Postnatal developmental alterations in the locus coeruleus neuronal fast excitatory postsynaptic currents mediated by ionotropic glutamate receptors of rat

Introduction: In the present work, spontaneous postsynaptic currents were assessed to investigate the postnatal development of excitatory postsynaptic currents in locus coeruleus neurons. Methods: In this study, AMPA and NMDA receptor-mediated spontaneous synaptic currents in the neurons of locus coeruleus were assessed using whole cell voltage-clamp recording during the first three weeks. Results: The frequency and amplitude of NMDA sEPSCs and the frequency of AMPA sEPSCs were increased in the second and third postnatal weeks compared with these parameters recorded in the first postnatal week. However, the ratio of the AMPA to NMDA current frequency and amplitude was constant until the 3rd postnatal week. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a vast majority of nascent glutamatergic synapses express both functional AMPA and NMDA receptors in the postnatal locus coeruleus, so that AMPA/NMDA sEPSCs remained constant during this period.