| Title: | Oxytocin facilitates the induction of long-term potentiation in the accessory olfactory bulb |
| Author(s): | Fang LY; Quan RD; Kaba H; |
| Address: | "Department of Physiology, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8505, Japan" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.neulet.2007.12.070 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0304-3940 (Print) 0304-3940 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "When female mice are mated, they form a memory to the pheromonal signal of their male partner. Several lines of evidence indicate that the neural changes underlying this memory occur in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) at the first stage of the vomeronasal system. The formation of this memory depends on the mating-induced release of noradrenaline in the AOB. In addition to noradrenaline, the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) is also released within the central nervous system during mating. Because OT has been implicated in social memory and its receptors are expressed in the AOB, we hypothesized that OT might promote the strength of synaptic transmission from mitral to granule cells in the AOB. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the lateral olfactory tract-evoked field potential that represents the granule cell response to mitral cell activation and its plasticity in parasagittal slices of the AOB. Of the 10-, 20-, 50-, and 100-Hz stimulations tested, the 100-Hz stimulation was optimal for inducing long-term potentiation (LTP). OT paired with 100-Hz stimulation that only produced short-term potentiation enhanced LTP induction in a dose-dependent manner. OT-paired LTP was blocked by both the selective OT antagonist desGly-NH(2),d(CH(2))(5)[Tyr(Me)(2),Thr(4)]-ornithine vasotocin and the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist dl-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid. These results indicate that OT can function as a gate to modulate the establishment of NMDA receptor-dependent LTP at the mitral-to-granule cell synapse in the AOB" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Electric Stimulation Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists/pharmacology Female Long-Term Potentiation/drug effects/*physiology Male Memory/drug effects/physiology Mice Mice, Inbred BALB C Neurons/drug effects/*metabolism Olfactory Bulb/cytology/drug e;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineFang, Long-Yun Quan, Rong-Dan Kaba, Hideto eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Ireland 2008/05/13 Neurosci Lett. 2008 Jun 20; 438(2):133-7. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2007.12.070. Epub 2008 Apr 16" |
