Louis, MO). mutant GC is not likely to result from the reduced BDNFCTrkB signaling. These results suggest that the defect in MF to GC synaptic transmission is a major element that causes the cerebellar dysfunction in the mutant mouse. and (allelic to mutant mouse (Di Pasquale et al., 1997; Letts et al., 1998). On 20-HEDE the other hand, ataxia has been considered to result from cerebellar dysfunction. The mutant mouse displays a severe impairment in the acquisition of classical eyeblink conditioning (Qiao et al., 1998), a engine learning paradigm that is critically 20-HEDE involved in the cerebellar function and plasticity (Thompson, 1986; Kim and Thompson, 1997; Yeo and Hesslow, 1998). Immature granule cell (GC)-like neurons persist in the adult cerebellum, which suggests retarded cytodifferentiation of mutant GCs (Qiao et al., 1998). In addition to these cerebellar phenotypes, 20-HEDE the mutant mouse displays near-total reduction of brain-derived neurotrophic element (BDNF) mRNA manifestation in the GC coating of the cerebellum, despite normal BDNF manifestation in other mind regions, including the hippocampus (Qiao et al., 1996). The absence of BDNF mRNA in the GCs was observed at postnatal day time 14 (P14), which is definitely coincident with the onset of ataxia. In the cerebellum, expressions of both full-length and truncated TrkB, a neurotrophin receptor for BDNF, were also normal, whereas TrkB receptor-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation was reduced significantly (Qiao et al., 1998). Because BDNF is definitely reported to enhance excitatory synaptic transmission (Lessmann et al., 1994; Kang and Schuman, 1995) and long-term potentiation (Figurov et al., 1996), it has been assumed the impaired BDNFCTrkB transmission transduction is the major cause of abnormalities in cerebellar physiology and development in the mutant mouse (Qiao et al., 1998). In the present study, we found that EPSCs at mossy dietary fiber (MF) to GC synapses of the mutant cerebellum are devoid of the AMPA receptor-mediated fast component without significant switch in the NMDA receptor-mediated sluggish component. Our results indicate that this abnormality is attributable to problems in postsynaptic AMPA receptor function but not in presynaptic glutamate launch. We also examined the cerebellum of the BDNF-deficient mouse and found that MFCGC synapses experienced a normal AMPA receptor-mediated EPSC component. Therefore, the defect in AMPA receptor function in the mutant GC seems unlikely to result from the lack of BDNF production. We propose that the impaired AMPA receptor function at MFCGC synapses prospects to practical deafferentation of the cerebellar circuit, which would cause cerebellar dysfunction in the mutant mouse. MATERIALS AND METHODS 20-HEDE Rabbit polyclonal to ANGPTL3 Wild-type (C57BL/6J; +/+) andmutant (C3B6Fe+; mutant mice. Because we have not found any electrophysiological difference so far between +/+ and +/Sagittal cerebellar slices of 200C250 m thickness were prepared from mutant mice and wild-type mice (P30CP89) or from BDNF knockout mice and wild-type mice (P18CP20), as explained previously (Edwards et al., 1989; Llano et al., 1991; Kano and Konnerth, 1992; Aiba et al., 1994). A whole-cell recording was made from visually identified GCs using a 40 water immersion objective attached to an Olympus (BH-2 or BX-50) upright microscope (Edwards et al., 1989; Farrant et al., 1994; Ebradlidze et al., 1996; Takahashi et al., 1996). The resistance of patch pipettes was 5C10 M when filled with an intracellular answer composed of (in mm): 60 CsCl, 30 Cs d-gluconate, 20 TEA-Cl, 20 BAPTA, 4 MgCl2, 4 ATP, and 30 HEPES (pH 7.3, adjusted with CsOH). The composition of standard bathing answer was (in mm): 125 NaCl, 2.5 KCl, 2 CaCl2, 1 MgSO4, 1.25 NaH2PO4, 26 NaHCO3, and 20 glucose, bubbled continuously with a mixture of 95% O2 and 5% CO2. Bicuculline (10 m) was usually present in the saline to block spontaneous IPSCs. For the analysis of CA1 pyramidal cells, transverse hippocampal slices of 200C250 m thickness were slice, and a whole-cell recording was made from visually recognized CA1 pyramidal cells (Edwards et al., 1989). The composition of the pipette answer for recording from CA1 pyramidal cells was (in mm): 120 CsCl, 20 CsOH, 8 NaCl, 10 EGTA, 4 ATP, and 10 HEPES (pH 7.3, adjusted with CsOH). Ionic currents were recorded with an Axopatch-1D patch-clamp amplifier (Axon Devices). The pipette access resistance was.