The hippocampus has a highly ordered structure and is composed of distinct layers. Neuronal migration is an essential part of the process of the layer formation because neurons are primarily generated near the ventricle and must migrate to arrive at their final locations during brain development. Impairment of brain development is thought to underlie the etiology of psychiatric disorders. Consi...

Transient global ischemia induces selective delayed cell death, primarily of principal neurons in the hippocampal CA1. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying ischemia-induced cell death are as yet unclear. The present study shows that global ischemia triggers a pronounced and cell-specific reduction in GluR2 [the subunit that limits Ca(2+) permeability of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-...

The formation and remodeling of mossy fiber-CA3 pyramidal cell synapses in the stratum lucidum of the hippocampus are implicated in the cellular basis of learning and memory. Afadin and its binding cell adhesion molecules, nectin-1 and nectin-3, together with N-cadherin, are concentrated at puncta adherentia junctions (PAJs) in these synapses. Here, we investigated the roles of afadin in PAJ fo...

A number of recent studies have demonstrated that a well-known form of short-term plasticity at hippocampal GABAergic synapses, called depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI), is in fact mediated by the retrograde actions of endocannabinoids released in response to depolarization of the postsynaptic cells. These studies suggest that endogenous cannabinoids may play an important r...

One of the most vulnerable areas to ischemia or hypoglycemia is CA1 hippocampal region due to pyramidal neurons death. Glutamate receptors are involved together with protein-kinase C and nitric oxide synthase. Long-term potentiation (LTP) is generated in anoxic or hypoglycemic conditions via activation of NMDA while inhibition of these receptors attenuates this response. Protein-kinase C and ni...

INTRODUCTION Antibiotic supplements are regularly used in neuronal culture media to control contamination; however, they can interfere with the neuronal excitability and affect electrophysiological properties. Therefore, in this study, the effect of penicillin/streptomycin supplements on the spontaneous electrophysiological activity of hippocampal pyramidal neurons was examined. METHODS Elect...

Evidence is accumulating that voltage-gated channels are distributed nonuniformly throughout neurons and that this nonuniformity underlies regional differences in excitability within the single neuron. Previous reports have shown that Ca2+, Na+, A-type K+, and hyperpolarization-activated, mixed cation conductances have varying distributions in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons, with significant...