Early Long-term Potentiation Research Articles

Aerobic exercise abolishes cTBS-induced suppression of motor cortical excitability

A preceding bout of acute aerobic exercise can enhance the induction of early long-term potentiation (LTP) in the primary motor cortex (M1). However, the influence of exercise when performed after the induction of plasticity has not been investigated. In addition, it is unclear whether the same effects are seen with techniques that induce long-term depression (LTD). We used continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) to temporarily suppress cortical excitability and investigate whether moderate-intensity cycling exercise would alter the duration or intensity of cTBS after-effects in a nonexercised upper limb muscle. We observed that cTBS effects were abolished when followed by exercise, with no corresponding changes in intracortical network activity. We hypothesize that the induction of LTD may be suppressed by exercise-linked neurotransmitters that interact with glutamate receptors. Exercise appears to shift the neural balance towards facilitation and may work to counteract the effects of LTD-like processes.

Effects of genistein on cognitive dysfunction and hippocampal synaptic plasticity impairment in an ovariectomized rat kainic acid model of seizure

The major objective of this study was to investigate the probable effects of genistein (one of the most important soy phytoestrogens-SPEs) on seizure-induced cognitive dysfunction, hippocampal early long-term potentiation (E-LTP) impairment and morphological damage to CA1 neurons in ovariectomized (OVX) rats.Three weeks after ovariectomy, cannulae were implanted over the left lateral ventricle. After a 7-day recovery period, animals were injected by genistein (0.5 or 5mg/kg) or vehicle during four consecutive days, each 24h. One h after the last treatment, kainic acid (KA) or vehicle was perfused into the left lateral ventricle to induce generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Finally, 7 days later, spatial learning and memory of animals were examined using the Morris water maze (MWM) task, hippocampal E-LTP was assessed using in-vivo field potential recordings and the morphology of hippocampal CA1 area was examined using Fluoro-Jade C staining.KA-induced generalized seizures resulted in spatial learning and memory impairment, E-LTP deficit and CA1 cell injury. Seizure-induced abnormalities improved partially only by the lower dose of genistein (0.5mg/kg). However, genistein at the higher dose (5mg/kg) did not have any beneficial effects. Also, genistein did not affect seizure activity.It is concluded that genistein may have partially preventive effects against seizure-induced cognitive impairment in OVX rats. Also, it seems that such effects of genistein are correlated with its beneficial effects on hippocampal synaptic plasticity and morphology.

Membrane-tethered AKT kinase regulates basal synaptic transmission and early phase LTP expression by modulation of post-synaptic AMPA receptor level.

The serine/threonine kinase AKT/PKB plays a fundamental role in a wide variety of neuronal functions, including neuronal cell development, axonal growth, and synaptic plasticity. Multiple evidence link AKT signaling pathways to regulation of late phase long-term synaptic plasticity, synaptogenesis, and spinogenesis, as well as long-term memory formation. Nevertheless, the downstream effectors mediating the effects of AKT on early phase long-term potentiation (eLTP) are currently unknown. Here we report that using different regimes of pharmacological activation and inhibition of AKT activity in acute hippocampal slices, we found that AKT regulates the post-synaptic expression of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPA) receptors affecting solely the expression of eLTP, with no effect on its induction and maintenance. We further show that both maintenance of basal synaptic activity and expression of eLTP require plasma membrane tethering by activated AKT and that basal synaptic activity may be regulated via the direct effects of AKT1 on the expression level of post-synaptic AMPA receptors bypassing the canonical AKT signaling. Finally, we establish that eLTP expression requires the involvement of both the canonical AKT signaling pathways and the direct effect of AKT1 on AMPA receptor activity/expression in the post-synaptic membrane. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Age-related synaptic dysfunction in Tg2576 mice starts as a failure in early long-term potentiation which develops into a full abolishment of late long-term potentiation.

Tg2576 mice are widely used to study amyloid-dependent synaptic dysfunction related to Alzheimer's disease. However, conflicting data have been reported for these mice with regard to basal transmission as well as the in vitro correlate of memory, long-term potentiation (LTP). Some studies show clear impairments, whereas others report no deficiency. The present study uses hippocampal slices from 3-, 10-, and 15-month-old wild-type (WT) and Tg2576 mice to evaluate synaptic function in each group, including experiments to investigate basal synaptic transmission, short- and long-term plasticity by inducing paired-pulse facilitation, and both early and late LTP. We show that synaptic function remains intact in hippocampal slices from Tg2576 mice at 3 months of age. However, both early and late LTP decline progressively during aging in these mice. This deterioration of synaptic plasticity starts affecting early LTP, ultimately leading to the abolishment of both forms of LTP in 15-month-old animals. In comparison, WT littermates display normal synaptic parameters during aging. Additional pharmacological investigation into the involvement of NMDA receptors and L-type voltage-gated calcium channels in LTP suggests a distinct mechanism of induction among age groups, demonstrating that both early and late LTP are differentially affected by these channels in Tg2576 mice during aging.

A role for Kalirin-7 in corticostriatal synaptic dysfunction in Huntington's disease.

Cognitive dysfunction is an early clinical hallmark of Huntington's disease (HD) preceding the appearance of motor symptoms by several years. Neuronal dysfunction and altered corticostriatal connectivity have been postulated to be fundamental to explain these early disturbances. However, no treatments to attenuate cognitive changes have been successful: the reason may rely on the idea that the temporal sequence of pathological changes is as critical as the changes per se when new therapies are in development. To this aim, it becomes critical to use HD mouse models in which cognitive impairments appear prior to motor symptoms. In this study, we demonstrate procedural memory and motor learning deficits in two different HD mice and at ages preceding motor disturbances. These impairments are associated with altered corticostriatal long-term potentiation (LTP) and specific reduction of dendritic spine density and postsynaptic density (PSD)-95 and spinophilin-positive clusters in the cortex of HD mice. As a potential mechanism, we described an early decrease of Kalirin-7 (Kal7), a guanine-nucleotide exchange factor for Rho-like small GTPases critical to maintain excitatory synapse, in the cortex of HD mice. Supporting a role for Kal7 in HD synaptic deficits, exogenous expression of Kal7 restores the reduction of excitatory synapses in HD cortical cultures. Altogether, our results suggest that cortical dysfunction precedes striatal disturbances in HD and underlie early corticostriatal LTP and cognitive defects. Moreover, we identified diminished Kal7 as a key contributor to HD cortical alterations, placing Kal7 as a molecular target for future therapies aimed to restore corticostriatal function in HD.

Inhibition of cGMP-metabolizing PDEs as target for cognitive enhancement

Background Inhibition of specific phosphodiesterases (PDEs) in the brain has gained attention as a potential new approach for memory enhancement. Among those PDEs are PDE2A and PDE9A which are either, in case of PDE2A, dualspecific for cyclic guanosine and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cGMP and cAMP, respectively) or selective for cGMP, in case of PDE9A. Both PDEs are expressed in cognition relevant regions of the brain, and in these regions, especially cGMP plays an important role as second messenger in neurons related to NMDA receptor signalling facilitating synaptic plasticity and memory formation. Thus, PDE2A and PDE9A inhibitors are hypothesized to improve cognitive function via improving glutamatergic neurotransmission and/or signalling pathways leading to strengthening of synaptic plasticity. In order to characterize mechanistically the effects of PDE2A and PDE9A, selective inhibitors of both PDEs were tested on long-term potentiation (LTP) in rat hippocampal slices, a widely accepted cellular experimental model of synaptic plasticity and memory formation as well as on hippocampal pairedpulse facilitation (PPF), a model to assess presynaptic function. Furthermore, both inhibitors were evaluated regarding enhancement of cyclic nucleotide levels in brain and memory performance in rodent cognition tasks. Results Both, the PDE2A inhibitor PF-999 [1] and the PDE9A inhibitor Bay 73-6691 [2] increased hippocampal LTP, but in contrast to PDE2A inhibition, PDE9A inhibition not only enhances early and late LTP, but even transforms early LTP into late LTP. Regarding effects on hippocampal PPF, only the PDE2A inhibitor but not the PDE9A inhibitor was able to modulate presynaptic function, indicating that PDE2A is localized at the presynaptic side whereas PDE9A might be located at the postsynaptic side. Both inhibitors showed a dose-dependent increase of cGMP levels in mouse hippocampus after oral application, but exhibited no effect on cAMP levels. Memory performance could be improved by both inhibitors in the T-maze continuous alternation task using pharmacologically impaired mice or in the object location task using APP-transgenic Tg2576 mice. Conclusion PDE2A and PDE9A inhibition led to an increase of LTP in rat hippocampal slices. Corroborating previous reports on functional effects of other PDE2A and PDE9A inhibitors, these data demonstrate that inhibition of these PDEs may be an effective way of increasing glutamatergic neurotransmission/ signalling and of strengthening synaptic plasticity. Systemic administration of both compounds led to an increase in cGMP levels in the mouse hippocampus demonstrating functional target engagement, i.e. PDE2A or PDE9A inhibition in the brain. In accordance with recent data on memory enhancing efficacy of other PDE2A or PDE9A inhibitors in rodents, our data further demonstrates that PDE2A and PDE9A inhibition may be a potential approach to pharmacologically improve cognition in CNS disorders. Published: 2 September 2015

Chronic constant light-induced hippocampal late-phase long-term potentiation impairment in vitro is attenuated by antagonist of D1/D5 receptors

Previous study reported that chronic constant light exposure caused hippocampus-dependent long-term memory deficit. However, the underlying cellular mechanism of this impairment is still unclear. Multiple lines of evidence indicated that long-term potentiation (LTP) is a cellular model for memory formation. Here we found that, by recording of field excitatory postsynaptic potential (fEPSP) in vitro, chronic constant light (CCL, 3 weeks) exposure impaired the late long-term potentiation (L-LTP), but not early long-term potentiation (E-LTP) and basal transmission in Schaffer collateral (SC)–CA1 synapses of hippocampal slices from rats. Because L-LTP depends on D1/D5 receptors, we examined whether interference of D1/D5 receptors can modulate L-LTP of CCL rats. Bath application of D1/D5 receptors antagonist SCH23390 (1μM) blocked L-LTP in control rats and attenuated the impaired L-LTP in CCL rats. In contrast, pre-incubation of D1/D5 receptors agonist SKF38393 (25μM) occluded further L-LTP in control rats while exacerbated the L-LTP impairment in CCL rats. These results suggested that CCL-induced L-LTP impairment can be modulated by D1/D5 receptors. Our findings may contribute to the further understanding of synaptic plasticity mechanism underlying hippocampal long-term memory impairment induced by circadian rhythm disruption.

Effect of castration on the susceptibility of male rats to the sleep deprivation-induced impairment of behavioral and synaptic plasticity

In both human and animal studies, the effect of sleep deficiency on cognitive performances has mostly been studied during adulthood in males, but very little data exist concerning the effects of poor sleep in gonadal hormones-depleted status, such as aging or gonadectomized (GDX) male animal models. The present study investigated the potential modulatory effects of the endogenous male sex hormones on the 48h REM sleep deprivation (SD)-induced cognitive and synaptic impairments by comparing the gonadally intact with castrated male rats, a rodent model of androgen-deprived male animals. The multiple platform method was used for inducing REM-SD and spatial performances were evaluated using Morris water maze (MWM) task. Early long-term potentiation (E-LTP) was measured in area CA1 of the hippocampus and PCR and western blotting assays were employed to assess brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and protein expression in the hippocampus. To reveal any influence of sleep loss on stress level, we also evaluated the plasma corticosterone levels of animals. Regardless of reproductive status, REM-SD significantly disrupted short-term memory and LTP, as well as hippocampal BDNF expression. The corticosterone levels were not significantly changed following REM-SD neither in intact nor in GDX male rats. These findings suggest that depletion of male sex steroid hormones by castration does not lead to any heightened sensitivity of male animals to the deleterious effects of 48h REM-SD on cognitive and synaptic performances.

Ovariectomy does not exacerbate the negative effects of sleep deprivation on synaptic plasticity in rats

In our previous work, we found that female rats showed more cognitive impairment than male rats following 72h sleep deprivation (SD). Here, we compared the intact female with ovariectomized (OVX) rats to assess the potential modulatory effects of endogenous female sex hormones against the 48h SD-induced cognitive and synaptic modulations. The multiple platform method was applied for SD induction and spatial performances were determined using Morris water maze (MWM) task. Early longterm potentiation (E-LTP) was evaluated in area CA1 of the hippocampus and PCR and western blotting assays were employed to assess hippocampal BDNF gene and protein expression. To reveal any influence of sleep loss on stress level, we also measured the plasma corticosterone levels of animals. Regardless of reproductive status, SD significantly impaired short-term memory and LTP, but did not significantly change the BDNF expression in the hippocampus. The corticosterone levels were decreased in both intact and OVX female rats following SD. These findings suggest that depletion of female sex steroid hormones does not lead to any heightened responsivity of female animals to the negative effects of SD on cognitive and synaptic functions.

Hippocampal receptor complexes paralleling LTP reinforcement in the spatial memory holeboard test in the rat

The current study was designed to examine learning-induced transformation of early-LTP into late-LTP. Recording electrodes were implanted into the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus in male rats and early-LTP was induced by weak tetanic stimulation of the medial perforant path. Dorsal right hippocampi were removed, membrane proteins were extracted, separated by blue-native gel electrophoresis with subsequent immunoblotting using brain receptor antibodies. Spatial training resulted into reinforcement of LTP and the reinforced LTP was persistent for 6h. Receptor complex levels containing GluN1 and GluN2A of NMDARs, GluA1 and GluA2 of AMPARs, nAchα7R and the D(1A) dopamine receptor were significantly-elevated in rat hippocampi of animals underwent spatial learning, whilst levels of GluA3 and 5-HT1A receptor containing complexes were significantly reduced. Evidence for complex formation between GluN1 and D(1A) dopamine receptor was provided by antibody shift assay, co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometric analysis.Thus our results propose that behavioural stimuli like spatial learning reinforce early LTP into late LTP and this reinforced LTP is accompanied by changes in certain receptor levels in the membrane fraction of the rat hippocampus.

Ca(2+)- and CaMKII-mediated processes in early LTP.

Learning methods determine the degree of stimulation of engrams encoding information to be memorised. More enriching modes of learning allow more enduring long-term potentiation of the synapses associated with these memories. The additional activity causes a prolonged increase in [Ca2+] in the dendritic spine of the postsynaptic neuron. This allows Ca(2+)-mediated molecular pathways to bring about cytoskeletal remodeling, posttranslational modifications, and protein trafficking. These processes contribute to early long-term potentiation of the synapses, strengthening the memory they store and lead to improved performance on tests of memory recall.

D4 Receptor Activation Differentially Modulates Hippocampal Basal and Apical Dendritic Synapses in Freely Moving Mice

Activation of D4 receptors (D4Rs) has been shown to improve cognitive performance, potentially affecting synaptic strength. We investigated the D4R agonist PD 168077 (PD) in hippocampal CA1 of freely moving mice. We electrically stimulated in stratum oriens (OR) or radiatum (RAD) and evoked local field potentials (LFPs). Intraperitoneally injected PD dose-dependently and reversibly attenuated LFPs for longer time in basal (OR) than apical (RAD) dendrites. High-frequency stimulation induced LTP that was stronger and more stable in OR than RAD. LTP lasted at least 4 h during which the paired-pulse ratio remained reduced. A PD concentration not affecting synaptic transmission was sufficient to reduce LTP in OR but not in RAD. A PD concentration reducing synaptic transmission reduced the early phase LTP in OR additionally and the late phase LTP in RAD exclusively. Furthermore, cell type-specific expression of mCherry in DATCre mice generated fluorescence in dorsal CA1 that was highest in lacunosum moleculare and similar in OR/RAD, indicating that midbrain dopaminergic fibers distribute evenly in OR/RAD. Together, the D4R-mediated modulation of hippocampal synaptic transmission and plasticity is stronger in OR than RAD. This could affect information processing in CA1 neurons, since signals arriving via basal and apical afferents are distinct.

Calcium- and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II-mediated processes in early LTP

Calcium- and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II-mediated processes in early LTP

Chronic psychosocial stress impairs early LTP but not late LTP in the dentate gyrus of at-risk rat model of Alzheimer׳s disease

The CA1 and dentate gyrus regions of the hippocampus are physically and functionally closely related but they react differently to insults. This study examined the effect of chronic psychosocial stress on the dentate gyrus of an at-risk (preclinical) rat model of Alzheimer׳s disease (subAβ rats). Chronic psychosocial stress was produced using a rat intruder model. The at-risk rat model of Alzheimer׳s disease was created by osmotic pump infusion of sub-pathological dose of Aβ (160pmol Aβ1–42/day i.c.v) for 14 days. Electrophysiological methods were used to evoke and record early and late phase LTP in the dentate gyrus of anesthetized rats, and immunoblotting was used to measure levels of memory-related signaling molecules in the same region. Electrophysiological and molecular tests in the dentate gyrus showed that subAβ rats or stressed rats were not different from control rats. However, when the subAβ rats were chronically stressed, the combined treatments severely suppressed early phase LTP without affecting the late phase LTP of dentate gyrus. Additionally, in the chronically stressed subAβ rats the expected elevation of levels of phosphorylated CaMKII did not materialize after expression of early phase LTP suggesting impaired phosphorylation, which may explain the severely blocked early phase LTP.

Prior regular exercise prevents synaptic plasticity impairment in sleep deprived female rats.

Previous studies have indicated that physical exercise plays a preventive role in synaptic plasticity deficits in the hippocampus of sleep-deprived male rats. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of treadmill running on early long term potentiation (E-LTP) at the Cornu Ammonis (CA1) area of the hippocampus in sleep-deprived female rats. Intact and ovariectomiezed (OVX) female Wistar rats were used in the present study. The exercise protocol was four weeks treadmill running and the multiple platform method was applied to induce 72 h sleep deprivation (SD). We examine the effect of exercise and/or SD on synaptic plasticity using in vivo extracellular recording in the CA1 area of the hippocampus. The field excitatory post-synaptic potential (fEPSP) slope was measured before and 2h after high frequency stimulation (HFS) in the experimental groups. Field potential recording indicated that the induction and maintenance phase of E-LTP impaired in the sleep deprived animals compared to the other groups. After 72 h SD, E-LTP impairments were prevented by 4 weeks of regular treadmill exercise. In conclusion, the synaptic plasticity deficit in sleep-deprived female rats was improved by regular physical exercise. Further studies are suggested to evaluate the possible underlying mechanisms.

Acute modulation of synaptic plasticity of pyramidal neurons by activin in adult hippocampus.

Activin A is known as a neuroprotective factor produced upon acute excitotoxic injury of the hippocampus (in pathological states). We attempt to reveal the role of activin as a neuromodulator in the adult male hippocampus under physiological conditions (in healthy states), which remains largely unknown. We showed endogenous/basal expression of activin in the hippocampal neurons. Localization of activin receptors in dendritic spines (=postsynapses) was demonstrated by immunoelectron microscopy. The incubation of hippocampal acute slices with activin A (10 ng/mL, 0.4 nM) for 2 h altered the density and morphology of spines in CA1 pyramidal neurons. The total spine density increased by 1.2-fold upon activin treatments. Activin selectively increased the density of large-head spines, without affecting middle-head and small-head spines. Blocking Erk/MAPK, PKA, or PKC prevented the activin-induced spinogenesis by reducing the density of large-head spines, independent of Smad-induced gene transcription which usually takes more than several hours. Incubation of acute slices with activin for 2 h induced the moderate early long-term potentiation (moderate LTP) upon weak theta burst stimuli. This moderate LTP induction was blocked by follistatin, MAPK inhibitor (PD98059) and inhibitor of NR2B subunit of NMDA receptors (Ro25-6981). It should be noted that the weak theta burst stimuli alone cannot induce moderate LTP. These results suggest that MAPK-induced phosphorylation of NMDA receptors (including NR2B) may play an important role for activin-induced moderate LTP. Taken together, the current results reveal interesting physiological roles of endogenous activin as a rapid synaptic modulator in the adult hippocampus.

GluA2-dependent AMPA receptor endocytosis and the decay of early and late long-term potentiation: possible mechanisms for forgetting of short- and long-term memories

The molecular processes involved in establishing long-term potentiation (LTP) have been characterized well, but the decay of early and late LTP (E-LTP and L-LTP) is poorly understood. We review recent advances in describing the mechanisms involved in maintaining LTP and homeostatic plasticity. We discuss how these phenomena could relate to processes that might underpin the loss of synaptic potentiation over time, and how they might contribute to the forgetting of short-term and long-term memories. We propose that homeostatic downscaling mediates the loss of E-LTP, and that metaplastic parameters determine the decay rate of L-LTP, while both processes require the activity-dependent removal of postsynaptic GluA2-containing AMPA receptors.

Potentiation decay of synapses and length distributions of synfire chains self-organized in recurrent neural networks

Synfire chains are thought to underlie precisely timed sequences of spikes observed in various brain regions and across species. How they are formed is not understood. Here we analyze self-organization of synfire chains through the spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) of the synapses, axon remodeling, and potentiation decay of synaptic weights in networks of neurons driven by noisy external inputs and subject to dominant feedback inhibition. Potentiation decay is the gradual, activity-independent reduction of synaptic weights over time. We show that potentiation decay enables a dynamic and statistically stable network connectivity when neurons spike spontaneously. Periodic stimulation of a subset of neurons leads to formation of synfire chains through a random recruitment process, which terminates when the chain connects to itself and forms a loop. We demonstrate that chain length distributions depend on the potentiation decay. Fast potentiation decay leads to long chains with wide distributions, while slow potentiation decay leads to short chains with narrow distributions. We suggest that the potentiation decay, which corresponds to the decay of early long-term potentiation of synapses, is an important synaptic plasticity rule in regulating formation of neural circuity through STDP.

Cocaine facilitates protein synthesis-dependent LTP: The role of metabotropic glutamate receptors

Cocaine addiction alters synaptic plasticity in many brain areas involved in learning and memory processes, including the hippocampus. Long-term potentiation (LTP) is one of the best studied examples of hippocampal synaptic plasticity and it is considered as one of the molecular basis of learning and memory. We previously demonstrated that in the presence of cocaine, a long lasting form of hippocampal LTP is induced by a single pulse of high frequency stimulation, which in normal conditions evokes only an early form of LTP. In this study, we further explore the molecular basis of this modulation of synaptic plasticity by cocaine. By performing pharmacological experiments on hippocampal slices, we were able to show that cocaine converts early LTP to a form of LTP dependent on protein synthesis, probably through the cAMP-dependent protein kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling cascades. We also found that metabotropic glutamate receptors are involved in this phenomenon. These studies further clarify the molecular machinery used by cocaine to alter synaptic plasticity and modulate learning and memory processes.

Cooperation of taurine uptake and dopamine D1 receptor activation facilitates the induction of protein synthesis-dependent late LTP

Co-activation of NMDA and dopamine receptors is required for the induction of the late phase of LTP (L-LTP) that is dependent on new protein synthesis. Other neuromodulatory substances may also contribute to this process. Here, we examined whether taurine is one of the neuromodulators contributing to L-LTP induction, since it is known that taurine uptake induces a long-lasting synaptic potentiation dependent on protein synthesis, and taurine uptake inhibition blocks L-LTP induced by tetanization. Experiments were conducted using rat hippocampal slices where field synaptic potentials were evoked and recorded in CA3-CA1 synapses. Taurine (1 mM) applied 10 min before a high frequency stimulation (HFS) train converted a transitory early-LTP (E-LTP) into an L-LTP dependent on protein synthesis. This taurine effect was blocked by a taurine uptake inhibitor. A facilitation of L-LTP induction was also obtained by pre-application of SKF38393, a D1/D5 dopamine receptor (D1R) agonist. In this case, LTP facilitation was not affected by the taurine uptake inhibitor. Nevertheless, when taurine and SKF38393 were simultaneously pre-applied at a concentration that individually did not modify E-LTP, they produced a synergistic mechanism that facilitated the induction of L-LTP with a sole HFS train. This facilitation of L-LTP was blocked by inhibiting either taurine uptake or D1R activation. Taurine and SKF38393 activated different signaling pathways to transform E-LTP into L-LTP. Taurine-induced L-LTP facilitation required MAPK activation, while D1R-agonist-induced facilitation depended mainly on PKA activation and partially on MAPK activation. On the other hand, the synergistic mechanisms induced by the cooperative action of taurine and SKF38393 were impaired by inhibitors against MAPK, PKA and PI3-K. This pharmacological profile resembles that displayed by L-LTP induced by three HFS trains at 10-min intervals. These results indicate that taurine uptake is necessary and cooperates with other neurotransmitter systems in the induction of L-LTP.