Spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP) is a form of synaptic plasticity that depends on the relative time of activation of a presynaptic neuron and its postsynaptic neuron. STDP in the synapses made by Schaffer collateral afferents onto hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons (CA3-
CA1 synapses) is NMDA receptor dependent. The objective of the current study was to develop and test a technique of glutamate iontophoresis that could replace the role of presynaptic neurotransmitter release at the CA3-CA1 synapse, so that the postsynaptic mechanisms involved in the induction of STDP could be isolated for study. Therefore, this document describes: (1) fabrication of electrodes that could be used for millisecond-level microiontophoresis in acute slice preparations of the juvenile rat hippocampus; (2) characterization of the properties and limitations of microiontophoresis in slice tissue, specifically for activation of postsynaptic ionotropic glutamate receptors at the CA3-CA1 synapse; (3) induction of STDP by pairing microiontophoresis with postsynaptic depolarization; (4) characterization of the properties and limitations of microiontophoretically induced STDP. It was determined that microiontophoresis is a viable technique to study the postsynaptic mechanisms of STDP at the CA3-CA1 synapse. My results also show that microiontophoretically induced STDP exhibits many of the same general properties as STDP induced either synaptically or by exogenously applied agonists. Microiontophoretically induced STDP also exhibits other features that will need to be considered during the design and interpretation of further experiments.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-12072007-143442 |
| Date | 17 January 2008 |
| Creators | Dutta-Moscato, Joyeeta |
| Contributors | Alison Barth, Guoqiang Bi, Jon Johnson, Karl Kandler |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-12072007-143442/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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