Oriens-lacunosum Moleculare Cells Research Articles

Intrinsic mechanisms stabilize encoding and retrieval circuits differentially in a hippocampal network model.

Acetylcholine regulates memory encoding and retrieval by inducing the hippocampus to switch between pattern separation and pattern completion modes. However, both processes can introduce significant variations in the level of network activity and potentially cause a seizure-like spread of excitation. Thus, mechanisms that keep network excitation within certain bounds are necessary to prevent such instability. We developed a biologically realistic computational model of the hippocampus to investigate potential intrinsic mechanisms that might stabilize the network dynamics during encoding and retrieval. The model was developed by matching experimental data, including neuronal behavior, synaptic current dynamics, network spatial connectivity patterns, and short-term synaptic plasticity. Furthermore, it was constrained to perform pattern completion and separation under the effects of acetylcholine. The model was then used to investigate the role of short-term synaptic depression at the recurrent synapses in CA3, and inhibition by basket cell (BC) interneurons and oriens lacunosum-moleculare (OLM) interneurons in stabilizing these processes. Results showed that when CA3 was considered in isolation, inhibition solely by BCs was not sufficient to control instability. However, both inhibition by OLM cells and short-term depression at the recurrent CA3 connections stabilized the network activity. In the larger network including the dentate gyrus, the model suggested that OLM inhibition could control the network during high cholinergic levels while depressing synapses at the recurrent CA3 connections were important during low cholinergic states. Our results demonstrate that short-term plasticity is a critical property of the network that enhances its robustness. Furthermore, simulations suggested that the low and high cholinergic states can each produce runaway excitation through unique mechanisms and different pathologies. Future studies aimed at elucidating the circuit mechanisms of epilepsy could benefit from considering the two modulatory states separately.

Network models provide insight into how oriens-lacunosum-moleculare (OLM) and bistratified cell (BSC) interactions influence local CA1 theta rhythms

Although hippocampal theta, a 4-12 Hz rhythm associated with episodic memory, has been studied extensively, the cellular mechanisms underlying its generation are unclear. OLM cells have been considered pacemakers of local CA1 theta [1], but recent experimental work has disputed this role [2]. The complex interactions that OLM cells have with other cell types, such as bistratified cells (BSCs) [3], make their contribution to network rhythms difficult to determine experimentally. One can address this issue using mathematical network models, which allow one to explore the contribution of specific cell populations and network connectivity in a simplified setting, and make predictions to guide further experimental work. Thus, we created a network model that is tied to experimental work on both the cellular and network level, and explored how cell interactions affect the power of local oscillations. We derived cellular properties from patch clamp recordings of fast-spiking parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons – likely comprising basket cells (BCs), axo-axonic cells (AACs), and BSCs – and of somatostatin-positive putative OLM cells in the CA1 region of an intact hippocampus in vitro, and used these properties to constrain Izhikevich-type models of BCs/AACs, BSCs, and OLM interneurons. We constructed our network model with these individual cell models, and constrained network size, connectivity, and synaptic properties with experimental data. Experimental excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) recorded during endogenous CA1 theta oscillations were used to drive the various cell model populations, and we used a simple local field potential (LFP) model to integrate the effects of cell firing. To determine how the interactions between OLM cells and BSCs affect local theta rhythms, we explored how specific features of the network affected model LFP power. In addition, we simulated optogenetic experiments by silencing the OLM cell model population during the network rhythm. Spike characteristics and firing behaviors in our network models approximated those determined experimentally. Our models distinguish between regimes in which OLM cells minimally or strongly affect the power of network oscillations, and predict that the dis-inhibitory effect of OLM cells on BSC to pyramidal cell interactions plays a critical role in the power of network theta oscillations. When OLM to BSC model connections are not too strong, the OLM cells’ direct influence on pyramidal cells balances with its indirect dis-inhibitory effect (through the BSCs). In this case, when the OLM cell population is silenced, there is a compensatory effect on network power, and thus minimal change in power. However, when these OLM to BSC connections are stronger, the dis-inhibition of pyramidal cells does not balance with their direct influence, and thus silencing OLM cells has a stronger effect. This does not change when we consider various distributions of strengths in which the cell populations affect the LFP. Thus, our network models are able to make particular predictions that can be tested with optogenetics.

Dendritic Inhibition Provided by Interneuron-Specific Cells Controls the Firing Rate and Timing of the Hippocampal Feedback Inhibitory Circuitry

In cortical networks, different types of inhibitory interneurons control the activity of glutamatergic principal cells and GABAergic interneurons. Principal neurons represent the major postsynaptic target of most interneurons; however, a population of interneurons that is dedicated to the selective innervation of GABAergic cells exists in the CA1 area of the hippocampus. The physiological properties of these cells and their functional relevance for network computations remain unknown. Here, we used a combination of dual simultaneous patch-clamp recordings and targeted optogenetic stimulation in acute mouse hippocampal slices to examine how one class of interneuron-specific (IS) cells controls the activity of its GABAergic targets. We found that type 3 IS (IS3) cells that coexpress the vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and calretinin contact several distinct types of interneurons within the hippocampal CA1 stratum oriens/alveus (O/A), with preferential innervation of oriens-lacunosum moleculare cells (OLMs) through dendritic synapses. In contrast, VIP-positive basket cells provided perisomatic inhibition to CA1 pyramidal neurons with the asynchronous GABA release and were not connected with O/A interneurons. Furthermore, unitary IPSCs recorded at IS3-OLM synapses had a small amplitude and low release probability but summated efficiently during high-frequency firing of IS3 interneurons. Moreover, the synchronous generation of a single spike in several IS cells that converged onto a single OLM controlled the firing rate and timing of OLM interneurons. Therefore, dendritic inhibition originating from IS cells is needed for the flexible activity-dependent recruitment of OLM interneurons for feedback inhibition.

Ih Tunes Theta/Gamma Oscillations and Cross-Frequency Coupling In an In Silico CA3 Model

channels are uniquely positioned to act as neuromodulatory control points for tuning hippocampal theta (4–12 Hz) and gamma (25 Hz) oscillations, oscillations which are thought to have importance for organization of information flow. contributes to neuronal membrane resonance and resting membrane potential, and is modulated by second messengers. We investigated oscillatory control using a multiscale computer model of hippocampal CA3, where each cell class (pyramidal, basket, and oriens-lacunosum moleculare cells), contained type-appropriate isoforms of . Our model demonstrated that modulation of pyramidal and basket allows tuning theta and gamma oscillation frequency and amplitude. Pyramidal also controlled cross-frequency coupling (CFC) and allowed shifting gamma generation towards particular phases of the theta cycle, effected via 's ability to set pyramidal excitability. Our model predicts that in vivo neuromodulatory control of allows flexibly controlling CFC and the timing of gamma discharges at particular theta phases.

Tuning Local Calcium Availability: Cell-Type-Specific Immobile Calcium Buffer Capacity in Hippocampal Neurons

It has remained difficult to ascribe a specific functional role to immobile or fixed intracellular calcium buffers in central neurons because the amount of these buffers is unknown. Here, we explicitly isolated the fixed buffer fraction by prolonged whole-cell patch-clamp dialysis and quantified its buffering capacity in murine hippocampal slices using confocal calcium imaging and the "added-buffer" approach. In dentate granule cells, the calcium binding ratio (κ) after complete washout of calbindin D28k (Cb), κfixed, displayed a substantial value of ∼100. In contrast, in CA1 oriens lacunosum moleculare (OLM) interneurons, which do not contain any known calcium-binding protein(s), κfixed amounted to only ∼30. Based on these values, a theoretical analysis of dendritic spread of calcium after local entry showed that fixed buffers, in the absence of mobile species, decrease intracellular calcium mobility 100- and 30-fold in granule cells and OLM cells, respectively, and thereby strongly slow calcium signals. Although the large κfixed alone strongly delays the spread of calcium in granule cells, this value optimizes the benefits of additionally expressing the mobile calcium binding protein Cb. With such high κfixed, Cb effectively increases the propagation velocity to levels seen in OLM cells and, contrary to expectation, does not affect the peak calcium concentration close to the source but sharpens the spatial and temporal calcium gradients. The data suggest that the amount of fixed buffers determines the temporal availability of calcium for calcium-binding partners and plays a pivotal role in setting the repertoire of cellular calcium signaling regimens.

Novel GABAergic Circuits Mediating Excitation/Inhibition of Cajal-Retzius Cells in the Developing Hippocampus

Cajal-Retzius cells are a class of neurons believed to play critical roles during cortical development. However, their network computational functions remain poorly understood. Although work in the neocortex and hippocampus has shown that Cajal-Retzius cells receive predominantly, if not exclusively, spontaneous GABA(A) receptor-mediated input, the cellular sources originating these events remain unclear. However, a precise definition of the presynaptic GABAergic interneurons contacting Cajal-Retzius cells is important to understand the microcircuits and network patterns controlling their activation. Here, we have taken advantage of electrophysiological and anatomical techniques applied to mouse hippocampal slices in vitro to directly address this question. Our paired recording experiments indicate that Cajal-Retzius cells receive small-amplitude, kinetically slow synaptic input from stratum lacunosum-moleculare interneurons, anatomically identified as neurogliaform cells. In addition, a convergence of optogenetic, electrophysiological, and pharmacological experiments shows that Cajal-Retzius cells receive GABAergic input from oriens lacunosum-moleculare cells and that this input has different physiological properties (i.e., larger amplitude and faster kinetics) from the one provided by neurogliaform cells. Last, we show that GABAergic evoked synaptic input onto Cajal-Retzius cells may either increase their excitability and trigger action potentials or inhibit spontaneous firing by depolarization block. We propose that the specific type of response depends on both the membrane potential of Cajal-Retzius cells and the kinetics of the received GABAergic input. In conclusion, we have unraveled a novel hippocampal microcircuit with complex GABAergic synaptic signaling, which we suggest may play a role in the refinement of the hippocampal network and connections during development.

OLM interneurons differentially modulate CA3 and entorhinal inputs to hippocampal CA1 neurons

The vast diversity of GABAergic interneurons is believed to endow hippocampal microcircuits with the required flexibility for memory encoding and retrieval. However, dissection of the functional roles of defined interneuron types have been hampered by the lack of cell specific tools. Here we report a precise molecular marker for a population of hippocampal GABAergic interneurons known as oriens lacunosum-moleculare (OLM) cells. By combining novel transgenic mice and optogenetic tools, we demonstrate that OLM cells have a key role in gating the information flow in CA1, facilitating the transmission of intrahippocampal information (from CA3) while reducing the influence of extrahippocampal inputs (from the entorhinal cortex). We further demonstrate that OLM cells are interconnected by gap junctions, receive direct cholinergic inputs from subcortical afferents, and account for the effect of nicotine on synaptic plasticity of the Schaffer collateral pathway. Our results suggest that acetylcholine acting through OLM cells can control the mnemonic processes executed by the hippocampus.

Frequency-invariant temporal ordering of interneuronal discharges during hippocampal oscillations in awake mice

Endogenous brain rhythms occurring at various frequencies and associated with distinct behavioral states provide multiscale temporal windows that enable cells to time their spiking activity with high precision, which is thought to be important for the coding of information in neuronal circuits. However, although the selective timing of GABAergic inputs to specific spatial domains of principal cells are known to play key roles in network oscillations, the in vivo firing patterns of distinct hippocampal interneurons in awake animals are not known. Here we used a combination of juxtacellular labeling techniques with recordings from anesthesia-free, head-fixed mice running or resting on a spherical treadmill to study the oscillation-dependent discharges by two major interneuronal subtypes, the perisomatically projecting parvalbumin-positive basket cells (PVBCs) and distal dendritically projecting oriens lacunosum moleculare (OLM) cells. Recordings of the spiking activity of post hoc-identified CA1 interneurons during theta (5-10 Hz), gamma (25-90Hz), epsilon ("high-gamma"; 90-130 Hz), and ripple (130-200 Hz) oscillations revealed both cell type- and behavioral state-dependent entrainments of PVBC and OLM cell discharges in awake mice. Our results in awake mice differed in several respects from previous data on interneuronal discharge patterns in anesthetized animals. In addition, our results demonstrate a form of frequency-invariant, cell type-specific temporal ordering of inhibitory inputs in which PVBC-derived perisomatic inhibition is followed by OLM cell-generated distal dendritic inhibition during each of the network oscillation bands studied, spanning more than an order of magnitude in frequencies.

Chemokines and HIV-1 virus: opposing players in Cajal-Retzius cell function.

Chemokines and HIV-1 virus: opposing players in Cajal-Retzius cell function.

GABAergic contributions to gating, timing, and phase precession of hippocampal neuronal activity during theta oscillations

Successful spatial exploration requires gating, storage, and retrieval of spatial memories in the correct order. The hippocampus is known to play an important role in the temporal organization of spatial information. Temporally ordered spatial memories are encoded and retrieved by the firing rate and phase of hippocampal pyramidal cells and inhibitory interneurons with respect to ongoing network theta oscillations paced by intra- and extrahippocampal areas. Much is known about the anatomical, physiological, and molecular characteristics as well as the connectivity and synaptic properties of various cell types in the hippocampal microcircuits, but how these detailed properties of individual neurons give rise to temporal organization of spatial memories remains unclear. We present a model of the hippocampal CA1 microcircuit based on observed biophysical properties of pyramidal cells and six types of inhibitory interneurons: axo-axonic, basket, bistratistified, neurogliaform, ivy, and oriens lacunosum-moleculare cells. The model simulates a virtual rat running on a linear track. Excitatory transient inputs come from the entorhinal cortex (EC) and the CA3 Schaffer collaterals and impinge on both the pyramidal cells and inhibitory interneurons, whereas inhibitory inputs from the medial septum impinge only on the inhibitory interneurons. Dopamine operates as a gate-keeper modulating the spatial memory flow to the PC distal dendrites in a frequency-dependent manner. A mechanism for spike-timing-dependent plasticity in distal and proximal PC dendrites consisting of three calcium detectors, which responds to the instantaneous calcium level and its time course in the dendrite, is used to model the plasticity effects. The model simulates the timing of firing of different hippocampal cell types relative to theta oscillations, and proposes functional roles for the different classes of the hippocampal and septal inhibitory interneurons in the correct ordering of spatial memories as well as in the generation and maintenance of theta phase precession of pyramidal cells (place cells) in CA1. The model leads to a number of experimentally testable predictions that may lead to a better understanding of the biophysical computations in the hippocampus and medial septum.

Interaction of inhibition and synaptic plasticity in a model of the hippocampal CA1 microcircuit

Cellular activity in the CA1 area of the hippocampus waxes and wanes at theta frequency (4-7Hz) when a rat is exploring an environment. Perisomatic inhibition onto pyramidal cells from basket cells and axoaxonic cells tends to be strongest out of phase with pyramidal cell activity, in a so-called storage cycle, whereas dendritic inhibition, mediated by bistratified and oriens lacunosum-moleculare (OLM) cells is strongest in phase with pyramidal cell activity [1], in a so-called recall cycle. Synaptic plasticity also varies across the theta cycle, from strong LTP to LTD, putatively corresponding to the storage and recall cycles for information patterns encoded in pyramidal cell activity [2]. The mechanisms underpinning the phasic changes in plasticity are not clear, but it is likely that inhibition plays a role by affecting levels of electrical activity and calcium levels at synapses. Calcium levels at dendritic synapses could reach the amplitudes required for LTP when inhibition is restricted to the perisomatic region, but may be restricted to amplitudes that result in LTD when inhibition is strong in the dendrites. We explore this hypothesis using a detailed multicompartmental model of a CA1 pyramidal cell [3] which is driven by spatially-focused patterns of excitation and inhibition. We employ a model of the CA1 microcircuit [4] that also includes basket, axoaxonic, bistratified and OLM cells and inputs from the entorhinal cortex (EC), the CA3 Schaffer collaterals and medial septum. A trigger of synaptic modifications, the intracellular calcium concentration, is modeled in a spine that expresses AMPA/NMDA-receptor-mediated synaptic responses and is located on a stratum radiatum (SR) dendrite of the CA1 pyramidal cell. The resulting calcium signals are used in a model of spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity [5] to predict the synaptic modifications across the theta cycle. We show that in the storage cycle, EC input-induced dendritic spikes propagate from the stratum lacunosum moleculare (SLM) dendrites to the SR dendritic regions in the CA1 pyramidal cell, coincide with the CA3 inputs, induce large calcium influx into the spine on the SR dendrite and cause LTP [6]. In the recall cycle, dendritic inhibition provided by bistratified and OLM cells prevents dendritic spike propagation into the SR region, restricts calcium increase and results in LTD induction. Removing dendritic inhibition in recall cycles allows dendritic spikes reaching SR dendrites and reverts LTD to LTP. The results suggest that dendritic inhibition acts as a switch that prevents LTP and promotes LTD during the recall memories and in forgetting no longer relevant memories.

Interneuron loss reduces dendritic inhibition and GABA release in hippocampus of aged rats.

Aging is associated with impairments in learning and memory and a greater incidence of limbic seizures. These changes in the aged brain have been associated with increased excitability of hippocampal pyramidal cells caused by a reduced number of gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic (GABAergic) interneurons. To better understand these issues, we performed cell counts of GABAergic interneurons and examined GABA efflux and GABAergic inhibition in area CA1 of the hippocampus of young (3-5 months) and aged (26-30 months) rats. Aging significantly reduced high K(+)/Ca(2+)-evoked GABA, but not glutamate efflux in area CA1. Immunostaining revealed a significant loss of GABAergic interneurons, but not inhibitory boutons in stratum oriens and stratum lacunosum moleculare. Somatostatin-immunoreactive oriens-lacunosum moleculare (O-LM) cells, but not parvalbumin-containing interneurons were selectively lost. Oriens-lacunosum moleculare cells project to distal dendrites of CA1 pyramidal cells, providing dendritic inhibition. Accordingly, inhibition of dendritic input to CA1 from entorhinal cortex was selectively reduced. These findings suggest that the age-dependent loss of interneurons impairs dendritic inhibition and dysregulates entorhinal cortical input to CA1, potentially contributing to cognitive impairment and seizures.

Neocortical Interneurons: From Diversity, Strength

Interneurons in the neocortex of the brain are small, locally projecting inhibitory GABAergic cells with a broad array of anatomical and physiological properties. The diversity of interneurons is believed to be crucial for regulating myriad operations in the neocortex. Here, we describe current theories about how interneuron diversity may support distinct neocortical processes that underlie perception.

Expression of connexin30.2 in interneurons of the central nervous system in the mouse

Electrical synapses, particularly gap junctions composed of connexin (Cx) 36, have been suggested to synchronize neuronal network oscillations. Recently, we generated Cx30.2-deficient mice which express β-galactosidase under control of Cx30.2 gene regulatory elements. In the central nervous system β-galactosidase activity representing Cx30.2 expression was restricted to NeuN-positive cells, thus identifying Cx30.2 as new neuronal connexin. In the hippocampus, co-immunofluorescence analyses revealed β-galactosidase/Cx30.2 expression in GABAergic inhibitory interneurons such as parvalbumin- and somatostatin-positive basket, axo-axonic, bistratified or oriens lacunosum-moleculare cells. ∼ 94% of the Cx30.2 expressing parvalbumin-positive interneurons also expressed Cx36. Performing field potential recordings from hippocampal slices we found no differences in basal excitation and excitation–inhibition balance between Cx30.2 +/+ and Cx30.2 LacZ/LacZ mice. Furthermore, frequency and power of gap junction dependent γ and ripples oscillations were similar in these animals. This suggests that the lack of Cx30.2 in interneurons can be largely compensated by other connexins, most likely Cx36.

Complementary Roles of Cholecystokinin- and Parvalbumin-Expressing GABAergic Neurons in Hippocampal Network Oscillations

In the hippocampal CA1 area, a relatively homogenous population of pyramidal cells is accompanied by a diversity of GABAergic interneurons. Previously, we found that parvalbumin-expressing basket, axo-axonic, bistratified, and oriens-lacunosum moleculare cells, innervating different domains of pyramidal cells, have distinct firing patterns during network oscillations in vivo. A second family of interneurons, expressing cholecystokinin but not parvalbumin, is known to target the same domains of pyramidal cells as do the parvalbumin cells. To test the temporal activity of these independent and parallel GABAergic inputs, we recorded the precise spike timing of identified cholecystokinin interneurons during hippocampal network oscillations in anesthetized rats and determined their molecular expression profiles and synaptic targets. The cells were cannabinoid receptor type 1 immunopositive. Contrary to the stereotyped firing of parvalbumin interneurons, cholecystokinin-expressing basket and dendrite-innervating cells discharge, on average, with 1.7 +/- 2.0 Hz during high-frequency ripple oscillations in an episode-dependent manner. During theta oscillations, cholecystokinin-expressing interneurons fire with 8.8 +/- 3.3 Hz at a characteristic time on the ascending phase of theta waves (155 +/- 81 degrees), when place cells start firing in freely moving animals. The firing patterns of some interneurons recorded in drug-free behaving rats were similar to cholecystokinin cells in anesthetized animals. Our results demonstrate that cholecystokinin- and parvalbumin-expressing interneurons make different contributions to network oscillations and play distinct roles in different brain states. We suggest that the specific spike timing of cholecystokinin interneurons and their sensitivity to endocannabinoids might contribute to differentiate subgroups of pyramidal cells forming neuronal assemblies, whereas parvalbumin interneurons contribute to synchronizing the entire network.