A spike-timing-dependent plasticity rule for dendritic spines

Nat Commun. 2020 Aug 26;11(1):4276. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17861-7.

Abstract

The structural organization of excitatory inputs supporting spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) remains unknown. We performed a spine STDP protocol using two-photon (2P) glutamate uncaging (pre) paired with postsynaptic spikes (post) in layer 5 pyramidal neurons from juvenile mice. Here we report that pre-post pairings that trigger timing-dependent LTP (t-LTP) produce shrinkage of the activated spine neck and increase in synaptic strength; and post-pre pairings that trigger timing-dependent LTD (t-LTD) decrease synaptic strength without affecting spine shape. Furthermore, the induction of t-LTP with 2P glutamate uncaging in clustered spines (<5 μm apart) enhances LTP through a NMDA receptor-mediated spine calcium accumulation and actin polymerization-dependent neck shrinkage, whereas t-LTD was dependent on NMDA receptors and disrupted by the activation of clustered spines but recovered when separated by >40 μm. These results indicate that synaptic cooperativity disrupts t-LTD and extends the temporal window for the induction of t-LTP, leading to STDP only encompassing LTP.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology
  • Animals
  • Calcium Signaling / physiology
  • Dendritic Spines / physiology*
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Long-Term Potentiation / physiology
  • Long-Term Synaptic Depression / physiology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton
  • Models, Neurological
  • Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
  • Pyramidal Cells / physiology
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / physiology

Substances

  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.12627422

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