Metabotropic glutamate receptor dependent EPSP and EPSP-spike potentiation in area CA1 of the submerged rat hippocampal slice

1. We reexamined the important areas of conflict in (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid [(1S,3R)-ACPD]-induced potentiation of the field excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) and, for the first time, investigated the role of mGluRs in EPSP-spike (E-S) coupling. 2. (1S,3R)-ACPD (10 mu M) bath applied for 20 min consistently induced a long-lasting potentiation of the dendritic EPSP in area CAI of submerged rat hippocampal slices, which was considerably Easter in onset than described previously. 3. This effect was not associated with any change in presynaptic fiber volley but was dependent on both an intact CA3 connection, because removal of area CA3 blocked (1S,3R)-ACPD-induced potentiation, and also on functional N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, because (1S,3R)-ACPD-induced potentiation was blocked by inclusion of the NMDA receptor antagonist D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP5; 50 mu M). 4. (1S,3R)-ACPD induced a long-lasting potentiation of the population spike (PS) amplitude that was consistently larger than that of the EPSP measured in the cell body area. This EPSP-PS (E-S) potentiation was blocked by inclusion of the gamma-aminobuturic acid-A (GABA(A)) receptor antagonist, picrotoxin (50 mu M). 5. E-S potentiation induced by high-frequency stimualtion (HFS), which was of the same magnitude as that induced by (1S,3R)-ACPD, was blocked by the mGluR-selective antagonist (+)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (+MCPG; 250 mu M). +MCPG also blocked HFS-induced long-term potentiation (LTP) of the EPSP measured in the cell body. 6. These results suggest that (1S,3R)-ACPD-induced potentiation is NMDA receptor dependent, contrary to some previous findings, and provide further evidence that both synaptic and E-S potentiation induced by (1S,3R)-ACPD share common mechanisms of expression with HFS-induced LTP. The data emphasize the important role of mGluRs in induction of EPSP LTP and E-S potentiation.