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. 1996 May 14;93(10):4706–4711. doi: 10.1073/pnas.93.10.4706

Reconstitution of the hippocampal mossy fiber and associational-commissural pathways in a novel dissociated cell culture system.

D Baranes 1, J C López-García 1, M Chen 1, C H Bailey 1, E R Kandel 1
PMCID: PMC39343  PMID: 8643467

Abstract

Synapses of the hippocampal mossy fiber pathway exhibit several characteristic features, including a unique form of long-term potentiation that does not require activation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor by glutamate, a complex postsynaptic architecture, and sprouting in response to seizures. However, these connections have proven difficult to study in hippocampal slices because of their relative paucity (<0.4%) compared to commissural-collateral synapses. To overcome this problem, we have developed a novel dissociated cell culture system in which we have enriched mossy fiber synapses by increasing the ratio of granule-to-pyramidal cells. As in vivo, mossy fiber connections are composed of large dynorphin A-positive varicosities contacting complex spines (but without a restricted localization). The elementary synaptic connections are glutamatergic, inhibited by dynorphin A, and exhibit N-methyl-D-aspartate-independent long-term potentiation. Thus, the simplicity and experimental accessibility of this enriched in vitro mossy fiber pathway provides a new perspective for studying nonassociative plasticity in the mammalian central nervous system.

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