Here, we describe a protocol for inducing long-term plasticity of neuronal intrinsic excitability in relay neurons from the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus maintained in ex vivo brain slices.
The dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) has long been held to act as a basic relay for visual information traveling from the retina to cortical areas, but recent findings suggest largely underestimated functional plasticity of dLGN principal cells. However, the cellular mechanisms supporting these changes have not been fully explored. Here, we report a protocol to induce long-term potentiation of intrinsic neuronal excitability (LTP-IE) in dorsal dLGN relay cells from acute brain slices of young rats. Intrinsic plasticity is generally induced in parallel with synaptic plasticity. However, in dLGN neurons, LTP-IE is reliably induced by spiking activity at a frequency of 40 Hz for 10 min. LTP-IE in dLGN relay neurons is long-lasting as it can be followed up to 40 min after the induction protocol. In conclusion, the results of this study provide the first evidence for the induction of intrinsic plasticity in dLGN relay cells, thus further pointing to the role of thalamic neurons in activity-dependent visual plasticity.
The overall goal of this method paper is to provide a simple way to induce long-lasting plasticity of neuronal excitability in visual thalamic neurons of the rat in vitro, using the standard current-clamp mode of the patch clamp technique1,2. The rationale behind the development of this technique is its simplicity and reproducibility. The advantage over alternative techniques, such as stimulation of synaptic inputs paired or not with postsynaptic action potentials delivered with a given timing, is its reliability.
Plasticity in the visual system is traditionally thought to be exclusively expressed at the cortical level, whereas the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN), a primary recipient structure of retinal inputs at the thalamic level, is traditionally considered to be just a relay of visual information3. However, this initial conclusion has been challenged by recent works indicating that this simplistic view does not hold longer4,5,6. For instance, functional deficits in visual response are already observed in amblyopic patients at the stage of the LGN7. In addition, a large proportion of dLGN relay neurons in a given monocular territory receive inputs from each eye, indicating potential binocularity for a large proportion of dLGN neurons8,9,10. Moreover, monocular deprivation produces a significant shift in ocular dominance in dLGN neurons5,11,12.
Among the mechanisms of functional plasticity that may occur in ocular dominance shift, plasticity of intrinsic neuronal excitability is a potential candidate. Indeed, many brain regions including visual areas express intrinsic plasticity following various behavioural tasks13,14. Long-term intrinsic plasticity has been reported in central neurons following stimulation of afferent glutamate inputs15,16,17,18, spiking activity19,20, sensory stimulation21 or following activity or sensory deprivation20,22,23. Here, we describe a protocol allowing the induction of long-term potentiation of intrinsic excitability (LTP-IE) in dLGN relay neurons following spiking activity at a frequency of 40 Hz. The 40 Hz firing frequency corresponds to a frequency observed in most dLGN neurons in vivo upon visual stimulation24,25.
All experiments were conducted according to the European and Institutional guidelines (Council Directive 86/609/EEC and French National Research Council and approved by the local health authority (Veterinary Services, Préfecture des Bouches-du-Rhône, Marseille)).
1. Animals
2. Acute slices of rat dLGN
3. Whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology
NOTE: For whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from dLGN relay neurons, use a specific patch-clamp amplifier.
4. Data acquisition
5. Induction of LTP-IE
6. Data analysis
NOTE: The analysis procedure is the same before (control conditions) and after LTP-IE induction.
dLGN neurons were recorded in whole-cell configuration, and LTP-IE was induced by action potential firing at 40 Hz for 10 min in the presence of ionotropic glutamate and GABA receptor antagonists (Figure 3A). A three-fold increase in the number of action potentials was observed 20-30 min after the induction (Figure 3B) without any change in input resistance, Rde (Figure 3C). This protocol reliably induced LTP-IE in dLGN neurons (Figure 3D)26. These results demonstrate how the protocol described here is efficient for inducing long-lasting plasticity of neuronal excitability in dLGN neurons in vitro.
Figure 1: Method for obtaining brain slices containing the dLGN. (A) Tools necessary for extracting the brain. (B) Slicer. (C) Cutting of the brain in frontal plans. (D) Glue on the plate. (E) Disposition of the brain on the plate. (F) Brain glued on the plate. (G) Slicing. (H) Taking of the slice. (J) Slices in the recovery solution. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: View of the slice containing the dLGN and visualization of neurons under the microscope. (A) Global view with the objective 4x of the slice containing the dLGN and the vLGN, immobilized in the recording chamber by a nylon thread. (B) View with the objective 40x of dLGN neurons in the contralateral region of the dLGN symbolized by the dotted rectangle in panel A. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: Induction of LTP-IE in a dLGN neuron. (A) Recording configuration and induction stimulus. The stimulus used for LTP-IE induction consisted of 15 pulses of ~1 nA to elicit an action potential by each depolarizing current pulse. (B) Time-course of LTP-IE. Top, representative traces before (black) and after (red) LTP-IE induction. Bottom, time-course of the normalized action potential number per depolarizing pulse as a function of time. Note the increased spike number that shows no decline over >40 min. (C) Stability of input resistance. Deflection of potential induced by a negative step of current before (black) and after (red) induction of LTP-IE. Input resistance is measured at fixed latency (symbolized by *). (D) Left, group data on 8 dLGN neurons showing the reproducibility of LTP-IE. Right, group data on 8 dLGN neurons showing the lack of Rde change. Panel B is reused with permission from Duménieu et al.26. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Supplementary File 1: Igor LTP-IE analysis. Please click here to download this File.
We report here the induction of LTP-IE in dLGN neurons maintained alive in acute brain slices by stimulation of the recorded neuron to evoke action potentials at a frequency of 40 Hz for 10 min. This protocol is simple to implement in any neurophysiology lab as it requires a minimal number of equipment (slicer, microscope, 1 amplifier, 1 acquisition board and computer). However, a few critical steps must be respected in order to collect valuable data. The first critical step within the protocol is the quality of the brain tissue. A healthy thalamic slice contains many neurons from the surface to the middle of the slice (~150 µm). Healthy neurons appear slightly swollen whereas dying neurons are usually shriveled. The second critical step is the stability of the recording during the baseline. The number of action potentials should be stable without any run-up or run-down. In addition, the input resistance tested with a brief pulse of hyperpolarizing current should not display any change larger than 10%. Finally, the holding current must be stable within +/- 10 pA. Such induction protocol has been first used to induce LTP-IE in visual cortical neurons19,20. We show here that this protocol can also induce intrinsic potentiation in thalamic relay neurons of the visual system26. The induction of spikes with direct current injection is supposed to mimic the retinal input stimulation that normally drives dLGN neurons as stimulation of a single retinal fiber usually evokes excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) that is able to trigger an action potentials in dLGN neuron27,28. The expression mechanisms of LTP-IE in dLGN neurons have been investigated in the original publication26 and revealed that Kv1 channels are down-regulated following induction of LTP-IE. Thus, the down-regulation of Kv1 channels is responsible for both LTP-IE in fast-spiking cortical interneurons16 and dLGN neurons26 and homeostatic plasticity in the CA3 region29,30. However, the signaling pathway differs as protein kinase A (PKA) is involved in dLGN neurons, while a major role for mTOR has been suggested in fast-spiking interneurons.
The present protocol provides reproducible results in the experimental conditions used here : 3 mM Ca2+, 2 mM Mg2+, picrotoxin, and kynurenate, 10 min stimulation at 40 Hz in rats aged 19-25 days26. Indeed, on average, this protocol allows a 2-fold increase in excitability. The magnitude of the enhanced excitability decreases with the duration of stimulation, frequency of stimulation, or age of the animal26. Before eye-opening, no LTP-IE can be observed. The frequency used to induce long-lasting plasticity of intrinsic neuronal excitability corresponds to the gamma band of brain oscillations known to be the binding frequency for sensory perception31 and to promote plasticity in the visual system32.
However, if a lower calcium concentration was used (i.e., 1.5 mM Ca2+) the protocol probably needs to be revised as it has been previously shown for synaptic plasticity33. In this case, the frequency of stimulation will probably need to be elevated to 60-80 Hz. The incidence of GABA receptor blockers (picrotoxin of gabazine) used in the present protocol on the induction of LTP-IE is thought to be limited as spikes are evoked by direct current injection. Nevertheless, in the in vivo situation where action potentials are evoked in dLGN neurons by retinal stimulation, recruited GABAergic input34 would probably elevate the spike threshold. Thus, stronger retinal inputs would probably be necessary to trigger LTP-IE in dLGN neurons. However, neuromodulator systems active during arousal, such as orexin, may reduce the threshold35.
Induction of long-lasting intrinsic plasticity in dLGN relay neurons can be achieved either through visual deprivation, stimulation of retinal inputs to evoke action potentials, or directly by eliciting action potentials through current injection in the recorded neurons26. This last protocol is by far the simplest method because it is fast to implement and it provides equivalent results to the synaptic simulation procedure26.
This protocol has been shown to induce LTP-IE in both visual cortical pyramidal neurons19 and in thalamic relay neurons26. It could probably also be used for inducing long-lasting plasticity of neuronal excitability in other subcortical visual nuclei, including the ventral LGN (vLGN) or the superior colliculus (SC).
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Supported by INSERM, CNRS (to DD), AMU (to MR), FRM (DVS20131228768 to DD and DEQ20180839583 to DD), NeuroSchool ("France 2030" program via A*Midex (Initiative d'Excellence d'Aix-Marseille Université, AMX-19-IET-004) and ANR funding (ANR-17-EURE-0029 to AW), and ANR (LoGiK, ANR-17-CE16-0022 to DD, Plastinex, ANR-21-CE16-013 to DD). We thank A Venture & K Milton for excellent animal care.
Automated vibrating blade microtome | Leica | VT-1200S | vibratome/slicer |
Borosilicate glass tube | Phymep | B-15086-10 | |
Controller Typ V | Luigs&Neumann | Typ V | temperature controller |
Igor software | wavemetrics | analysis software | |
Infrared videomicroscopy | Olympus | XM-10 Camera | |
Kynurenate | Merk/Sigma | K3375 | AMPA/NMDA receptors blocker |
Low-noise Data Acquisition System | Axon – Molecular devices | Digidata 1440A | analog/digital interface |
Micromanipulators | Luigs&Neumann | LN Mini25 | |
Multiclamp 200B | Axon – Molecular devices | N/A | Patch-clamp amplifier |
Multiclamp 700B | Axon – Molecular devices | N/A | patch-clamp amplifier |
PC-100 puller | Narishige | PC-100 | micropipette puller |
PClamp10 | Axon – Molecular devices | N/A | patch-clamp recording software |
Picrotoxin | AbCam | ab120315 | GABAA receptors blocker |
Slice mini chamber | Luigs&Neumann | LN Chambre Slice mini I-II | Submerged Chamber |
Upright microscope | Olympus | BX51 WI |
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