in synaptic plasticity.
- To examine the developmental regulation of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) by SNAP-25 isoforms.
- To assess the impact of SNAP-25b deficiency and learning on hippocampal synaptic function.
Main Methods:
- Utilized SNAP-25b-deficient mice at different ages (1 and 4 months).
- Electrophysiological recordings at Schaffer collateral-CA1 synapses in the hippocampus.
- Assessed synaptic plasticity (LTP and LTD) before and after training on a hippocampus-dependent task.
Main Results:
- In young (1-month-old) SNAP-25b-deficient mice, faster release kinetics, decreased LTP, and enhanced LTD were observed.
- By adulthood (4 months), SNAP-25b-deficient mice showed compensatory increases in LTP and normalized LTD.
- Hippocampus-dependent learning reversed LTP deficits in young mice and prevented LTD up-regulation in adults.
Conclusions:
- SNAP-25b isoform promotes LTP and reduces LTD in young mice at hippocampal synapses.
- Compensatory mechanisms can restore synaptic plasticity in adult SNAP-25b-deficient mice.
- Learning interacts with SNAP-25 isoform expression to modulate synaptic plasticity and memory.
More Related Videos
11:29Investigation of Synaptic Tagging/Capture and Cross-capture using Acute Hippocampal Slices from Rodents
Published on: September 4, 2015
09:51Recording Synaptic Plasticity in Acute Hippocampal Slices Maintained in a Small-volume Recycling-, Perfusion-, and Submersion-type Chamber System
Published on: January 1, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Long-term Depression
Calcium Ion Concentration Mechanism
If over...
Long-term Depression
Long-term Potentiation
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when...
Long-term Potentiation