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Hippocampal long-term depression: arachidonic acid as a potential retrograde messenger
V Y Bolshakov1, S A Siegelbaum
1Department of Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Neuropharmacology
|November 1, 1995
Abstract:
Long-term depression (LTD) was studied in hippocampal slices from neonatal rats at the synapse between CA3 and CA1 pyramidal neurons. The induction of LTD requires the pairing of Ca2+ influx into the postsynaptic CA1 neuron through voltage-gated calcium channels with activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors. The expression of this LTD is at least partly presynaptic, implying the need for a retrograde messenger. We present evidence that arachidonic acid might serve such a function. Thus, arachidonic acid applications simulate LTD whereas blockade of arachidonic acid release inhibits LTD.