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. 1996 Dec 1;497(Pt 2):531–537. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1996.sp021786

Glutamate as a candidate retrograde messenger at interneurone-Purkinje cell synapses of rat cerebellum.

M Glitsch 1, I Llano 1, A Marty 1
PMCID: PMC1161002  PMID: 8961193

Abstract

1. Depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI) is a form of synaptic plasticity which involves a retrograde messenger. We have performed experiments in Purkinje cells of rat cerebellar slices to determine the nature of this messenger. 2. DSI is mimicked by 2-(2,3-dicarboxycyclopropyl)-glycine (DCG-IV), a specific agonist of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). 3. DSI is reduced if transmitter release is inhibited by saturating doses of DCG-IV. 4. Both DSI and DCG-IV-induced inhibition are inhibited by L-2-amino-3-phosphonopropionic acid (L-AP3), a drug which interferes with several subtypes of mGluRs. 5. DSI is reduced if synaptic activity is enhanced by application of forskolin. 6. We propose that glutamate or a glutamate-like substance is the retrograde messenger implicated in DSI, and that the inhibition resulting from presynaptic glutamate binding is mediated by a decrease in the presynaptic concentration of cAMP.

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Selected References

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