NYMC Faculty Publications

Journal Title

PLoS One

First Page

e0205907

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1-2018

Department

Cell Biology and Anatomy

Abstract

The role of zinc (Zn2+), a modulator of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, in regulating long-term synaptic plasticity at hippocampal CA1 synapses is poorly understood. The effects of exogenous application of Zn2+ and of chelation of endogenous Zn2+ were examined on long-term potentiation (LTP) of stimulus-evoked synaptic transmission at Schaffer collateral (SCH) synapses in field CA1 of mouse hippocampal slices using whole-cell patch clamp and field recordings. Low micromolar concentrations of exogenous Zn2+ enhanced the induction of LTP, and this effect required activation of NMDA receptors containing NR2B subunits. Zn2+ elicited a selective increase in NMDA/NR2B fEPSPs, and removal of endogenous Zn2+ with high-affinity Zn2+ chelators robustly reduced the magnitude of stimulus-evoked LTP. Taken together, our data show that Zn2+ at physiological concentrations enhances activation of NMDA receptors containing NR2B subunits, and that this effect enhances the magnitude of LTP.

Publisher's Statement

Originally published in PLoS One, 13(11), e0205907. The original material can be found here.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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