Fig. 10.

BDNF enhances long-term potentiation in a lipid raft-dependent manner. a Schematic representation of a transverse hippocampal slice with the electrode configuration used to record fEPSPs in the CA1 apical dendritic layer (stratum radiatum) evoked by electric stimulation of two independent pathways of the Schaffer fibres, S₀ and S₁. In b–e, the averaged time course changes in the fEPSP slope are shown. The small inhibition of fEPSP caused by 1 mM MβCD is illustrated in b. c–e Changes in the fEPSP slope induced by the θ-burst stimulation of slices (see “Materials and methods”), as indicated by the arrow in each panel. Zero percent corresponds to the averaged slopes recorded for 10 min before MβCD (b −0.55 ± 0.02 mV/ms, n = 7) or θ-burst stimulation (c white circle, −0.49 ± 0.02 mV/ms; black circle, −0.49 ± 0.02 mV/ms, n = 3; d, white circle, −0.52 ± 0.01 mV/ms, black circle, −0.49 ± 0.04 mV/ms, n = 6; e white circle −0.49 ± 0.01 mV/ms, black circle, −0.47 ± 0.01 mV/ms, n = 5). f, g Recordings from representative experiments, where each trace represents the average of eight consecutive responses obtained before and after LTP induction, in the absence (f, left) or presence of BDNF (f, right), or in the presence of MβCD (g, left) or MβCD + BDNF (g, right). Recordings under same conditions, but before and 60 min after LTP induction are superimposed. All recordings in f were obtained from a single slice at approximately the points indicated in d. All recordings in g were obtained from a single slice at approximately the points indicated in e. Each recording is composed by the stimulus artifact, followed by the presynaptic volley and the fEPSP. h Comparison of the effect of BDNF upon LTP in the absence or presence of MβCD, as indicated. *p < 0.05, compared to the first column